lost 2 chickens tonight...lack of knowledge, i feel awful.

[chknlitl]

We are inexperienced and put 2 new banties with our flock. We had taken our others off chickfeed and had started them on layer pellets. Didnt know banties couldnt eat pellets. I feel like dog poo. My wife has been crying for about an hour. She got attached to them in just a few days. Next time i make any changes i will check and do some research here first. But i did learn some lessons and it probably saved our two silkies. I didnt know they need crumbles and not pellets. If we lost carmen one of our silkies it would have been awful. She is one of a kind and not replaceable. Buttercup our other silkie is fast becoming one of the family also. I also want to thank the people who tried to help us nurse them back to life. We are outside with our chickens every day but i guess i wasnt familiar enough with the banties personalties and thought they were just adjusting to thier new enviornment. I feel awful.

 

[jennh]

I'm sorry for your loss. I didn't know banties can't have pellets, but then I have all LF.

Jen

 

[TriciaHowe]

Sorry for you loss....

Where did you hear that bantams can't eat pellets? Mine eat them just fine as once they are off grower that's all they get.

 

[ivan3]

How old were the banties and where did you get them? How did you zero on the pellets as being the cause of death, were their crops impacted with the feed? Or were they rejecting the feed altogether?

 

[nzpouter]

banties can eat pellet.. something else cause the death.

 

[TyrannosaurusChix]

i have a few bantams and i bought pellets on accident( 150 pounds of it) the chickens have pounded through that, and ive since changed to mill feed that has corn and boss in it( and before i did that thye ate scratch just fine too)


is your whole flock banty or not? maybe they just got beat up and aquashed because of their size?

I am sorry for your loss

 

[crazy chook]

sorry for your loss, were they just not eating?

 

[elmo]

Sometimes when you switch feeds, the chickens don't recognize the new food is actually food, so they don't eat it. That may be what happened. When I sent birds to a new home, I always sent a small bag of the feed they were used to with them, and gave directions to their new owners to mix their usual feed in with the new feed.

The other thing that can happen when new birds join a flock is that they may be bullied away from the feeding station by the regulars. You can help avoid this problem by setting up multiple feeding stations, and watching the new birds carefully to make sure they're able to eat.

I'm sorry for your loss. Thanks for posting, though, because you may be helping to save the lives of other birds by discussing this issue.

 

[chknlitl]

Elmo i think your right it was probably a combo of the others not letting them eat and didnt recognize the new food. Another person said somthing similar. Thanks for the advice.

 

[NellaBean]

I had the same thing happen recently.........most of my bantams eat pellets just fine....didn't think anything of it until 1 died. Combination of not recognizing the pellets and being lowest on the totem pole. I felt HORRIBLE. I saw her everyday but she was a fluffy cochin/silkie mix and always "looked" the same. I have started mixing the pellets and crumbles together and have added "feeding stations" around the yard with gamebird starter crumbles mixed with scratch to help "bulk" up the thinner girls.....I've definitely learned my lesson