New bantams ...not eating!!

[Armageddon]

I have 2 new bantams from a guy down the street. They each layed an egg the day after I brought them home. I have noticed that they are not eating the layer pellets I have given them....???? The first few days they were able to free range in the yard because I was home....now they are in a smaller area, but don't seem to be eating the pellets and are not laying eggs...is that normal?

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Check with the guy you got them from - what was he feeding? If he was feeding crumbles, they might not know pellets are food.

Some bantams do not lay every day, also rehoming can upset the cycle.

 

[Armageddon]

I called him, he said he was feeding cracked corn....what do I do?? Mix cracked corn and the pellets? Will they eventually eat it? They do have some access to grass and weeds...but not like they would when I am home....????????????What do I do????
?

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Wait, did he only give them cracked corn? Because that may be the source - Chickens should not have a pure scratch diet, and when they do, they often result only to it. It is a lot like candy - Even my girls will ignore the pellets if given too much scratch in a day.

If that is the problem, try adding scratch to their food, and decrease the amount each time until they force themselves to eat the rest of the food as well. Also, another thing that may help is putting things like oatmeal and/or raisins in there too. It helped with my girls for some reason.

But yeah - Rehoming is another thing, as well as the fact that not many chickens lay EVERY day. Also, the food may just look to be not eaten.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Quote:
That can make it a bit harder, but they can and will happily eat other food once they know it is food. Might try moistening the pellets and adding a bit of cracked corn to the top. Also try frozen mixed veggies, run under hot water to thaw, and offer - I smoosh the peas at first also.

 

[kyeschicks]

I used to feed them only cracked corn, but then I found out that only feeding them cracked corn was bad so I bought a bag of layer pellets and stopped feeding them the corn. Mine didn't paid much attention to it, but after a few days they started eating it

they don't free-range so when they're hungry they have to eat the layer pellets otherwise they wont be getting corn at all.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Yeah, a cracked-corn only diet is a big no-no. There's no nutrients in that stuff. Honestly, I stopped giving my birds corn even as a treat a long time ago. I give them healthier treats like fruit.

I agree with what everyone else said. You can mix a little corn in their food to help them see that pellets are also food, but I'd prefer to mix in better things. Fruit, oatmeal, etc.

 

[Armageddon]

Okay I will try adding some things to the pellets. I poured some on the ground today and they seemed to do better.......Is it possible they dont know how to eat out of a feeder?

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

It can happen. Also, scratching on the ground is probably more natural to them if they have been raised that way. If you stick with the feeder, they will eventually figure out how it works. My birds eat out of a trough feeder and will try to scratch the feed out of the feeder and onto the ground.