What to feed chickens to lay more eggs.

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new bird said:
okay so sky light not a good idea? or should i do both?
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Natural light is always good, but a skylight may be expensive and more prone to leaks compared to more windows.

As far as artificial lighting to increase their production goes, there are two lines of thought here. Some people want to keep their birds naturally and just accept that their production will go up and down with the seasons. Others are more sensitive to the economics of it, they keep hens to produce eggs and feeding hens that aren't laying is expensive so they add artificial lighting to keep the hens in lay. They realize that the egg laying span of those birds will be shorter and that hens will have to be replaced on regular basis versus keeping them for years as pets. Some folks have a high turnover anyways due to predation or will send them to the stew pot as the natural order of things so for those folks there isn't much of a concern about keeping hens laying for years.
 
Try feeding them some vegetable matter. My 5 hens love cabbage and carrot tops. I notice that their eggs tend to be larger also when I feed them vegetables also.
 
obsessedwchicks said:
Hey newbie here. Just wondering what little things I could do throughout the day to help my chickens lay some more eggs, and thats' reasonable. Thanks for any responses! Any help is better than what I'm doing now!
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Hi, I too am a newbie to chicken hood. We got 7 beautiful Isa Brown hens August 2012, they were 20 weeks old. It took them awhile to start laying (mid September for all of them). Since then we have 7 eggs a day, every day. When it was warmer I would let them out in the afternoons to roam and scratch around the garden. I would also give them the greens from the veggie garden, which they loved. Since winter set in I have been giving them kitchen scraps, veggies, fruit (they love bananas), letus heads, They wait in their penn for me to come out with their treat. I don't know if giving them daily treats along with their laying pellets has improved their production level, they have been 100% all along. I know they are happy little hens and that I am a happy momma hen.
 
My 2 cents to add is along the lines of all the ones advocating protein and light. I do have my girls on a timer so they get 13 to 14 hours of light per day. Also, in the evenings, I give the girls a "snack" before they go to roost. I noticed that when I worked to make sure it was a protein snack, my egg production was better. My protein snack is scrambled eggs or hard boiled eggs mixed with some of their layer and water or tuna and the layer and water. There was a period I did only the layer as a mash with water or as a mash with water and cooked horse oats. The egg production dropped WAY down then!
Appreciate all the input here!!!
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I have had good luck with putting a little dash of cayenne pepper in their water. It makes them feel like they are in the summer. you could also try changing their hay or straw more often.
 
E
obsessedwchicks said:
Hey newbie here. Just wondering what little things I could do throughout the day to help my chickens lay some more eggs, and thats' reasonable. Thanks for any responses! Any help is better than what I'm doing now!
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we feed ours the layer crumbs with a half cup a day each of scratch. They love scratching sunflowe seeds and any spouts we can give them. The yhing that seems to keep our girls going the most is outdoor time! They love it. Not just insife their pen eith, they want the rule of the roost so to speak...free ranging...even in the middle of winter. We made them a chicken runway about 60 feet long and paths around the house, and down to the river...they dig down under anything in their path. The more digging and daylight freedom, the more eggs. We occasionally have to be away for a day, which means they have to stay in their pen, still having access to their coop. We are guaranteed to have egg production reduced by 50% the next day. We are in Nova Scotia, and with a brisk winter this year, but our girls still want their freedom,to be out and about.. Another big thing to remember is lots of daily fresh water too. Have fun!
 
Just a different perspective.. I feed my 18 rhode island reds a mixure of BOSS and Barley fodder, with a sprinkle of occasional oyster shell. I do have a light in their coop on a timer, so they are dark from 10-4 am only. I get between 16 and 17 eggs every day, even throughout the winter (sometimes drops when a couple are molting at the same time)
I don't give any store bought mixes, just the sprouts. I get giant, beautiful, clean eggs with thick shells. My feed bill is nearly nothing every month (averages about 1.5 cents a day per bird) They are big, glossy girls, and have had zero health issues.
They do get occasional kitchen scraps, but rarely.
Fresh is always better!
 
I just spoke to my neighbor cuz he's an old farmer. My hens should have started laying a month ago. He brought me over cottonseed, the ground up kind. Told me to put 1/2 cup in their feed every day cuz it is high in protein and fat. It worked.

I also feed 1 coffee can sized scratch & corn mix twice a day for them to scratch on the ground. I put the cottonseed directly in their feed mixed with some bird seed. They LOVE it! And they all started laying.
 
I can only get "duck Starter" here that is 22% protein, same vitamin and minerals content.
all the chicken layer, feeds go between 15% - 18% protein...and the "chick starter" is medicated and at 20% protein.
I like to mix this with wheat bran and make a mash...they devour it!!!!
18 % pellets are not as aggressively approached by them.
 

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