Not eating or drinking much...

[Lil Chickie Mama]

I've been noticing that my chickens and roos aren't eating or drinking nearly as much as before. They are constantly flying the coop (pun intended) and scratching around for weeds and hopefully decreasing the bug population so that may explain the food situation. As for the water it's been slightly less hot so I'm probably loosing less to evaporation than before, but still they don't seem to be consuming enough. They are all happy and healthy and don't seem scrawny (don't seem to be plumping either though) so should I just chalk it up to changing weather? Sorry, first time chicken owner here. They always liked their food up until now. We had processed three of them a couple weeks ago and there was more meat than I expected so they're probably fine right? I'm just a nervous Mama?

 

[chickensforever]

I think you're right, the decrease in food consumption is probably related to the increase in scratching around. There is also generally a higher water content in the plants and weeds that they're probably eating which might contribute to the decrease in water consumption. They also don't drink nearly as much water once it starts to get cool so it'd normal for them to drink less. I wouldn't worry too much as long as all the chickens seem happy and healthy but if they start losing weight, then you should search for other problems, like health issues.

 

[Lil Chickie Mama]

Oh thank you. I know I can be a nervous nellie, but you want your babies to thrive right? I never even thought about them consuming their water by eating the plants, hmm. Just to be sure I've checked them for any mites or other nasties and they and the coop/run were recently dusted (as a precaution only) with DE and there is always ACV in the water. Thanks for the help.