ChickenHawk12
Chirping
- May 7, 2015
- 153
- 7
- 76
My chicks are 10 weeks old today. I have 5 BO's. From 6.5-9.5 weeks, they were outside in the coop at night and completely free in my backyard all day long. The poop got too much, and we fenced in a run about 5-6 days ago, and I let them out into the yard around 5 pm and they go back into the coop by themselves around 8 pm or so.
I started a 25-pound bag of Scratch & Peck (milled feed) Grower feed around 7 weeks. I've only gone through about 2/3 of the bag. There is a feeder in the coop (we haven't set up the hooks to hang it outside underneath the coop yet), and a small dish with some in it under the coop. I have a dog-food scoop, and they only eat about one scoop a day, IF that. There are 5 of them. They look and act healthy (at least to me, this is my first time raising chickens), I see them pecking in the feed here and there, they peck at the ground all day, and in the bushes and weeds when I let them out in the yard. The coop and run are both roomy (coop is 4ftX8ft and run is 8ftX14ft), the coop seems to be staying pretty cool with the weather (it is on the shady side of the house), and I've been filling their waterer with a little water and then filling it the rest of the way with ice in the morning so that the ice melts during the day and keeps the water fairly cool.
The weather has been quite warm (mid 80's to 90-ish), but they are eating so much less feed than I expected 5 chickens to eat. I don't really give them treats, since every time I have tried, they took one peck and walked away and didn't touch them (fruit & veggie slices and scraps. They only thing they love is chopped oregano). Again, they are HUGE and their feathers look nice, their combs and wattles are growing and getting color, everybody looks healthy to me. Should I be worried?
I started a 25-pound bag of Scratch & Peck (milled feed) Grower feed around 7 weeks. I've only gone through about 2/3 of the bag. There is a feeder in the coop (we haven't set up the hooks to hang it outside underneath the coop yet), and a small dish with some in it under the coop. I have a dog-food scoop, and they only eat about one scoop a day, IF that. There are 5 of them. They look and act healthy (at least to me, this is my first time raising chickens), I see them pecking in the feed here and there, they peck at the ground all day, and in the bushes and weeds when I let them out in the yard. The coop and run are both roomy (coop is 4ftX8ft and run is 8ftX14ft), the coop seems to be staying pretty cool with the weather (it is on the shady side of the house), and I've been filling their waterer with a little water and then filling it the rest of the way with ice in the morning so that the ice melts during the day and keeps the water fairly cool.
The weather has been quite warm (mid 80's to 90-ish), but they are eating so much less feed than I expected 5 chickens to eat. I don't really give them treats, since every time I have tried, they took one peck and walked away and didn't touch them (fruit & veggie slices and scraps. They only thing they love is chopped oregano). Again, they are HUGE and their feathers look nice, their combs and wattles are growing and getting color, everybody looks healthy to me. Should I be worried?
