Confused about Molting diet. protein or not?

[ReiMiraa]

I'm at Washington State University and today was career and internship expo.

There was a Wilcox booth (they do dairy and eggs)

So i asked them some questions. BTW their free range chickens are true free range eggs, get to see grass, more pasture like. They don't let the free range ones molt, supplemented lighting in the winter.

The production egg layers (battery chickens) go into a forced molt once a year by limiting light down to 8 hours.

I asked the guy what the ration is for a molting bird. (he cant go into specifics of course, trade secret)
"Less protein, more high energy foods"

Since he is in the chicken egg industry i figure he might know more than me.

So since my chickens will be molting soon i plan to feed them more ground corn and less layer food. though corn does contain 7% protein.....

Just thought i would post this interesting conversation i had with someone in the Washington State poultry (egg) industry.

Feel free to debate or comment.

 

[emys]

Well, never having run a production house, I can only guess. My guess is that since the production houses starve them into a molt (no feed for a month), they must bring them back with lower protein feed at first so as not to tax their digestive systems. Protein is harder to digest, and you wouldn't start out with high protein if you have been starving them. You could kill them.

Just a guess.

 

[gritsar]

The production egg layers (battery chickens) go into a forced molt once a year by limiting light down to 8 hours

Interesting that they do that. Around here, battery hens are processed at 56 to 60 weeks, approximately 15 months old; before they ever have a chance to go into their first adult molt.

 

[Judy]

I would guess that the less protein, more high energy is part of their forced molt process. Only thing I can figure out as obviously the chicken uses more protein during a molt, not less.

 

[teach1rusl]

I know nothing about how they control or experiment with chicken physiology or biological functions in the chicken industry. I do know that egg laying requires protein. I do know that feather production/regeneration requires protein. So when my birds are molting, I'm going to feed them extra protein when I can...

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
LOL -
You might want to do some research before you try to spread roomers like this.
A bird in a cage with no food for a month is dead! If you would starve them into a molt just think how long it would take to get there health up to pare so that they could lay eggs again.

Chris

 

[HomegrownCaSW]

We've been raising hens(no roosters) for 7 years now. For the first 4 years we'd slaughter the hens prior to molt since most were dual purpose or meat birds and didn't have a prayer to last throughout the summer here. (triple digits start in June and end in early Oct) and we didn't have the housing figured out for them. So I really didn't have to worry about protein and molting.

The last 24 brood we purchased from McMurray, three years ago, are all leghorn varieties of hens.
8-Single Comb Brown Leghorns, 8-Anconas, and 8-Minorca. We only lost 6 birds in three years, 4 from heat and 2 from hen-pecking.

I notice my girls shedding feathers all summer long (bless their hearts, that's one way to stay cool) but now that the weather is cooling, I'm stepping up the protein treats. (They had leftover goulash this morning, and half a bag of shredded cheddar cheese yesterday Half of them are almost feathered already. Only ones left are the Minorca. By the way--if you live in the desert southwest, in triple digit temps, I would highly recommend the Minorca. Only lost one Minorca hen in 3 years! (They shed a lot of feathers and look pretty ratty, but they are very productive and hearty)

 

[ams3651]

I dont get too techincal about their diet during their molt, which they are doing now. Just some scrambled egg, maybe some cat food, black oil sunflower seed and cracked corn in addition to their regular food which is game bird flyer finshisher which I think is a little higher in protein than layer feed but Im not sure. We do just fine each year and havent lost a bird yet in 3 years.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Actually the free range ones that don't get to do a natural molt are the ones being forced into something unnatural. A molt is the birds' way of recharging their batteries and giving their bodies time to get ready for another laying cycle. Birds not allowed to molt have much shorter lives overall.

I up my birds' protein levels during a molt since protein is required to re-grow feathers.