Decreased Egg Production

[Percheron chick]

Orpingtons and Brahmas are large bodied birds that don't have the greatest feed conversion rate. If you are going through 50# every 2 days for 65 birds, that's 6 oz each a day. Pretty average feed consumption. If it's 50# a day, than you have something helping. Chickens also only eat when it's light. If they have light 24/7 than they are eating 24/7. When you decrease their light to a more natural pattern of 12-15 hours a day, you should see a decrease in feed. Since eggs appear to be the goal here, I would suggest when you start looking at adding or replacing your layers, to add smaller bodied, better feed conversion layers.

 

[StoneHens]

A great tip I learned from a thread on here is to give them some hot peppers as a tonic. We just added some hot water to their normal feed and added about 1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper per cup of feed. They all loved it and snarfed it down. the next day we got our first EE egg since November! Now we give it as a treat any time the temp gets below 40 degrees.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

One way to both increase protein intake and reduce the amount of feed consumed is to ferment your feed. It's an easy process and I've done it for several years although my flock of 7 makes it a far easier task than what you'd be dealing with.

There are numerous threads on how to ferment feed. I ferment their regular layer feed with a small addition of crimped oats and BOSS. I'm feeding them 20% protein due to the intense cold we've been having. When they get more protein, they'll eat less as their needs are satisfied earlier.

This link is to a BYC article and video about how to ferment feed. Mine is very similar - my girls like it thick - but I achieve the same thing with cold water from the well. No need for hot water unless you want it to absorb faster.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/no-strain-hot-water-easy-fermented-feed-method-w-video

 

[Spangled]

aart and Percheron Chick = X2

Yeah, cfrank287, lights on 24/7 is troublesome. I know all sorts of folks do it, but it can really goof up chickens. (Actually any living being, plants). Circadian rhythm. Chickens need dark as much as they need light. Additionally, what's really interesting is that chicken brain register the incremental change in the length of daylight on each successive day. Wow! It still shocks me. Their pineal gland can register light right through their skulls. It doesn't matter if their eyes are shut or not, even their eyelids let light in.

With the sudden night-time that your chickens are going to be experiencing, besides the quite likely initial drop in egg production, some may also go through a molt, where they lose their feathers and quit or slow down laying.

I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better since we're almost at the equinox (about March 21) (when light and dark are even at 12 hours light and 12 hours dark) if it wouldn't just be better to keep the heat lamp on for heat during daylight hours. That way they will be able to register the days getting longer through the window as we head on into spring and summer. It will definitely get your hens back on an even keel more quickly, which will ultimately help their production.

If you set the light to go on at 3AM, will you keep it like that always? If not, then the hens will go through another shortening of the daylight when you turn the 3AM light off in a couple of months, possibly causing another dip in production and maybe molting. I don't know if that would be the way to go.

I don't know. Since it's nearly equinox, it might be easiest all the way around to just let them get re-acclimated to life in general by just using the window and natural daylight.

I'm sorry that what seems to be the solution seems to just prolong the low production. But the good news is that you don't have to pay any attention to what I've suggested because I could be wrong.

(Can you tell I don't like giving what I think is bad news?)

Can you find laying pellets or crumbles that are 18% protein? Or can you buy a bag of fishmeal at the farmers' feed store and put a cup or two (whatever amount is appropriate to raise it to 18%) into each feeder when you fill it? 16% is kind of minimum ... you know, the amount of protein to "just get by." Plus animal protein is quite helpful and is a better source of methionine, etc., than exclusively vegetable sources.

At least turning out the lights for part or all of the night is going to drop your feed bill!

 

[cfrank287]

They grainery size is 20 x 14 and they also have a run on the barn floor that is 12x 16 ... the nesting boxes are made out of milk crates I cut one side out and stacked them on top of each other. I cut 1/4 inch plywood and put that in the bottom to keep the wood shavings in The fist row is about 18 inches off the ground and they are stacked 3 high. I also made a roost that is attached to them in front of each row.