How much should they eat

[Gorsty]

Hi folks

My four new girls have settled well and are laying already Because of Mr Fox they are confined to quarters unless I am on guard duty.

My previous girls used to relish pellets as well as free ranging but the new girls aren't eating many and am worried they are getting enough food. Every morning and evening I've been giving them 3 handfuls of pellets softened with warm water plus a handful of corn and a handful of sunflower hearts mixed in - they gobble that down but is that enough if they are not eating any more pellets??
Thanks in advance

G

[chris]

I believe as a gerneral rule of thumb for an adult hen is ~125g/day.

I'd check their crop in the evening before the roost (and before you give them that mash to see if they have anything in their crop). They certainly won't starve themselves, unless something is wrong. I used to think that mine didn't eat pellets, so I did the above. Mine eat a little bit, then wander off, then eat more, etc - all throughout the day.

Edit: It may be because they're new (assuming they are from your post?) - probably settling in too. If they know the pellets are there (can see them) then I'd just check the level of pellets ocassionally as well.

[OverWyreGrower]

I would stick to feeding just layers pellets or mash in the morning, and use the corn/sunflower hearts as a treat in the evening. As Chris said, they will pick throughout the day...

Also, a bit like kids, they will eat the 'fun' stuff first (corn and s/f hearts) and leave the nutritious stuff! So they will fill up on the bad stuff, and not eat the layers!

As a guide, I put feed down in my pens in a morning, and there are no treats until after 5pm! (That doesn't include forage, or greens that I feed though).

Once I finish work, I'll chuck a few handfuls of corn in (I have 25 birds) ready to fill them up overnight.

[Glutton4...]

Wot OWG said! No treats before bedtime!

[Pumpkin Becki]

Do you know what they were being fed before you got them? If they were on mash, then the pellets might be confusing them, and could be why they are wolfing down the softened ones you are feeding them in the evening.

[RichmondHens]

Are they ex commercial hens (can't remember)? I would go with PBs theory of not recognising the pellets as food, but it may just be because corn/seeds look more tasty. Either way I suggest you feed softened pellets only during the day (gradually moving over to dry) and just a little corn pre bedtime.

[Suechooks]

You could try blitzing down some dry pellets to crumb/large crumb size and mix in with the pellets. My new ex-barn hens are on Ex-batt crumb and pellets and for the first few days only ate the crumb out of a dog bowl. They didn't recognise the feeder or the pellets as a source of food to begin with. I'm running out of crumb but they are now eating the pellets from the feeder so I'll be swapping over to just pellets.

[Gorsty]

Have checked with my friend, Bert, who I had the new girls from - he feeds layers pellets but gives them a handful of corn in a morning to get them going.

Perhaps I'm just being suckered into thinking they aren't eating properly cos their crops don't seem that full - I am used to the feeling the crops of my "old" girls which were always at bursting point from free ranging!!??

Anyhow thanks for all our advice.

Kind regards

Gorsty

[Feather]

Having just got my new POL hybrids settled after the first 3 weeks, I understand how worrying it can be when they don't seem to be eating. Are yours doing runny poos? Mine were, and I knew this is a sign that they may not be eating enough, perhaps because of the stress of moving home, changing feed, and adapting to a new social order, especially if, like mine, they had to put up with pecking from the older hens. So at first I did make them a mash of pellets soaked in warm water until just nice and crumbly, and I added some cod liver oil and a few sunflower seeds, and then I separated them from the others by stretching some chicken netting across the run so they could have a peaceful time to eat without being pushed aside by the others. I put the mash in a plastic seed tray, big enough for them to gather round, and they absolutely wolfed it down, it did my heart good to watch them. then I let them back with the others after half an hour, and gave them another 'time out' in the late afternoon before roosting time. i did this for a week until I could see they were more settled and had also found the pellets in the feeders (I put out two) and then I gradually weaned them off the mash by giving them less until after two weeks I just left them to get on with it and eat pellets like the others.

But then, I'm a bit soft as far as my girls are concerned, I expect they'd have been fine if I hadn't fussed over them.

PS I'm also giving them a daily 'salad bag' of the lovely green shoots out there free in the countryside at the moment, also small amounts of short grass cuttings from the lawn,as I can't let them out much to free range.

[VirginVegGrower]

Mine seem to like my strawberry plants...grrr - not really, we are finding it delightful at the moment although I am sure it will wear off. Mine have about 250g of layers pellets from Omlet(although I notice it said Marriages on it) laid out in a morning witha bit of Bokashi Bran, anything more and they don't eat it all. We get fresh eggs every morning. But boy do they love their handful of corn in the afternoon plus broccoli to peck at from their hanging hooks. Sometimes I swap the corn for some boiled rice. I think they are happy on it.