Feeding laying Hens

[Jrb599]

Would blueseals grow and show be equivalent to the game bird you feed? Would it be okay to do 100% gamebird and just feed calcium on the side? What kind of grain would you use?

 

[BackyardAnita]

Layer feed. Layer feed is for laying hens... the name kind of gives it away.
I'm guessing that a hen can eat any other kind of feed, my leftovers after lunch are my chickens favorites!

 

[Jrb599]

Because they just do better. It's a more varied diet, the birds like whole grains, which are good for them. The high protein of Game Bird has animal protein and fats, which cause the hens to do well. It's just a better all around diet for classier birds. Unfortunately, it is costly. Show people do even more, much more, quite frankly. They need/want their birds to look their very, very best.

But, just before breeding season, I switch them to that diet, and absorb the significantly higher cost of doing so. Hope that helps.

What kind of whole grains do you buy?

 

[Jrb599]

Layer feed. Layer feed is for laying hens... the name kind of gives it away.
I'm guessing that a hen can eat any other kind of feed, my leftovers after lunch are my chickens favorites!

Sure, but a lot of smart people on this site don't use laying feed for their layers. Trying to figure out why and what they use.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Bunches of top notch breeder type folks do not feed Layer.

Among the various reasons is having non-laying birds. Young birds, moulting birds, top drawer cock birds, none of which should be eating layer. Thus, life is just simpler not to mess with it at all. Just a Grower or GameBird type feed and go from there.

As for whole grains, I really like wheat, barley, oats, and really like milo, and others. The local feed mill has different things at different prices in differing mixes throughout the year.

 

[Jrb599]

What do you supply for calcium on the side?

 

[Fred's Hens]

What do you supply for calcium on the side?

When not feeding layer, most folks provide calcium via a side feeder with either oyster shells crushed or pellets of calcium carbonate.

 

[Joe Jordan]

I feed mine laying feed because that is all they need. A lot of people smarter than me have come up with the most economical and beneficial feed for laying hens. Why mess with perfection? The benefits of supplementing feed with more consumeristic practices and fermenting feed is questionable at best imo.

 

[Jrb599]

Bunches of top notch breeder type folks do not feed Layer.

Among the various reasons is having non-laying birds. Young birds, moulting birds, top drawer cock birds, none of which should be eating layer. Thus, life is just simpler not to mess with it at all. Just a Grower or GameBird type feed and go from there.

As for whole grains, I really like wheat, barley, oats, and really like milo, and others. The local feed mill has different things at different prices in differing mixes throughout the year.

Am I really cutting my birds short if I just feed them gamebird blueseal and calcium and just not bothering with mixing grains?

 

[Chris09]

I feed mine laying feed because that is all they need. A lot of people smarter than me have come up with the most economical and beneficial feed for laying hens. Why mess with perfection? The benefits of supplementing feed with more consumeristic practices and fermenting feed is questionable at best imo.

The thing is a Layer feed is OK if all you have is hens that are laying, If your hens are not laying do to molt, season, or age and your feeding a layer feed then you are doing more harm than good.
Also keep in mind that chicks, growing birds and roosters do not need the extra calcium that is layer feed so they should not be on layer feed.

I will also say that most poultry feed out there is far from being perfect, look at Purina Layena that has no animal proteins in it.

Chris