Commercial Poison (err... "Feed")

[miss heny]

And gonna add this:

If kept in a enclose pen with 0 rotation worms could easily be the culprit if never wormed. I had a necropsy done on a 8 year old rooster acting lethargic etc.

His problem? Worms in his crop, like crop full of worms. We never wormed because feral but this had to been going on for months before he showed physical signs.

 

[TooCheep]

It was extremely hot last summer, worse than the last few years, and apparently, the worst drought in over 10 years in my area. We watered everything way more than usual - got the high water bills to show for it - and most things still did poorly or just outright died in the garden. I didn't lose any birds to heatstroke, but temps have an extreme affect on them - and water consumption is super important for egg laying. Feeds are formulated to meet most basic needs, for most birds, most of the time - there are always going to be instances when you've got to up your feeding program to compensate, and this past summer was one of them.

Although my summer wasn't as tough as yours, I understand what you are saying. That's why I don't believe in using "minimum nutrition". Healthier/stronger plants and animals can survive more stress and make it past tough periods. One primary example with chickens is that I don't use 16% feed. I stick with 18%+ and offer healthy treats (not just calorie dense) as well.

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

This I have a story on! Everyone I knew had chickens who stopped laying, they bought some big store feed while I got Alaskan made feed. My chickens never stopped laying, everyone was getting eggs from us due the the egg shortage in stores and local farms, they stopped when they got lice of course but continued after that along with my pullets starting to lay… and by everyone who had hens stop laying I meant at least three huge good laying flocks not laying a single egg for MONTHS. It was very interesting… sticking with the Alaskan grown feed from now on.
I only knew three personally but on Facebook groups everyone was saying their hens stopped laying. And all these flocks and farms are spread across Alaska

 

[Qwerty3159]

I'm an educated, and am usually averse to conspiracy theories. HOWEVER… I’d recently come across multiple stories

This is the same rhetoric heard from literally every conspiracy theorist. The real poison in this country and society as a whole lately has been misinformation.

 

[Brooks_]

This is the same rhetoric heard from literally every conspiracy theorist. The real poison in this country and society as a whole lately has been misinformation.

Yes, but who gets to decide what is mis or accurate information?

 

[Qwerty3159]

Yes, but who gets to decide what is mis or accurate information?

Although I understand your point and it’s certainly not a black and white concept, jumping to conclusions based on extremely limited results and an “experiment” which takes into consideration only feed and not the myriad other factors constitutes an ill-informed opinion at best

 

[Nyhillbillies]

I'm an educated, middle-class, engineer and family man, and am usually averse to conspiracy theories. HOWEVER… I’d recently come across multiple stories about how backyard chickens weren’t laying anymore, and I could relate. We have 3 girls about 3 years old and they all stopped laying last June (2022). The theory is that they’re (whoever “they” are) putting something in the feed. Vaccines for bird flu, vaccines for people… other more nefarious stuff? Poor quality ingredients for sake of profit? Who knows?

In addition to not laying, our chickens were lethargic, didn’t free-range when the door to the run was left open and just seemed “off”. The commercial “feed” was Dumor 16% Layer Formula from TSC.

So my wife and I mixed up a homemade feed of various corns, seeds, proteins, oyster shell & gravel, and the results are amazing! Within a week, they started to venture out of their run. Within 2 weeks they started “squatting and stomping” (a sure sign of fertility / productivity) which they also stopped doing completely.

3 weeks after purging their commercial “feed” we got our first egg in nearly EIGHT MONTHS! Now 4 weeks in, we’re getting eggs DAILY. I’m telling you all it’s as if they’ve woken up from an 8 month coma. More accurately “purging an 8 month poisoning”.

The commercial feed has definitely changed over the past couple of years- not for the better. Cheapo ingredients, hardly fit for consumption.
I applaud your determination to help your flock become healthy & strong again!
They’ve got to “pack it in to poop it out”!

Please post your recipe if you haven’t yet…

 

[nuthatched]

Yes, but who gets to decide what is mis or accurate information?

Anybody who's willing to dig a little deeper than a Google search and a bunch of posts on their Facebook feed.
Not a black and white issue, certainly, but even a half hearted stab at proper, unbiased research would do wonders.

 

[Brooks_]

Anybody who's willing to dig a little deeper than a Google search and a bunch of posts on their Facebook feed.
Not a black and white issue, certainly, but even a half hearted stab at proper, unbiased research would do wonders.

What? A decide yourself?

 

[nuthatched]

What? A decide yourself?

Yeah. Crazy theory, I know.