What should you feed your laying hens? We need help!!

[mickey328]

You can also give them other sources of calcium when they're laying. We went with some oyster shell because we'd just got them and didn't have a good supply of egg shell laid in. I've been saving them since however and when the oyster shell is gone, I'll just crush the shells and feed them back to the girls. All dark green leafy vegetables are also high in calcium...spinach, kale, chard. Milk products as well...both for protein and calcium...I make yogurt and give them some once or twice a week, and they're crazy about any kind of cheese. Cooked (to remove the toxins) dried beans are good for both protein and calcium. You want to keep an eye on egg production though...if they're not laying they don't need that much calcium...most of it goes to the production of the shell.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

hmm. That seems like a really long time to have an impacted crop and the bird to still be alive. I am not a vet, but my understanding is that an impacted crop is when food, usually long grass, becomes tangled in the crop and blocks the passage so that no food can pass from the crop to the gizzard. This means that no matter how much the birds eat they are starving and that their crop gets bigger and bigger. If it goes on too long then the contents of the crop start to rot and the condition goes from impacted crop to sour crop. This toxic yuck will kill the chicken if it is not expelled in some way.

What is that hen currently eating? Is she pooping? Has she been isolated? Did the vet confirm that it was impacted crop for sure? Is her crop hard or soft? Is she shaking her head?

I would isolate the bird and give her only water for a day. A bird with impacted crop should not be eating any solid foods at all. A tennis ball sized crop on a full sized bird (what breed is it?) is not actually shockingly large if they have been eating all day what matters is if the crop never empties. Isolate her with no access to food so you can properly assess. If at the end of the day, when she has not had anything to eat, if her crop is still has not emptied then it is impacted. Also, smell in her mouth. If it has gone sour there will be a noticeable and very distinct bad smell.

I had a bird recently who had an impacted crop that turned sour. She crop got HUGE, bigger than a softball and her body started wasting. I isolated her and even with no food it never went down. I first tried olive oil and loose scrambled eggs and tried to massage the food down. That did not work (although I know it can if the mass blocking is small enough or able to untangle a bit). I then tried vomiting her. (You need to be very careful if you end up tying this because you do not want to get any of the fluid in her lungs).

I was able to get her to throw up some of the liquid but was not able to dislodge the main mass. In the course of about two weeks she went downhill really fast and it was clear she was going to starve to death so I ended up cutting it out. Again, I am not a vet, but it I had to get rid of the blockage or she was dying.

It went smoothy and she was a trooper. Laid an egg the next day and is in great health now with normal eating and pooping.

If your bird is eating solid foods and pooping and it has been 7 or 8 months it seems unlikely to me that it is impacted crop.

 

[Chris09]

f Olive, has had what we think is an impacted crop for about 7 or 8 months now. She has been to see the vet, and what he prescribed has done absolutely nothing. We gave her two syringe fulls of vegetable oil once a day, and then massaged the crop. We did this for about 4 months. no change, so we took her off of it. she absolutely hated it as well! poor girl. Her crop is unbelievably swollen, about the size of a tennis ball. she is also skinny even though she eats alot! any suggestions for the crop issue would be awesome!

how much does organic feed usually cost? we are goiving them standard layers, but i dont think our local feed store has organic.

thank you for all of the help!

How old are the birds, What all are you feeding including treats, Do you offer grit, Do they free range, Have you wormed lately, Did they ever go a day without feed/ water?

Chris

 

[animallover1654]

I just went out to the feed store yesterday and bought some oyster shell!! gave it to the girls this morning. i also found out that my feed store now caries organic food! Im so excited!!!

my girls are about a year and 4 months old. They have fresh food and water available to them all day. We just wormed a few days ago because we had an outbreak but that was the first time, and her crop issue started long before we wormed them. They are in a run, but I let them out to free range 1 or 2 times a week. We move their coop around quite often though so its not like they are on the same boring gross patch of land for long periods. I know that its much healthier for them and the better option to let them free range, but where we live they would be killed by animals in a day. we also live very close to the road, so if one of them wandered onto the road they could be hit by a car. when i do let them out its usually for 2 hours or so, and I sit out back with them the whole time to supervise. Everymorning when I let them down from their coop in to their run (y'know, take out the board), I also give them some sort of table scrap: leftovers, greens (lots of kale!), and anything that they will eat (thats not bad for them of course, I know the list). I try not to give them any flour products or to much dairy. yes, I offer grit, and just started giving them oyster shell too. thanks!
-Benah