Maybe you are feeding too much corn & bringing the protein % down too low for great egg production. I would feed more feed & less corn and increase the amount given each day to see if it helps.
How much should I feed my laying hens
- Thread starter cindyparker65
- Start date
This thread was from last May.
Hello, This was helpful as I think I am feeding too much barley and they are ignoring the Layers Pellets. I live in Scotland and have 8 girls. get between 5 and 7 eggs a day but occasionally goes as low as 4.
- Apr 21, 2014
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how much should I feed my 6 months old chickens a day...I have 12 6 months old and 12 3 months old. They are not laying yet, but I think they should be getting ready any time now..
With the exception of meat birds on a specific feeding plan, I use "ever-full" feeders and keep feed available to my birds at all times - allowing them to determine how much feed they require that day. It takes all the worry about how much you should/shouldn't feed out of the equation. Are your birds able to forage? The amount and quality of forage available will impact how much prepared feed the birds need to maintain health.
- Aug 14, 2012
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Sunflower and whole oats have a lot of fiber so hens can fill up on just fiber and get less nutrients dense food and grains.
I would feed these only as a snack and sparingly.Whole oats also have anti-nutrients in them that ruminants can handle but not hens. Oats are for horses cows goats. Unless you sprout them or remove the husks as in rolled oats or oat groats.
As for Calf Manna it is soy and corn which are GMO, alfalfa, yeast, whey, and then just some synthetic vitamins and minerals not much different than any feed.
It has some anise oil which stimulate appetite so why not just get anise oil and fenugreek seed and use that??
Be careful using feed made for ruminants on hens. Sometimes it may contain things hard for poultry to digest or even be harmful to them.
Most chicken experts recommend 1/4 lb of feed / day / hen and some scratch or fermented grains and some greens. If the hens don't pasture adding fodder is a good idea.
I leave organic non-GMO pellets out free choice and feed mostly fermented grains and some dry mash or cracked grains, and some sprouts and fodder, which they go for first and gobble down; about 2lbs total dry weight per 10 hens. Then some nibble on the pellets during the rest of the day as they come in and out of pasture.
Fermented grains and sprouts weigh more because of the water and hens usually are better nourished on less of it since it is easier to digest. So consider the dry weight of the grain before adding soaking.
Some mistakenly think that by growing fodder they magically turn 1 pound of grain into 8 pounds of feed, but they are sadly forgetting that the Fodder is mostly water.
And whatever is there was already in the grain, there has been no gain, maybe a change, a little loss in protein and increase in carbs and cellulose.
Fortunately for their hens, much of the grain does not sprout and they get to eat all the higher protein grains stuck in the roots of the fodder.
I would feed these only as a snack and sparingly.Whole oats also have anti-nutrients in them that ruminants can handle but not hens. Oats are for horses cows goats. Unless you sprout them or remove the husks as in rolled oats or oat groats.
As for Calf Manna it is soy and corn which are GMO, alfalfa, yeast, whey, and then just some synthetic vitamins and minerals not much different than any feed.
It has some anise oil which stimulate appetite so why not just get anise oil and fenugreek seed and use that??
Be careful using feed made for ruminants on hens. Sometimes it may contain things hard for poultry to digest or even be harmful to them.
Most chicken experts recommend 1/4 lb of feed / day / hen and some scratch or fermented grains and some greens. If the hens don't pasture adding fodder is a good idea.
I leave organic non-GMO pellets out free choice and feed mostly fermented grains and some dry mash or cracked grains, and some sprouts and fodder, which they go for first and gobble down; about 2lbs total dry weight per 10 hens. Then some nibble on the pellets during the rest of the day as they come in and out of pasture.
Fermented grains and sprouts weigh more because of the water and hens usually are better nourished on less of it since it is easier to digest. So consider the dry weight of the grain before adding soaking.
Some mistakenly think that by growing fodder they magically turn 1 pound of grain into 8 pounds of feed, but they are sadly forgetting that the Fodder is mostly water.
And whatever is there was already in the grain, there has been no gain, maybe a change, a little loss in protein and increase in carbs and cellulose.
Fortunately for their hens, much of the grain does not sprout and they get to eat all the higher protein grains stuck in the roots of the fodder.
Last edited:
- Apr 21, 2014
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Thanks for the reply...Yes we let them out to graze a few times a week...they love it...We do not have a fenced yard, but they are good, they stay close to us and their coop. They enjoy the bugs and the weeds or grass and just getting out to play in the sand under the plants etc. Thanks again for your answer!
- Apr 21, 2014
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We got our first egg yesterday and one more today...We were so excited to see that first egg...It's small, but still they are only about five months old. We have 12 hens in that pen and our Rhode Island Red started laying first...Brown eggs...Have not eaten it yet...
- Aug 14, 2012
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One reason not to feed hens free choice, all they want, if you are not using pellets or crumble, is because with mash or cracked grain feeds they will eat the parts they like and leave the rest.
They will leave a lot of fines and not get all the nutrients they need. If new food gets refilled they will wait for that new food to come and just pick out some and leave others so they never get a balanced diet.
If you feed only what they will eat all of, then you can be sure they will get all the nutrients they need and a balanced diet. A little less than up to 1/4 pound of feed per hen per day. And if they get out on some grass they will get more nutrients. If not you may go slightly above 1/4 lb. They need their stomachs full of nutrients and protein to be making and egg for 23-25 hours.
My hens prefer my non-GMO organic cracked grain and fermented cracked grain feed to the organic pellets I put out. So I can put them both out together and leave the pellets out free choice.
because when I put the cracked grain and ferment feed out for the day, they eat it all 1st. They eat all of the grain feed not just the parts they like leaving the rest and this way they get all the nutrients added onto the grain. And I don't leave it out free choice and have left over over night.
I can leave the pellets out all day so if they want more they can have them. Pellets are the only food I would leave out free choice and only if they eat all of their other grain feed first.
If they eat more of the pellets, because all the feed and nutrients are in each pellet, there is no way to pick and choose, they still get a balanced meal.
This way they do not over eat the grain as they might if it was left out free choice all day and get fat. Yes laying hens can eat too much grain and get fat which may reduce laying.
And this way there is no left over feed so you don't attract rats and birds to steal you feed and contaminate the runs. And if you do leave pellets out and don't put them up overnight you may want to get a rat proof feeder like a treadle feeder or some other pipe or tube feeder that limits pest access.
Most pellets instead of containing grain are full of junk, bran, husks, grain by products, screenings, etc. which are the powder and dust left over after the flour milling process. It is basically a waste product reclaimed and then sugar and corn syrup added to it and heated to make a feed pellet. I would not feed those to my hens.
No wonder hens come running to when people feed scratch, they are starving to death and want some real grain.
My hens don't come running to me when I go out because they are not starving; unless they find out I have some special treat for them I have tossed out on the ground or in feed tubs, coconut, pumpkin seeds, or some vegetable scraps, then they come.
So consider just putting out what they will eat that day in feed, other than pellets. And consider not feeding standard pellets. You can get some good organic ground up whole grain pellets, instead of middlings, millings, screenings, by-products, generic plant products, etc. with hydrogenated oils, sugar, corn sweet liquor, clay, and other heated and processed junk food. Its like trying to live off of Mc Donalds for you hens. READ THE FEED LABELS
Yes they will like the sugary junk food pellets as much as your kids like candy but that does not mean it is healthy. That is why my hens don't love the pellets I use. They nibble a few pieces here and there during the day.
The reason we have hens is to have good eggs and meat. Remember: You are what you eat ate!!
Its worth a few cents a dozen eggs to get the better food into them. And into you.
They will leave a lot of fines and not get all the nutrients they need. If new food gets refilled they will wait for that new food to come and just pick out some and leave others so they never get a balanced diet.
If you feed only what they will eat all of, then you can be sure they will get all the nutrients they need and a balanced diet. A little less than up to 1/4 pound of feed per hen per day. And if they get out on some grass they will get more nutrients. If not you may go slightly above 1/4 lb. They need their stomachs full of nutrients and protein to be making and egg for 23-25 hours.
My hens prefer my non-GMO organic cracked grain and fermented cracked grain feed to the organic pellets I put out. So I can put them both out together and leave the pellets out free choice.
because when I put the cracked grain and ferment feed out for the day, they eat it all 1st. They eat all of the grain feed not just the parts they like leaving the rest and this way they get all the nutrients added onto the grain. And I don't leave it out free choice and have left over over night.
I can leave the pellets out all day so if they want more they can have them. Pellets are the only food I would leave out free choice and only if they eat all of their other grain feed first.
If they eat more of the pellets, because all the feed and nutrients are in each pellet, there is no way to pick and choose, they still get a balanced meal.
This way they do not over eat the grain as they might if it was left out free choice all day and get fat. Yes laying hens can eat too much grain and get fat which may reduce laying.
And this way there is no left over feed so you don't attract rats and birds to steal you feed and contaminate the runs. And if you do leave pellets out and don't put them up overnight you may want to get a rat proof feeder like a treadle feeder or some other pipe or tube feeder that limits pest access.
Most pellets instead of containing grain are full of junk, bran, husks, grain by products, screenings, etc. which are the powder and dust left over after the flour milling process. It is basically a waste product reclaimed and then sugar and corn syrup added to it and heated to make a feed pellet. I would not feed those to my hens.
No wonder hens come running to when people feed scratch, they are starving to death and want some real grain.
My hens don't come running to me when I go out because they are not starving; unless they find out I have some special treat for them I have tossed out on the ground or in feed tubs, coconut, pumpkin seeds, or some vegetable scraps, then they come.
So consider just putting out what they will eat that day in feed, other than pellets. And consider not feeding standard pellets. You can get some good organic ground up whole grain pellets, instead of middlings, millings, screenings, by-products, generic plant products, etc. with hydrogenated oils, sugar, corn sweet liquor, clay, and other heated and processed junk food. Its like trying to live off of Mc Donalds for you hens. READ THE FEED LABELS
Yes they will like the sugary junk food pellets as much as your kids like candy but that does not mean it is healthy. That is why my hens don't love the pellets I use. They nibble a few pieces here and there during the day.
The reason we have hens is to have good eggs and meat. Remember: You are what you eat ate!!
Its worth a few cents a dozen eggs to get the better food into them. And into you.
Last edited:
- Apr 21, 2014
- 25
- 10
- 24
We have one hen out of our dozen five months out laying so far...Most of them have been double yolks...I think the rest of them will lay soon...It's been fun watching them grow and the personalities they each have...They are allot of work...keeping them clean, free from flies and keep the cleanliness of the pen in order...They seem happy and healthy...all in all, they are fun and interesting...
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