Is Pineapple toxic for chickens?

[BigLar368]

Do you feed many treats? What feed do you feed?
Fatty liver disease is a common reason for, "sudden death", maybe thats what we're experiencing here. Especially since she was heavy.

I was thinking her weight may have been an issue. We feed them a handful of corn at night to get them put up and they have straight 20% laying pellets. We do feed them scraps and such but it's not a bunch. Between them and the ducks scraps dont stay on the ground long. Once a week they get a handful of oyster shell and that's about it. We do have a flock block on the ground for them but those seeds are cemented on the block seems like....lol. They have to really work to get a chunk off. I do feed them a bag of grass clippings once a week. Chickens like the grass but the ducks love it.

 

[Weeg]

I was thinking her weight may have been an issue. We feed them a handful of corn at night to get them put up and they have straight 20% laying pellets. We do feed them scraps and such but it's not a bunch. Between them and the ducks scraps dont stay on the ground long. Once a week they get a handful of oyster shell and that's about it. We do have a flock block on the ground for them but those seeds are cemented on the block seems like....lol. They have to really work to get a chunk off. I do feed them a bag of grass clippings once a week. Chickens like the grass but the ducks love it.

I think we may have found your issue. How many birds are you feeding that corn? I would cut that, and the flock block out. flock blocks are very high ins sugar, since you need the sugar to get it to stick together. Along with all the seeds in it, which have very little nutritional value.
Can you weight the rest of your hens? Or feel their keel bones?
Its easy to over treat them, I understand that. I think you need to cut everything out except for veggie scraps, because sounds like its causing some real issues.
What kind of scraps do you feed? Cut any scraps out that aren't from vegetables or fruit.
you can still feed treats like kale, leafy greens, herbs, fruits and berries, those are great!

 

[3KillerBs]

I think we may have found your issue. How many birds are you feeding that corn? I would cut that, and the flock block out. flock blocks are very high ins sugar, since you need the sugar to get it to stick together. Along with all the seeds in it, which have very little nutritional value.

I have to agree.

You can try using their regular feed wetted into a mash as their special treat. Most people find that their birds go nuts over it.

Also, you should be offering the oystershell free choice. Put it into a container in their run and keep it full so it's always there when they want it.

 

[BigLar368]

I think we may have found your issue. How many birds are you feeding that corn? I would cut that, and the flock block out. flock blocks are very high ins sugar, since you need the sugar to get it to stick together. Along with all the seeds in it, which have very little nutritional value.
Can you weight the rest of your hens? Or feel their keel bones?
Its easy to over treat them, I understand that. I think you need to cut everything out except for veggie scraps, because sounds like its causing some real issues.
What kind of scraps do you feed? Cut any scraps out that aren't from vegetables or fruit.
you can still feed treats like kale, leafy greens, herbs, fruits and berries, those are great!

This is the first flock block we have ever bought them. We feed about 2 cups of corn to 17 chickens and 4 ducks just at night. It does not last long on the ground.

The buffs are just large breeds. We have two austerlops and they are pretty big as well. The rest of them are kinda just skinny chickens. They free range all day in about a 750 square foot enclosure so they get plenty of exercise. They all have bright red healthy combs. Nothing out of the ordinary.

As far as scraps and treats it's almost 100 percent plant based. We rarely feed the.any meat at all.

Oyster shell is put down about once a week so they eat it as they want. We tried putting it in a container but they just end up crapping in it or knocking it over.

 

[Weeg]

This is the first flock block we have ever bought them. We feed about 2 cups of corn to 17 chickens and 4 ducks just at night. It does not last long on the ground.

The buffs are just large breeds. We have two austerlops and they are pretty big as well. The rest of them are kinda just skinny chickens. They free range all day in about a 750 square foot enclosure so they get plenty of exercise. They all have bright red healthy combs. Nothing out of the ordinary.

As far as scraps and treats it's almost 100 percent plant based. We rarely feed the.any meat at all.

Oyster shell is put down about once a week so they eat it as they want. We tried putting it in a container but they just end up crapping in it or knocking it over.

I would still cut out the corn. Its not good for them, and its very high in fat. 2 cups is also twice as much as you should be feeding. Each bird should only have 1tbsp per day. Thats 21 tbsp for the whole flock, which rounds down to 1 cup of corn per day max.
I think there is a very good chance that is your issue.
I hope I don't come off as frank, don't get me wrong, I overfed treats before BYC as well. Its easy do for those fluff nuggets. Sometimes we learn the hard way, the best thing to do now is learn from it.
I would swap that corn out for 2c of chopped leafy greens, other veggies, or fruit or berries. Or as much layer pellets turned into a mash as you like. They go bonkers for that!
For your OS issue, try a hanging feeder link this, or this.
I had the same issue you are before buying a hanging feeder.

 

[3KillerBs]

Oyster shell is put down about once a week so they eat it as they want. We tried putting it in a container but they just end up crapping in it or knocking it over.

For your OS issue, try a hanging feeder link this, or this.
I had the same issue you are before buying a hanging feeder.

Or a homemade feeder like this:

Because my flock is much larger now I made another one from a coffee can and am thinking of switching to an even larger one made from a large detergent bottle.

For feeding mash to 20-some chickens I use a small plastic dishpan.

 

[Battlepants]

Because my flock is much larger now I made another one from a coffee can and am thinking of switching to an even larger one made from a large detergent bottle.

I'd probably avoid that kind of bottle since they aren't designed to be food safe. However, if you are on good terms with a local restaurant, ask for one of their discarded pickle or olive buckets. Those are ~5 gallons and food safe. They will likely be trashing them anyway.

 

[Weeg]

Or a homemade feeder like this:

Because my flock is much larger now I made another one from a coffee can and am thinking of switching to an even larger one made from a large detergent bottle.

View attachment 3068798

For feeding mash to 20-some chickens I use a small plastic dishpan.

Thats a cool idea! Smart!
I love the idea above way more than buying one. Nice way to resume singe use plastic.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I am inclined to agree with Weeg's diagnosis of a likely potential.
Corn is moderately high fat. The seeds in that flock block are high fat. If the area you are mowing is in seed (as my pasture is), that's another source of fat.

Chickens need about 3.5% fat in their diet. Seeds are often 40% fat or more. It doesn't take much to start imbalancing their nutritional intake.

To be certain, you could send your bird off to the State lab for necropsy.

 

[Weeg]

To be certain, you could send your bird off to the State lab for necropsy.

Unfortunately, the body was already disposed of. I feel like we might be onto something here. We may never know for sure, but the diagnosis does make sense.