Chicken egg laying life span and feeding non-layers

[pemord]

Hello, I have 5 chickens that range in age from 6 to 8 years old. Egg production has varied from time to time but has more or less ceased as of December 2019. And their over the past year, their eating habits have changed. Admittedly, we were giving them too many treats and scaled back to a recommended no more than 2 tablespoons per bird and changed their treats to a combination of wild bird food and chicken scratch. Their other food is a layer formula of pellets. They also forage in our backyard, which has lots of bugs and a small amount of greens. For the past 4-5 months, they have stopped eating the layer food. So, is this behavior normal for chickens their age? Have they stopped laying altogether? How long do chickens normally live? What should chickens who are no longer laying be eating? Sorry for all the questions, but this is our first time to raise any chickens. Thank you, Patty

 

[black_cat]

I would recommend feeding yours all flock. I suspect that yours are avoiding the layer feed because it has lots of calcium that is needed to form eggshells. I would also probably say that they are done laying.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Hi Patty,
I still have 7 out of 8 of my first batch of hens, they are now 7 years old. They have slowed down with laying but they haven't stopped altogether. Mine also free range during the day, they eat less feed when they free range. And in the autumn is when they start eating more chicken feed to help with the feathers regrowing from molting.