5months-ish EE's not laying. What am i suposed to feed them?

[NorthernChick1]

Hey guys im a little confused,.. I was told that switching my birds for grower to layer was based on age. They havnt laid yet and i was told when i got them that they were born in december. Now i posted a comment on my thread that i was feeding them 17% layer with the rest of my laying flock that are a year of age and someone gave me crap and left a rude comment that you arent suposed to feed any chicken layer untill they actually start laying. Can someone please guide me in the right direction on what to do? I also have 2 silkie hens thats around a year old and the other 10 months and they dont lay AT ALL either,..

 

[TheRusticRebel]

I was told EE can take a long time to lay. Like up to 24 weeks old. I dont Know about the silkies. Seems like they should definitely be laying. Maybe they are stessed out? Molting? Even if they werent getting enough calcium id think theyd lay, it would just be a soft shell egg. But I dont have any experience with that breed.

I tried to feed my mixed flock all the same food. A grower feed at 20% since a majority of the flock is only 12 weeks old. And i put out a dish of oyster shell. But the big girls started laying soft so now i put out a tray of layer fpr them and keep the big feeder full.of grower. I also still have the oyster shell out. It seems to have helped some.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

You shouldn't feed a pullet layer feed until they are actually laying. They don't need the excess calcium until that time, and it can be damaging to their bodies if they get too much.
Either feed grower, or all flock to the flock, and offer oyster shell on the side. If you want to switch to layer once everybody is laying, then do so at that time.

 

[ocap]

there might be information on the tag attached to the feed sack, i noticed you live in Canada, that country might have different laws or habits with labels

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Also, post pics of your birds. It could help figure out what's going on with the lack of laying.

 

[NorthernChick1]

will take a photo of them tonight. When they got big enough i put them with my year old hens so they ate the same thing (layer) because my coop is small and i couldnt really separate it. I guess i will have no choice and try and separate the coop untill they start laying.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

will take a photo of them tonight. When they got big enough i put them with my year old hens so they ate the same thing (layer) because my coop is small and i couldnt really separate it. I guess i will have no choice and try and separate the coop untill they start laying.

You don't have to separate. You can feed all of them all flock until they're all laying.

 

[aart]

You don't have to separate. You can feed all of them all flock until they're all laying.

Yes, with Oyster Shell in a separate container for the layers.

 

[Junebugsin]

It took almost a year for my EEs to start laying. I thought they were duds, but they finally proved me wrong.