Massive Do Not I Learned 5 Minutes Ago!

[M To The Maxx]

 

[NYREDS]

I have fed pelletrd feed to mbirds as small as modern game bantam & never had one choke on it. I have to say I'm not sure that's what happened to your cockerel. How old is a "newly aged" cockerel?
Also, TSC sells Purina feed which arrives at the store bagged & ready to sell. They don't have any opportunity to " go cheap on" anyone & add pellets to a crumbled feed. All crumbles start out as pellets in the feed mill & are broken down into crumbles. It's not that uncommon for a few pellets to end up in a crumble bag.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

 

[superhornet]

Want to get chickens to eat pellets ?? Mix with a little water until damp and they will eat them fine. I had a bag and they would not eat them, preferred crumbles....I feed crumbles now...

 

[MakNat]

For my babys and bantams, I grind the food in my magic bullet for them... Then slowly don't grind it so small.. Thats what I thought about the new TSC med chick feed. The very crumbles are HUGE!!

 

[twentynine]

It might have choked to death but it weren't because of pelleted feed.

Mine have been on pellets since they were 12 weeks old, goes right down. Frankly I have seen chickens swallow stuff big as marbles and never a hick-up.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

There's a very knowledgeable & experienced chicken breeder/keeper in our poultry club. I told him about the hen who choked to death at check-in at this year's Fair. He told me how he helps chickens that are choking like that, he first tries to remove as much food as possible from the beak, by tapping the beak on something firm and/or prying it out with a finger, then he puts his mouth on the beak & blows the remainder down the bird's throat.

Do this at your own discretion. I haven't tried this, but trust this man's advice & will follow it if ever I'm faced with a similar situation.

 

[hensonly]

Quote:
I'd be afraid of blowing the food down into the bird's lungs...maybe chickens are built differently from people....Hmmm

 

[Ridgerunner]

I really don't understand. I've had my full sized chickens swallow mice before without choking. Could you please explain why you are so sure he died from choking on the feed? Or maybe I don't appreciate how big rabbit feed is. None of us want to lose chickens for any reason. I'd really like to understand this.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:
I know the man who gave this advice from our Poultry Club and know that he knows about chickens. I forget now what he said about the chicken's anatomy & why there wasn't a risk of blowing the stuff into the lungs, but I'll ask him again the next time we have a club meeting.

That's why I said to do this "at your own risk." But if you've got a bird choking to death anyway, it might be worth a try. My friend said he's saved a few chickens' lives this way.