Fed "Wrong Feed to chickens.

[tawana]

Hello there, I am new here and also new into raising chickens as well. I bought 2 lohman whites that are 24 weeks old and were laying when i brought them home. I made the mistake of feeding them starter medicated food for about a week. when they first arrived here they laid 2 eggs per day for two days. then stopped laying. I called the place where i bought them and they told me it was the food probably that caused them to stop laying so,they said "change the food to layer feed "with at least 18 % protein so i did. yesterday they started eating the layer feed and im just wondering how long it will take till they start laying again.???

I also should mention that i have 6 ' 4 weeks old RIDs as well they just were put outside into the coop and i also noticed that the hens were maybe a little stressed seeing them, ' even though there was a wire fence in between them so they couldnt get near each other. So i moved the chicks into a different side of the barn so they cant see each other at all now.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Stress like moving to a new home often means chickens will lay an egg or two that is in the pipeline, then stop laying for a few weeks or a month or more. They should start up again. Be sure they aren't hiding eggs or there isn't a predator eating the eggs.
As long as they were eating it, it probably had very little to do with the food itself, it wouldn't hurt them for that short time... starter is too low in calcium for Laying hens as an only diet but you can supplement them with oyster shell if you want to put all your birds on something like that (non-medicated) or flock raiser or all ages until the younger ones are laying age.

 

[tawana]

Thanks very much for the insight and reply " I'm learning so much from this site as well " it's great !!

 

[tawana]

Today was interesting in the coop " one of the leghorns" lohmanns " that hadint been laying went to the nest box that I made and put it in there 2 days ago and today she laid in there for a while on a egg that I put in there for them to get used to the boxes. Does that mean. She's ready to start laying again soon??

 

[huntseat]

Its a good sign, the training egg also helps them know where to lay. Proper nutrition and good water will also help them get over stress a little faster.

 

[tawana]

I'm also tryihg to make friends with them as they were 23 weeks old when I got them from a breeder . Today I offered a treat"of a 1/2 of strawberry and a little scrambled eggs to the 2 girls and they loved it ! Hopefully I can gain their trust soon . I'm in the coop every day talking to them and they watched me built roosts for them and 2 nesting boxes the other day but " today was the first time one of the hens went in it and she laid there for a while on the egg so I hope that's a good sign they are getting used to their new home .

 

[Kelsie2290]

Sounds like they are settling in! X2, the fake eggs are a good idea, chickens seem to like nest boxes that other chickens liked well enough to lay eggs in. Bet your next egg shows up in the next day or so and hopefully they'll be laying regularly again, the Lohman's are commercial layers and usually that kind is pretty darn reliable.
Once they get to know you, I've found leghorns to be darn friendly birds and very curious, sounds like your girls will warm up to you pretty fast with the nice treats you are offering them. Black Oil Sunflower Seeds are a big favorite, and bugs like mealworms and crickets are fun...mine also like cantaloupe/watermelon this time of year ... it It may take them a little while to get used to new stuff if they don't know it but they will eat an amazing amount of foods. Not sure if you have seen the chicken treat chart in the learning center, pretty much if you can eat it so can they, there are a few things to avoid at the bottom of the page. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens there is also a fun thread on what treats people gave their chickens today (last page) https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/407549/what-treat-did-your-chickies-get-today/4220