- May 24, 2011
- 191
- 12
- 93
About seven months ago I bought my first batch of chicks. I had no hiccups aside from the dogs killing one of the chickens (they sure know better than to do that now!). I fed them the feed our local co-op sells and they did great on it, plus I supplemented their diet with yogurt and fruits and veggies. After a while they gained a really pretty, almost glossy quality to their feathers.
Three months later, I bought another batch from a local breeder. From what I could tell she was a great breeder and the adult chickens were gorgeous. So after an obscene amount of money spent and mysterious attack (the culperate has never been found), I'm left with two birds out of my second batch, a chocolate orpington and a lavender orpington. Their feathers aren't anything like my girls, to the point where I almost wonder if something is wrong with them. I'm treating them exactly the same as my first batch, but their feathers don't have that glossy quality that my big girls have. But other than the feathers they're healthy birds. Normal bowel movements, normal behavior, good weight, if they were sick I would think they'd show it, which leads me to think it's either genes or a dietary problem.
Another concern I have is the fact that I'm trying to integrate my two flocks. There's no major problems with bullying, just some normal chasing and I'm about to buy a couple of more feeders today just to make sure everyone has access to food. Unfortunately my big girls are on layer pellets and my little kids are on the grower from the feed store. I know for a fact that the grower doesn't have enough calcium to sustain my big girls and yet, that's what they run for. They're eating out of their own food as well, as well as having access to grit and oyster shell (they never touch the oyster shell and I don't have any clue why).
I can't find other threads that talk about what to do with food when you're mixing the two flocks. I'm going to try putting the little kid food in their coop, but they aren't great at using the ladder to get in there, so I've been leaving the big door open, which I'm sure would show the big girls just how to get up there.
Is there anything I can do to get/keep everyone's diets on the right track? The little birds are the same size as the big birds height wise (in fact I have a feeling my rooster is going to be enormous, because he's already matching them in weight too). Any ideas would be appreciated.
Three months later, I bought another batch from a local breeder. From what I could tell she was a great breeder and the adult chickens were gorgeous. So after an obscene amount of money spent and mysterious attack (the culperate has never been found), I'm left with two birds out of my second batch, a chocolate orpington and a lavender orpington. Their feathers aren't anything like my girls, to the point where I almost wonder if something is wrong with them. I'm treating them exactly the same as my first batch, but their feathers don't have that glossy quality that my big girls have. But other than the feathers they're healthy birds. Normal bowel movements, normal behavior, good weight, if they were sick I would think they'd show it, which leads me to think it's either genes or a dietary problem.
Another concern I have is the fact that I'm trying to integrate my two flocks. There's no major problems with bullying, just some normal chasing and I'm about to buy a couple of more feeders today just to make sure everyone has access to food. Unfortunately my big girls are on layer pellets and my little kids are on the grower from the feed store. I know for a fact that the grower doesn't have enough calcium to sustain my big girls and yet, that's what they run for. They're eating out of their own food as well, as well as having access to grit and oyster shell (they never touch the oyster shell and I don't have any clue why).
I can't find other threads that talk about what to do with food when you're mixing the two flocks. I'm going to try putting the little kid food in their coop, but they aren't great at using the ladder to get in there, so I've been leaving the big door open, which I'm sure would show the big girls just how to get up there.
Is there anything I can do to get/keep everyone's diets on the right track? The little birds are the same size as the big birds height wise (in fact I have a feeling my rooster is going to be enormous, because he's already matching them in weight too). Any ideas would be appreciated.
