Chickens stopped laying after... (highly probable due to low nutrition)

[hysop]

If they saw or heard that I am sure it traumatized them. My chickens seem to always remember stuff too.

We think it was due to the fact that it was familiar young chicks getting their heads cut off and my dog taking off with them. These chicks had been living near them within eyesight of my flock for a couple of weeks.

Because at the end of March we got an old rooster from someone to teach my nephews how to process a chicken and they (my flock) saw the whole process but never stopped laying. But they had never seen the rooster before in their life.

So yes, no more culling in front of my chickens.

edited because my wording sounded weird in the first sentence

 

[NatJ]

As far as restricting feed. My chickens are pigs! I tried the free feeding last week. Well let me tell you the entire week they had their crops so full they looked like tumors! All of them! Not just one chubby one. So I’m back to measuring it out their feed.

We think it was due to the fact that it was familiar young chicks getting their heads cut off and my dog taking off with them. These chicks had been living near them within eyesight of my flock for a couple of weeks.

Because at the end of March we got an old rooster from someone to teach my nephews how to process a chicken and they (my flock) saw the whole process but never stopped laying. But they had never seen the rooster before in their life.

So yes, no more culling in front of my chickens.

I am looking at the same facts, and coming to a different conclusion.

I think the chickens stopped laying because you were not feeding them enough.
I think they started again because that week of free feeding let them gain enough weight to start again.

If you "save" money by limiting food, but get no eggs, then you are not really saving money.

If you cannot afford to free-feed the chickens, maybe you should consider having fewer chickens, so each one gets more food but you buy the same amount.

(Of course I could be wrong, but that is my interpretation of what you're reporting.)

You could do an experiment by putting a few hens in one pen and letting them have as much feed as they want, while continuing to limit the feed of the others, and see which group lays better. (The experiment would probably have to continue for some months to fully show the effects of the different amounts of food, so it might not be practical to tend two separate pens of chickens for that long.)

I have been adding a bit of 20% grower feed as a snack. But I cannot do free feeding with my chubs.

So how much of what feeds are they getting at present?
(Pounds per day or week, and number of chickens.)

 

[hysop]

I am looking at the same facts, and coming to a different conclusion.

I think the chickens stopped laying because you were not feeding them enough.
I think they started again because that week of free feeding let them gain enough weight to start again.

If you "save" money by limiting food, but get no eggs, then you are not really saving money.

If you cannot afford to free-feed the chickens, maybe you should consider having fewer chickens, so each one gets more food but you buy the same amount.

(Of course I could be wrong, but that is my interpretation of what you're reporting.)

You could do an experiment by putting a few hens in one pen and letting them have as much feed as they want, while continuing to limit the feed of the others, and see which group lays better. (The experiment would probably have to continue for some months to fully show the effects of the different amounts of food, so it might not be practical to tend two separate pens of chickens for that long.)


So how much of what feeds are they getting at present?
(Pounds per day or week, and number of chickens.)

I think I will do that experiment in the near future when I have a separate pen for the second group. Thanks for the idea.

I did remove the second rooster yesterday so that they aren’t stressing the hens out. Every time one would mate with one the other would come and attack.

But I do think you’re right. I think it’s the amount of feed or lack thereof that caused them to stop laying. I think for now I’ll up their feed and slowly transition to an all-White Leghorn flock.

I let my husband know that if we want more eggs per feed ratio then we need to go with White Leghorns.

For the layer feed we went back to 3/4 cups per hen per day. And we threw 1-2 cups of the 20% in the middle of the day. But now that you’re mentioning your conclusion I think you’re right and we’ll be upping the protein to maybe 6-12 cups depending on how their crops look every day.

 

[NatJ]

For the layer feed we went back to 3/4 cups per hen per day. And we threw 1-2 cups of the 20% in the middle of the day. But now that you’re mentioning your conclusion I think you’re right and we’ll be upping the protein to maybe 6-12 cups depending on how their crops look every day.

If you are also giving them corn, it might work better to stop the corn AND the higher protein feed, and just let them have as much layer feed as they want. (I am assuming corn is cheapest, layer feed in the middle, and the 20% feed would be most expensive.)

Corn can provide quite a few calories, but not much protein, so it really lowers the overall percentage of protein in the diet. I've read the labels on bags of corn--some of them claim to have 6% protein.

 

[RevlisRemmah]

I am looking at the same facts, and coming to a different conclusion.

I think the chickens stopped laying because you were not feeding them enough.
I think they started again because that week of free feeding let them gain enough weight to start again.

If you "save" money by limiting food, but get no eggs, then you are not really saving money.

If you cannot afford to free-feed the chickens, maybe you should consider having fewer chickens, so each one gets more food but you buy the same amount.

(Of course I could be wrong, but that is my interpretation of what you're reporting.)

You could do an experiment by putting a few hens in one pen and letting them have as much feed as they want, while continuing to limit the feed of the others, and see which group lays better. (The experiment would probably have to continue for some months to fully show the effects of the different amounts of food, so it might not be practical to tend two separate pens of chickens for that long.)


So how much of what feeds are they getting at present?
(Pounds per day or week, and number of chickens.)

I agree. It just sounds like they aren’t getting the nutrition they need to continuously lay.

 

[hysop]

If you are also giving them corn, it might work better to stop the corn AND the higher protein feed, and just let them have as much layer feed as they want. (I am assuming corn is cheapest, layer feed in the middle, and the 20% feed would be most expensive.)

Corn can provide quite a few calories, but not much protein, so it really lowers the overall percentage of protein in the diet. I've read the labels on bags of corn--some of them claim to have 6% protein.

I’ll free feed layer feed and see how that goes.

I am in the process of downsizing my flock. I love my chickens but we don’t eat eggs like we used to and now my newfound love is goats. I think having a smaller flock will help me appreciate them more. I’m going to downsize to maybe 12ish instead of the 20+ I have.

 

[RevlisRemmah]

I’ll free feed layer feed and see how that goes.

I am in the process of downsizing my flock. I love my chickens but we don’t eat eggs like we used to and now my newfound love is goats. I think having a smaller flock will help me appreciate them more. I’m going to downsize to maybe 12ish instead of the 20+ I have.

I’d love to see pictures of your goats!!!!

 

[hysop]

I’d love to see pictures of your goats!!!!

I’ll take pictures and post them soon and I’ll tag you in the thread or post the link to the thread here.