I think I found a miracle cure for feather picking

[kimthom66]

Yes, the one for horses, believe it or not. Forco feed supplement.

I spoke at great length with Jim, one of the business owners, and we talked about my problem with feather pickers, and he said he feeds it free choice to his chickens.

It was my idea to try this after finding out my friends feed it to their horses and dogs, and how it cleared up a variety of problems with their pets. It's a feed supplement for all animals, not just horses.

My chickens adore the taste. I put a scoop full in a cup inside their oyster shell bin each morning, and they fight each other to finish it off. I haven't had a problem with feather pickers at all since the flock has been eating it.

I just started reading this thread as I have a year old Blue Orpington that was losing feathers and I didn't know why and then witnessed her picking them...is this product safe to be able to continue eating their eggs?

 

[kimthom66]

Hi, I'm Jim Rea and I am an on line distributor of Forco. I have used Forco on my chickens and the owners of Forco used it for their birds when they were in the business of raising Cornish Game Hens.

Forco is a Prebiotic not a Probiotic. The difference is that Probiotics are live cultures and Prebiotics aren't. The practical effect is that Probiotics are likely to have 90$ or more of them killed in the acid bath of a chicken's stomach and from what I read on the Internet chickens have a very acid stomach. Prebiotics, on the other hand, are microbe food and feed whatever species of micro-flora that are doing the work of digesting whatever the chickens are eating. Those micro-flora bloom and die depending on what the chicken is eating, so from my perspective we're better off to feed the microbes that are doing the work rather than introducing a microbial species that may or may not be helpful. That's not to say that Probiotics are bad, I just don't believe they are as effective as a Prebiotic.

I used Forco for my chicks this spring and they all ran up and crowded around the Forco and ate it until it was gone. I didn't do any scientific studies but it sure seemed like they were healthy and grew quickly. I had some problems with pasty butt before I used the Forco and none after. Of course this is anecdotal evidence, but it seemed to work well for them. I feed the adult chickens a mixture of 1/4 Forco and 3/4 dry soybean meal. The soybean meal has 45% protein and I think it helps with feather plucking.

I suspect he results azygous has seen is the result of the Forco making the chickens digestive system more efficient and utilizing the protein more efficiently that is already being fed. To me that's pretty good evidence that Forco is helping the birds.

We recommend feeding 1 oz. per ten birds. I don't think you can over feed it, I would not offer it free choice although I can't see a good reason not to other than the cost.

Right now the cost is $14.95 for one pound and $24.95 for five pounds. the price of the 5 pounder will go up substantially the first of September.

If you have any more questions I will be glad to try to answer them.

Jim Rea

How do I go about ordering this product? I live in the Northeast, no one close sells it?

 

[kimthom66]

I feed my chickens Organic Chicken feed with NO SOY could this be less in protein if it contains no soy? And for those that mix with Wild Game feed with more protein do you mix half and half? I haven't tried anything yet for this problem as I just observed last night that my hen that has lost feathers is picking them herself, I thought it may be molt or long winter being cooped up and the situation would fix itself once they were free ranging again. (we literally had 2 feet of snow on the ground since Feb) so if I start with sunflower seeds how do I feed them? just a handful thrown in like scratch? I have 8 hens and 1 rooster. and egg production is also down. Any advice would be helpful!

 

[equius]

Go to www.forcocolorado.com

 

[cmak]

Hello! I read the first couple pages of posts and couldn't read anymore. I have some peckers in my flock (I would call them worse but I'm trying to be a lady) and I'm wondering if Forco is what I need to try.

Brief backstory: 28 pullets of various breeds all from McMurray, age 9 weeks. 12x16 coop, over 30' of roost space (they only use 6 feet), 12x16 covered run, 16x24 uncovered run. They have access to the run from sunup to sundown. They don't have much to forage (new construction) but all the misc garden scraps go to them.

Here's the main question, I already feed them a 20.5% organic soy-free, corn-free feed that I ferment. I'm quite certain I'm fermenting properly. Anyway, is there anything in Forco they aren't already getting from fermented feed/their environment? (My understanding is all the bugs our guts need are in the environment, we can just encourage them with fermentation).

The other factor that just came into play is we finally hit 90+ degrees fehrenheit for the last 2 days. I'm wondering if I should wait for the heat to break or get a supplement going.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Does your organic feed have any animal protein in it?

Maybe give them some raw hamburger a few times a week and see if that helps.

I haven't used the forco so I have no answers for you there but whatever the problem is, I wouldn't wait. It doesn't take long for them to become firmly entrenched in their horrible behavior!

A few pages back, you can see that I put a bit in the beak of one of my pullets. I caught her early enough. I intended to have it on her for 6 weeks, I think. It ended up being on longer than that. Once I took it off, she no longer pecked feathers. Maybe catching them young and doing that to them might actually be a cure. I hadn't thought about it until now but I haven't seen her do it since and now she is one of my broodies taking care of some chicks she hatched out.

 

[cmak]

Fish meal is the animal protein in the feed I use. I've never seen them eat the feathers, but that doesn't mean it's not happening. I am going to give them some scrambled eggs in the morning and find some other sources of protein. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's the heat bringing out bad behavior. But I agree with you Lacy that it needs to stop pronto. I'm going to troll the Internet and see about ordering a bit too. Thanks!

 

[Lacy Blues]

There are bumpa-bits (which I don't like) and pinless peepers, and chick bits (I believe they are called). I have the chick bits. There are plastic ones and metal ones as well. If you get the metal ones you have to get pliers to attach them. Also, you need to file the ends so they are rounded and won't cut the nostril. They cut them off square so there isn't a point but the edges of that square cut are too sharp in my opinion, so I file them.

 

[azygous]

If you're fermenting your feed, it has everything Forco has, so you really don't need it.

Feather picking has so many different causes, all you can do it keep trying things until you manage to get your problem under control.

Recently, I had a baby chick who was feather picking like a tiny fiend. She was all of two or three weeks old at the time. Every time I saw her do it, I would give her a "peck" with my finger on her back. It just took two days of this discipline whenever I observed the behavior to stop it all together.

With behavior associated picking, often you can get the culprit to stop by doing something to interrupt it such as hollering or giving them a poke. I believe the earlier you catch this behavior and the younger the picker is, the better chance you have of curtailing it.

 

[HenniePennie60]

Hi,
I was reading your post about using FORCO for your plucking hens.... I'm curious as to whether you found any problems with your birds after using it. OR if it is the cure all it sounds like? I have 70 hens and one of the coops is nearly all bald and they will not stop plucking each other or themselves. I've put peepers on them, increased the protein in their diet and given them lots of stuff to do. Now my young flock has started plucking the head and neck feathers off on certain low ranking hens. I don't want to have a second coop of naked chicks.... Just wanted to know if you had any health problems or anything that I should be aware of before I start the girls on the Forco. Thanks.