Raising Baby Chick-Along

[orrpeople]

I'm tellin ya...if my hardware store EVER runs out of tarps, bungie cords and zipties, ya'll are gonna feel the earth shake!

Truth.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I am more worried about lumber, screws, nails, roofing tin, and plywood. I have shelters to build! After my coop is done, the goat and guinea shelter is next. They better not run out!

 

[orrpeople]

I am more worried about lumber, screws, nails, roofing tin, and plywood. I have shelters to build! After my coop is done, the goat and guinea shelter is next. They better not run out!

I'm looking forward to pics "in progress" - perhaps it will motivate me to finish the coop I started in May (the heat here has been my excuse for not finishing - and the ones who need the new digs are still smallish, so I keep procrastinating!)

 

[Jessimom]

I have heard of birds becoming frizzled due to lack of protein. Maybe the stress of having all his feathers plucked plus trying to grow caused it. And i never had young chicks do that so now i am really wondering what you are feeding and if they are getting enough quality and quantity of feed.

Feed - they got a mix of medicated feed and a corn/soy free mix until they were 7 or 8 weeks old, and they are now on Scratch and Peck's naturally free grower. He is in with Bantams the same age, and they are all very healthy. They get mealworms as treats. They get the same amount of feed all the other pens get, based on how many chickens are in each pen. But, I suppose it's possible he is SO timid that the other chickens aren't letting him eat? He's twice their size, so I find that unlikely.

 

[orrpeople]

Feed - they got a mix of medicated feed and a corn/soy free mix until they were 7 or 8 weeks old, and they are now on Scratch and Peck's naturally free grower. He is in with Bantams the same age, and they are all very healthy. They get mealworms as treats. They get the same amount of feed all the other pens get, based on how many chickens are in each pen. But, I suppose it's possible he is SO timid that the other chickens aren't letting him eat? He's twice their size, so I find that unlikely.

Probably have to chalk it up to bizarre chicken behavior. Every now and then one of them does something really odd...kind of like our kids...

 

[CapricornFarm]

Feed - they got a mix of medicated feed and a corn/soy free mix until they were 7 or 8 weeks old, and they are now on Scratch and Peck's naturally free grower. He is in with Bantams the same age, and they are all very healthy. They get mealworms as treats. They get the same amount of feed all the other pens get, based on how many chickens are in each pen. But, I suppose it's possible he is SO timid that the other chickens aren't letting him eat? He's twice their size, so I find that unlikely.

But what is the protein content?

 

[Jessimom]

But what is the protein content?

I have no clue - but I can't imagine 1 bird out of 70 or so that have been on this same feed, isn't getting enough protein. This is how Scratch and Peck describes it:

Naturally Free Organic Grower is a Non-GMO Project Verified and Certified Organic product for laying birds. We use a blend of organic whole grains grown in the Pacific Northwest. While all of our products are soy free, our Naturally Free poultry feed line is both soy free and corn free.

At 8 weeks of age, your chicks’ growth rate will start to slow and they will be big enough to consume whole grains. This is the perfect time to begin transitioning your chickens to our Naturally Free Organic Grower. Don’t worry about any left over Naturally Free Organic Starter; you can mix the two feeds together.

Naturally Free Organic Grower contains a similar mixture of organic ingredients to the Naturally Free Organic Starter feed but it contains less protein and the grains are left in their whole, natural state. We leave the grains whole because oxidation begins once a grain is cracked. Oxidation slowly diminishes nutritional value as the oil in the grain starts to turn rancid which shortens the shelf life and palatability of the grain.

 

[rjohns39]

I have no clue - but I can't imagine 1 bird out of 70 or so that have been on this same feed, isn't getting enough protein. This is how Scratch and Peck describes it:

Naturally Free Organic Grower is a Non-GMO Project Verified and Certified Organic product for laying birds. We use a blend of organic whole grains grown in the Pacific Northwest. While all of our products are soy free, our Naturally Free poultry feed line is both soy free and corn free.

At 8 weeks of age, your chicks’ growth rate will start to slow and they will be big enough to consume whole grains. This is the perfect time to begin transitioning your chickens to our Naturally Free Organic Grower. Don’t worry about any left over Naturally Free Organic Starter; you can mix the two feeds together.

Naturally Free Organic Grower contains a similar mixture of organic ingredients to the Naturally Free Organic Starter feed but it contains less protein and the grains are left in their whole, natural state. We leave the grains whole because oxidation begins once a grain is cracked. Oxidation slowly diminishes nutritional value as the oil in the grain starts to turn rancid which shortens the shelf life and palatability of the grain.

Your feed is fine on protein. My starter is a bit higher--but you're well within the "Good" range. If you're really worried about him/her, offer a little (very little) canned salmon or tuna. Unfortunately we get runts sometimes. My last runt I moved from his siblings to the kids 4 weeks behind him and now I can't figure out which one he/she is.

 

[orrpeople]

Your feed is fine on protein. My starter is a bit higher--but you're well within the "Good" range. If you're really worried about him/her, offer a little (very little) canned salmon or tuna. Unfortunately we get runts sometimes. My last runt I moved from his siblings to the kids 4 weeks behind him and now I can't figure out which one he/she is.

I had a weird similar incident! I had my East Frisians in with a batch of Queen Silvias. The queens always seemed a bit stunted, so when I split them up to go outside, some of the queens were big enough to go early, some, I left in.
But, oddly enough, as of today, there are no QS's in the younger pen. Not one. But there are a couple birds that don't look like either breed. A GFF mistake in shipping? What else looks like a QS as a chick? How many QS'S did I sell to other people who now have some odd breed in their yards? Sometimes the twilight zone is real, my friends.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I have no clue - but I can't imagine 1 bird out of 70 or so that have been on this same feed, isn't getting enough protein. This is how Scratch and Peck describes it:

Naturally Free Organic Grower is a Non-GMO Project Verified and Certified Organic product for laying birds. We use a blend of organic whole grains grown in the Pacific Northwest. While all of our products are soy free, our Naturally Free poultry feed line is both soy free and corn free.

At 8 weeks of age, your chicks’ growth rate will start to slow and they will be big enough to consume whole grains. This is the perfect time to begin transitioning your chickens to our Naturally Free Organic Grower. Don’t worry about any left over Naturally Free Organic Starter; you can mix the two feeds together.

Naturally Free Organic Grower contains a similar mixture of organic ingredients to the Naturally Free Organic Starter feed but it contains less protein and the grains are left in their whole, natural state. We leave the grains whole because oxidation begins once a grain is cracked. Oxidation slowly diminishes nutritional value as the oil in the grain starts to turn rancid which shortens the shelf life and palatability of the grain.

I thought feed companies make a pellet so that the chickens don't just eat their favorite grains and their diet is more balanced.
My thinking was that all the chicks needed more protein because chickens will pick pin feathers off others to get the blood inside wanting protein. So they plucked that one guy bald. If you are happy with that feed, carry on. Just trying to figure out the situation... coupled with the frizzled feathers the solution in my mind was low protein or overcrowding. Sorry to worry you.