They won't eat their food

[Shelly0723]

My hens will not eat their food. We have tried pellets, scratch and now Henhouse Reserve. They only want greens, fruits and grubs. I have noticed that they will eat the crumble feed for the baby chicks. What can I do to make them eat their food? I do not want them going hungry or becoming nutrient deficient. Already I was noticing that their egg production was going low and I started to supplement with BSF larvae to increase protein and calcium but it seems that is all they want. Can I feed them the starter crumble? I have several fruit bearing trees right now that once the fruit ripens it falls and they eat that. It got to the point where it seemed like all they were eating were Pakistan mulberries. I now collect those to compost as soon as I see them because too much fruit cannot be good for them.

 

[FrostRanger]

They can eat the starter crumbles, but I'd cut out all treats until they eat their food reliably. If they're hungry enough they'll eat their food eventually. If you do decide to keep them on starter, make sure to provide oyster shells on the side

 

[Perris]

Chickens are very good judges of what they can and can't eat and what they do and don't need nutritionally. The larger the variety of real foods you offer them, the greater the chance of them getting exactly what they need. Forage is also an excellent source of nutrients for them.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Not sure where your located and what your feed store provides, here adult feed is provided in 'pellets' and 'crumble' form.

 

[Acre4Me]

They are like kids! Cut out all treats. Give them regular feed -we use Kalmbach all-flock 20% pellet with OS on the side (separate container). We moved to the 20% bc they seem calmer on this higher protein and less picking on others.

But, if you want to supplement protein without changing feed, then better options are: meat/fish, just watch the salt content bc too much is not good for chickens (so, jerky or leftover Chinese food isn’t ideal). Fish food, DRY cat food, scrambled eggs. But these are just meant to be added in smaller amounts, not their main feed. Have you ever offered them a turkey or chicken carcass or chopped up the last of the roast to give them?? You’ll see why they are called feathered dinosaurs. They or omnivores and love their meat.

Insects, especially the larvae or mealworms should only be used as sporadic treats bc they are also very high in fat. This can lead to fatty liver disease, and the chicken will just die - you would not have advance warning. But, in low amounts should not cause any problems.

Water: in heat, mind reduce laying bc they hunker down in the shade and don’t drink much-enough to live, of course. So, I’ll bring them wet feed with some seeds/fruit sprinkled on top, with large ice cubes in it. This is brought to them around 2-3 pm when their run is mostly/all shaded. They eat with gusto and drink at same time. But, fresh and cool water is important all day-so make sure the water is shaded to keep it cooler. Some people freeze large discs of water (so using silicone cake pans, for example) and place this in a shallow container. Birds will walk on it to get cool and drink the melt.

Good luck.

 

[Perris]

they are also very high in fat. This can lead to fatty liver disease

this is false. A high carb diet leads to fatty liver disease, as any vet manual will tell you.

For those interested, ideas about nutrition have undergone something of a revolution recently. See e.g. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-research-debunks-trad-views-on-nutrition.1567953/

 

[Shelly0723]

They can eat the starter crumbles, but I'd cut out all treats until they eat their food reliably. If they're hungry enough they'll eat their food eventually. If you do decide to keep them on starter, make sure to provide oyster shells on the side

Thank you, I was not sure if there was anything wrong with them eating the starter crumble, but they are eating oyster shells.

Chickens are very good judges of what they can and can't eat and what they do and don't need nutritionally. The larger the variety of real foods you offer them, the greater the chance of them getting exactly what they need. Forage is also an excellent source of nutrients for them.

They do forage, but with the recent excess availability of fruit, they became super picky and only seemed to want fruit and grubs. They eat veggies now, but still wont eat their layer feed.

Not sure where your located and what your feed store provides, here adult feed is provided in 'pellets' and 'crumble' form.View attachment 3834770View attachment 3834771

I buy my food online or at the local feed store, I thought that since they were not liking the pellets, maybe they would eat the Kalmbach Henhouse Reserve, nope. So will buy them a small bag of crumble food and see how they like it, I currently have nearly 2 50lb bags of that stuff and they won't touch it.

They are like kids! Cut out all treats. Give them regular feed -we use Kalmbach all-flock 20% pellet with OS on the side (separate container). We moved to the 20% bc they seem calmer on this higher protein and less picking on others.

But, if you want to supplement protein without changing feed, then better options are: meat/fish, just watch the salt content bc too much is not good for chickens (so, jerky or leftover Chinese food isn’t ideal). Fish food, DRY cat food, scrambled eggs. But these are just meant to be added in smaller amounts, not their main feed. Have you ever offered them a turkey or chicken carcass or chopped up the last of the roast to give them?? You’ll see why they are called feathered dinosaurs. They or omnivores and love their meat.

Insects, especially the larvae or mealworms should only be used as sporadic treats bc they are also very high in fat. This can lead to fatty liver disease, and the chicken will just die - you would not have advance warning. But, in low amounts should not cause any problems.

Water: in heat, mind reduce laying bc they hunker down in the shade and don’t drink much-enough to live, of course. So, I’ll bring them wet feed with some seeds/fruit sprinkled on top, with large ice cubes in it. This is brought to them around 2-3 pm when their run is mostly/all shaded. They eat with gusto and drink at same time. But, fresh and cool water is important all day-so make sure the water is shaded to keep it cooler. Some people freeze large discs of water (so using silicone cake pans, for example) and place this in a shallow container. Birds will walk on it to get cool and drink the melt.

Good luck.

Thank you, looked into it and they have a crumble version so will try the 10lb bag and see how they like it, I have noticed that the more protein they eat, the calmer they are. We are experiencing cold weather right now, but will definitely try this once it gets hotter.

 

[nuthatched]

They're spoiled. No treats or extras. Only feed, they'll eat when they're hungry enough.

 

[TillyPeeps]

My chickens also dislike pellets but eat crumbles and whole grain types of feed, even though these feeds had the same ingredients and were from the same manufacture. I just don't buy pellets anymore.

 

[gila_dog]

Chickens are very good judges of what they can and can't eat and what they do and don't need nutritionally. The larger the variety of real foods you offer them, the greater the chance of them getting exactly what they need. Forage is also an excellent source of nutrients for them.

I hope you're right, because that's how I see it too. They've been around for thousands (millions?) of years and official laying feed has only been around a few decades. If grain, bugs, fruit, veggies, weeds, and meat of some kind that they find was so bad for them I don't think they would have made it so long. I suppose that if you're trying to get maximum egg production or meat growth as cheap as possible, in the shortest time, then force feeding them the gray stuff out of the bag is the way to go. But I think happy chickens are healthy chickens, and when I see them gobbling up grasshoppers, grubs, and old mushy fruit, I can see the happiness in their beady little eyes. My wife and I went for a hike along the river this morning and I brought back a bag full of clover. The chickens went at it like it was candy. I hear one right now out at the chicken house bragging about the egg she just laid. I'll let them out to forage a bit this afternoon when I can be out there watching for coyotes.