....coming out from both nostrils and his mouth? Everybody was acting perfectly fine when I put them up last night, and then today I stumbled upon a dead Silkie rooster. No blood or signs or being attacked, just green slime. I checked to make sure he had no external parasites, as I've been having an issue with head lice that has killed a handful of my Silkies before, but he was clean. I did notice he was very, very skinny though. Very little fat/meat on his breasts. This is another issue I've just recently noticed - my Silkies don't seem to want to gain weight. Some feel skinny while others feel just fine, though I treat them all the same. The ones who felt skinny were some of my hens, and I figured this was because they needed another feather trim around their eyes, as their head poofs can get so big that they will be unable to see and unable to tell where their food is. So I trimmed them. I have since been trying to keep a watch(or feel) on if these girls gain weight after their trimming, but nothing so far. However, clearly the roosters also need to be watched too, though they are always able to see just fine. I'm not sure if this is related, but I've also had to trim a couple of their behinds due to too much poop getting stuck in their feathers, something I haven't had to do with my adults before.
I recently changed over to another feed due to the cost of the original feed, but this seems to have neither hindered nor helped them gain, and keep, their weight. They're fed hen layer crumbles, though I don't remember the ingredients/protein percentage. I can always look on the ingredients tab from an old bag if need be. Due to an ongoing plague of rats, I've been forced to restrict how long they have access to feed. I put up their feed once they go to bed, then take it back out when I wake up at 11 or 12 the next day. During the time they have access to feed, they're given a large supply of it to ensure they all get their fill, except for the days that they're allowed to free range. On those days, I'll give them a limited supply of feed to encourage them to go outside and forage, and usually there's still feed left in their feeder at the end of the day. I don't have a constant schedule for them to go out due to weather concerns and so on, but generally I try to let them out at least a couple times a week to let them eat some bugs and grass. I have another flock of standard size chickens kept in another pen too, they eat on the same schedule as the Silkies but are capable of flying out of their pen to forage. I would allow the Silkies access to foraging all the time, but unfortunately the other flock of chickens, due to their larger size and their habit of flying out of their pen, are not nice to my Silkies and will take over the Silkies feeding area rather than eat at their own feeder, forcing the Silkies to go hungry. I also have two unwelcome Gamebird hens who live with the Silkies fairly peacefully, though they force the others to wait until they're done eating before they can eat. Unfortunately I cannot keep the Gamebirds from flying over the Silkie's already six foot tall fence, but I am working to add an attachment to their closed-in area that will give them enough room so that they will not need to be out in their uncovered pen on a daily basis, thus preventing bullying from the Gamebirds.
So, can somebody please help me out and tell me what I should do to help them gain weight, as well as help me figure out why the rooster had green slime coming out of him when he did? I know everybody's just going to tell me "put their feed out earlier" for the weight part, but I was having weight problems with them even when I was putting out their feed at 9am or earlier.
I recently changed over to another feed due to the cost of the original feed, but this seems to have neither hindered nor helped them gain, and keep, their weight. They're fed hen layer crumbles, though I don't remember the ingredients/protein percentage. I can always look on the ingredients tab from an old bag if need be. Due to an ongoing plague of rats, I've been forced to restrict how long they have access to feed. I put up their feed once they go to bed, then take it back out when I wake up at 11 or 12 the next day. During the time they have access to feed, they're given a large supply of it to ensure they all get their fill, except for the days that they're allowed to free range. On those days, I'll give them a limited supply of feed to encourage them to go outside and forage, and usually there's still feed left in their feeder at the end of the day. I don't have a constant schedule for them to go out due to weather concerns and so on, but generally I try to let them out at least a couple times a week to let them eat some bugs and grass. I have another flock of standard size chickens kept in another pen too, they eat on the same schedule as the Silkies but are capable of flying out of their pen to forage. I would allow the Silkies access to foraging all the time, but unfortunately the other flock of chickens, due to their larger size and their habit of flying out of their pen, are not nice to my Silkies and will take over the Silkies feeding area rather than eat at their own feeder, forcing the Silkies to go hungry. I also have two unwelcome Gamebird hens who live with the Silkies fairly peacefully, though they force the others to wait until they're done eating before they can eat. Unfortunately I cannot keep the Gamebirds from flying over the Silkie's already six foot tall fence, but I am working to add an attachment to their closed-in area that will give them enough room so that they will not need to be out in their uncovered pen on a daily basis, thus preventing bullying from the Gamebirds.
So, can somebody please help me out and tell me what I should do to help them gain weight, as well as help me figure out why the rooster had green slime coming out of him when he did? I know everybody's just going to tell me "put their feed out earlier" for the weight part, but I was having weight problems with them even when I was putting out their feed at 9am or earlier.
