hello! i am brand-new to the world of chickens and know next to nothing about their care. i am rehabbing a hen that was attacked by a dog (she had emergency surgery on thanksgiving to fix a gigantic wound in her back and one thing i know now for sure is that emergency chicken surgery ain't cheep!) and i'm also caring for one of her sister-hens who is VERY skinny (both are skinny but the extra skinny one is bone thin). when i went to redbarn feed for food they sold me a scratch mix but i've been reading here that scratch is maybe not such a great food. where/how can i find specific recommendations for diet? also, i'd love to read about techniques/tips for living with indoor or indoor/outdoor pet chickens. thanks in advance for all advice and help! f. weeble
I wonder if they sold you the scratch to put weight on are they full grown? if so, layer pellet is what most of us feed ours. Plus you can fing a treats list somewhere on here too. Maybe someone will post the link here for you I dont know how There are vitamin/electrolytes you can mix into the water as well as antibiotics if/when needed. How did you get these chickens? Sounds like a rescue thing? Good luck....sounds like they got lucky finding you.
hi there. for feeding you may want to move your post to the "Feeding Time" category, it will get more attention. as far as what to feed them, scratch is a treat, not an end-all-be-all type of feed. the type of food depends on their age and purpose. if they are egg layers and are currently laying eggs, a layer mash or crumbles such as Layena is good. if they are egg layers but not yet laying (i.e. if they're young) feed them a chick starter.... you can get medicated or non-medicated, there are opinions on both. and if they are meat chickens, they get a different sort of feed that i believe is higher in protein. as far as recommendations, one of the feed manufacturers had a chart online.... try googling Purina Mills or Honor feed. i'm not sure which had the chart. or, go to TSC or your feed store, on the back of the bags it usually says. if you need help to figure out breed, you can take a photo and post it up here and the folks might have some ideas. good luck with them, glad someone is taking such good care of those girls.
If they are real skinny I would go buy a starter grower feed to put some weight back on them. It has higher protein then a layer feed. If they are laying then offer some oyster shell too for their calcium needs. You should be able to get those at your feed store or tractor supply if you have one around you. If they are not allowed much time outside I would also get them a bag of grit, they need it to help digest their food if they don't have access to small rocks and pebbles outside. Good luck and good for you for helping those poor chickens. Keep reading this site, there is a lot of knowledgeable chicken folks here.
Hi fallenweeble Welcome to BYC. This is in my opinion, the friendliest place to get great information on raiseing chickens....care..feed...and yes, hatching! Now that you have been taken over by a few hens...the addiction starts! As for your hens...do you know what breeds they are? Do you know thier age!? Can you post pictures of them? If you have pictures, go to www.photobucket.com. Set up a FREE account, and uload your pics in there. Then you can post them in here! If they are layers...at least 6 months old, you will want to give them oyster shell..for proper egg production. Being that they are underweight..I would give them either chick starter(medicated) or game bird feed.( high protien) To get some weight back on them. Then, you can switch to layer feed. Some like crumbles...but I personally like layer pellets, less waste. You are an angel for takeing care of those poor hens. Congrats! Looking forward to seeing many post from you, and lots of pics!!
Hi fallenweeble and welcome. Bless you for taking care of some babies that couldn't care for themselves. I hope you enjoy them. I truly believe rescued animals of all types understand that they were rescued and will pay you back tenfold in love. As for being a newbie around here, you might want to stand over here in the corner with the rest of the newbies...these old-timers are...what's a polite way of putting this ummm...obsessed? And whatever you do, don't go near the incubating category! Those people are really out there!
Hi & Welcome to the madness! to you for helping those poor birds! Click here--->Chicken Treats Chart Dawn
thank you for the welcome and the help! i did pick up some "layer pellets" today so i took the advice to heart . i appreciate everyone's feedback. i will post some pics and better descriptions of my new chicken friends soon. i have NO idea what kind of chickens they are (i'm a TOTAL novice when it comes to cluckers) but they have a reddish coloration, are not tiny but smallish, and one has beautiful long almost fur like feathers around her neck area. all i was told by the person who originally had the chickens was they he had "layers" and "friers" - he didn't name a specific breed. anywhoo, i think i'm hooked. i'm totally in love with ruby the chicken who was injured and who i've been rehabbing. she sits in my lap at night while i watch tv and falls asleep as i give her chicken neck massages (i KNOW, i'm nuts right?). i am a big bird lover in general so it isn't THAT big of a surprise and yet i'm still kinda shocked that chickens are so friendly and just generally cool. who knew? okay, enough babbling . . . pics to follow soon. f. weeble
You might want to meet Purple Chicken...he has a thing about chicken necks too!! I suppose that's kind of an inside joke, but if you hang around here long enough you'll meet PC......
Your screen name is wrong! Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down, LOL! I so remember those commercials. Welcome.