i am sorry to hassle you guys out with more questions but last night when the hen was out of the nestbox i decided to catch her and check her out and i noticed that she has lost weight,she was in good condition when i put her in the breeding cage. i am giving then egg and biscuit mix that has a protein powder in it but what else could i give her and could someone explain to me why this could be happening when i have been trying to follow all the breeding advice that i have been reading on this forum especially Daz's article which i read other and other again.

At what stage is she in her breeding? Is she feeding large chicks? I would think that if she were feeding a batch of chicks she would normally loose some weight. Maybe you are worrying too much, if she doesn’t show any signs of being sick. I normally wouldn’t be catching my breeding birds unless really necessary, as I think that catching up a bird is a really stressful event for them & I avoid it as much as possible. Every birds is different, some can raise batch after batch without any ill affects others are exhausted with one or two. I mostly find when I buy in birds you get some problems with them at first but after breeding your own for a couple of generation & selecting the best & strongest, you seem to get less & less problems. As well as her egg & biscuit is she getting plenty of fresh greens, as I find feeding birds like plenty of them & it supplies vitamins & minerals.

She is still in breeding condition and she has 4 chicks ranging in age from 14 days to 8 days old . she is not showing any signs of sickness and they get fresh greens every morning.it is my first cabinet breeding so i am worrying about them and properly checking them too often.

I agree with Norm on that Deb, Only one of my hens, droped weight while she was breeding she had a clutch of 5 and once they got to the 3 week mark when the babies needed more food i noticed it .... I increased more greens and protien , i was also advised that most egg and biscuit mixes are mostly biscuits so try giving the scrambled eggs aswell

The mix i have has egg protien powder in it but at the moment i am boiling my fresh eggs i just collected from my hens to add to the budgies vegies this morning.

What you are doing Deb is the best you can; boiled eggs added to any bought mix will improve it. Just keep a watch on her & if she looks okay don’t worry too much, the problem is that once birds show they are sick it may be too late. I have stopped birds breeding that looked like it was getting too much for them, but still lost them later on. Hopefully your birds will be okay.

Some hens stop looking afdter themselves as well when they are feeding chicks. I often put millet sprays in these hens nestboxes so they can eat while in with their babies ....and sometimes I put a scoop of seed in the nestbox too

Thanks for the advice, i will add some millet spray to the box. i add in my another post" hen plucking babies" about the problems with the male. He is getting very annoying this morning.

Thanks for the advice, i will add some millet spray to the box. i add in my another post" hen plucking babies" about the problems with the male. He is getting very annoying this morning.

 

 

Poor deb

 

Not having much luck are ya!

 

Just think of it as a steep learning curve , we all go through it.

hens when laying use their own storage of calcium so it will come from her bones and muscle storage - Extra added calcium added to the beaks daily - if all else fails mate