swithcing to pellets

[sandiegochicken]

I have several chickens that are 6 months old. They have been eating layer mash, but only are eating the corn and wasting most of it. I tried switching to pellets and crumbles, but they won't eat it. Any ideas?

[JamesC]

sandiegochicken:
About all you can do is leave the food you want them to eat until they get hungry enough to eat it. Make sure there is nothing else they can eat instead. It might be a good idea to remove their food for a day. I can almost guarantee that they will eat what you give them after not having food for 24 hours.
If your birds have been laying the switch to another ration could throw that off.

James

[sandiegochicken]

Thanks James,

I will try your suggestion. I just hope these birds aren't dumb enough to starve themselves.

[sandiegochicken]

I gave them the new food only and they refused to eat it. When I went outside this morning to get the eggs, they had eaten them! Ughh! This is is first time they had done this and I hope that I didn't start them on a bad habit. Needless to say, I gave the hens their old ration again - I want to stop this egg eating immediately. I will have to try a more gradual approach on the feed transition.

[Josh]

You could try slowly integrating the new feed, although switching it completely is the best way. Hunger can be strong motivation to try something new.