chickens not laying eggs!! help please

[devin mctaggart]

grit yes. never told about the shell though!
the previous owner did say about there shells and cleaning them out dring then putting it in there for then on a piece of paper towel. havent done that yet as i havent bought any eggs, because i keep thing there going to lay any day now.

 

[Maggie C]

and good luck with your girls. It's only been a relatively short time (3wks?) so I would just give them a little time.

 

[devin mctaggart]

ok so i was out in the coop and i was looking. what we thought was grit the bag says chicken starter. nots not grit is it. it looks kind of like really small grayish color. i would want to say granny so i never thought to check but they needed more of the other stuff so i got reading??

 

[highpointfarm]

Definetly need grit and oyster shells.. although, they still need spring =] lol

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

Oyster shell = calcium. They need it to make sturdy egg shells. I think it's pretty important for them to have it. You can get it at your feed store.

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

And grit is absolutely imperative. Chickens don't have stomachs so they need the grit to help break down their food. If they're confined and not free-ranging, they have no access to sand or dirt so they MUST have grit.

 

[JiJis hens]

New to this myself. Mine are 5-8 weeks old and right now I'm feeding them Purina Start Grow. When do I start feeding them grits and oyster shell. Is that going to be apart from their Purina feeding? And just to be clear the grits they eat dry right

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

As long as they are ONLY eating chick starter I don't think they need grit. And you don't give them oyster shell until they are ready to lay. They can also eat yogurt and oatmeal without needing grit, but once they are free-ranging or getting other treats, the grit comes into play.

 

[mkcolls]

New to this myself. Mine are 5-8 weeks old and right now I'm feeding them Purina Start Grow. When do I start feeding them grits and oyster shell. Is that going to be apart from their Purina feeding? And just to be clear the grits they eat dry right

Grit is pulverized hard stone, like granite. When anything is added to a chick or chicken's menu, other than feed, they need grit added. So if you give your chicks treats of any kind they need grit. Grit comes in a small size for young chicks and larger for growing chickens. We made the change at the same time that we changed from chick starter to layer. We add it to their feed.
Oyster shell is added at the point of lay (POL) which may be as early as 16 weeks, as late as 28 weeks depending on breed, individual chicken, time of year, weather, OK, just about anything.

Layer feed has increased calcium, but some pullet/hens need more. This can be offered in a separate feeding dish or added to feed. The chicks that need it eat it. We also crush our used egg shells and feed them back.
We free range our chickens so they have access to many sources of grit on our property, but we still add a small amount of grit to the feed to avoid digestive problems. We have a few "coopbodies", who don't forage very much.

 

[JiJis hens]

Thank you, that was very helpful.