Help with feeding

[janet2802]

I just looked over the chart on what to and not to feed the chickens. Great chart, by the way! We have a vegetable garden and I feed the hens whatever we don't eat. They weren't sure of lettuce or corn at first, now they love them. I do feed them grain that I buy from my local feed store (can't remember the name) and they like it. I feed them twice a day, 10 hens and a rooster, but am noticing that their egg production is real low. Does anyone have suggestions on what type of chicken feed to give them to produce more? Right now I either get 2 or 4 eggs per day from them and know I should be getting more.

 

[buc]

I use the local Co-op pelleted egg layer ration, I also supliment them with garden stuff and the get free choice of both grit and oyster shell.

They get clean cool water twice a day.

My gals do a great job of laying eggs year round, they do, I have to admit slow down some during the hot dog days of Kansas.

 

[digitS']

A production laying hen eats about 110 grams of food each day. That could be considered her capacity.

She requires 16 grams of protein.

If she ate 55 grams of lettuce (at 1.3% protein) she'd get about .7 gram of protein.
If she ate 55 grams of sweet corn (at 3.2% protein) she'd get about 1.8 grams of protein.

total about 2.5 grams of protein.

She's missing 13.5 grams of protein on this diet or 84% of her requirements .

I know that you say your hens are eating some commercial feed but they really cannot have much of these other foods and have sufficient protein for an egg.

An egg has about 6 grams of protein. And, it would be nice to have about 1 of these each day

.

Steve

 

[silkiechicken]

Make sure you provide a complete Layer feed. If they are getting LOTS of greens, try to find a "layer supplement" with a higher protein.

 

[janet2802]

Thanks for the advice. I am giving them "scraps" from the garden such as lettuce, corn, tomatos, and a bit of alfalfa. They still get the laying grain and a little bread. Since the grasshopper season is over, they are waiting to be let out of their enclosure to run around. I am just waiting for harvest at the end of the month for that to happen.