Suggestions? URGENT ** GRAPHIC

[CabritaChicks]

I think you’re doing fine! She is not isolated from the flock; you’re not trying to stitch her head together or carrying her around in your bra all day; you’re not tube-feeding her organic baby food You’re trying to keep her hospital unit as natural as possible—all good things and none too much. I am generally much more hands-off but I don’t have to order my chickens from half a world away.

Thanks. I’m trying to find a happy medium with everyone. ... the thought crossed my mind of attaching a wicker basket (from a childrens bike) to my chest.... I think I am kidding? Im not that intense (I think).

Next week (little over 10 weeks old). I’m planning to bring (carry) them down toward the coop area and let the three little ones free-range there for a while instead of being stuck in that tiny dog fence up top. I’ll bring Ouzo along in her little travel hobbit hut, park myself in a lounge chair with a book, and just let them explore. They all come when called, and honestly, it turns into a fun little field trip. That big tree down there (totally safe for birds) has endless potential for play. And by that time a lot of fodder should have grown back.

Ouzo can be there without actually being with the others. Then all the mini chickens come back up to the house with me for bedtime. Separate, but equal, and everyone gets a bit of normalcy.

 

[FunClucks]

Thank you — they definitely live a very spoiled island-chicken life, but it’s also a very different environment than most backyard setups.

My flock free-ranges - we dont even have a coop/run door policy, it never closes....through acres of untouched (original- not manicured) seaside forest and jungle, so their baseline diet is wildly different from standard yard birds. Our soil isn’t soil at all — it’s literally crushed coral, shells, decaying sea matter, and constant salt spray — so everything they forage is naturally higher in minerals and sodium. They only eat about 20% commercial feed, mostly for consistency. The rest is genuinely wild foraging.

“Treats” here don’t even register as treats.
Cracked corn, dried mealworms, scratch grains? They won’t touch them — I’ve tried.

Instead, they get 20+ fresh items a day from our food forest: fruits, herbs, tender greens, vegetables, flowers, seed pods all in very specific ratios… plus the occasional cooked egg, tiny fish and lots of live hermit crabs. And yes, they hunt. We’re lizard-dense, so the protein side tends to handle itself. They also sleep in the trees like the semi-feral (or in Gypsy's case- she is red jungle-fowl pest) island birds they basically are.

I’m an avian nutritionist, though my specialty is in passerines and psittacines — but the principles still apply: a bird that forages naturally across acres, with year-round access to diverse live foods, isn’t operating under the typical “treat ratio” model designed for commercial feed–dependent flocks.

So while I appreciate the reminder about the 20% guideline, it’s not exactly applicable here. Their “treats” (which is not a real word for me) are their diet — and they’re thriving on it.

And trust me, they don’t need me to hunt bugs for them… they annihilate every insect, lizard, ant nest, and mystery creature the second it twitches. Island chickens don’t mess around (and people think earth worms- nope- 'victory soil' here on a mountain, ... they learned early not to touch many of the critters here... not like we can go to a bait store- LOL).

Right now I need Ouzo to heal before ingratiation happens again with the older girls. Which means making her comfortable and happy- safely separated but still hanging out with the others her age.

I was sorta getting the impression you knew what you were doing with their diet. Now I'm certain. Definitely chicken paradise!

We get folks with all levels of knowledge on here, raising chickens in all types of different situations. I wasn't sure if the foods you mentioned feeding her were deviations from a main commercial diet, or if they were part of her actual diet. You've clarified - you're an avian nutritionist, they're her actual diet and you're on top of it.

A lot of times we get folks on here who live where chickens can't live outside year round, and don't have adequate nutrition if they just forage full time, because their environment doesn't provide it. Folks take different approaches to helping them get a nutritious and complete diet. The simplest approach for folks who are new to the whole idea of chickens, or birds in general, is often to feed a high quality commercial feed. So that's what's generally recommended. However, some folks come on here looking to mill their own feed - sometimes folks know what they're talking about, and post nutritionally complete recipes just to make sure they're on the right path, and other times significant changes to recipes are recommended by the folks on here who are knowledgeable in chicken nutrition. And then there are folks who mean well, but have some interesting approaches.

It's awesome to see another avian nutritionist on here. Welcome! Have you met/run across Kiki and U_Stormcrow yet?