MJ's little flock

[MaryJanet]

Please don’t tell me that Bella is actually Billy!

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I'm no good at telling cockerels from pullets, especially when they're frizzled. What makes you think Bella's a cockerel?

 

[LozzyR]

I'm no good at telling cockerels from pullets, especially when they're frizzled. What makes you think Bella's a cockerel?

Mainly the tail feathers. I know hens can have big tail feathers but I'm looking at how they're a bit droopy rather than stiff and straight.

 

[MaryJanet]

Well, Lorna was even lighter at her late-afternoon weighing. I'll have a crop-meal on hand when I weigh her this evening in case it's needed. I just hope she's had enough of a break from crop-feeding that whatever made her throw in the towel yesterday morning won't happen again.

Right now, she's outside with her friends and having as cheerful a time as possible, with some scampering and some resting.

 

[MaryJanet]

Mainly the tail feathers. I know hens can have big tail feathers but I'm looking at how they're a bit droopy rather than stiff and straight.

Does that apply to frizzles? Do frizzle pullets have stiff, straight tail feathers?

 

[LozzyR]

Does that apply to frizzles? Do frizzle pullets have stiff, straight tail feathers?

Snowy's tail feathers don't droop. I'd have to check photos of Penguin and Lottie but I don't think so.

 

[LozzyR]

Well, Lorna was even lighter at her late-afternoon weighing. I'll have a crop-meal on hand when I weigh her this evening in case it's needed. I just hope she's had enough of a break from crop-feeding that whatever made her throw in the towel yesterday morning won't happen again.

Right now, she's outside with her friends and having as cheerful a time as possible, with some scampering and some resting.

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Come on Lorna, I need you to put that weight on!

 

[ManueB]

Well, Lorna was even lighter at her late-afternoon weighing. I'll have a crop-meal on hand when I weigh her this evening in case it's needed. I just hope she's had enough of a break from crop-feeding that whatever made her throw in the towel yesterday morning won't happen again.

Right now, she's outside with her friends and having as cheerful a time as possible, with some scampering and some resting.

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Unfortunately I think loosing some weight when being weaned off crop feeding , may be unavoidable.
Maybe if you crop feed her only once or twice during the day her reaction will not be as bad ?
Or maybe you could try giving her less at a time ?

I also really hope she picks up the trick to getting back on normal feed .

 

[MaryJanet]

Unfortunately I think loosing some weight when being weaned off crop feeding , may be unavoidable.
Maybe if you crop feed her only once or twice during the day her reaction will not be as bad ?
Or maybe you could try giving her less at a time ?

I also really hope she picks up the trick to getting back on normal feed .

I hadn't voiced it yet, but I was thinking the same thing. The trick is to keep her strong enough to adapt to pellets without taking away her hunger with liquid food.

She tapped away at the pellets a few times today, but so far it hasn't converted into weight.

And she's not really in the mood for trying new foods like mashes, which is a real shame because the mashes I've been making are an ideal transition diet. Her friends gobble them up! At least I know those two are eating well.

 

[ManueB]

I hadn't voiced it yet, but I was thinking the same thing. The trick is to keep her strong enough to adapt to pellets without taking away her hunger with liquid food.

She tapped away at the pellets a few times today, but so far it hasn't converted into weight.

And she's not really in the mood for trying new foods like mashes, which is a real shame because the mashes I've been making are an ideal transition diet. Her friends gobble them up! At least I know those two are eating well.

Then it would maybe be best to crop feed in the evening so that she gets hungry through the day but goes to bed with some food in her ? Leaving her some time before roosting in case she has another spell.
Also it's very difficult to really know how much they eat when they are with others. I've seen a sick hen play around with the food to pretend but not actually eat, or very little.

 

[MaryJanet]

Then it would maybe be best to crop feed in the evening so that she gets hungry through the day but goes to bed with some food in her ? Leaving her some time before roosting in case she has another spell.
Also it's very difficult to really know how much they eat when they are with others. I've seen a sick hen play around with the food to pretend but not actually eat, or very little.

I was closely watching her eat when she came inside, and she was definitely eating pellets. There's that tiny and fast gesture they make when throwing/rolling a pellet into the back of the beak. I can't say how many she ate, but while I was watching it would've been around half a dozen. Other pellets were pushed aside, others were spilled, but many were thrown up into her beak.

Still, eating is not the same as metabolising the nutrients in food. I'll be surprised if I don't have to feed her at roosting time.