Help on feeeding during the moult

[MuscovyMad]

Currently i feed my chickens a mixture of oats in the morning, then they get to free range all day around a farm and before they go to bed in the evening i give them layers pellets. This seems to be adequate at the moment however i was wondering if anyone could give me any tips on keeping the chickens in a good enough condition such that they continue to lay through the moult. I.e should i resort to 2 feeds of layers pellets for extra vitamins and minerals, or 2 feeds of oats for extra energy.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
I don't think you'll find anyone who can give you that secret. I have yet to find out what it is. Birds do not lay through molt All the protein they absorb goes towards producing new feathers. You can add protein to maybe speed the process of molting like with Boss and treats naturally rich in protein....

 

[MEchickenfarmer33]

i dont plan on changing anything while my girls molt.

 

[ChickenAl]

Quote:
I don't think you'll find anyone who can give you that secret. I have yet to find out what it is. Birds do not lay through molt All the protein they absorb goes towards producing new feathers. You can add protein to maybe speed the process of molting like with Boss and treats naturally rich in protein....

I agree. Extra protein at this time would be a prudent thing to do. Keeping flocks in good health under any stressful condition is always wise. Hard enough to regrow feathers without having to push out an egg a day. Don't try to make them into production machines. Their bodies will tell them when they are ready to produce eggs again.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Up the protein. In your case that would be just providing layer pellets all day, so if they wanted it they can eat it. BOSS and oatmeal are high in fat, more a winter treat.

 

[tigercreek]

A lot of folks will supplement with a high quality cat food, 30+ % protien. It is higher in fat though, so go easy with it. I give mine a handfull a day for the 4 hens I have that are moulting now. ..............stan

 

[MuscovyMad]

I'm not really bothered if they lay or not through the moult. I just want to keep them in good condition for winter. So general idea being to increase the amount of pellets to keep nutrition levels up. We do have a cat on the farm which unfortunately gives up it's food to the chickens. So they do get some cat food in their diet already.

Thanks for the the advice