Please Help!! No one can figure this out. My flock is in trouble.

[BarnyardChaos]

Food is fresh every day. I only put out what they can finish. There is very little if any left by the end of the day.

Keep feed in their feeders at all times during the day. If any is left at the end of the day, either dump it into separate bucket (to be reused tomorrow), or place the feeder inside their coop for safety from varmints.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

I also agree with everyone who's suggested multiple feeders and waterers, spaced apart and behind various obstructions. I have four waterers and four feeders, placed strategically so at least two are in shade at any given time. At night I have to collect up the feeders, but it's a small price to pay to make sure everyone can eat all they want.

 

[South Dakota Chick]

Does anyone else think the placement of the roosting bars and that hard-packed (concrete?) floor of the coop might be a contributing problem? I'm just guessing here, but perhaps they're having some injuries --- while trying to go to roost, getting knocked off by others flying up - or falling off when being bullied - or jumping/flying down in the mornings?

It might make sense to install a couple of non-slip ramps. (Mine will line up to scoot along the roosting bar, and single file down the ramps. They prefer it to flying down.) Also install some crossbars so they can safely move from back to front, or to the nearest ramp.

I would also put a heavy layer of wood chips or sand on the floor of that coop. Makes landings softer. I've found wood chips are great for keeping moisture under control and aren't a pain to clean up a few times a year. I haven't tried it, but I've read that sand is very easy to rake and keep clean.

You'll need a reciprocating saw with a metal blade to cut some high "windows" in that metal siding. Wide, but not very tall, and near the top of the walls. Mark out your shape, then drill or punch a hole in each corner of the shape that's big enough for the cutting blade to fit, then cut it out. Cover the window holes with hardware cloth, screwed securely to the metal siding. I'd also configure some kind of awnings to keep direct sun and rain away from the windows in places where they aren't protected already, with plywood or heavy-duty tarp.

It's a wooden floor, there is only concrete in the very corners to keep out predators but they don't walk on it, it is mostly under the wood.

I have an order in for wood chips but it hasn't shown up yet. I will move the roosting bars.

 

[Anime2lover]

Keep feed in their feeders at all times during the day. If any is left at the end of the day, either dump it into separate bucket (to be reused tomorrow), or place the feeder inside their coop for safety from varmints.

That's what we do.

 

[Jaime918]

I'm reading about ventilation and it seems that I could put in vents. The walls are metal so I am trying to figure out how I can do that. It has to be simple, my husband might leave me over the chickens, lol. Anyone have ideas?
I'll keep reading, in the meantime.

If it's a metal shed, worst case scenario if your short on tools a razor knife will go through it. That's what we used. I have vents in place and to avoid messing with the structural integrity we also made a door I can place in the track and screw and lock into place at night so plenty of ventilation but everyone is safe.

Its kind of hard to see but in the photo you can see some of the vents we have placed at the rear, we also have them on the sides.

 

[janiedoe]

I'm reading about ventilation and it seems that I could put in vents. The walls are metal so I am trying to figure out how I can do that. It has to be simple, my husband might leave me over the chickens, lol. Anyone have ideas?
I'll keep reading, in the meantime.

I recommend speaking to @aart and @DobieLover

 

[Liz Birdlover]

But chickens DO have a crop.

I agree with keeping food available all day, but chickens definitely do use their crop to store food in the evening so they can digest it during the night. That is why their crops are usually full at bedtime and empty in the morning.


I suggest you put out more, so there is always a bit left in the evening.

If they eat every bit of it, there are probably a few chickens getting less than they should have.

Sorry I guess I worded wrong, didn't mean to imply chickens do not have crops, I know they do, most birds do, but they aren't all functioning the exact same way. A pigeon can eat once a day & fill it's crop to slowly digest it. Chickens needs to eat all day long.

 

[Geena]

We feed them Henhouse Reserve

This appears to be a feed that consists of both pellets and whole grains?
If so, it's quite likely that the dominant chickens are picking and choosing what they want to eat and the rest of them are only getting access to the bits that are left and possibly none of them are getting an actual complete diet.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

It's a wooden floor, there is only concrete in the very corners to keep out predators but they don't walk on it, it is mostly under the wood.

I have an order in for wood chips but it hasn't shown up yet. I will move the roosting bars.

You'll need a LOT of wood chips to get a good base. Might need to place a board across the threshold of the doorway (removable) to keep most of it inside and prevent blocking the door from closing securely. You can pick them up at any farm store, some gardening centers and landscapers. We get ours at the local farm store, in bales/bags about 25lbs. for about $6 each. The chips are compressed into a bale about the size of a laundry basket, but once opened they cover a LOT of floor space. I use four bags for our coop, about 8' x 12'. Makes about 4" of deep litter. Similar to this:

I'm quite lazy and hate hate hate cleaning the chicken coop. So I depend on the deep litter method, and only have to shovel it out and replenish 3-4 times a year for 50 chickens.

 

[Weeg]

Hello, I didn't read the whole thread so may have missed some stuff, but I did read the entire first page.

I am again going to suggest you send hen in for a necropsy. This sounds like you have a disease running its course to me. You said the hens that started passing would have trouble standing? Maybe Mareks is an issue, that is a complete speculation though, I have 0 experience with that disease. There are so many diseases that can infect poultry, there is not a great way to guess what it is without a necropsy. You could do one yourself as well.

I know you said that your flock doesn't have a disease because you have a good breeder, and your property is clean. I'm in your same boat. Last year, my flock caught Avian Leukosis Virus as some point. Not sure if it was from a feed store, a wild bird, or the new additions I added which were from a hatchery. No way the hatchery birds had the virus, and my property is also clean, so I could have gotten it from anywhere. I lost a young pullet to it, and her passing included some suspicious symptoms. I did an at home necropsy, and then sent her into my state lab for conformation.
We both got birds from reputable sources, and don't have any contamination on our property, but its not hard to pick up poultry diseases unfortunately.

Again, I didn't read the whole thread, so I may have to play some catch up.
Did anyone rule out fatty liver disease? I see you feed Hen House Reserve. To my understanding, thats a whole grain feed correct? Whole grain feeds should be fermented or soaked to prevent picking through. The top hens will pick out their favorite seeds and leave the rest for the lower hens. That means no one gets balanced nutrition, and it causes fatty liver disease. Excessively feeding treats can be a cause as well.

I also agree that leaving out multiple full feeders 24/7 is a good idea. That will ensure everyone is getting food, and there is always food available. If your feeding a soaked or fermented whole grain feed, which you should be doing with Hen House Resever, than put out as much as you think they'll eat so that by the evening when they go to roost its gone. If it runs out anytime before that, fill it up. If you have any leftover, just add it back to the fermenting bucket at the end of the day, or put in the fridge for tomorrow.
If your feeding a dry pelleted feed, fill the feeders to the top, and leave it out until the birds roost. Then place it in the coop, or bring it into a garage at night to keep rodents from free loading.