Feeding 16 week olds layer feed

[ehoneybee]

Is it really THAT harmful? I gave them grower fed up until this week when I ran out. Rather than buy some more, I'm wondering if I can just start them on layer feed. They are not laying yet.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Do you still have any grower? Depending on how many birds you have, you could mix layer and grower half and half at this age.
Commercial egg farms will start incrementing light period at about 16 weeks or more so all the birds in the barn will start laying at the same time. During that time, they will begin a pre-lay diet that is about 2.5% calcium so the birds approaching POL can begin storing calcium in their medullary bones.
4% calcium for birds not building egg shells, can damage kidneys. The longer fed a diet of 4% calcium without laying eggs, the more potential damage.
Your day length is currently decreasing by 2 minutes 45 seconds each day now. That is a signal the birds receive to their pineal gland that tells them to shut down and not produce eggs. So 16 week olds at this time of year may take many months to begin laying.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

So I have 9 16 week olds. Are you saying that it will be several months before all of them lay their first egg? None will lay before the first of the year?

Not necessarily. It depends on the breed and the individual birds.
Consider that most breeds begin laying at around 20 weeks or so. And let's say your latitude is similar to Jackson, Mississippi, by the end of September when your birds reach 20 weeks, your day length will be 55 minutes shorter than today making it less than 12 hours.
They may be laying by then but there is no way to know for sure.
When I have had birds reaching POL in September thru November and I was anxious to kick start laying, I would add a light to the coop to come on in the morning before dawn. Give an extra 20 minutes and increment that by another 20 minutes every few days. By the time you get to about 13 hours of day length, they'll probably all start.
Or, you can just let them commence in their own time.
To determine if laying is imminent, check the space between pelvic bones.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If you provide oyster shell for the layers, you can give all the birds that 50:50 mix.
That way you have no concern for buying multiple bags of feed.

 

[ehoneybee]

Do you mean the feed?
If so, no. It is just commercial egg companies who all have their own mills that can fine tune the nutrients they feed their birds from day to day or week to week.
All we have as small holders is a high calcium feed (for layers) and all other feeds that vary in their protein levels but are all around 1% for any bird not building shells.

I'll just get another bag of grower feed. I'm almost out of layer anyway. I've been supplying oyster shell the whole time

 

[ehoneybee]

Do you still have any grower? Depending on how many birds you have, you could mix layer and grower half and half at this age.
Commercial egg farms will start incrementing light period at about 16 weeks or more so all the birds in the barn will start laying at the same time. During that time, they will begin a pre-lay diet that is about 2.5% calcium so the birds approaching POL can begin storing calcium in their medullary bones.
4% calcium for birds not building egg shells, can damage kidneys. The longer fed a diet of 4% calcium without laying eggs, the more potential damage.
Your day length is currently decreasing by 2 minutes 45 seconds each day now. That is a signal the birds receive to their pineal gland that tells them to shut down and not produce eggs. So 16 week olds at this time of year may take many months to begin laying.

I have none but not a bad idea to give half and half. It's only 2 pullets, the rest are mature hens.

 

[Folly's place]

Those pullets will start laying eggs when they are ready, whenever that is! Some breed types start much earlier than others, so who do you have out there?
For best egg production over winter, a small light bulb on a times makes a big difference. Chickens lay eggs when there's at least fourteen, and best sixteen, hours of light each day.
Here we have a light in the coop on a timer, 3:30 or 4 AM to 8 AM every day from about mid September to mid March.
Some people do the morning lighting thing, and some are happy with few or no eggs all winter. It's a choice, and playing with intermittent lighting is a fail. It's either do it, or not.
Mary

 

[ehoneybee]

So I have 9 16 week olds. Are you saying that it will be several months before all of them lay their first egg? None will lay before the first of the year?

They should lay, and throughout the winter, too.

 

[Folly's place]

And here we feed everyone an all flock feed, with oyster shell in a separate feeder for the laying hens.
Mary

 

[thepick4uchicks]

Not necessarily. It depends on the breed and the individual birds.
Consider that most breeds begin laying at around 20 weeks or so. And let's say your latitude is similar to Jackson, Mississippi, by the end of September when your birds reach 20 weeks, your day length will be 55 minutes shorter than today making it less than 12 hours.
They may be laying by then but there is no way to know for sure.
When I have had birds reaching POL in September thru November and I was anxious to kick start laying, I would add a light to the coop to come on in the morning before dawn. Give an extra 20 minutes and increment that by another 20 minutes every few days. By the time you get to about 13 hours of day length, they'll probably all start.
Or, you can just let them commence in their own time.
To determine if laying is imminent, check the space between pelvic bones.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

Thank you for all the information. I had already read some other information on BYC about the length between the pelvic bones increasing when they are closer to POL as well. I will check them out also. That will be interesting. Very eventful for sure. Thank you so much!