Feeding and laying eggs

[NC Chicken Gal]

Hi All,
I am not sure if this thread should go here or in egg-laying, but since it more about what and how they are eating, I'll put it here.

Recently, my FIL told me that I need to STOP feeding my chickens scraps and such. He said they will get a taste for REAL food and they will not eat their feed anymore and that will be bad when they start laying. Any truth to this?

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

mine live on scraps and 2 days ago I got 7 1/2 (3 inch egg with 2 full sized yolks) eggs from 5 EEs,
keep feeding them scraps (it's much cheaper, and better for the environment too)

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, sort of.

The feeds that we buy are scientifically formulated to be the most efficient at getting hens to lay, starting with how they are fed from hatch onward. When we let them eat anything other than the formulated feed, that perfect balance is upset. They become less efficient.

However, if they eat only the formulated feeds, your eggs will wind up being no different from the ones you buy in the store. It is the greens, bugs, seeds etc that they eat other than the formulated feed that gives our eggs the character they have. The color and flavor is definitely different. Some would say that our eggs are more nutricious but I'd just say our nutricional values differ. Depends on what they eat.

As far as the efficiency goes, if you have a commercial operation where you have 10,000 laying hens in each of 4 coops or 3 coops of 50,000 meat birds, a difference in efficiency of 1% or 2% is significant and may be the difference in going broke or making a profit. For most of us, a 10% difference in efficiency means maybe one more or less egg a day or maybe we have to feed them a few extra days before we butcher meat birds. Quite a difference.

Your FIL has a valid point. They do need to eat a balanced ration. If you give them too much of one thing it would be like giving a heavy diet of candy to a growing child. They will not develop or function right. For example, if you give them too much corn, they can develop a liver disease. It's the high energy that does it. How we handle this is a personal choice, from limiting them to a small amount of extra to those that let them out every day to eat all the greens, bugs, and seeds they can find.

 

[NC Chicken Gal]

Great advice ridgerunner, but I think the point he was trying to make to me was that they WILL NOT eat their normal feed anymore, preferring the scraps. Granted, I do not give them enough scraps to amount to anything other than a free trash compactor/composter You know, stuff that would've went to the trash now goes to my little eating/pooping machines!

They have slowed down on their normal feed a little, but now they are outside a lot more than when they were smaller, so they are eating more bugs and stuff.

Do you think that they would stop eating feed all together in prefrance for the scraps?

 

[digitS']

One way you might go is to take the number of your chickens and multiply it by .25. That will give you the number of pounds that they should be eating each day if they are production leghorn-type birds.

So, let's say your little backyard flock consists of 4 hens. They should eat 4 x .25 = 1 pound of commercial feed each day.

Weigh their feed. It is very simple to do - set a scale beside their feed bag, weigh their feeder and determine how much they ate before refilling.

If you refill the feeder about the same time every day and those hens have eaten their required .25 pound of feed / hen - they get "dessert"

! Dessert is whatever healthful food you want to feed them.

If they haven't eaten their .25 pound of feed then they don't get dessert. You'll find that they will earn dessert more often in cold weather and when they haven't been out nibbling at the lawn.

Your mom may have used this clean-your-plate technique with you. The chickens can't reason it out but, at least, you will know if they are getting about what they should each day.

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

Digits gave a good way to determine if they are eating enough of the feed for a generally balanced diet.

In response to your specific question, Do you think that they would stop eating feed all together in prefrance for the scraps?

The way I read this I think you are asking, will they refuse to eat the feed and starve, waiting on scraps. No, I would not expect them to totally ignore the feed especially if they are hungry.

I'm not sure how much bugs and stuff they are getting. The bugs and stuff helps balance their diet more than just table scraps. They might eat enough of the treats to unbalance their diet. A rule of thumb I've read is to not feed them more treats than they can clean up in 10 to 20 minutes. This way, you are not upsetting their dietary balance enough for it to be a problem.

I don't know how many chickens you have or what portion of their diet is table scraps, but, to be honest, I really don't think you have a serious problem since they are able to get out and get bugs, weed and grass seeds, and greens and they are still eating feed. They may not be as efficient egg layers as the commercial operations have, but they are probably living better than many of us who cannot let them out to graze.

 

[greyhorsewoman]

Recently, my FIL told me that I need to STOP feeding my chickens scraps and such. He said they will get a taste for REAL food and they will not eat their feed anymore and that will be bad when they start laying.

Any truth to this?

Heavens, no ~~!!! Our free range chickens and ducks KNOW when breakfast and dinner time are. They come running to the barn for the 'good stuff' (layer & scratch). These guys get scraps & natural food available (and we have lots with a pond & horse manure & shady groves. Yet it looks like they are staging a coup when it's feeding time and we are a little behind schedule.

Our coop chickens, in a very large fenced in area. also get whatever scraps we create from the kitchen. We feed twice a day. They come running when they see us with the feed bucket and they generally clean up nearly every morsel of their layer from each feeding (I adjust the feed so there is just a bit left from each feeding so I know they are getting as much as they want, but it cuts down on waste and rodent attraction).

Maybe only eating layer will increase production a bit, but as mentioned before, you then are on the path of creating the same tasteless eggs you can get at the grocery. The chickens totally enjoy the extras and makes their lives more happy. Happy chickens make tasty eggs.

(By the way, I've heard the same thing said for feeding your dogs. My dogs getting plenty of treats and a few tasty kitchen leftovers from time to time. They still love their breakfast of quality balanced dog ration.)​

 

[CallyB57]

One of my chickens just started laying eggs about a couple of weeks ago and the other hens are getting close, going by appearance of combs and wattles. I have 1 rooster in with my hens. Today I'm going to TSC to pick up some 'layer' feed, and I was wondering if the rooster can eat this. I have other regular feeds, including some scratch grains I give them around 5:30 a.m. Would it be better to just mix some 'layer' feed in with the regular poultry feed and scratch grains, or do I need to make sure the rooster does not eat the 'layer' feed? I started offering the oyster shell and baked, finely crumbled eggshells to the one egg-layer and it has made a world of difference in her eggshell hardness, however, the eggs are getting smaller and smaller. Is that because I have not been feeding her 'layer' feed? Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[animal nut]

We have given our chickens extras from the garden since they were old enough to lay. Ours free range all day, but when they hear the scoop for the layer feed they are allover the feed. Yes this did cut down some of the layer feed but they still eat their fair share of it daily.