I have a mixed flock of hens and one bantam rooster. Their ages range from 13 years to 5 years old. Most of the flock are Orpingtons.
Last year I had an Orp hen (Jubilee) become very weak and unable to really stand or walk. So I separated her and noticed she was a bit thin. I offered her wet cat food along with her normal "layer mash" feed free choice. She made a recovery and is now living her best life.
Then this year, I had another Orp hen (blue splash) that exhibited the same type of weakness. So I did the same thing as the other hen and again, nicely recovered back to her old self again.
Both hens are 7 years old. And the recovery process took about 2 weeks (give or take).
So this led me to think that my locally milled "layer mash" was just not enough protein for my more larger, bulkier girls.
I purchased Layena+ High Protein feed (19% protein). My flock seems to like it, they don't devour it as readily as other food, but they do receive a lot of (healthy) kitchen scraps.
I've recently read that too high protein can cause kidney problems and am now wondering if I should supplement with the high protein feed, and use a lower protein feed as their daily ration.
Any thoughts or experiences?
Last year I had an Orp hen (Jubilee) become very weak and unable to really stand or walk. So I separated her and noticed she was a bit thin. I offered her wet cat food along with her normal "layer mash" feed free choice. She made a recovery and is now living her best life.
Then this year, I had another Orp hen (blue splash) that exhibited the same type of weakness. So I did the same thing as the other hen and again, nicely recovered back to her old self again.
Both hens are 7 years old. And the recovery process took about 2 weeks (give or take).
So this led me to think that my locally milled "layer mash" was just not enough protein for my more larger, bulkier girls.
I purchased Layena+ High Protein feed (19% protein). My flock seems to like it, they don't devour it as readily as other food, but they do receive a lot of (healthy) kitchen scraps.
I've recently read that too high protein can cause kidney problems and am now wondering if I should supplement with the high protein feed, and use a lower protein feed as their daily ration.
Any thoughts or experiences?
