[helenp]

i have had my ex battery hens for 4 weeks. they are doing well, laying eggs.
a couple of hens have no feathers on the top of their wings is there any i can do to help them grow back. one of the hens i think is losing her feathers i know they moult but she looks awful and with it getting cold just a little worried
is there any tonics i can give them just to give them a little boost as well
thanks
helen

[beulah59]

Are you adding poultry spice to their mash?

[helenp]

no what is poultry spice

[Sid]

Hi helen,
one of my ex batts had a bold patch when we got her, and she has been through several molts but the bold patch stayed.
We thought because she was created for the oven ready so she is a big girl in a tiny cage she had too much trauma to her back and legs and we had to face up to her looking gorgeous from the front,but from the back looking like she had no draws on!! bless.
Well after 6 months her feathers have all come back so you never know.
Anyway enough about my girls,I use as a tonic Poultry Spice, it acts as a nutritional supplement to help chooks to quickly get over a moult.
I also chop up fresh garlic and put in with their food every so often,and some cider vinegar in their drinking water.
Hope that helps ,
sid.

[helenp]

thanks
what is poultry spice is it something you make up or do you buy it from food sellers

[AmandaH]

Hello Helen.

It's a mineral supplement that you add to their food.  I can only refer you to the website where I get my supplies:

http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/

Lovely lady called Anne - very helpful.

I also use Verm-X Keep Well pellets for my ex-batts (also on the same website).

I have tried other things, the ones that are added to their water, such as the apple cider vinegar and Life Guard tonic but my girls won't touch "adulterated" water so I've given up on that.

You can try any or all of them, I guess you can't over-supplement them (someone here will tell you if you can).  I've had my 4 ex-batts about 10 weeks now and they're coming along nicely but, as Sid says, it can take a few months for them to not look like they've been pulled through a hedge backwards.

Two of mine have feathered up beautifully, two still look right scruffy urchins.

Sure I saw a thread on here about making your own Poultry Spice but probably easier to buy some first off!

Just give them lots of love and cuddles, good quality food (are you giving them the ex-batts food?) and a bit of mixed corn/mealworms late afternoon and they'll soon be normal chooks.  I say "normal" where "normal" actually means "madder than a box of frogs"...

Don't you just love 'em?  

[markandsue]

Worm every three month, use flubenvet wormer.

[AmandaH]

Oh markandsue, wish I could be like you.  Concise and to the point, no waffling 

[themagicaltoad1]

Give them a bit of fish flavoured tinned cat food. It helps with protein loss apparently.

[matilda duck]

That's the one themagicaltoad!   Cat food every now and then brings them on a treat :blink:

[AmandaH]

But I keep reading on here that you shouldn't give hens meat or too much protein.  Or things that they wouldn't normally find in the wilds of the back garden.

I know fish is not meat    But why is fishy cat food OK but beef flavoured not?  And does this mean that they could eat, say, tinned tuna?

Just a bit confused about what is ok and what isn't...

[Sid]

Your right Amanda,
I wouldn't suggest feeding cat food to Chickens, even though they love it. Cat food is formulated with the nutrient needs of cats in mind, and it can contain dangerous levels of certain amino acids for chickens,some very lean cooked  meat and fish, on occasion but nothing that comes in a can .Thats what I have  been told by some poultry farmers in the past.

[AmandaH]

Thanks for your reply Sid.  I think from the posts I've seen on here, cat food is only suggested for very poorly chooks so perhaps a small amount then has some benefit.

But your comments about cat food being formulated for optimum cat nutrition makes sense.  And, for some reason, I just don't like the idea of giving them cat food.  Perhaps it's because I eat their eggs and then I would feel like I am eating cat food by proxy.  And cat food is vile, stinky stuff.  I don't like to think of them eating worms or earwigs either, for the same reason, so I try not to think about it.  

The only animal-based life form I feed them is mealworms (dried, couldn't bear live ones as the dried ones give me the heebie-jeebies) and earthworms if I'm gardening.  Otherwise, it's veggie all the way!

But I'd still be interested to know if chooks would/should eat tinned tuna.  That's not *very* processed and I think tuna and egg go well together  

[madcat]

Plus a little lettace and some french beans ... Salade Nicoise for the hens!   

[Sid]