My meat birds are eating each other!?

[Beckaberry]

Pecking at red will not stop once it has begun. Stop it with Blu cote now! Also, they may be short on protein. Give them a supplement if you're not feeding them at least a high protein diet for meat birds.

 

[Chickenlover2017]

lol yep my chickens are plump there fave snack is corn

X2 on using peas instead.
Corn will make them fat.

XD

 

[FreedomFarmVT]

So there are your issues. Too many birds in too small a space, and cracked corn lowering their protein intake. It was a fine amount of space for 6 week olds, but now they are teenagers and that means they need adult-type space. At least 10 sq ft per bird. Cracked corn is calories, but very little nutrition. It's a treat, and meaties really don't need extra calories.

Right on I got what you're saying. I was ok when they were younger but now they're too big. Thanks for the info.

 

[FreedomFarmVT]

Where are my manners?
I forgot to say welcome to BYC!

Thank you

 

[FreedomFarmVT]

lol yep my chickens are plump there fave snack is corn

XD

My layers like the cracked corn better than their layer feed. Between what they eat around the property and the cracked corn they hardly touch their feed.

 

[junebuggena]

My layers like the cracked corn better than their layer feed. Between what they eat around the property and the cracked corn they hardly touch their feed.

So stop feeding corn. It doesn't provide adequate nutrition. It's mostly just calories, which can lead to fat buildup. Too much fat and you can end up with laying complications like prolapsed vents and internal laying.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

My layers like the cracked corn better than their layer feed. Between what they eat around the property and the cracked corn they hardly touch their feed.

Yep, I LIKE peanut M n M's better than just about anything you put in front of me! We buy the (now) 56 oz bag at Costco when it's on coupon... and I eat ONLY M n M's for several days on end. True confession here. I usually gain 10 pounds each time (and loose it afterwards, but there IS an END to the supply) We actually had to quit buying the "limit" and start buying only 1 bag! I'm 43 years old with a brain that tell's me to STEP AWAY FROM THE CRACK PIPE, so to speak. (supposed to be a pun on cracked corn, not a very good one though) And I'm fully aware of nutritional information and what's going into my body. What's a chicken with a bird brain gonna do? Go for the highly addictive, sugar laden yumminess or go peck at some boring old drab, meh-ness?

But I'm sure you've got the point!

 

[rebrascora]

So pleased I'm not the only one with this addiction....if only I could limit it to peanut M&M's though!

 

[Birdinhand]

free ranging layers have completely different needs than meat birds. for meat birds, they grow so fast and pretty much for one purpose so it's best to give them a diet specifically formulated to handle their 10X metabolism.

 

[sbhkma]

So pleased I'm not the only one with this addiction....if only I could limit it to peanut M&M's though!

I used to have a horse that loved peanut M&Ms