commercial brown layers VS australorp black VS light sussex

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

Your vet sounds like he has a huge bias. Bad DNA? Only lay in a tiny cage in low light? You realize that you could breed one of those 'commercial battery' hens yourself with the right combination of birds in your flock? Those poor girls would probably lay more in a more natural environment then they do in a battery cage.
Now, besides that... every breed lays their own average of eggs per year, and individuals in that breed lay their own average. And that number can change based upon stress, broodiness, etc. I think that your vet friend is biased away from store eggs, and that's made him biased against the 'evil' that is the bird that produces them.

ETA, and feed can change egg production as well, as others have stated. Seeds sounds suspect to me. Only because I'm sure that as varied as a chicken's diet naturally is, that seeds wouldn't be able to encompass their nutritional needs.

Australorp black and light sussex lay better when the food is chicken scratch...

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

We have 2 red sex links, they lay almost EVERY SINGLE DAY. Not even time off for molt or winter, nothing. And they lay an Extra Large lovely brown egg. Can't even close the egg carton on them most of the time. They are also amazingly docile and friendly. (Let my 5 year old hold them and go down the slide)
We also have a Black Australorp. Her eggs are medium with a thinner shell and she is the poorest layer of my current flock.

What do they eat?

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

We have 2 red sex links, they lay almost EVERY SINGLE DAY. Not even time off for molt or winter, nothing. And they lay an Extra Large lovely brown egg. Can't even close the egg carton on them most of the time. They are also amazingly docile and friendly. (Let my 5 year old hold them and go down the slide)
We also have a Black Australorp. Her eggs are medium with a thinner shell and she is the poorest layer of my current flock.

What do they eat?

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

'Layer feed' is not going to make birds lay or not.

It depends what's in the feed.
learn to read the fine print on the nutrition tag sewn into bottom of bag,
more than the pretty label on front of bag.

The big thing with layer feed is it's higher calcium content,'which of course they need to make shells, but calcium can be provided in other ways. Layer feed can be lower in protein.

The food is chicken scratch. The black australorp lays about 6 per week. The light sussex about 5 a week. The brown layer about 3 a week (the half of the others).

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Australorp black and light sussex lay better when the food is chicken scratch...

I wouldn't think so. Chicken scratch is a treat, not a meal. An approved feed provides appropriate nutrients. Giving your chicken's scratch is like giving your kids extra sugary cereal. Its alright as a treat, but I wouldn't eat it all the time since its not exactly nutritious.

 

[Aerliss]

Can only offer up that my ex-batts, aside from one who is sick after the moving stress, are laying like tiny little troopers. An egg a day for three weeks, and only one dud (Maggie dropped an early, thin shelled egg from the roost last night... hopefully just a little hiccup).

They love their ranging time, and dig up all sorts of disgusting things to eat. Maybe they'll not cope so well over winter, who knows? But so far they're earning their keep!

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

The food is chicken scratch. The black australorp lays about 6 per week. The light sussex about 5 a week. The brown layer about 3 a week (the half of the others).

But, this is the truth!!!

 

[Frazzemrat1]

But, this is the truth!!!

If you're responding to what I had to say, then let me say this... They may like scratch more, and maybe trying to transition them to a more nutritious food could stress them and slow down production for the time being... but in the long run it will be healthier for them to be on a structured feed rather than scratch. Production will pick back up again when they get used to what you are providing, and they will probably live longer on the better feed.

 

[aart]

But, this is the truth!!!

It's hard for us to accept your 'truth' when we don't really know the details of your vet friends 'experiment'.

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

If you're responding to what I had to say, then let me say this... They may like scratch more, and maybe trying to transition them to a more nutritious food could stress them and slow down production for the time being... but in the long run it will be healthier for them to be on a structured feed rather than scratch. Production will pick back up again when they get used to what you are providing, and they will probably live longer on the better feed.

They will lay much better with layer feed, but we don't have soy free chicken feed in Greece. With soy the eggs smell horible.
Hybrid chickens are genetically modiefied to hyperlay only when fed all these nutrients contained in the layer feed (lysine, calcium, vitamin d, vitamin c, phosphorus).

A heritage layer breed will also lay better when the food is full in nutrients, but it also lays good when the food is only seeds and grains, cheap, soy free and low density.