Feed Conspiracy

[NurseBree24]

Has anyone heard about the chicken feed conspiracy that it's the food causing them not to lay? We buy lay mash, and we haven't had any eggs since maybe late August early September. We live in Los Angeles, so it's not like it's super wintery (that's not a real word ). We cleaned the coop really well this past weekend, still nothing. They are roughly 4-5 years old. Thoughts? Advice? TIA

 

[Cynthia12]

Thought..4 to 5 years old..they really do slow down.

 

[MyParadiseFalls]

@Cynthia12 is right, they really start slowing down around 4 yrs, the “conspiracy” is just propaganda

 

[Acre4Me]

light. Daylength was decreasing so they naturally slowed down/stopped for a milt. Starting Dec 22, light has been increasing. So, they are likely getting ready to lay again.

Water. If they are not drinking enough water, they won’t lay. Ditto for stress/changes.

Diet: not too many treats, balanced nutrition needed to support eggs.

Age: some hardly lay after a certain age.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Old chickens don't lay very often. Chickens can live to be ten or even older but you're not going to get "spring chicken" productjon out of a 4 year old bird. Not a conspiracy, just nature.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Side note: you might want to switch from layer feed since the extra calcium can cause issues in hens that aren't laying. I haven't used it even for my layers for a couple years because I have a lot of heritage breeds that don't lay a ton. I give them free choice oyster flakes and all-flock instead. That way my pullets get the protein they need and not the extra calcium they don't as well.

 

[nuthatched]

There have been multiple people over the last few days. You can look them up for everyone's comments on it. :]
Your birds are of that age that they get 'henopause', it's natural for them to slow or stop. They could switch off laying feed, try flock raiser or chick grower, they don't need the extra calcium anymore.
It's been an unusually overcast and cold winter, the light affects laying.
If there was a problem with the feed, there'd be a recall, There are like 10 different entities that feed is inspected by, it would be well known if there was a problem.
Chickens don't usually lay their second winter and what happened 2 years ago? A whole bunch of people decided to get chickens during covid and I think that's what we're mostly seeing.
Many things affect laying.
Not one video or Facebook page (that I've found) has provided an actual nutritional analysis on the feed they say is bad, just "my chickens laid last winter, but not this winter so the feed is bad." It's like saying I drove this icy road last summer and this time I slid off the road so my car has gone bad.
Repeating unverified stories is why there's a 'theory' at all. just gossipy Facebook folks, as usual, facebook is a breeding ground for bad info.
It's not kosher to blame a feed or a company without evidence, I'm not going to be surprised if there's a slander suit from Purina.
It's not the feed, so don't worry about it. :]

 

[First girl]

Has anyone heard about the chicken feed conspiracy that it's the food causing them not to lay? We buy lay mash, and we haven't had any eggs since maybe late August early September. We live in Los Angeles, so it's not like it's super wintery (that's not a real word ). We cleaned the coop really well this past weekend, still nothing. They are roughly 4-5 years old. Thoughts? Advice? TIA

Yes just today 1-27-23. My hens stopped laying from 10-12 a day to 1-3 a day last fall. I will be trying goat feed mixed with sunflowers and steel cut oats recommended by someone loacal to St. Louis Missouri.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Yes just today 1-27-23. My hens stopped laying from 10-12 a day to 1-3 a day last fall. I will be trying goat feed mixed with sunflowers and steel cut oats recommended by someone loacal to St. Louis Missouri.

Because it was winter.

 

[saysfaa]

Lol. Wintery absolutely is a real word.

For what it is worth, all of mine completely stopped laying in November this year. One laid the first egg of the year this morning - nearly the same day as the first egg of the year last year.

Last winter, I fed the local mill's mix. This winter, I'm giving them feed from TSC. I wanted to try pellets instead of trying to soak the the powder every few days so they could get the vitamin/mineral mix.

It is much, much, much cloudier this year. Unlike last year, this year I've been opening the west door in the late afternoon to try to get what little light there is in to them so they are probably getting about the same number of minutes of usable light.