16 Week Old Egg Laying

[lilgreene19]

Since they were just little chicks?

Yes.

 

[aart]

Yes.

You never fed them starter feed?
Chicks should get starter feed, not layer feed.

 

[lilgreene19]

You never fed them starter feed?
Chicks should get starter feed, not layer feed.

Tractor Supply gave us 1 bag of starter feed & then they were outside getting layer crumble, per Tractor Supply and what they told us. So for 6 weeks they got starter and then switched to Layer Crumble..

 

[aart]

Tractor Supply gave us 1 bag of starter feed & then they were outside getting layer crumble, per Tractor Supply and what they told us. So for 6 weeks they got starter and then switched to Layer Crumble..

Sigh. Not good. You'd think TSC employees would know better, but often they do not.
They should not get the level(3-4%) of calcium until they are actually laying.
But will be a good 'experiment' as to how that much calcium affects non layers.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

hello,

I bought my chickens (ISA BROWN) from tractor supply on May 24th, 2020 (I live in New England). I noticed one was starting to squat when I went near her. Looked it up, realized she was basically going to be laying eggs soon. So on the 11th of September we received our first egg. We got about 4 normal eggs out of her, and the rest have been soft shell.

She usually lays one everyday (being soft shell or hard). The last egg she laid on the 17th was a soft shell and you could see the yolk inside. But she did not lay one yesterday (Sept 18th, or this morning Sept 19th). She is the ONLY Hen laying right now (one other started crouching when I go near her too). All chickens have been eating fine, drinking fine & acting normal.

I attached a picture of the last egg on September 17th.

Is this too early for chickens to be laying?

Should I be worried she is egg bound?

Do you provide oyster shell?

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Tractor Supply gave us 1 bag of starter feed & then they were outside getting layer crumble, per Tractor Supply and what they told us. So for 6 weeks they got starter and then switched to Layer Crumble..

That really is bad...not your fault.
But 6 week olds should NEVER get layer feed.

 

[lilgreene19]

Do you provide oyster shell?

I do. I mix it in with their scratch & just started mixing it with their food.

 

[lilgreene19]

That really is bad...

They all act fine & are doing just fine. Never been sick. And are really happy chickens.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

They all act fine & are doing just fine. Never been sick. And are really happy chickens.

Good! Then it probably didn’t hurt them.
But for some it can really cause problems.

 

[coach723]

Like others have said, I would offer the oyster shell in a separate feeder all the time, rather than mixing it in the feed. You also mentioned scratch, I would really limit scratch to only very occasional treats. Yes, they love it, but it tends to be high in fat and low in protein, so they can really end up with some health problems if they are getting too much of it. And many of them will fill up on it and not eat their regular feed, leading to nutritional deficiencies.