AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi all,

I'm a 1st time chook owner.

I bought 2 australorp crosses I was told were laying, now six days later they haven't layed & won't eat the layer pellets (petbarn brand). Considering soaking the pellets in warm water. They are getting cabbage, shell grit, veggie scraps, tomatoes etc every day but not touching the pellets.

I also have a 16 week Rhode Island red in with them in an ebay ozplaza chicken castle http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Rabbit-Guinea-Pi ... 3cb41c0c09 with a fence around it so they are free roaming. I put a box with hay in it in the coop & wood shavings in the sleeping area.

Any advice most appreciated.

Firstly congratulations on becoming a chook owner!

Now regarding them eating pellets, they will eat them if they are hungry. I would stop feeding treats at the moment because they'll be filling up on this and then not having to eat their pellets. Pellets are designed to offer a hen what it needs whilst laying and it nutritionally balanced. Eating more treats than pellets will eventually lead to a dietary deficiency. Like children they won't always eat whats best for them! When you say its a petbarn brand, what is the actual brand of the pellets? Barastoc, Red Hen etc?

Moving and a new environment for a chook is a stressful event and can certainly put them off the lay for a short while. especially while the pecking order is being sorted out. If they were laying Im sure it won't be long now. I would be inclined to add another nestbox so they have a choice though. A cardboard box on its side is the popular nest box with my hens. Bend one of the flaps to create a lip which stop the hay or shavings from falling out and its becomes a dark cozy area which they love.

Regarding the Australorps, are you sure the previous owner said they were laying and not point of lay? Point of lay can mean you might still have a few weeks to wait until they start. A photo would be great as it might help judge their age. They should have nice red combs and very red faces if they are laying..or close to laying. I think the stress of the move and not eating appropriately can definitely be a problem too. (Hopefully, its not the worst case scenario which is you've bought old birds).

If you get more hens in the future it is worth noting that it is always best to quarrantine them well away from existing birds. Because a move is stressful it often makes the bird suseptible to picking up illness and you don't want them passing this on to your existing flock and sickness can lead to death if not properly treated. Keeping them separate for around two weeks allows you to make sure they don't have lice, mites or an illness of some other kind.

Good luck with them

Thanks Roova

The bag of pellets just has petbarn branding on the bag, I was going to swap to barastoc next bag but at this rate they'll neve finish the 20kg's I've got

No treats today & they did eat a little pellets last night

Personally I would buy pellets from a well known brand/company and for the sake of $20 I wouldn't worry about feeding the rest of the bag. Just my opinion though.

It might be ok, but without going through percentages and ingredients who knows. I would stick with buying from a company who's only business in producing feed. Thats not to say their feed is perfect of course, but if people across the country who bought their stock didn't have birds who thrive on it, they couldn't stay in business.

I've had too many dodgy experiences with Petbarns in the past to trust them to do the right thing really. I have seen them first hand compromise the health of animals in their care to make a buck so who knows how they go about producing their feed.

Don't start me on petbarns!

Getting a few eggs now from my other australorp, this one not laying though.

Changed to Red Hen layer mix.

can anyone tell me if this is a mature bird?