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Author Topic: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?  (Read 4505 times)

Dreich Pete

  • Joined Jan 2014
  • Aberdeenshire
Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« on: April 13, 2014, 08:09:34 am »
Our hens are about a year old, have come to us from our neighbour, have settled into their house/run well enough to keep laying, and are being given the same feed as their previous keepers, but for some reason they are ignoring food in the bowl and will only eat if we feed them directly from our hands, or from the bowl when we are holding it for them. The main problem with that, apart from not having the time to do this all the time, is that one of the hens is much more cautious than the other two and she won't approach us to eat.

In order to get them to eat at all we have resorted to all sorts of new foods which they apparently love, but again, will only eat much of it from our hands. Porridge, fruit, fresh sweetcorn, even layers at a push. Anything as long as it's from our hands.

For the first couple of days they were laying at much the same time as each other but now we are down to 2 eggs a day and laid hours apart.

Any suggestions?

suziequeue

  • Joined Feb 2010
  • Llanidloes; Powys
Re: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2014, 08:22:27 am »
Surely at some point self preservation will kick in and they will eat from wherever if they are hungry enough.


I would suggest some tough love
We do the best we can with the information we have

When we know better we do better

Dreich Pete

  • Joined Jan 2014
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2014, 08:31:51 am »
That was my first solution, but after two days of not eating but still laying they seemed to lose that egg laying sync and started looking thin. They're our first hens so as well as trying to learn all about them, we are trying to make sure they stay alive - and preferably continue laying.

Add in the possibility of scaly leg and I don't think we're doing too well.

goosepimple

  • Joined May 2010
  • nr Lauder, Scottish Borders
Re: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2014, 08:50:39 am »
What kind of feeder did they have previously - was it the vermin control type they have to stand on to get grain or some similar thing?


Hens love black sunflower seeds - you can sprinkle a few in their usual grain and you will see if they are missing some hours later.


Don't fuss over them too much you'll only make them agitated and nervous.  Try sprinkling some on the ground (not in their house), they may prefer that to a bowl.  Brown bread crumbs (must be brown) or plain boiled rice are good treats as are sultanas/raisins but only give treats in small doses or they will stick in their gut and cause you problems eventually. 


Wouldn't worry overly though, they'll be fine in a week.
registered soay, castlemilk moorit  and north ronaldsay sheep, pygmy goats, steinbacher geese, muscovy ducks, various hens, lots of visiting mallards, a naughty border collie, a puss and a couple of guinea pigs

cans

  • Joined May 2013
Re: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2014, 08:56:38 am »
Morning,
It sounds like perhaps your neighbours spent a lot of time with the hens.  My dad spent a lot of time doing this with his show birds.
If you were able to get your hand low to/on to the ground with fingers open so that some food spilled out they may get the hint. 
The cautious one - can you scatter a bit of food infront of her?  Not much just one or two bits where she can see them.
You are very brave holding porridge for them!!!!!
How long have you had them?
What was their feed in before - apart from neighbours hand - maybe a different style/colour dish?
Are you able to speak to your neighbour about this to see if they have any suggestions.



Dreich Pete

  • Joined Jan 2014
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2014, 08:58:33 am »
They were fed from an old le creuset pot so our metal bowl isn't too different. There's no problem with finding food that they love, but getting them to eat their regular food in with it, or at all, is the problem. They aren't eating nearly enough to maintain their weight, let alone produce eggs and be healthy. Their general behaviour seems fine. They aren't fretting, they've come to terms with the dogs passing the run, they have been out for a scrape around the borders (and go nuts when they do get out), but they just don't seem to want to eat the food that they were raised on.

Mammyshaz

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • Durham
Re: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2014, 09:04:54 am »
Will the neighbour let you have the hens old food bowl. It's amazing how much a tiny change can affect hens.
I bought a larger feeder last year and it was weeks before they would even walk past it even though it was the same shape and colour of the last one  ::) Also lost a hen to peritonitis after placing a new nest box in the coop which she was terrified of. Thought she would get used to it but she died after stopping laying. Will never do that again  :'(
I'd also scatter the pellets around the ground in the hope they pick some up over time .

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2014, 10:15:51 am »
 :wave: Hi DP

If they appear healthy I wouldn't worry too much. I would put in 2 food pots similar in design to what they are used to. This means that hens lower down the pecking order don't nave to compete with top hens for food. Use same food as previous owner for a while .... are they on layers pellets? I wouldn't give too many treats until they have settled down and eating their normal food. All hens would fill up on goodies and leave their pellets given half a chance and it might upset them anyway. Mixed corn is usually loved by hens. You could throw a handful of this down for them to scratch at. Plenty of fresh water always available. As long as there isn't a health problem they will eat. Even ex batts adjust quickly if you feed them as above.

Its normal for the eggs to stop or slow down after a move. Don't worry about that. The eggs they laid were already in their systems. Now they have laid those the move has probably knocked them out of lay. Probably nothing to do with not eating. If they are young birds they should start again in a couple of weeks.

Are they standing normally? Not hunched up? Scratching around? Droppings normal? No mites/lice?


Ina

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • South Aberdeenshire
Re: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« Reply #8 on: April 13, 2014, 06:23:10 pm »
I think this calls for a chicken psychologist...  :P

Dreich Pete

  • Joined Jan 2014
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« Reply #9 on: April 13, 2014, 09:07:39 pm »
The previous owners fed them Layers mash and a dried mixed grain plus scraps and mealworm as a treat. I don't think he spent a lot of time with them although he was in the garden most of the time so they would be able to watch him from the run.

This morning they got some porridge with mixed grain added, then some Layers pellets thrown around to pick up, then this afternoon they got some chopped up spaghetti (which they went nuts for). There doesn't seem to be any bullying around food, and although there is a clear hierarchy the top hen doesn't stop the other two eating.

There is a chance that Scaly Leg Mite may be present and they have been treated with Harkermectic (Ivermectin) this week. We've only had them a week so it's all new to us and our hen-keeping neighbour suggested it was best to treat them from scratch rather than assume the previous owners had kept up to speed with treatments.

One thing that changed today was the litter material. They are currently kept in a repurposed dog run (not used by dogs for months and jetwashed beforehand) but I made the mistake of getting sawdust instead of wood chippings to cover the paving slab floor. I've got a load of wood shavings to replace the sawdust but it's been too windy to change it out, although I did clear out most of the sawdust today. Anyway, the hens seemed much happier with the concrete than the dust and they ate more in the afternoon than in the morning. They did seem a little bit freaked out by the wind.

All in all it's been an interesting first week and it's thrown up all sorts of questions that I hadn't planned for by reading web sites and forums.

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« Reply #10 on: April 14, 2014, 08:45:27 am »
Think they may be getting too many treats. If they were fed layers mash I would feed that. They only need a few treats each day or they won't eat the diet that is designed to keep them healthy and laying.

goosepimple

  • Joined May 2010
  • nr Lauder, Scottish Borders
Re: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« Reply #11 on: April 14, 2014, 08:46:24 am »
Ah, there you go Dreich, that's the nature of TAS, you end up with a zoo.  Right then, what you going to get next .... can I interest you in some goats?  geese? 


You know you want them  :D
registered soay, castlemilk moorit  and north ronaldsay sheep, pygmy goats, steinbacher geese, muscovy ducks, various hens, lots of visiting mallards, a naughty border collie, a puss and a couple of guinea pigs

Dreich Pete

  • Joined Jan 2014
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: Hens not eating except from our hands. What the...?
« Reply #12 on: April 14, 2014, 12:54:12 pm »
The problem is that they were ignoring their usual feed (Layers pellets, sometimes mash, and dry mixed grain) so we started the treats to get them to eat anything at all.

goosepimple: Ducks are in the back of my mind, possibly a goat or two for the milk and grass cutting, bees to pollenate the micro-orchard, and possibly another dog.

 

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