Melabella I have 14 girls, 12 with a hatch date of July 11th and 2 with a purchase date of July 20th (feed store girls) I think those two are about a week behind my older girls. I would put what I have in my signature but can't figure out where to type it all.
I went to the 20% because they are picking and eating feathers, I have 2 girls with bare backs and they need the protein to get those feathers back. Plus with it being as cold as it is here they are needing more energy to maintain their temps. I do supplement with sunflower seeds, meal worms, or other sources of protein also. I figure it never hurts for them to have a wide assortment of stuff to eat. If I could free range my girls I would, but some people don't think when they let their dog outside around here. I also heard that putting cayenne pepper in their feed will help warm the chickens up and wont affect the taste of the eggs.
We bought the heated watering fount yesterday worked beautifully over night. It holds so little (compared to my 5 gal watering system) that I have to refill it twice a day to keep the girls in water. I figure to use the 5 gal during the day and the heated only at night, that way they have water in the morning, instead of an ice block. I also found some dried grass while at the feed store, it is sold for rabbits and other animals but the chickens are loving the grass even though it is dried. We have also added 2 more heat lamps to help keep part of the coop warmer. I think they hate this cold more than I do! I also had to break down and start giving them grit, we have such rocky and sandy soil it was not needed... until the ground froze.
I have heard of the apple cider vinegar in their water, but heard it was only to help reduce the "slime" that builds up in water. It wasn't until recently that I heard it has health benefits for animals, does it have to have the mother in it or can it be the regular stuff? I also just recently heard of fermenting their feed, I really should learn more about doing these things. I want healthy girls more than eggs, I love watching the girls do the silly things they do.
I have a second layer now! It's about time! But, like the first layer, this second gal deposited her first egg on the poop board, and the other girls pecked at it before I discovered it. I hope that's not a sign of things to come! I looked in the nest boxes after finding the egg on the poop board and found a fresh, warm egg nicely deposited in the nest. Hopefully Layer 2 will get the clue about where to go next time. Layer 1 figured it out, so there's hope!
