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Lost 3 hens in 2 weeks after switching to layer pellets
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rayc3820d ago
Don't know why everyone's jumping on the pellets so fast. I've been using them for years and never lost a single bird. Maybe your flock just wasn't used to them yet. You gotta give chickens time to adapt to new feed, you can't just switch cold turkey and expect no issues. If you mix the pellets with some scratch or crumbles for a week or two, they'll learn to peck at them and break them down just fine.
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Started off thinking layer pellets were the safe bet, but after losing those birds I completely flipped. We had always used crumbles or scratch grain mixed with veggie scraps, never had issues. Switched to pellets because they seemed cleaner and more efficient, but three hens dead in two weeks changed my mind fast. Turns out the pellets were too hard for my smaller hens to break down, they just couldn't digest them. Now I'm back to crumbles with occasional oyster shell on the side, birds are healthy again. Sometimes the fancy stuff isn't the right fit for every flock, you gotta watch what actually works for your birds.
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valthomas1mo ago
Did you check if the smaller hens were actually swallowing the pellets whole or just pecking at them?
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