I don't like hybrids.

[lazy gardener]

Production hybrids are bred to spit eggs out the chute for one to two laying cycles. Your birds are reaching the end of the second cycle. So, you are getting exactly what the breed is noted for. They are generally replaced before egg quality becomes an issue. I suggest that when you replace them, you get some heritage breeds.

But, in the mean time, you might try giving them extra calcium, boosting protein to 18%, and putting them on multi vitamins. If you are giving them scratch, stop! Also, fermenting their feed will make a huge difference.

 

[kwhites634]

Production hybrids are bred to spit eggs out the chute for one to two laying cycles. Your birds are reaching the end of the second cycle. So, you are getting exactly what the breed is noted for. They are generally replaced before egg quality becomes an issue. I suggest that when you replace them, you get some heritage breeds.

But, in the mean time, you might try giving them extra calcium, boosting protein to 18%, and putting them on multi vitamins. If you are giving them scratch, stop! Also, fermenting their feed will make a huge difference.

Hi, LG....been a while
Isn't 17% a bit low for layer feed? I haven't used layer feed since someone mentioned that it's bad for roosters, and I don't remember exactly what it was.

 

[lazy gardener]

My flock is on layer which is 16%. Yeah, it's been a while. How you been, anyhow???? Yeah, the ongoing debate about calcium and non layers. I use layer simply b/c it's more economical. I have yet to see any negative implications in my birds, and my roo will most likely outlive all of my hens. Not to say that the issues don't exist...

 

[BYCforlife]

How many birds in how big a coop?
Have these hybrids always been poor layers or is it just recent?

They have always been poor layers. It's a small coop, with very large nesting boxes. they get about 3 square feet per bird, and they have a very large run, when they are not free run. They have always laid bad eggs. Some are good, some are bad.

 

[BYCforlife]

Production hybrids are bred to spit eggs out the chute for one to two laying cycles. Your birds are reaching the end of the second cycle. So, you are getting exactly what the breed is noted for. They are generally replaced before egg quality becomes an issue. I suggest that when you replace them, you get some heritage breeds.

But, in the mean time, you might try giving them extra calcium, boosting protein to 18%, and putting them on multi vitamins. If you are giving them scratch, stop! Also, fermenting their feed will make a huge difference.

Okay, thanks! Next year I'm getting Columbian Rocks.

 

[lazy gardener]

I bought some Columbian Wyandottes this spring, and am totally enamored with them. When looking at them in the catalog, I thought they were pretty dumpy looking. But, they are huge, nice mannered, and those black feathers against the white back ground make them quite the eye candy. I think I like the looks of them even more than SLW.

 

[jvls1942]

If the chickens are well into their second cycle of laying, I see no reason to spend extra money on vitamins and supplements for a few eggs.
get rid of the ones laying these soft eggs and get some new ones.
and from too many bad experiences, don't buy any laying hens from anyone other than someone you know.
9 out of 10 times you will be stuck with chickens like the ones you have right now.
get the production hybrids directly from a hatchery. if someone in your area is claiming that they are raising procuction hybrids, don't believe them, . more than likely they are not hybrids as claimed.
it takes a long time of special breeding to come up with these hybrids.
you have to really know how to do it.
99% of the people claiming that they are doing it are not telling the truth, they might believe themselves, but they are wrong.
do not give your laying hens "treats".
many treats are not high in protein and will bring down the %tage level of the protein you are giving them in your laying formula.

I have always had good results by getting the laying blend that the feedmills mix .

laying formula is supposedly not good for a non laying bird (rooster). could cause kidney problems. IDK about that, one of my best roosters is well over 6 years old.

my geese and my guineas all eat what I feed to the hens, too.

.

 

[lazy gardener]

If the chickens are well into their second cycle of laying, I see no reason to spend extra money on vitamins and supplements for a few eggs.
get rid of the ones laying these soft eggs and get some new ones.
and from too many bad experiences, don't buy any laying hens from anyone other than someone you know.
9 out of 10 times you will be stuck with chickens like the ones you have right now.
get the production hybrids directly from a hatchery. if someone in your area is claiming that they are raising procuction hybrids, don't believe them, . more than likely they are not hybrids as claimed.
it takes a long time of special breeding to come up with these hybrids.
you have to really know how to do it.
99% of the people claiming that they are doing it are not telling the truth, they might believe themselves, but they are wrong.
do not give your laying hens "treats".
many treats are not high in protein and will bring down the %tage level of the protein you are giving them in your laying formula.

I have always had good results by getting the laying blend that the feedmills mix .

laying formula is supposedly not good for a non laying bird (rooster). could cause kidney problems. IDK about that, one of my best roosters is well over 6 years old.

my geese and my guineas all eat what I feed to the hens, too.

.

If a flock master is keeping a "pet flock", then supplementing with vitamins is not an unreasonable plan. However, economically, I agree with you... up to a point. I've had the occasional soft shell layer, especially in late winter, or even early spring. The cost of a few vitamins given to the whole flock has made an immediate improvement in egg quality of the entire flock. My birds get layer pellets (fermented). So, calcium supplementation is not the end all of shell quality. And my experience with vitamin supplementation verifies the fact that layer feed, while it is supposed to give the flock everything they need... it provides the bare minimum. It is a very low cost amendment to bring the flock through the end of that second or third cycle, when they are still laying reasonably well, and giving you those wonderful extra large or jumbo eggs.

As for producing hybrids in the home flock: Hybrid is a word that means many things to many people. In the context you use it, I think you are suggesting that a BYF keeper can't produce an Isa Brown. However, the BYF keeper can produce a black or red sex linked chicken that possesses excellent hybrid vigor, is an excellent layer, and most often does not have the inherent reproductive issues seen in the hatchery produced production hybrids. The production hybrids are bred specifically so that they can be feather sexed, or so that they are sex linked. I produce sex links in my flock, and they are wonderful, long lived birds. My sex links have a walnut or pea comb, and 50 - 75% of them lay a green/aqua/or olive colored egg. Sex link simply means that you put the right color of roo over the right feather pattern of a hen, and the chicks gender can then be determined at hatch. For more information, read "the sex linked information" thread.

My flock is also on layer feed, and I expect my roo will outlive all of my hens.

 

[irfxr]

Time for the stew pot !

 

[BYCforlife]

Time for the stew pot !

Lol, yes!