chicktec egg wash

You can put some extra protein into their diet to help them out but don't overdo it though. Now you've removed the culprits they ought to be fine with just their layers feed.
 
when you say extra protein how , im giving them greens every other day and a mix of layers/maize
 
The golden rule is that good quality layers feed should be at least 90% of their diet. It contains everything they need including quite a lot of protein. The exception is greens - any amount of greens is fine, they seem to just know that they also need the pellets.
Dried mealworms are very high in protein. Classic chicken treat - they will go crazy for them. You've got quite a few hens so a couple of handfuls scattered around, so they have to find them, would do no harm occasionally. Alternatively you could scramble and cool a few eggs for a special treat.
 
ive heard a few methods are these correct or a load of crap , feed hens scrambled eggs and chick crumb for high protein and will this help kick start feather growing
 
Hens will either be growing feathers or not and if they are without patches of feathers then they will choose themselves when they are ready to grow new ones. You haven't reported any blood on your flock so it sounds like any problem you have with pecking isn't severe. But it does make me wonder if your dilution of layers pellets with maize may have left them short of protein because one source of protein that they will go for is feathers. (though if they were that short then someone would have drawn blood by now and it would get very messy very quickly.)
Just get them on a proper diet of min 90% layers, a few treats of mealworms or scramble maybe to give them a pick-me-up but no more than that.
You can't make them grow feathers - only make sure they are well fed so they are well equipped to grow them when they are ready. And stop any major feather pecking characters, of course, as said above.
 
You have to be very careful if dosing with cod liver oil as more than a tiny amount is bad for them and also it can make the eggs smell and taste fishy. When mine are coming through moult I give them some Nettex Mineral Boost, which contains a balanced mixture of minerals and also probiotics and seaweed to help general health and feather growth. In the cold months I give it to them mixed in to a warm mash in the afternoons. Just mix pellets with enough hot water to make them crumbly, and stir in the Nettex plus a small handful of mixed corn and any other treats you have. Spread it out on a big plate - mine is up on a concrete block so the feed is off the ground and keeps clean. They go mad for it and then go to bed with warm, full crops ready for the long cold 15-hour winter nights. The extra water in the pellets also helps keep them hydrated if the drinker water is unpleasantly chilly for them.
But as Rick says, nothing will make them sprout new feathers overnight! If you've found the cause and dealt with it, they'll start feathering up soon.
 
You want to cut the maize out completely Steven. Like I said they will be fine just on layers but if you are really desperate to give them something then give them some scrambled egg or hard boiled egg chopped up. I think you said you had 15 chickens, so 3 eggs per day and no more than that would give them a bit of a protein boost, don't feed them the egg for longer than a fortnight. But as others have said, don't expect to see feathers jetting out of them.
 
Sorry to sound miserable, Steven, but my birds get no treats/dietary additives at all apart from the odd cabbage to alleviate boredom if any feather pecking breaks out. Generally I feed red cabbage because it makes their poo blue so you can see that they're all getting some.
I hold the view that layers pellets and/or breeders pellets are a well balanced diet and that additives just upset this balance.
To put it bluntly I suspect that the feeding of treats has less to do with the chickens needs and more to do with the owners need to nurture.
 
ah ok , i was told to feed maize in there diet by a poultry farmer it increases the yokes makes them rich orange colour which does work , ill keep them on poor layers for now then thanks , why was my pecking spray attracting the hens to peck
 
Depends what you are keeping your chickens for, the farmer will top his at 72 weeks and get a new batch in so he won't care about fatty livers etc because his chickens will be gone before that develops. If you wan't your chickens to last longer then just keep them on layers. Doubt the spray actually caused them to peck more, more likely than not just a coincidence that you noticed it more after you sprayed them.
 
Hen-Gen said:
Sorry to sound miserable, Steven, but my birds get no treats/dietary additives at all apart from the odd cabbage to alleviate boredom if any feather pecking breaks out. Generally I feed red cabbage because it makes their poo blue so you can see that they're all getting some.
I hold the view that layers pellets and/or breeders pellets are a well balanced diet and that additives just upset this balance.
To put it bluntly I suspect that the feeding of treats has less to do with the chickens needs and more to do with the owners need to nurture.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this, HenGen. Keeping chickens properly, worming regularly and feeding good -quality food is expensive enough as it is, without lots of extras that they don't want or need. Mine seem to go on for years on end under my policy of benign neglect, with no illnesses or other problem, in fact I wish some of them were a bit less long lived so I could have room for some more productive youngsters!
 
Hen-Gen said:
Generally I feed red cabbage because it makes their poo blue...
Click to expand...

This I have to see :D

I have got a good culture of lacto-bacteria going in the past couple of weeks to mix in with breakfast pellets. Seems to have given Bonnie and Aerial a digestive boost (Bonnie in particular.) A couple of years ago I tried getting a sour dough going (for bread not for the chickens) but it didn't work very well. Scratch and rolled oats with some whole wheat in husks with mineral water - pow - smells like sour yogurt and is fermenting like crazy.
 
right ill try a different approach then the layers i get are in plain bag 25kg for 8.25 so prob not the best what is a good make to buy and how much protein content do they need
 
I use Dodson and Horrel, mainly because they're a good brand with no cheap chemical additives and also because I can order them online from the Pets at Home website and get free delivery if I spend £35. This is a great help to me as the bags are so heavy to collect in the car. I think they're £12.50 for a 20- kilo bag but are often on offer for less if you buy two bags or a multiple of two of course. See http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/bird-and-wildlife/chicken/chicken-food-and-treats/layer-pellets-for-chickens-20kg :-)10
Whatever brand you get, you need to read the ingredients list carefully. The cheaper brands usually have a lot of soya in them which isn't good, and often have artificial colourings to improve egg colour. Dodson and Horrell and other good brands may contain natural colourants such as marigold petals. Have a look at the Dodson and Horrell link above and click to see what good quality pellets should contain, whatever the brand. You definitely get what you pay for, if you want healthy birds with glossy plumage and quality eggs.
 
This is the label from a bag of Smallholder layers pellets. If you can find a local stockist it is a bit cheaper than from BHWT https://shop.bhwt.org.uk/collections/feed-nutrition/products/natural-free-range-layers-pellets but the postage is free.
It's good stuff I think.
In my foolishness I once tried to formulate something similar in nutritional quality from basic ingredients. It is very difficult, expensive, requires a mill and impossible to know if it is actually right without a lab analysis. Getting that level of protein without offsetting other ingredients is hard. Notice also the added Vitamin D (so no need for cod liver oil.)
Dodson and Horrell are similar quality - just as good. I like the smaller pellet size of Smallholder.
SCAN0002.JPG
 
Yes I think that's very similar, Rick. I decant new bags into my galvanised bin so didn't retain the label on D&H. Which makes me think - airtight storage in cool dry conditions, proof against contamination from rodents, birds and insects, is just as important. Feed degenerates very fast if left in opened bags.
Another good brand is Marriages see http://www.marriages.co.uk/products-poultry.php#poultry This uses non-GM ingredients as well.
 
Just as an addition though I'm sure it will have been said elsewhere Heygates do 5kg bags with Flubenvet wormer added and it is available from Amazon. Though Heygates is not a brand I would normally use for the week of medication necessary with Flubenvet this makes life very easy.
Now, if I could just wean my dog off of Orijen and onto a cheaper food!
 
(Edit;) actually that Marriages link is interesting - I didn't know they produced such a range of feeds, including two grades of layers pellets, of different quality; one of them is an 'everyday' cheaper version, something to be aware of when comparing prices.
Steven (Dye) I see it includes quail mini pellets, if you spin on to the end of the listings.
 
We use Marriages, they are local to us and thats what our local farm shop stocks.
I must give the purple cabbage a go, they will think they are being spoilt getting a different colour one. We don't give ours treats either, although one girl who has discovered the pedal bin in the kitchen and how to use it would probably disagree if the door has been open and she has been on a raiding jaunt.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top