Hens not eating ???

[Anonymous]

Hello,
I have only had my hens for two weeks now but i am starting to get concerned as it looks like they arnt actually eating their layers pellets, they will eat there corn treat at night and will go crazy for greens but i am worried as the lady at the farm store told me that the layers pellets are there main food.
could it be that they only require a tiny amount of layers pellets and i am giving it them in a bowl thats too big ??
I have 3 hens and they have also got a bowl of poultry grit avalible at all times, i have checked for mites, they have clean bedding and water and the droppings look normal
Please help as i am a complete noobie to hen keeping and am worried
thanks again

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Sazzie,
For us newbies, it is hard sometimes to know what is right and what isn't.
I would suggest in the morning,feed your girls their layers pellets.This should be their main food,don't feed them any treats until later,hens have their pellets 'ad lib',it is probably better to put slightly more out than what they eat, but,once you know how much they need,you can adjust accordingly.
Are your girls free range,or in a run for the day?if they are free range,I wouldn't give them anything else until the early afternoon.With corn,hens will eat this in preference to their pellets,so allow an eggcup full per bird,and scatter it for them to find.I would'nt give them any treats for a few days,so you can judge if they are eating their pellets,as hens like us (and most animals) will eat their favourites and leave the healthy option in their case pellets.You can then start to introduce some treats(like greens,fruit) that they enjoy,either at lunch time,or early eveing.A few treats a day will not do any harm,unless they are filling up on these,at the expense of their pellets.Apologies,if this isn't much help.......but I'm a newbie too.

 

[Tim]

They will do this if they are overweight or as Lydia says have tastier things to eat like corn. They will also object if it's different to what they are used to - if they usually have mash for example but from what you say, it sounds like the breeder was using pellets too. They don't usually go crazy for pellets at the best of times if they are ad-lib but you should still see them eating them from time to time. They should eat around 120g or so per bird per day.

 

[Anonymous]

thank you for your information guys, its very helpful, and i did catch one of my hens having a cheeky nibble at the pellets so i think i was just over worried
thanks again :mrgreen:

 

[Anonymous]

i think when we're looking, they don't always do what we'd expect or are looking for,and the minute we're not looking, they rush to do it.Could be eating,drinking dust bathing or whatever.......think it's called sod's law.

 

[Anonymous]

lol i have noticed they are very cunning :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

:lol: aren't they,that expresion,'cunning as a fox' should be 'as cunning as a chook'......