How to tell bird is thin?

[Judy]

Quote:
Thjat wounds like it was mislabeled. After 6 weeks you swithch from starter to grower, so I'll bet that label belonged on a bag of starter.

Around here they sell what is called "starter/grower" -- in other words, the same feed from hatch til laying. If that's all you can get conveniently, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[secuono]

chick starter medicated crumbles
didn't remember right
grower ration crumbles at 6wk, idk if they have that...il ask tomorrow

 

[Bill D]

Quote:
They should have it. Mine are 8 months old now and fat and sassy. What you have been told is correct - only starter/grower until they start laying - even hold off on the scratch until they start laying. Once they are laying - switch over to the layer feed for the necessary calcium.

 

[secuono]

Well, when the adults get scratch, the chicks also end up eating it. All I can do is toss in less.

 

[secuono]

Other than chick grower and eggs, what else can I give them[adults too]?

 

[secuono]

Got Chick Grower, it was smaller crumbles than the Chick Starter, what the heck?! Same store too!
I have to hammer all the Starter, the chicks hardly ate any since I bought it..

So, I have Starter, Grower, Layer. What about Roo food, lol.

What about the Gamebird/Showbird crumbles? Can I feed that to thin birds or my birds in general? Says 24% protein, might be good for all ages mixed in a bit every now and then, or no?

 

[secuono]

Gave them eggs today. Bacon is still raining supreme, lol.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

You can give them Black Oil Sunflower Seeds too, they have a a high amount of "good fats" for the chickies.

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

Quote:
Oh

Then not sure that would work. I have sexlinks, so it's different

 

[Mac in Wisco]

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It's more than likely that they are doing fine. Layer hens really don't have a lot of meat on them. You can normally feel a prominent breast bone.

We have a number of red sex-links which are 4 to 4.5 lb birds. I can judge how they doing on weight by feeling the breast. Birds that are wasting away because of illness are just bone underneath, birds that are doing well have some meat there, although like I said, it is still generally very little.

The only way to know for sure is to weigh them on a regular basis and make sure they are gaining weight, but unless you have some reason to suspect they may actually be having problems, it generally isn't worth the trouble.