Really worried about my moulting maran..

[VirginVegGrower]

I get a big tub for £8.99 and I thought that was good but might shop around. Next time you are over, try Wilkos or I can post if you struggle getting delivery.

[kathyd]

Thanks VVG . I've found them on ebay - £13.45 I think it was for 1kg, which sounded really cheap, plus £6.99 postage to France (free in UK), but I've just tried Dotty on some from this mixed mealworm and other crustacean pack and she wouldn't eat them... I'll try the others on them tomorrow, and maybe Dotty again to see if her appetite's improved, but I'm not buying a kilo of icky stuff if no-one's going to eat it anyway!!

[Suechooks]

There's a childrens vitamin tonic which is very similar to Nutridrops but at the moment I can't remember the name - sorry. I'll have a look in the morning (if I remember) as it is at my allotment to be on hand if chooks need it. You may have more luck getting hold of something like that.

Its Minadex Childrens tonic. Someone (Julesapple I think) has a chemist or similar in family they looked at it and think its pretty much the same formula.

[jimred]

Anne Kennedy pet supplies 3kg mealworms free nextday delivery £32.00

[kathyd]

Thx Suechooks and jimred . I'll have to get myself sorted out when we come over at New Year .

[VirginVegGrower]

I am surprised she's not eating mealworms. Pick those out on their own or I'll send you some in a freezer bag to try, then you'll know if it's worth ordering them.

[angelat]

hi, i have had a moulting maran recently so know how you feel. mine felt very vulnerable when she was in her moult and she did get picked on by my other hen. but it has passed and they are back to normal. i fed small amounts of cat food, egg, etc but MEALWORMS are the best i think for protein. i bought jumbo dried ones and they have really helped with the feather growth i think and also has boosted her up as she loves them. i would definitely recommend them. hope things improve!

[kathyd]

Thx VVG and angelat

I've tried mixing the mealworm mixture with other things, and the others seem to be eating everything even if Dotty isn't. I'm sure it's worth buying some, because they'll all benefit from extra protein at times, won't they?

Re-cat food, should I give them the dry food or the tinned/sachet stuff? I've tried the dry stuff with them, but they won't touch it. They do eat the soggy stuff though - hope it's OK to give them this?

[jessmorris]

..I soak the dried stuff for mine to give them a protein boost. They'll eat it if they are hungry enough....they love tinned fish, scarmbled eggs - both full of protein.

[VirginVegGrower]

As I understood it and that was only from reading threads here and elsewhere, people use the tinned cat food, ie. wet. I gave tuna one day and they seemed to like it bizarrely. I let Sage out today as I was raking leaves and I watched her eat 14 WORMS in about five minutes of scratching around in a soil heap that we had dug out for hedging. Does that count as protein? Mine will not touch eggs. Cottage cheese is another thing I've seen people suggest. Best ask someone like RH or SC though as I am no egg-spert

[kathyd]

Hi Jessmorris and VVG - I did try soaking the hard cat food but it never really got soft for some reason, so the dog eats it instead of the chickens - in fact she won't eat her dog food any more unless mixed with cat food! But the chooks do like the wet stuff, so I give them that occasionally. Dog's dead jealous . I do give them tinned fish which they love - they'd cheerfully kill each other over a tin of sardines - and also egg (hadn't thought of scrambled, previously done mashed hard boiled, so thank you to whoever that was for the idea). They also go big time for cheese, although it's high in fat so I don't give them too much of that. I sometimes mix these things in with rice, pasta, mashed potato or soaked and mashed bits of bread to make it go further, and because it's easier to share around and make sure everyone gets some (this worked brilliantly for the worming powder too!). I also sometimes add some finely crushed baked egg shells for the calcium because my daughter, who has cockateels, says she's been told her birds need calcium to help new feathers form. I've been sprinkling the mealworms/crustacean mixture into other things too, and it's all been going down a treat, even Dotty's been eating them. So I'll definitely be buying a big pack of mealworms asap! And yes VVG, worms are definitely protein! I don't know how your's found so many though, aren't they lucky! I'm only finding small numbers when I dig at the moment.

One thing I would love advice with though is how much of all these things I should be feeding them?? I just make it up as I go along at the moment, and the're all looking healthy and happy and not fat (yet!), but I may be completely wrong with my quantities... I have 8 birds - 7 hens and one cockerel. Of these 3 are adults, and the others are between 17-20 weeks ish. Thx all

[polo]

Well, I used to give treats as you do currently but have changed what I do over the last 2 years becasue of things I have read and from personal experience.

I have one hen who had major crop problems last year - impacted crop leading to soup crop. Anything bready or carb like was a no no from there on in. Have also read about egg production being higher in hens who were fed layers pellets only - with a small amount of corn once a day. This has been bourne out between a friend of ours. We both have hens from the same place - she feeds scraps and I dont - I get more eggs. Totally non scientific I know

So, I believe that you should feed layers pellets/mash, handful of corn in the evening and fresh greens only. I occasionally give them a mash with poutlry spice and cod liver oil when they need a boost, use apple cider vinegar once a month in the water and try to get them out on the grass as much as possible.

Ultimely I dont think a few scraps are a problem as long as it doesn't detract from the layers being eaten. I just choose not to because of Connie, the owner of the dodgy crop.

Polo

[kathyd]

Thanks Polo. I must admit they don't seem to eat many of their pellets, but then they never did even when I first got them. I used to worry they weren't getting enough to eat, but people said if they're hungry they'll eat, so I left them to it. Now I'm giving mixed corn before bed, and scraps during the day, because of other things people have said, and they're still eating a small quantity of layers pellets but not that much. I don't know what's 'normal' for a layer at this time of year, but I'm getting an egg from each of my 2 hybrids every other day. Nothing from Dotty maran at the moment of course, but she's the one with such a bad moult. Isn't life complicated...

[polo]

The one thing I've learnt is that hens think of their stomachs (crop?) over almost everything else. I don't think they will go hungry so that's one less thing to worry about!!

I also have some very extreme moulters this year!

[RichmondHens]

One thing I would love advice with though is how much of all these things I should be feeding them?? I just make it up as I go along at the moment, and the're all looking healthy and happy and not fat (yet!), but I may be completely wrong with my quantities... I have 8 birds - 7 hens and one cockerel. Of these 3 are adults, and the others are between 17-20 weeks ish. Thx all

The answer is not many! Scraps ideally should be fed as a treat only, like corn, about an hour pre bedtime. This way they spend the majority of the day eating the nutritionally balanced pellets. Most chickens are now kept confined, ie in a small pen, with maybe only a limited time properly free ranging, and even then are ranging within the confines of an average sized garden as opposed to far and wide over the field and round the farmyard. Thus they are restricted in what they can find to eat and therefore we have to counter that by feeding "proper" food so they are not short of essential vitamins and minerals. Today's modern chicken has been bred to produce more eggs therefore they need a higher protein diet to allow them to do this. Also remember a bird's digestive system is very different to ours and feeding a lot of "human" food can cause problems in the crop. In nature a chicken is designed to feed on insects, seeds, whole grains and greenery for the majority of the time. That said they will still devour mice, frogs and anything else they can catch. "Processed" foods such as pasta, bread etc should be limited. For 8 chickens the daily treat should amount to no more than a large handful of grain OR a plate of mixed scraps although if the scraps are just fruit/veg you can be a bit more generous.