Crossbeak and egg laying.

Debbie292d said:

You should read this thread. There's a couple of very knowledgeable folks that posted replies:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-day-im-worried-i-may-be-overfeeding.1578658/

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Debbie292d said:

I watched mine eat, and it runs between the dry and the mash. I think what it's doing is gets its face so full of mash as it's beak catches so much of it, then goes to the dry to clean it off lol. It does spill a lot of the mash too, but not so much the dry. It's in a pen with a couple of its siblings and a few others around their age.

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The Coop Crew said:

Okay good to know. I have fed her by herself in the past but lately I’ve been making one bowl of mash and all of the chickens eat it and then I make her her own and she eats it by herself. Today by herself she ate around 1/2 a cup plus what she ate with the others.
The 2 cups was a GUESS on my part based on what I used to scoop the food but today I used a measuring cup.
I was worried about her not getting enough but apparently I’m over feeding

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Kiki said:

I do not think you are over feeding.
You have to measure and be sure of what she eats, for a few days in a row, to determine if she is getting enough.

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The Coop Crew said:

Okay I will do that! So I should give her 3/4 cups by herself and see how much she eats?

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Kiki said:

For sure.
I would do an experiment and measure 1/2 cup one day, 3/4 one day and 1 cup another day.
I would do each measurement for a few days each if I were doing it.

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The Coop Crew said:

Okay thank you!
One more question, is the crop being full not a good indication that she’s getting enough?

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TwoCrows said:

@The Coop Crew

Gauging her weight is the best indication of how much to feed her. Every bird has a different metabolism, some need more, some need less. Her keel bone meat is a good indication as to whether a bird is getting enough to eat.

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Whether she lays or not is not necessarily connected to her weight, because she has a cross beak can mean she has other issues that could prevent laying.

So my suggestion is to start by weighing her. Check her against the above chart by feeling her breast. Measure out an exact amount of food per day and weigh her every day or two. If she looses weight, add a few tablespoons of feed per day. If she needs to lose weight then cut back a few tablespoons per day. Never fill her crop until its completely full. This can stretch it, crops can rupture. So learn to feel when its half or 3/4s full and stop there. A few meals a day is better than one big one. Good luck with her!

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The Coop Crew said:

Thank you! It’s hard for me to do multiple meals a day when I’m working but I try. Her crop is pretty large when she’s done eating so maybe it’s too full.
Thank you so much for the helpful information!

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TwoCrows said:

If you can only feed her a couple times a day since you are working during the day, you would be better off with two medium meals than 2 large ones. I can't stress enough not to over fill a crop. You could always make up a meals worth of sloppy mash for her to scoop up during the day. If its mounded up and wet enough, she should be able to slurp some of it in and get more calories while you are gone.

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