Happily Retired
Chirping
I am in need of some guidance. I have 8 Barred Rock Hens which are 18 months old and are coming up on 1 year of laying. When they became of laying age I used the Tractor Supply layer feed which they loved. I have a homemade bucket feeder for the dry feed.
About 6 or 8 months ago I switched to a West layer feed because of the TSO feed scare relating to loss of egg production and cost. They were fine on the new feed until about a month ago when I noticed a a drop in daily egg production (7 down to 4) and a very large amount of the feed on the coop floor hidden under the bedding. I had a bag of the TSO left over and they seemed to do better. So when that bag ran out this week, I went back to the West feed but they turned their nose up and would have nothing to do with it.
So I fed them cooked rice/beans/peas which they gobbled up so I figured it had to be the feed if their appetites were good. I also tried taking the West feed and mixing it with water to make a mush and lo and behold they gobbled it up. So I crushed up some of the feed and made crumbles which a 2 or 3 tried but still left the larger bits. Now the only commercial feed they will eat is the mash. (While I am going thru all of this, the egg count went up to about 6/day)
With the pelleted dry feed, I only have to fill the bucket every 4 to 5 days. If I am relegated to the mash feed, I will be out there 2 or 3 times a day.
So does anyone have any insight or suggestions. I have even tried offering them grit, thinking that they couldn't grind up the pellets but they were not interested in it.
Thanks in advance for anything you can offer.
About 6 or 8 months ago I switched to a West layer feed because of the TSO feed scare relating to loss of egg production and cost. They were fine on the new feed until about a month ago when I noticed a a drop in daily egg production (7 down to 4) and a very large amount of the feed on the coop floor hidden under the bedding. I had a bag of the TSO left over and they seemed to do better. So when that bag ran out this week, I went back to the West feed but they turned their nose up and would have nothing to do with it.
So I fed them cooked rice/beans/peas which they gobbled up so I figured it had to be the feed if their appetites were good. I also tried taking the West feed and mixing it with water to make a mush and lo and behold they gobbled it up. So I crushed up some of the feed and made crumbles which a 2 or 3 tried but still left the larger bits. Now the only commercial feed they will eat is the mash. (While I am going thru all of this, the egg count went up to about 6/day)
With the pelleted dry feed, I only have to fill the bucket every 4 to 5 days. If I am relegated to the mash feed, I will be out there 2 or 3 times a day.
So does anyone have any insight or suggestions. I have even tried offering them grit, thinking that they couldn't grind up the pellets but they were not interested in it.
Thanks in advance for anything you can offer.
