Battery hens. No eggs. What to feed?

kelebek1977

Chirping
6 Years
Joined
Sep 4, 2014
Messages
69
Reaction score
8
Points
96
I have four retired, battery chooks that I adopted a few months back and I have been feeding them all a complete poultry mix.

In the few months ive had them, there have been three eggs. All with very thin shells - and completely tasteless said hubby!

I didnt adopt them for the eggs though. I wanted them to spend the rest of their days roaming round our garden and living the high life :-)

So, seeing there may be no more eggs, what is the best feed for them? They are all approx a year old. I've been told layers pellets with a wormer is the best for them?

They get a warm oatmeal in the morning with banana. In the afternoon they get mixed greens (cabbage, spinach cucumber) and in the evening they get their complete poultry mix before bed. They also have the run of the garden all day so get whatever they dig up too.

I'm very new to keeping chickens so any help and further advice would be brilliant.

Thank you
 
I have four retired, battery chooks that I adopted a few months back and I have been feeding them all a complete poultry mix.

In the few months ive had them, there have been three eggs. All with very thin shells - and completely tasteless said hubby!

I didnt adopt them for the eggs though. I wanted them to spend the rest of their days roaming round our garden and living the high life :-)

So, seeing there may be no more eggs, what is the best feed for them? They are all approx a year old. I've been told layers pellets with a wormer is the best for them?

They get a warm oatmeal in the morning with banana. In the afternoon they get mixed greens (cabbage, spinach cucumber) and in the evening they get their complete poultry mix before bed. They also have the run of the garden all day so get whatever they dig up too.

I'm very new to keeping chickens so any help and further advice would be brilliant.

Thank you

Sounds like you are feeding them well. I wouldn't feed them anything with a wormer if you are going to eat the eggs. You can try some crushed oyster shells served in a dish on the side for added calcium. Some times it takes a while for new hens to start to lay once they are rehomed. Are they moulting at all? That's could be the reason for lack of eggs.
 
Forgot to add if they have not been wormed you can do that but don't eat the eggs for the time they are being wormed.
 
Last edited:
Thank you :-)

I'm not sure about the moulting :-/ They were pretty baldy when I got them and still have a few tail feathers to come though. I'm guessing the feather loss was due to their previous home being over run and very tight.

I was under the impression that the layers pellets I was going to get are fine with the eggs?

I also save all of our egg shells and crush them with a pestle and mortar...is that ok?

There are so many food types out there I jsut dont know which to go with,
 
Egg shells are fine and a good source of calcium.
I think you will find most commercial feeds for hens do not include wormers so that should be fine for you hens.
You can also try a hand full of cat biscuits if you have a cat. Give sparingly once a day as they contain a lot of salt. Tinned tuna is good for treats to and contains a lot of protein for feathering and laying.

Foods to avoid off the top of my head is onions, potato skins, avocados. There is a full list on the site somewhere. I see if I can find a link for you.
 
Last edited:
Thank you so much!

We got an egg this morning :-) Hubby ate it and said it was fab! So i'm on the right route. :-)
 
welcome-byc.gif
FYI, I keep layer feed freely available all the time for mine in addition to the treats.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom