Chick starter w/ oyster shell vs. layena

[beepbeepinajeep]

I have on several occasions, when our layena was getting low, put chick starter with oyster shell in with my coturnix. The days they have that I get many more eggs... often half of the hens will lay two a day the day after getting it. Is this because of the higher protein? Anyone else have any experience doing this?

 

[JJMR794]

I Have Similar Results--- I Feed Game Bird Starter Usually, And When I Have To Feed Regular Layer Ration Our Egg Rates Drop Exponentially. I Also Add Crushed Oyster Shell To The Game Bird Ration On A Regular Basis, As Well As Vit C To The Water ( We Are In A Tropical Climate--- Very Hot And Humid. There Is Alot Of Research Out There That Supports Supplimenting Birds With Vit C And Vit E During Periods Of Heat Stress And Lemme Tell You It Really Works!)

While Many Folks Have Good Results With Standard Layer Ration And Coturnix I For 1 Have Experimented Enough To Know That For Me At Least With Our Farm Conditions And Weather Get More Eggs From A Higher Protien Ration, Thus I Use The Game Bird Starter. I Expect That If You Were To Experiment With Rations In Your Birds You'll Find That Higher Protien = More Eggs.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I also get more eggs when feeding oyster shells instead of layer. It's probably that they need the higher protein found in the starter, as well as the calcium in the oyster shells, to produce the maximum number of eggs.

 

[beepbeepinajeep]

I am glad others have noticed as well

It really makes a difference!

 

[QuailKeeper]

does it have to be free choice or can you mix it with their starter. i found that for just a small flock of around 10, it was pointless to get a grower, layer etc, when i had 40 more pounds of starter, so i fed that to my birds as regular food. i can get starter from my feed store for $15 for 40 lbs and for my adult birds i mix in hen scratch. they love it

 

[Kullas]

This is good to hear

i just found a place here that has starter for 9$ for 50#

 

[beepbeepinajeep]

$9 is a great price! I am jealous That is what scratch is here.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Scratch here was $13 last time I bought it, I stopped buying it. 50# of gamebird starter is >$15 here though.

 

[QuailKeeper]

scratch is $5 for a 25 lb bag, not too shabby

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
VERY TRUE! IT ALSO BOOSTS THE LAYING RATE OF YOUR FULL SIZE CHICKENS AS WELL! ALSO TRY THE VITAMIN C IN THEIR WATER--- IT REALLY HELPS THIS TIME OF YEAR!