How much should they really be eating?

[Free Feather]

How many scoops should I be giving a day, do you think? Out of a plain feed scoop?

 

[matt44644]

You'd have to see how much of food the scoop you're using holds/weighs.

 

[Free Feather]

I had the feeders filled all of the time and my chickens still look thin to me. I have wormed. I will weigh food and dole it out by cups if I have to. I thought maybe I did not have enough feeders out, with boys and ducks and all. I guess I will try putting out more. I feel like an animal abuser. I have no idea of the poundage they have been getting.

 

[matt44644]

The weight of the picture was tared .

 

[Free Feather]

Yep. Do not think they have been eating enough, looking at that picture. Great.

 

[Free Feather]

Should I up the protein now, to make up for the undernourishment of before? I always have food out. Why would they not be eating that much?

 

[matt44644]

That is a 2 quart pitcher.

 

[matt44644]

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I had the feeders filled all of the time and my chickens still look thin to me. I have wormed. I will weigh food and dole it out by cups if I have to. I thought maybe I did not have enough feeders out, with boys and ducks and all. I guess I will try putting out more. I feel like an animal abuser. I have no idea of the poundage they have been getting.

There are so many variables to perking up a lagging flock that it is hard to say what may be going on....and I can only speak to the chicken part as I have never owned ducks.

I'm not an expert, but when my flock is looking thinnish, I look for signs of pests (mites/lice/scaly leg) or illness....treat that as necessary...if no signs of that, I will up the protein in my feed and/or change my feed. I also check to be sure my flock dynamics are not pushing away too many birds thus will put out more feeders and/or separate the feeders better so that the dominant ones can't push away the less dominant ones.

Most worming should be done in 2 phases of 10 days apart...2 separate doses scheduled 10 days apart. You may need to re-worm depending upon what you were using....or change wormers. Worms can build a resistance to the wormer, and not all wormers act on all worm types.

I also will add a booster...I like Rooster Booster Triple Action Multi Wormer (which says it can be used for all poultry) as it has vitamins, minerals, probiotics and a de-wormer (Hygromycin B) and a mild antibotic (Bacitracin) which helps clear out any kind of mild bacterial thing that might be going on, like some CRD in chickens. It is meant to be continuous feed, but the company recommends you can do a regiment of 2 weeks to 4 weeks seasonally. I get mine at a better price at http://www.abetterchicken.com/ since with 25 chickens, you would go through several canisters....I can stretch 1 canister for a month with 15 chickens with judicial measurement.

They may not like their feed, unless they were eating it well one day and then suddenly stopped...in that case, I'd be looking for other symptoms...any odd "nicking" or sneezing, any other sign of illness working its way through. It is molting season, and they may just be having a hard time with the molt??? My chickens were having an especially hard time with molt this year, so for the first time I am using Nutrena's Feather Fixer. While I can't be sure as I would have had to split my flock into two controlled halves, I can say that after 2 weeks those birds that were showing no progress with their molt regrowth have suddenly feathered out beautifully and I am starting to see a pick up in laying.

Good luck with your flock.
Lady of McCamley

 

[Free Feather]

I have wormed them with some kind of pig and chicken liquid wormer, and last month a natural wormer. I also have used the rooster booster stuff. I still have a canister. Do you think I have enough feeders out? I have them scattered about, one under a shelf for the bantys and babies. I will check for pests. I have DE and wood ash I use. Would that be strong enough against mites? They seem to like their feed, I switch it every so often. It is currently, my mother says, a 23 percent grower because of my silkie chicks. Calcium on the side. I currently have a few empty coops. Should I separate the thinner ones?