What’s wrong with her bum?!

[erineliot]

Can you elaborate on what you're feeding them? I would stop all "treats," and go with just commercial feed right now.

They get Layena feed, but they don’t really eat it much. They free range our yards, finding bugs. Theirs three hens and one rooster. Routinely, they get a big handful of grapes between them to share daily, at least. (It really just depends how often my top hen jumps on my window sill to beg for treats.) A med-large bag of grapes can last 1-2 weeks. Now my rooster doesn’t partake much in the treats. He eats maybe at most a 1/3 of what the hens take.

I alternate grapes and dried mealworms. With both, they get a generous amount. They haven’t had grapes in about 1-2 weeks, and they haven’t mealworms in probably about a month because I accidentally purchased a huge bag of dried fly larvae instead.

Therefore, lately, it’s been dried fly larvae as far as daily treats. And again, I’m generous with servings.

That’s basically their diet unless I have maybe some leftover white rice or steamed veggies I’m about to toss.

• • •

Since we are on the topic of diet, while I have any of you, I have a 20-22 week old cockerel living indoors with me. If hormones and nature allow, I intend to have him outdoors to play and forage a few hours a day, but indoors to live. It’s very complicated being that our adult rooster is crowing only a few feet away with a bunch of cute girls in toe (hormones and all that), but he (the cockerel, Winston) is such a dear! And I’ve seen it done where people have roosters living indoors happy and healthy. So I want to try, but that means learning it all to give it my all! Haha. So although I have BOUNDLESS questions on how to care for him, for now… DIET.

It’s so easy to find information on diet for hens, but I’m struggling with roosters. And that’s just the scratch. WHAT DO I DO ABOUT BUGS?! I can get dried bugs, but I hear it’s not healthy. I can get live crickets and sometimes live mealworms. But how do I give him adequate nutrition indoors when it comes to insects?

(*Kindly, I’m only looking for suggestions based upon the assumption that it CAN BE possible for him to live a flourishing life indoors. Please no negativity. I’d just like to try, because the alternative is rehoming him and we’ve grown SO close. The dude rings a bell for treat time! And sleeps with me! And has learned how to play fight gently vs. aggressively! He’s amazing! So I’ve got to try. Haha. Thanks.)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

They get Layena feed, but they don’t really eat it much. They free range our yards, finding bugs. Theirs three hens and one rooster. Routinely, they get a big handful of grapes between them to share daily, at least. (It really just depends how often my top hen jumps on my window sill to beg for treats.) A med-large bag of grapes can last 1-2 weeks. Now my rooster doesn’t partake much in the treats. He eats maybe at most a 1/3 of what the hens take.

I alternate grapes and dried mealworms. With both, they get a generous amount.

For your hens and rooster, since they free roam, cut back on the treats you give them.
For free ranging birds, I put out feed free choice and only give a bit of treats (scratch) to call them in.

For the cockerel, do you not have space to make him a coop outside so he can have his own ladies to take care of and be a rooster?

As for what to feed him. All Flock Feed or Chick Starter. He can have one small treat daily. That's a few mealworms, or a little egg, or a few grapes, or a little...something.
Plain fresh water. Grit (crushed granite) free choice.

 

[erineliot]

Ah! So I mixed up the meaning of scratch. I see. Now is “free choice” a brand or…?

As for the grit, he DOES need some? I’ve seen others say not to for roosters.

 

[erineliot]

Oh and the indoor rooster’s on Purina Flock Raiser but needs a new food soon. So which for him? He will be the only one with access to this food since he’s not part of the adult flock.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ah! So I mixed up the meaning of scratch. I see. Now is “free choice” a brand or…?

As for the grit, he DOES need some? I’ve seen others say not to for roosters.

Oh and the indoor rooster’s on Purina Flock Raiser but needs a new food soon. So which for him? He will be the only one with access to this food since he’s not part of the adult flock.

The easiest thing to do for him and the outdoor flock would be to feed the Purina Flock Raiser to them all. This way you don't have to buy different feeds.

Grit is crushed granite, it's used in the gizzard to process food. A small bag will last a long time. Just put a little in a small dish for the cockerel and a little outside for your hens/rooster too.

Oyster shell should be provided free choice (in little dish or scattered in your run) for the laying hens.

Yes, scratch is a treat, so limit the amount they all get.

 

[erineliot]

Thank you for all the tips! Let's see if I've got this...

So start feeding the Purina Flock Raiser instead of Layena to the adults as well? Then as far as grit and oyster shells, in the past, when we first started our flock, they wouldn't take to either option. I'm always happy to try again, especially since we added new members. And then get grit for the cockerel but no oyster shells, correct?

Summary:
Indoor – 1 cockerel / outdoor time to forage 4+ hours a day (in pen), Flock Raiser crumbles, sometimes live crickets
Outdoor – 3 hens, 1 rooster / free range foraging + Layena feed, now limiting treats / all hens are pretty much daily layers

WAIT! Could the lack of grit & oyster shells be what's causing my top hen to eat ALL of their eggs?!

 

[erineliot]

For your hens and rooster, since they free roam, cut back on the treats you give them.
For free ranging birds, I put out feed free choice and only give a bit of treats (scratch) to call them in.

For the cockerel, do you not have space to make him a coop outside so he can have his own ladies to take care of and be a rooster?

As for what to feed him. All Flock Feed or Chick Starter. He can have one small treat daily. That's a few mealworms, or a little egg, or a few grapes, or a little...something.
Plain fresh water. Grit (crushed granite) free choice.

I think I missed this comment! So he for now has a small pen he spends time in outside daily. We are working on a larger one for him. Our actual flock already has too few hens, which was why we rescued him when we thought he was a female. So the TECHNICAL best solution would be to re-home him since a second flock isn't feasible at the moment. But in the past, I had heard stories of people keeping a rooster indoors and always wanted to try. So, that's where I'm at with him. THANK YOU!

 

[erineliot]

SO! I just did some research. It looks like MOST of my problems within my flock right now could trace back to not providing sufficient calcium/oyster shells! Thank you all so much! I hope this is it, because what an easy fix for my girls! Ordering some now!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I think I missed this comment! So he for now has a small pen he spends time in outside daily. We are working on a larger one for him. Our actual flock already has too few hens, which was why we rescued him when we thought he was a female. So the TECHNICAL best solution would be to re-home him since a second flock isn't feasible at the moment. But in the past, I had heard stories of people keeping a rooster indoors and always wanted to try. So, that's where I'm at with him. THANK YOU!

If he has an outside space that's great.
A rooster can live by himself. He would be happier with hens of course, but I do keep a few roosters housed separately by themself and they do o.k.

A rooster inside the house is not for me, so I can't say how well that would go. There are folks that do keep house chickens so you can look into that and determine if it's right for you.
If he's kept inside, if you do decide to rehome at a later date, that may be problematic? I don't know to be honest.