Egg Laying and Free Ranging

[Aunt Angus]

Howdy. I have 4 laying pullets. When they were just beginning to lay, they spent most of their time in our run/coop. Since then, I have decided to let them out into our fenced yard for the majority of the day.

When confined to the run, they ate pellet almost exclusively with a handful of BOSS or mealworms 1x/week. Now, they eat mostly grass, bugs, worms, etc that they find in the yard. I have noticed a decline in egg production. Not that big of a deal. I'm still getting plenty for my needs, and these birds are pets more than anything. My BPR still lays daily. I have a BO who is raising a chick, so not laying at the moment. My Cochin and Brahma used to lay every other day. The Brahma now will sometimes skip 2 days. The Cochin is down to about 1x/week.

I have eliminated causes related to illness, pests, parasites, what have you. Everything I read suggests that not having pellet as the large majority of their daily diet will cause them to not have the adequate nutrition needed to lay. They still have access to pellets and oyster shell. They just prefer running around the yard.

So... does free ranging result in fewer eggs due to variations in diet? I'm curious more than anything.

 

[Wezdin]

 

[clintbwell]

following

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Production goes up and down throughout the season. Cochins and Brahma tend to lay than slow repeatedly over the season. I would not rely on those breeds for a continuous supply of eggs.

I read once that free ranging can cut down on production due to birds moving more, and burning up excess energy. My birds are always free range, so I don't think it cuts production any, but I have nothing to compare it to.

We had our initial increase in production earlier in the spring. Now production will level off and will often follow a yoyo pattern throughout summer before stopping in the fall.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I doubled my Barred Rocks run a couple of weeks ago.
Before that I was getting 43 eggs a week average.
The seven girls then had a hundred square feet of grass, weeds, bugs and worms. Production dropped to 31.
This week they're back on track. Grass lasted about a week. GC
Edited for spelling.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Interesting responses. I've been looking for studies online, but can't seem to find anything.

I'm totally fine with the number of eggs I get. I just wonder about it, you know? So much emphasis is placed on pellets. I wonder how much of it is pushed by feed manufacturers.

I know pellets are formulated with ideal nutrients. I'm not questioning that. Just wondering if there is any correlation at all.

 

[chkva]

I honestly believe if you have plants/other sources growing for your chickens that have calcium and such in them... They'll still lay the same as they would with pellets. I only say this because a flock of 20 birds before my flock now. They were all perfectly healthy and laying mostly everyday without layer feed. They didn't even want to eat the layer feed, they were not raised like that when I got them. They were raised off the land, nothing else as chicks.

I know in many countries that are not developed and don't have feed stores have chickens that lay every single day! Eggs are there main source of food.

We live in a country that is about buying everything and having the best of everything, if you don't have the best of everything you want to have the best of everything.

I know several farmers who do not even touch anything on a shelf in a store and their animals are some of the healthiest you will ever see!

Right now the flock that I have eats layer pellets in the morning and the rest of the day they are eating off our land. My RSL lay every day, my OE goes every day to every other day. I would say that their main source of food is what they are finding around the house just by observation.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Interesting responses. I've been looking for studies online, but can't seem to find anything.

I'm totally fine with the number of eggs I get. I just wonder about it, you know? So much emphasis is placed on pellets. I wonder how much of it is pushed by feed manufacturers.

I know pellets are formulated with ideal nutrients. I'm not questioning that. Just wondering if there is any correlation at all.

I make sure to feed an 18% ration so it helps to keep the protein intake higher. What percentage are your pellets?

Layer rations are generally formulated for actively laying hens generally kept in confinement.

In my experiences free range birds do better with 18-20% protein ration, either an all flock or a non medicated starter grower, which are formulated a bit different with more vitamins and minerals for growing or active birds.

Most chicken studies are done are confined birds because that is where the money is at these days. Used to be back in the day you could go to your local extension office and get agricultural, and homesteading information.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I feed a non-medicated grower that is 20% for the reasons you point out and because my Brahma is still growing.

Most chicken studies are done are confined birds because that is where the money is at these days.

Exactly what my internet searches are showing! All these studies are funded by commercial producers. I found a couple discussing population density and productivity and another attributing decline in free ranging layers to predation - nothing related to diet.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I honestly believe if you have plants/other sources growing for your chickens that have calcium and such in them... They'll still lay the same as they would with pellets. I only say this because a flock of 20 birds before my flock now. They were all perfectly healthy and laying mostly everyday without layer feed. They didn't even want to eat the layer feed, they were not raised like that when I got them. They were raised off the land, nothing else as chicks.

I know in many countries that are not developed and don't have feed stores have chickens that lay every single day! Eggs are there main source of food.

We live in a country that is about buying everything and having the best of everything, if you don't have the best of everything you want to have the best of everything.

I know several farmers who do not even touch anything on a shelf in a store and their animals are some of the healthiest you will ever see!

Right now the flock that I have eats layer pellets in the morning and the rest of the day they are eating off our land. My RSL lay every day, my OE goes every day to every other day. I would say that their main source of food is what they are finding around the house just by observation.

This is what I think, too. There seems to be a real push for layer pellets only. I assume that's so that owners of confined birds don't feed too much treats/scratch/table scraps, but wondered if there was benefit to using the formulated pellets over free range diet. I will keep searching for studies.