Never stop!!!!!

[cherrynberry]

@R2elk
@Overo Mare
@Eggcessive
@Wyorp Rock

Any of you know about this? I used safeguard to deworm them, @Wyorp Rock recommended it for roundworms which he/she also recommended, so thanks! Any thought about this new problem though?

 

[cherrynberry]

Yeah that's about 3x the average for free ranged large fowl daily per bird. That's a bit of a puzzler. Perhaps switch over to 100% fermented feed and grow the scratch into fodder or sprout it to make it more nutritionally available. Could just be that it's spring, seems like all the animals go into overdrive in spring.

Is it normal though? They did this during late winter as well.

 

[cherrynberry]

@sourland
@N F C
@Kiki

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

Has this been going on the whole time you've had them? Are you feeding them a certain amount free choice? Any rats around?

 

[MadamContrary]

Is it normal though? They did this during late winter as well

When temperatures drop birds do eat more to generate body heat. Whether what your experiencing is normal, I can't say. What breeds do you keep? Some are more feed efficient than others.

 

[cherrynberry]

Has this been going on the whole time you've had them? Are you feeding them a certain amount free choice? Any rats around?

No rats, I wait until they finish all of their food. I feed them morning and night free choice, AND no, our Wyandotte’s did not do this, and our EEs whom we hand raised have always done this

 

[cherrynberry]

When temperatures drop birds do eat more to generate body heat. Whether what your experiencing is normal, I can't say. What breeds do you keep? Some are more feed efficient than others.

EEs, Wyandotte’s, golden comets, and a leghorn

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This is almost an emergency!! I have been feeding a flock of 15 chickens 20 cups of layer and grower for the rooster, this is more than double of what I had heard chickens eat. Awhile ago, I made the mistake of buying 3 50lb bags of layer feed with only 16% protein. This caused hens to get picked on, that is solved now, but they still never stop eating! Due to the protein lack, I feed them extra eggshells, some grower feed (it has 20% protein), flax (1 cup a day), mealworms (1 cup a day), eggs (about 2 scrambled per day), as well as grit and scratch..

I know nothing else is eating their food as I watch until they finish it, to let my rooster out (I trap him alone in the coop until he finishes his 1 cup of grower feed...I have no idea what we are doing wrong.

We feed Purina layer feed, usually 20% protein, but now 16% and even when they were on 20% they also don’t stop eating!

Update: today the chickens ate a total of 20 cups of food regardless of flax and eggs.

We last dewormed 2 months ago, and they are free ranged. Also I said they eat 20 cups, but 15 of those cups are dry feed and 5 cups are fermented so the fermented feed comes to about 15 cups, so they are eating much more at about 30 cups


edit: that’s 30 cups in all not even including 1 cup of flax, 1 cup of mealworms, and 1 cup of scratch/ lots of grit

How big is your cup. Can you get a weight of the feed that's in your cup?
Are you only feeding 1 time a day?

Photos of what and how you are feeding may be helpful too. On **average** a laying hen eats 1/4 pound of feed per day so get some weights on what you are feeding.

 

[cherrynberry]

How big is your cup. Can you get a weight of the feed that's in your cup?
Are you only feeding 1 time a day?

Photos of what and how you are feeding may be helpful too. On **average** a laying hen eats 1/4 pound of feed per day so get some weights on what you are feeding.

Will do, our cup measurer is just a normal cup, please wait for more info!!!! Will get it now!

 

[cherrynberry]

Will do, our cup measurer is just a normal cup, please wait for more info!!!! Will get it now!

So one cup it 0.32 of a pound and 5 cups is 1.76 pounds