My 8 weeks old chickens don't eat their feed anymore

[Rohan2425]

Before anyone says anything, yes I did try and mix it with water but it had worked a week back but not any longer.


This is kind of my fault. I gave them too much of the good stuff. 2 days ago, I game them a chunk of papaya... Before that I mixed their traditional starter crumble feed with banana and fed it to them. I have no issues mixing banana, but the problem is, they don't eat it from the bowl. They would grab a chunk and go place it in a different spot. Since the floor is embedded with wood shavings and sawdust, some of them get mixed up with the chunks since you know, banana is sticky. And they obviously digest all of it. I don't want them dying on that. What can I do right now?

 

[ForFlocksSake]

were you mixing banana in their feed every day?

Giving treats shouldn't stop them from eating their feed, IMO. Has it been a long time with them NOT eating? Im not a chicken expert but with any pet or animal I would just leave them with the plain feed. Eventually they'll get hungry enough.

 

[Rohan2425]

were you mixing banana in their feed every day?

Giving treats shouldn't stop them from eating their feed, IMO. Has it been a long time with them NOT eating? Im not a chicken expert but with any pet or animal I would just leave them with the plain feed. Eventually they'll get hungry enough.

Yeah I was kinda doing that. Did it two days straight until I figured the mixing with shavings thingy.

 

[ForFlocksSake]

Yeah I was kinda doing that. Did it two days straight until I figured the mixing with shavings thingy.

do they have access to grit? That just occurred to me. if you're giving them ANYTHING other than starter crumbles then they need to have grit.

The wood shavings wouldn't worry me because chickens eat rocks and shells and all sorts of stuff from the ground.

 

[Rohan2425]

do they have access to grit? That just occurred to me. if you're giving them ANYTHING other than starter crumbles then they need to have grit.

The wood shavings wouldn't worry me because chickens eat rocks and shells and all sorts of stuff from the ground.

I don't know where to get grit in my area. I don't even know what to call them in Bengali. I just wanna know if they'll get back to the feed? Only the dominant roo is like not even touching the starter feed as well as grower feed

 

[ForFlocksSake]

I don't know where to get grit in my area. I don't even know what to call them in Bengali. I just wanna know if they'll get back to the feed? Only the dominant roo is like not even touching the starter feed as well as grower feed

Do they go outside to peck at the ground at all? again, not an expert but im worried they ate food that requires grit to break down and that's the reason they're not eating now. Hopefully someone with more knowledge pops in here.

Is there a store where you can purchase animal supplies? I have my chickens confined to a run so I have to provide them with grit. It comes in a bag and lots of companies sell it. they come in different sizes so you would need grit small enough for 8-20 week old chicks.

 

[K0k0shka]

They are like kids. Once you give them candy, why would they go back to eating their regular dinner when they can just eat candy? They're holding out for the good stuff. Treats really aren't recommended this young, especially not regularly and in large amounts. It messes up their nutrition. They are still growing, so they need good nutrition more than full grown chickens. Cut the fruit out entirely, and give them only their chicken feed. They won't starve to death in the presence of food, so they'll pout for a while and wait for more bananas, but when they see they aren't getting any, and get hungry enough, they'll resume eating their feed. If you do this, you won't need grit until they get older and eventually go outside. If your soil is rocky enough, you may not need to give them grit. But it's good to have it there just in case. If you can't find it at a store, check what other chicken keepers in your area are using for grit, and ask where they're getting it from.

 

[Alagirl]

I don't know where to get grit in my area. I don't even know what to call them in Bengali. I just wanna know if they'll get back to the feed? Only the dominant roo is like not even touching the starter feed as well as grower feed

grit is nothing but small stones. you can get that from the outside.
My chickens are outside all the time, I have not given them any grit in months, as they can get it free now.

 

[K0k0shka]

grit is nothing but small stones. you can get that from the outside.
My chickens are outside all the time, I have not given them any grit in months, as they can get it free now.

Depending on where one lives, stones from outside may not be safe for chickens to eat. I'm in an urban part of the US Northeast, where lead in the soil is very common, left over from the recent past (it persists in the soil and won't just go away on its own). I have had my yard tested and it has very high lead levels. So my chickens stay in their run which has had new soil and bedding brought in, and I give them store-bought grit. Not a lot of people think to have their soil tested, but this is actually very common. Chickens are very sensitive and can get sick seemingly "out of nowhere", or die "for no apparent reason", when in fact it could be something like this. OP lives in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I don't know what the conditions are in their particular area, but a quick search shows that industrial areas such as Dhaka have high heavy metal pollution in the water and soil. So if it were me, I'd try to find cleaner sources of grit/rocks before I just go scoop some from outside.

 

[Penpal]

Read the label of their feed. Since it's starter, there is probably already grit in it.