Laying Down while eating and drinking?

[aclee]

My 10 day old COrnish are already laying down while they eat, and sometimes while they eat. I put the feed trough up on a 1 X 4 and that has stopped then from just eating and sleeping right there. Now they eat laying down, and once the food gets a little lower, they have to stand. As they get bigger though do I just keep putting the food on a higher piece of wood? What about the water...I can't put it up much higher than it is now or when they fly to land on the top of it, I think they will knock it over...

Thanks!

 

[silkiechicken]

I just keep moving mine up and up and up. I use water bottles for them to drink from, but soon enough, they won't be able to get off the ground to fly even if they wanted to.

 

[jaku]

Are you restricting food or feeding 24/7. If you restrict to 12/12, they EAT, rather than graze throughout the day. If one of my birds laid down at the trough, the others would trample it in a second.

 

[aclee]

I am attempting to feed 24/7 but apparently I need something that holds more food...or at least keep filling it a million times a day till I do the food restriction in a few days. I have a range of ages in there, so I think I'll go to 2.5 week average and then do 12 on and 12 off.

Another question though is that I plug in an extra light at night (for now...they just moved into the garage)...would it make more sense to feed them at night while they have more light (I use just a red bulb during the day, and add a white bulb at night so they stay warm in the temp drop) or should I feed them during the day? Does it matter much?

Since they moved into their new large brooder (it wouldn't fit through the door it was so big, that's why they are in the garage now) they have been really active, so maybe they are just eating more because they can move around more. I swear they are eating twice the amount they were a day ago when they were in the smaller brooder!

They are getting big so fast....I still have my one free exotic chick in with them, and he's so tiny compared to them...but he doesn't take any garbage from anyone...walks right up to the biggest on and goes through the legs to get to the food

 

[cassie]

Do not feed them 24/7. Allow them feed for 12 hours then take it away for 12. We take the feed away at 7 or so at night and put it down at 7 in the morning. We use hanging feeders and waterers so we can adjust the height as needed.

 

[aclee]

Quote:
you don't feed 24/7 even when they are just 10 days old?

 

[pardenx3]

I have fed mine 24/7 from day one and they have been just fine.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
What are you feeding them [ protein levels ] ?