- Apr 19, 2009
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Quote:
Strange. I wonder why they are "flattened".
I agree with Olive Hill that they do look like LF that have not done well. Even with several feeders they could still be chased away. I provided a feeding station for my teenagers in a location that was not easy for my mature laying hens to get to.
My coop is full up otherwise I would be interested in your little girls. Have you though of providing a drench or extra protein for them? Cooked egg (I use goose/turkey eggs and reject chicken eggs), black oilers, bolonga? I give mine bolonga as a protein/fat treat to make up for the lack of bugs in their area. I can get Bar S brand at Meijers for a buck a pound. Just a teaspoon per bird. I wouldnt give up on them. They are already in your coop so if you are worried of them bring in a bug, well its already there.
Chickflick has a BR that was a bit slow in growing. We though Sabrina also was going to be a bantum. One day she "sprouted" lol. Not the biggest BR but a nice size.
We have been giving them extra protein like eggs. The other day we picked up some dry cat food for the layers because it's very cheap and read it's one of the best things to use. We'll see how that goes. They have never acted sick or lethargic at all, so I don't think that's it. I guess I'll give them a little while longer.
Still MUST get rid of the two broilers though. ASAP!
In cooler weather like we've had dead chicken bodies flatten rather quickly. If they died at night and you didn't find them until morning the flattening could be "natural causes". They may also have been stepped on by the rest of the flock hastening the process. Chickens don't tend to "go around" they'll walk right over their dead flock mates.
I couldn't remember when you got them so I went back and looked and I'd definitely encourage you to give it a little more time before making a decision. I'm rather certain those are standard sized birds and three weeks really, especially at their age, isn't a good indication of overall performance. IME some birds will tend to grow in spurts. They may not grow much at all between 6-9 weeks, for instance, but then at 10 weeks it seems they shoot up over night growing like weeds.
As far as the feed even with that many feed stations it's still possible they're not getting enough to eat. We literally keep feed on three opposite sides of the property at times for mixed age flocks to make sure everyone is able to get some. When they're penned in you almost just HAVE to provide feed that the meeker birds can get to that the others can't. A small, fenced-in station in the corner with an opening too small for the big birds would do the trick.
Strange. I wonder why they are "flattened".
I agree with Olive Hill that they do look like LF that have not done well. Even with several feeders they could still be chased away. I provided a feeding station for my teenagers in a location that was not easy for my mature laying hens to get to.
My coop is full up otherwise I would be interested in your little girls. Have you though of providing a drench or extra protein for them? Cooked egg (I use goose/turkey eggs and reject chicken eggs), black oilers, bolonga? I give mine bolonga as a protein/fat treat to make up for the lack of bugs in their area. I can get Bar S brand at Meijers for a buck a pound. Just a teaspoon per bird. I wouldnt give up on them. They are already in your coop so if you are worried of them bring in a bug, well its already there.
Chickflick has a BR that was a bit slow in growing. We though Sabrina also was going to be a bantum. One day she "sprouted" lol. Not the biggest BR but a nice size.
We have been giving them extra protein like eggs. The other day we picked up some dry cat food for the layers because it's very cheap and read it's one of the best things to use. We'll see how that goes. They have never acted sick or lethargic at all, so I don't think that's it. I guess I'll give them a little while longer.
Still MUST get rid of the two broilers though. ASAP!
In cooler weather like we've had dead chicken bodies flatten rather quickly. If they died at night and you didn't find them until morning the flattening could be "natural causes". They may also have been stepped on by the rest of the flock hastening the process. Chickens don't tend to "go around" they'll walk right over their dead flock mates.
I couldn't remember when you got them so I went back and looked and I'd definitely encourage you to give it a little more time before making a decision. I'm rather certain those are standard sized birds and three weeks really, especially at their age, isn't a good indication of overall performance. IME some birds will tend to grow in spurts. They may not grow much at all between 6-9 weeks, for instance, but then at 10 weeks it seems they shoot up over night growing like weeds.
As far as the feed even with that many feed stations it's still possible they're not getting enough to eat. We literally keep feed on three opposite sides of the property at times for mixed age flocks to make sure everyone is able to get some. When they're penned in you almost just HAVE to provide feed that the meeker birds can get to that the others can't. A small, fenced-in station in the corner with an opening too small for the big birds would do the trick.
