Picky eaters

[Raindrops]

So I have 26 week old buff Orpington who just started laying about 2 weeks ago. They are happy chickens overall but I am worried about their nutrition.

Last week I decided to buy a huge bag of chicken scratch feed from the store. Gave them a little and they went crazy for it.

Well the problem is that now they won’t touch the regular feed at all. They used to eat a lot of it and now they are not interested in it whatsoever. I hardly have to refill it anymore.

Now you may think: “stop feeding too much scratch so they get hungry”, but I don’t hardly give them any. I give a half a cup a day to be shared by all 4 of them.

Maybe this chicken feed is just terrible tasting?

 

[SueT]

Give the scratch at the end of the day, after they've eaten a bunch of feed. They may hold out at first...DON'T give in. They will eat their feed when they get hungry.
Good luck.

 

[Raindrops]

Will do! I’ll give it to them before they go in for the night and that’s it!

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I mix feed sometimes. I usually only give my chickens layer pellets. Sometimes they get left over boiler crumbles that is a different brand. They really like that plus it is organic. Their layer pellets is just natural feed. Most pecky eaters I get is the ones who won't touch the oyster shells. They like to peck around them.

 

[Raindrops]

Hm good to know. I never thought about mixing stuff. I’m pretty sure they will find a way to avoid the non-yummy stuff though! Haha

 

[Teila]

Tee hee, yep, they will pick out the stuff they like!

I just wanted to add that it is recommended to keep the oyster shell separate from their feed. This is so that hens that feel they need the calcium will be able to eat it and those that do not need it will not be forced to consume it with their feed.

Mine is in a container in the coop and if they feel they need it, they will usually have a peck in the evening before going up to roost.

 

[blackdog043]

What is the date code on the bag of feed? If it's a new bag of feed, they're may be a problem with it, it happened to me once. My chickens hardly ate it, so I took it back and got a different date coded bag and they were eating as usual. Did you change from crumble to pellets, some don't like pellets?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Half a cup of scratch a day might be a bit much for just 4 birds. When I do give my chickens (3 birds) scratch they get about a tablespoon, total.

 

[Raindrops]

I’ll check the date on the bag, thank you blackdog.

@rosemarythyme maybe I’m giving them too much. Hmm

 

[Bobby Basham]

I’ll check the date on the bag, thank you blackdog.

@rosemarythyme maybe I’m giving them too much. Hmm

Somebody brought up the topic of picky eaters. What it boils down to is that YOU rule the roost, and if they're hungry enough, they will eat what you give them. Folks don't let their kids rule them, so why succumb to some spoiled chickens? No such thing as a chicken going on a hunger strike and need to be shown some tough love.