Lazy children starved my baby birdies

[LordEvan5]

While I was on vacation I left my hens in the stewardship of my grown son and my two younger boys. They did not do it. After a week and a half of nearly no food or water my whole flock is molting and not laying. Is there anything I can do or are we done until next season. I don’t do lights in the winter and prefer to let my bird live the normal course of the seasons. Also one lazy 18 year old is looking for an apartment I think it’s going to come as a shock when he gets it and has to cook clean and pay his own bills!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

How so you know they weren't fed or watered for that long?

The obvious answer is to keep things full and offer a higher protein feed to help bump them back up​

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Oh my gosh. I am so so sorry for your babies. Thank goodness they are still alive. I would let nature run it’s course and not use lights if it were me. I’d probably get some feather fixer feed or a higher protein feed like an all flock feed, too.

Also I have learned the hard way to pay the neighbor kid to watch my animals before trusting my own partner or family. First and last time I left my partner in charge of my chickens he didn’t let them out of the 4x6’ coop. Fifteen chickens were locked in there for 24 hours with no water. If he had done that in the peak of summer they would have died.

Also, if I had internet I would have a coop camera to monitor that they are being taken care of. I used to have one that cost me about $25 from Amazon. It was a breeze to set up and gave me so much peace of mind!

 

[WIchickMama]

I wouldn't do light either (I choose not to with my ladies so that is just my personal preference) and YEP bump up the protein

 

[McChooky]

Sorry but it looks like you need large enough containers to hold them over when you're gone for extended periods of time.That way if they forget or are too lazy they won't suffer.
More carbs and higher protein feed should keep them warmer and help them grow more feathers and produce more eggs in the winter providing they have adequate lighting and aren't locked up in a dark coop too many hours.I can't help you with the latter if you don't wish to add more light

 

[Tankueray]

Trauma will do that.

I rescued 5 hens that were severely overbred almost 2 months ago. One was nearly completely bald, they all looked like they had mange it was so bad. They were approximately 1 year old when I got them. They immediately went on Feather Fixer and Poultry Cell in the water, but I think the trauma also forced them into an early molt.
Only one began laying again within two weeks, the rest still have not begun to lay. Their tail feathers still haven't grown back, but most of the other feathers have grown back in and they are soft, compared with the previous feathers that felt like sandpaper. My other chickens eat all-flock or chick starter, and they have very soft, shiny feathers, so I suspect their previous diet was lacking as well. They have adjusted well to the rest of the flock and have begun socializing with them and even roosting in the main coop a bit, albeit on the lowest roost, but everyone seems to be doing well. The egg layer even went broody and just hatched some chicks a couple of days ago.

I don't expect the rest to start laying again before spring. They have no interest in the oyster shell and absolutely no interest in the roosters!

Even though modern hens have been bred to lay frequently and ample food allows them to, it's still coded into their DNA to stop laying in times of scarcity. If they've gone into full molt, that has to run its course before they can lay again, the body just can't manage two things at once (and you don't want it to). If they haven't, then it might take 2 weeks or more before their bodies realize that food is plentiful again, but if you're fighting the winter, that natural clock will kick in anyway and you'd be likely to get very few eggs even if you did put a light in there. (You really can't fool mother nature, you can only manipulate it, and then Jurassic Park happens.)

The best thing you can do for them is to put schedules, visitors, and activities back to normal from before you were gone, feed them high protein (like 20%+ unmedicated chick starter with probiotics - Purina, Nutrena, and DuMor all have one), and give calcium free choice. The chick starter will give them the protein and vitamins they need to restore what they've lost/are losing to the molt, and when they're ready, they'll start adding in the calcium themselves and begin to lay. You can choose to keep them on chick starter after (especially good for hot climates) or move them over to an all flock with free choice calcium. I know chick starter is more expensive, but because it has better nutrition and it's easier to digest and process than regular layer feed, they also eat less of it. You can also give whole oats in place of scratch; corn is like candy, and many show breeders avoid it specifically because it can create undesirable colors in feather grow out that will disqualify a bird (e.g., purple barring/sheen on black feathers instead of the green sheen, yellow tint to a white bird, etc.). Obligatory reminder - any food other than chick starter requires grit to be available if they're not free range or you have low grit soil.

And yes, it sounds like your 18 year old needs a lesson in personal responsibility and living in the real world, good for you. Until he finds an apartment, give him a roll of quarters and send him off to the laundromat, without a cell phone charger. The laundromat is a humbling experience even for kids that do their own laundry, and it's kind of benign, so you don't have to worry too much. Sounds like they all need to volunteer at the local animal shelter for the next 10 weekends too.

 

[addctd2plnts]

While I was on vacation I left my hens in the stewardship of my grown son and my two younger boys. They did not do it. After a week and a half of nearly no food or water my whole flock is molting and not laying. Is there anything I can do or are we done until next season. I don’t do lights in the winter and prefer to let my bird live the normal course of the seasons. Also one lazy 18 year old is looking for an apartment I think it’s going to come as a shock when he gets it and has to cook clean and pay his own bills!
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I've got 2 boys that we moved out for similar reasons. They KNOW my animals BETTER be taken care of! It's taken them a bit to get over being angry that they have bills and WORK LMBO And hubby and I laugh at how much more conservative they've become since they pay taxes Baa haa haa We didn't buy ours cars, so they've had that burden too. I truly think the struggle has made them better men and definitely more grateful than they were at home. I'm sorry this happened to your babies, but I bet your son will get his act together too.