Feeding a nonlaying hen

[Casa de Pollo]

Hey all, thanks for helping with my flock. The girls REALLY appreciate it! My lone EE has stopped laying. Its been at least a 10 days. Is it okay for her to eat the 16% feed? She's a tough bird, but I thought I had heard chatter about the high protein being bad for non layers.

Also, I mix dried eggshells, dried mealworms, and hen scratch for treats for my birds. I have been pretty generous with this stuff, Im wondering if Im overdoimg it, and if this is good for my birds Id say 6 or 8 handfuls a day divided by 7 birds. They are about 50/50, free range / in their 10x20 pen.
Last week someone on here suggested no treats until afternoon, in order to make sure they eat their high protein breakfast. So Ive been trying to implement that, seems logical.

Any thoughts?

 

[nuthatched]

Well, it's not the protein that's bad, it's the calcium. Too much calcium can hurt roosters and non laying hens. Layer feed has the minimum of protein chickens need, so many people feed a 20% or higher feed with oyster shell on the side. it's still ok though for her to eat, although if she's stopped permanently instead of stopped for the winter, you could switch to flock feed. she'll start again in a month or so.

 

[Casa de Pollo]

Got it. Thank you,

 

[rosemarythyme]

x2 to nuthatched's comments.

As far as the treats, I think you're overdoing it, especially if you see that they're not eating their feed in favor of eating treats instead. 7 birds would get about maybe 2 Tbsp total in treats a day from me, which is a fraction of what you're giving them.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hm. Well, then maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I'm giving my birds about 2 Tbsp of scratch + mealworms per bird per day. Can anybody tell me if this is too much?

 

[nuthatched]

Hm. Well, then maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I'm giving my birds about 2 Tbsp of scratch + mealworms per bird per day. Can anybody tell me if this is too much?

Me too. My chickens may or may not have had a few spoons of Mac n cheese today...

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hm. Well, then maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I'm giving my birds about 2 Tbsp of scratch + mealworms per bird per day. Can anybody tell me if this is too much?

If your birds are reliably eating their feed and not too fat to lay, then it's probably fine. I don't want fat birds, and I don't want to spend my feed budget on yum yums for them that only plump them up.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

If your birds are reliably eating their feed and not too fat to lay, then it's probably fine. I don't want fat birds, and I don't want to spend my feed budget on yum yums for them that only plump them up.

Thanks, that helps. They get so much good exercise scratching for it! And it gives me a chance to look them over good every afternoon.

 

[ThatTeowonna]

If you have 7 chickens, how would you feed one a different feed? Especially if they all have the same living quarters. Unless completely separated, my experience is that everybody eats everything.

 

[Shezadandy]

If you have 7 chickens, how would you feed one a different feed? Especially if they all have the same living quarters. Unless completely separated, my experience is that everybody eats everything.

Yes- that's how many of us wind up on an all-flock product with oyster shell on the side. I too started with Layena for the first group ... but then I had a hen hatch chicks and it only got more complicated from there as the flock grew.