My chickens are eating bird seed off the ground

[melinda653]

I recently wormed them right after they finished their antibiotics just for good measure. That was about a week and a half ago. I was giving them a bird specific probiotic powder on top of their food up until recently because they stopped eating and I was just throwing it away. I could just mix it in their tube feed mix right before I give it to them. I looked sprouting seeds recently and I am going to try it with sunflower seed because I have a ton of those. I just can't believe they don't eat.

 

[Loghousemom]

I am stumped. I just cannot imagine a chicken that doesn't want to eat, and I need to see how this turns out!

We're they generally healthy before their sickness that brought on the antibiotics? They were growing normally? No problems with their beaks? You don't see signs of any problems with their feet or anything else? The only current problem is them not eating?

Do they eat the wild birdseed if you put it in where they are confined?

 

[melinda653]

They were perfectly healthy normal piggy little chickens until they got sick. I moved them to a new state with me where they got sick. To put weight on them I started making a "mash" of layer crumbles, yogurt, corn, and various things to get them to eat and they did. I moved them into the house at the new location. Then I moved home and put their coop outside, but kept it off the ground because still I didn't know why they were sick. I took them to the vet, found out what was wrong with them, then put the coop on the ground and let them out. That is when they stopped eating. They have no interest in any type of food anymore. They only like treats, bird seed, and bugs. I made fermented feed which they ate one time, then didn't again. If I sit there and hand feed them some sweet potatoes or baby bird food, they will eat it. But they won't eat anything on their own. So, I tube feed. I have kept them confined for several days now trying to force them to eat their food, but it isn't working.

 

[Rich386]

They are creatures of habit as long as you keep feeding treats and hand feeding WHY SHOULD THEY EAT!! Stop and when they are hungry enough they will eat. There will have no problem if they go hungry for a day or so. Just make sure food and water are available.

 

[Loghousemom]

I did find another site that had a few suggestions for something to feed them for different illnesses. http://www.thepoultrysite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=536

I agree with the PRevious poster that chickens will eat when hungry , just I have never dealt with chickens as sick as your seem to be. If it were me, I think I would be just as concerned as you that they were getting nutrition, but maybe if you just let them be chickens for a couple of days they will begin eating whatever you put out.

 

[spikennipper]

They are creatures of habit as long as you keep feeding treats and hand feeding WHY SHOULD THEY EAT!! Stop and when they are hungry enough they will eat. There will have no problem if they go hungry for a day or so. Just make sure food and water are available.

Agreed, no animal that is able to eat will starve itself to death if some type of food is available, starving dogs locked in houses for weeks have been known to eat mattresses as a last resort! your chickens will eat but you must not give into them, give them their regular food, they may take a few days as they are waiting for the bugs and yummy bird seed and supplemental tube feeding you are giving them when you cave in, keep an eye on their poop when you stop the treats, if they are pooping they are eating, if the poop is brown they are eating, if they stop pooping and/or the poo turns green they are not eating so this may be your cue that something more serious is going on, but def keep them confined so you can assess this and so they don't get access to the seed and bugs! out of interest can we also see a pic of the two birds? I want to gauge their condition.

 

[melinda653]

I stopped giving them treats, seeds, and bugs a while ago. They have been confined. They still won't eat. I keep posting this, but I'll post it again...........they are on meds that make them lose their appetites as well. They have 12 more days of this medication. Before I started the tube feeding I tried the route of "starving them out". I lost. I cut off all treat supplies and only gave them food and every day their weight would drop. They were barely above 4 lbs so I started the tube feeding. I'm not going to let them starve just to win a battle of wills. If they weighed more I would let them "tough it out" but since they are so skinny, I can't afford to play that game with them. Once they reach 5 lbs, then maybe I will let them starve for a few days, but not until then. They should weigh 6-6.5 lbs, but they are still less than 4.5 lbs. But now it has gotten extremely hot and they don't do anything but sit on the ground and pant. By looking at them, you can't tell anything is wrong. They look fine. You can feel their breast bones sticking out like the keel on a boat. When they are done with the meds and have put on some weight, I am going to stop the tube feeding and see if they will start eating again.

 

[buckaroogirl]

I don't think people understand when you say they're on medication that suppresses their appetite yet they WILL eat bird seed willingly ON THEIR OWN. Just doesn't make sense.

 

[melinda653]

Hey, even I don't understand it. They aren't making sense at all. They are just making me crazy.

 

[melinda653]

THEORY: I am on a migraine medicine that makes carbonated beverages taste nasty. Sodas and even carbonated water tastes sour and it's as if it has gone flat. It's really gross. It's just one of those weird side effects. So I wonder if that is why my chickens won't eat their food; it tastes gross because of the medicine. I took someone's suggestion of putting the bird seed on top of their food and they would peck it off as long as it was only lightly sitting on top. If I mixed it in or they would have to eat the regular food to get it, they didn't want it. They have 11 days of the medication left so after that is over, I will see if my theory proves true. I also changed their food at the beginning of this whole thing from Southern States to Purina Layena. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it either.
Any thoughts on this?