Hens highgrading layer mash

[tmiddel]

Hi folks,

New to the chicken hobby here, we began taking care of six hens in September (4 Jersey Giants and 2 Brahma's) and so far they have all survived a relatively cold winter here in Ontario. They began laying for us on winter solstice day and have been pretty consistent since then. Last week they produced 28 eggs for us

It's a little cooperative we're involved in, there are three households sharing duties and sharing eggs. We've been feeding them layer mash pretty much ad lib, but only outside in their covered run. We figure they can use all the energy they can get to keep warm some nights. We've been noticing though that they like to highgrade their feed, preferentially eating the larger bits so that there is always a few inches of fine grain in their feed bucket.

Should we stop adding to their feed until the fine bits are eaten to ensure they get the proper nutrition from their feed or will that just deprive them of the quantity they need? We feed them about 2-3 cups of mash per day roughly.

Thanks to the community here for all of the great advice, this board has been an invaluable resource to us in setting up our own little backyard flock!

 

[dsqard]

Can I suggest pelleted food? I feed layena flock raiser in pelleted form (free choice all day) and just have an exra container of oyster shell out. At least in the winter months I know they can use the exta protien in the flock raiser.
BTW -

 

[tmiddel]

I had been reading that pellets are a good option to reduce wastage and prevent selective feeding. I'll have to check if our co-op here sells organic pellets or not. We have oyster shell out as well, so pelleted flock raiser may be a good option if we can get it.

We still have a couple of bags of mash here we have to go through, so we'll likely slow down the feeding a bit and let them work through some of the smaller bits while we finish off the mash we have.

 

[roz]

You can try crumblets too. That's what we feed ours...Poulin egg production crumblets. I think they are smaller than pellets, but it's not a mash.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I let mine run out regularly, maybe twice a week. Mine do pick the larger chunks out and leave the fines. I'm not worried about nutrition in this, but I want them to clean up the stuff that is left so it does not get moldy. I'm around so it is not like they starve for long periods of time, but if they get a tad hungry, mine will clean it up. Mine free range too, so they can go get something else to eat if they wish.

 

[HEChicken]

I have found they won't eat the fine "dust" no matter how long I leave it. I prefer pellets for this reason but end up with some dust in the bottom even with the pellets. What I do is collect it and make it into a wet mash for them. I pour some warm to boiling water into a bowl and add enough of the powder to create a mash consistency and feed them that. They love it and its a good way to both keep them warm (fill their crops with warm mash) on a cold winter's day, and give them some added hydration. I worry about mine not drinking enough on a cold day when the water is icy cold.

 

[somadlyinlove]

I Love that idea. I've been thinking about the waste too. I have to make a bowl of Mash "porrige" in the morning.

 

[ladrholman]

hmmm. Mine do the same.. they high grade and I have been going through lay mash like crazy. I have 36 birds of different breeds but some days they eat like crazy and waste lots and others not so much. I am seeing some protein deficiencies as a result. I am going to change to a pelleted feed and mix with a game bird feed to increase protien right now....

 

[tmiddel]

Thanks for all of the advice. I went home last night and made a warm mash up for them and they loved it! We have also been worrying about hydration during the winter so this should help. Thankfully we're on on the short side of winter now with spring around the corner