Help. What happened?? OEGB eggs

[microchick]

I usually break a first time broody because they aren't always committed. But experienced birds always have excellent results.

I did that with my first pullet. She was only 9 months old when she first went broody. I broke her, three months later she went broody again and I let her set eggs. 8 of 11 hatched. The rest were duds so she did a pretty good job considering she was just a year old. Her biggest problem was switching nests. My responsibility. I have multiple Broody Boxes now to handle that problem.

Do the OEGB pullets break easily? Mine are just 10 weeks old so I don't expect them to start laying till spring at the earliest. Is their reps as being broody addicts well founded?

 

[DwayneNLiz]

Do the OEGB pullets break easily? Mine are just 10 weeks old so I don't expect them to start laying till spring at the earliest. Is their reps as being broody addicts well founded?

no and
yes
lol, i have 1 that is broody right now, she is only a few months old

 

[BantamTurkey]

@ChickenCanoe
Maybe they aren't as healthy (for breeding) as I previously thought. Lol
I feel like it was a mix of young birds and poor knowledge of breeding nutrition. THANK YOU soooooooooo much for that post. So if I changed their dietary values now, how do you think they'll do by spring?? I mean, would you recommend I try again then??

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Sure. If they appear healthy now, it shouldn't take more than a couple weeks to boost the hen's nutrition enough to show up in the eggs.
If they were in poor condition, it could take till spring.

If you can't find a breeder ration, go with the best food you can find and then supplement. Feather Fixer may be a good place to start.
The problem is, most people tend to feed lots of scratch and 'treats' which tends to diminish the complete nutrition in the feed.
Almost every bag of feed I've seen will have a statement to the effect, "this is a complete feed and no supplement is necessary".
Then when one adds scratch, the protein, vitamins and minerals are immediately lessened.

 

[BantamTurkey]

Sure. If they appear healthy now, it shouldn't take more than a couple weeks to boost the hen's nutrition enough to show up in the eggs.
If they were in poor condition, it could take till spring.

If you can't find a breeder ration, go with the best food you can find and then supplement. Feather Fixer may be a good place to start.
The problem is, most people tend to feed lots of scratch and 'treats' which tends to diminish the complete nutrition in the feed.
Almost every bag of feed I've seen will have a statement to the effect, "this is a complete feed and no supplement is necessary".
Then when one adds scratch, the protein, vitamins and minerals are immediately lessened.

Well, the scratch feed could be my problem. They love it. I was actually looking at the feather fixer for my Saramas that are going through a moult. Should've got some then. I think something else had caught my attention. Tractor supply does this to me.
They do look healthy. I mean, they're beautiful. And I feed them a good bit of scratch grains. So I imagine they're not getting near the nutrients they need for eggs. Diet is going to change. I'm just making sure here, but can I still feed them treats like fruit and vegetables??

 

[DwayneNLiz]

Well, the scratch feed could be my problem. They love it. I was actually looking at the feather fixer for my Saramas that are going through a moult. Should've got some then. I think something else had caught my attention. Tractor supply does this to me.
They do look healthy. I mean, they're beautiful. And I feed them a good bit of scratch grains. So I imagine they're not getting near the nutrients they need for eggs. Diet is going to change. I'm just making sure here, but can I still feed them treats like fruit and vegetables??

yes, but not to be more than 5-10% of their daily intake
and dont forget protein, meat, they love meat

 

[microchick]

I do feed my birds scratch but I've learned to put it in a separate feeder so I can keep track of the amount they are eating. I also put their feed in a separate feeder and their sunflower seed separate also.

I'm feeding a 21% protein game bird finisher with oyster shell on the side for the layers. My birds seem to do better if I feed them a higher protein feed. And since I have a mixed flock so I don't want my roosters and cockerels eating the layer mix. I also have birds that range in age from 20 months to 10 weeks.

What I've learned that my birds really like and has helped them with their conditioning is black sunflower seed. They love it. It provides a lot of trace minerals and vitamins along with boosting their protein during molt.

It's taken a lot of hit and miss experimenting to find out what works with my flock--what they will eat and what has improved their keel bone rating (hope I said that right).

Yes, I also feed them fruit and veggies. Pumpkin regularly or squash, apples from our orchard. Last week I cleaned out the freezer and had some outdated pork chips that I boiled off, chopped off and gave to them. Talk about being in hog heaven, LOL. It really reminds you that they are carnivores when we allow them to be.

 

[DwayneNLiz]

I do feed my birds scratch but I've learned to put it in a separate feeder so I can keep track of the amount they are eating. I also put their feed in a separate feeder and their sunflower seed separate also.

I'm feeding a 21% protein game bird finisher with oyster shell on the side for the layers. My birds seem to do better if I feed them a higher protein feed. And since I have a mixed flock so I don't want my roosters and cockerels eating the layer mix. I also have birds that range in age from 20 months to 10 weeks.

What I've learned that my birds really like and has helped them with their conditioning is black sunflower seed. They love it. It provides a lot of trace minerals and vitamins along with boosting their protein during molt.

It's taken a lot of hit and miss experimenting to find out what works with my flock--what they will eat and what has improved their keel bone rating (hope I said that right).

BOSS is a great treat but can make them fat, fat is just as bad as skinny
its a hard line to tread

 

[microchick]

BOSS is a great treat but can make them fat, fat is just as bad as skinny
its a hard line to tread

Yep, which is why I do random keel bone checks. I was having problems with them maintaining weight over the summer months. Knowing that they would be experiencing their first molt this fall, I wormed thoroughly then increased protein and fat in their diets. It did the trick. I still have a few young cockerels that are still growing and need to have some extra weight on them but with the worst of winter ahead of us I would rather have them a bit plump than thin.

By spring I will have the sunflower seed adjusted down to a minimum that will be mixed in with their scratch.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

BOSS is a great treat but can make them fat, fat is just as bad as skinny
its a hard line to tread

40% fat in whole seed.
And as for the protein, if in shell, it isn't that high.
Sunflower meal ranges from 23% to 40% depending on the method of oil extraction.
However sunflower seed only averages about 16% protein and like other vegetative sources, is deficient in lysine so does not boost overall protein.