I feel my Girls Smallholder Layers pellets. They're very happy with them, and I'm not looking to change.
It's time to worm everyone. I normally do this with a measured dose for each Girl (I have very accurate scales) but find it quite hard on the Allotment where the Girls (and Roo) aren't so happy at being caught and picked up.
I heard that Marriages were now doing 10kg bags of their Pellets-with-Flubenvet, and I thought I'd give this a whirl for the Allotment crowd. As I was placing my order, I decided to try it on the Garden Girls as well, so I ended up buying a 20kg sack anyway.
The feed for the Allotment crowd was changed on 27 January. We weighed out 1 kg for each bird (on the basis that each bird would eat 150g per day for 7 days). In reality, I would expect the smaller Laydees to eat less; and as the Breeders aren't laying at the moment, they might well only be eating 100g a day each. We're going to weigh the leftover feed at the end of the seven days, so we can see if the Girls seem to have consumed the right amount.
For the Allotmentees, it has definitely less painful than trying to catch each individual chook each day for 7 days. Howver, I haven't been around though to see how well (or not) they have adapted to the change in feed. Or how well they'll adapt when we change them back on Thursday!
I've just started the Garden Girls on it., this afternoon. I did it when I shut the Girls up for the evening. Tilda (youngster) doesn't seem to mind the change, she had her beak in one of the feeders and was chomping away quite happily. Delilah (oldest girl, very slow now) looked in several of the feeders before giving in and eating something. Milly (loony, second oldest, bulliest chook) was not impressed, and decided to chase Tilda round the Run. as if it was her fault that the food had changed. The others are still busy rooking for remnants of their afternoon corn, and I don't think they've tried it yet.
I'm not sure about this. Normally I would gradually change the feed over the course of a week or som but that's just not practical with this type of food. I'll be keeping a close eye on the Girls this week to see how they cope - and how they deal with the change back to Smallholders at the end of the 7 days. Then I can decide what to do next time.
It would be fab if it works. It's not a particularly cheap way of getting Flbenvey into them, but (a) it's easier for me, and (b) it's the best way of making sure each chook gets the right dose.
It's time to worm everyone. I normally do this with a measured dose for each Girl (I have very accurate scales) but find it quite hard on the Allotment where the Girls (and Roo) aren't so happy at being caught and picked up.
I heard that Marriages were now doing 10kg bags of their Pellets-with-Flubenvet, and I thought I'd give this a whirl for the Allotment crowd. As I was placing my order, I decided to try it on the Garden Girls as well, so I ended up buying a 20kg sack anyway.
The feed for the Allotment crowd was changed on 27 January. We weighed out 1 kg for each bird (on the basis that each bird would eat 150g per day for 7 days). In reality, I would expect the smaller Laydees to eat less; and as the Breeders aren't laying at the moment, they might well only be eating 100g a day each. We're going to weigh the leftover feed at the end of the seven days, so we can see if the Girls seem to have consumed the right amount.
For the Allotmentees, it has definitely less painful than trying to catch each individual chook each day for 7 days. Howver, I haven't been around though to see how well (or not) they have adapted to the change in feed. Or how well they'll adapt when we change them back on Thursday!
I've just started the Garden Girls on it., this afternoon. I did it when I shut the Girls up for the evening. Tilda (youngster) doesn't seem to mind the change, she had her beak in one of the feeders and was chomping away quite happily. Delilah (oldest girl, very slow now) looked in several of the feeders before giving in and eating something. Milly (loony, second oldest, bulliest chook) was not impressed, and decided to chase Tilda round the Run. as if it was her fault that the food had changed. The others are still busy rooking for remnants of their afternoon corn, and I don't think they've tried it yet.
I'm not sure about this. Normally I would gradually change the feed over the course of a week or som but that's just not practical with this type of food. I'll be keeping a close eye on the Girls this week to see how they cope - and how they deal with the change back to Smallholders at the end of the 7 days. Then I can decide what to do next time.
It would be fab if it works. It's not a particularly cheap way of getting Flbenvey into them, but (a) it's easier for me, and (b) it's the best way of making sure each chook gets the right dose.
