12 hens settling in but no eggs at all

[notbrooding]

My hens came from 2 different locations, the second batch came from north of us about 120 miles. They have been with us a week, I feed them Layena and scratch, some produce from the kitchen. I know that they may not lay until the spring, should I be feeding Layena when they are not producing?

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

I have heard that you should wait to feed layer only when laying. I believe this is because of the extra calcium in layer feed. Perhaps feed general poultry feed until they begin laying.

 

[BBQJOE]

If the hens were previously laying, it might take another week for them to get comfy and start laying again

 

[blucoondawg]

Ya moving them like that will easily stir them up and cause them to stop laying, it's a form of stress being thrown into an unfamiliar environment, not much different from being scared by a predator attack can shut off their laying for awhile. If they don't start up after getting settled it might not hurt to switch to a no calcium feed as it can cause problems in too high of levels however many people have fed layer to the whole flock regardless of laying, not laying, hen, rooster, chicks, etc and not had a problem. I provide free choice calcium no matter what type feed I use and I'm going to switch to a higher protein feed and quit the layer anyways because I have found the higher protein feed lasts far longer, they self regulate it and eat less. The higher end feed only costs a few bucks more but the volume of consumed feed is going to save me money.