Broody little brat!

[Aunt Goaty]

I am wondering if I may have messed up, or if it's just because the most aggressive hen has gone broody.

I bought a new bag of layer feed 2 days ago. I wasn't paying attention and picked up the pellets instead of the crumbles, which is what they have been getting. They haven't eaten the pellets as much as they normally would the crumbles, so I'm wondering if the egg production has gone down because of that or because "Big Mama", as she is now being called, has gone broody and isn't letting anyone get to the box they all normally lay their eggs in?

We have been getting 4-5 eggs per day out of a flock of 5 (all hens, no roo), consistently, since they started laying, and we only managed 2 in the last 3 days.

Any ideas?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Probably a bit of both. Chickens don't like change, so will severely balk at eating pellet. I had to mix with crumbles for a few bags to successfully make the transition.

Break you broody ASAP to return everyone to normal.

 

[Aunt Goaty]

Is there any reason I should change to pellets? If not, I don't mind getting the crumble. Seems like it would be less hassle than trying to change them over!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Is there any reason I should change to pellets? If not, I don't mind getting the crumble. Seems like it would be less hassle than trying to change them over!

Use what you like. I personally had a problem with wild birds, especially sparrows eating my feed, so the pellets limited what could eat them. I also feed ducks and turkeys the same all flock ration so pellets are easier for them to swallow.

When I'm integrating chicks I put out a starter crumble for the chicks and the big birds eat it like crazy too. So they definitely prefer crumbles.