Rhode island reds not growing

[swamphiker]

Hi, I'll upload pics after this reply. So I just checked there weight. The smallest on is 0.7 kg and the biggest Is 1.1 kg. We feed them mixed fowl feed and crushed corn in an open feeder. We have other chickens on our farm aswell which all have access to feed any time they want itView attachment 3049405

Thanks for uploading pics and weights! Try and get a feed that has at least 18% protein, it's also generally advisable not to mix corn in with their feed since corn is low in protein. RIRs tend to be a somewhat smaller breed, plus yours still have growing to do. Best of luck!

 

[swamphiker]

Hi, thank you for the information I appreciate it. Yes it was a local mix which is made by one of our feed stores here in Souh Africa. The Rhode islands are 10 months old if that helps. Are there maybe supplements I could give them to help them grow or is it a bit late?

I hadn't seen before that these chickens are 10 months old, the development of their combs and wattles made them look like much younger pullets, so I had assumed they were more like 3-4 months old. It's possible that their feed isn't nutritionally balanced, if you aren't able to see a nutritional analysis, I would consider supplementing their diet with something like mealworms if free-ranging isn't an option.

 

[Sara S]

My rir hens are definitely smaller than my Easter egger girls. I bought them at the same time and they have grown up together all eating the same feed. I recently hatched chicks from both breeds. The chicks from the rir eggs are all smaller than the ee egg chicks. It’s not a huge difference but definitely noticeable.

Mine are that size too. It’s a little weird, I think they are done Growing, yours looks so healthy though!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

So you have 10 month old RIR hens weighing between 1.5 and 2.5# ???
Definitely underweight for the breed. Here in the US, I'd expect 2kg +/- hens at that age, they should be almost fully grown.

As @swamphiker has said, corn his high energy (its oily), but low protein, and more importantly its protein has a relatively low percentage of both methionine and lysine as part of its makeup. I suspect your mixed grains also contain a lot of corn - its inexpensive, does provide some useful nutritional values (just not those) and is commonly used to bulk up feed.

Stop mixing in the cracked corn, it makes what is likely already a marginal feed into a much less valuable one..

If you can get some teff to add to their diet, that would be great. Plant fenugreek/methi. Sorghum is better than cracked corn, if price is similar, cracked/crushed sorghum better than whole - or simply cook it in a pot of water. You want low tannin sorghum is possible - the paler the color, the better. You might also try fermenting the feed in a bucket of water. I'm **NOT** a huge fan of fermented feed, its doesn't provide me with enough benefits to offset the inconvenience, but it is useful for reducing the anti-nutritive properties of some grains and psuedograins, while increasing bioavailability of some vitamins.

 

[TRALALARA1]

Mine are that size too. It’s a little weird, I think they are done Growing, yours looks so healthy though!

Mine are 1 year old now and the pictures are a little outdated. My girls are all healthy and laying well. They’ve filled out some but I do have one that is just flat out smaller and lays a smaller egg but she’s been the smallest since I got them. Let me tell you though, my rir are definitely the most consistent layers!

 

[Poultrypassion29]

I hadn't seen before that these chickens are 10 months old, the development of their combs and wattles made them look like much younger pullets, so I had assumed they were more like 3-4 months old. It's possible that their feed isn't nutritionally balanced, if you aren't able to see a nutritional analysis, I would consider supplementing their diet with something like mealworms if free-ranging isn't an option.

They are free ranged on about half a hectare but I'll try meal worms aswell. Thank you

 

[SmiYa0126]

I bought a few rhode islands a while back and they haven't been growing as much as I would have expected them to... I thought it may just be because rhode islands are slow growing chickens but then today I went and purchased a few rooster because I needed some for my other hens and one of the roosters was a rhode island red. The one I bought today are only 5 months old but the chicks I bought a while back are older but still alot smaller. Does anyone know what the reason for this could be? Maybe a hatching issue from the supplier? Or the wrong feed when they were younger?

I wouldn't worry about their size. My RIR is the smallest, however she lays the biggest eggs. Check their crops before going to bed to make sure they're full, and empty and squishy on the morning.

 

[505RIR]

Maybe you purchased bantams.