Info on what to feed when/why?

[simmworksfamily]

I have two 6 month old pullets (that's the term for girls under a year, right?) and one just started laying (RIR) while hte other (EE) is still not laying yet. I found a broken rubber egg in the nest of the EE yesterday and am assuming she's starting to lay?

We've been feeding them the same starter feed we have been feeding them since we brought them home as chicks at 3 weeks. We purchase all of this at the nursery we got them from. In addition to that food (they have access to it all day/night) we also give them scraps and treats.

Is there any good information or additional resources I could look at to see if we need to be feeding and/or offering more? Also, when they start laying do we change the type of feed we purchase? Should I wait till both are laying? Thanks for any advice!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Start offering crushed oyster shell in a separate container immediately for the one laying eggs.
Once they all start laying switch to layer feed.

 

[simmworksfamily]

Start offering crushed oyster shell in a separate container immediately for the one laying eggs.
Once they all start laying switch to layer feed.

Thank you. She just started 5 days ago. If I don't have immediate access to crushed oyster shell (gotta head out to the feed store but won't be able to till tomorrow) is there anything else I can offer at the moment? Or is one day not going to hurt her?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If she's laying rubber eggs, she may have depleted the calcium reserves in the medullary bone.
If you have any egg shells you can dry and crush, that will work. Or a calcium supplement.

 

[simmworksfamily]

If she's laying rubber eggs, she may have depleted the calcium reserves in the medullary bone.
If you have any egg shells you can dry and crush, that will work. Or a calcium supplement.

I think it was the EE who hasn't started laying who layed the rubber egg (her first?) yesterday because it was in the other nesting box (not the box my RIR lays in) and my RIR layed in the afternoon so I assumed if Red (RIR) layed a rubber egg she couldn't possibly lay another perfectly fine egg a few hours later.

I am keeping an eye out on both today. Would Tums be a good calcium suppliment for the time being or no? I remember reading somewhere to crush up a Tums in yogurt. They both lap up plain yogurt...

 

[roosterstrut]

Like some other people said, have a separate feeder or dish with calcium (oyster shells). I would recommend at that age to start feeding them grower or starter grower because it sounds like they obviously have all there feathers (I assume). Once they all start laying I suggest feeding them layer feed and dropping the oyster shell supplement OR feeding them "all flock feed" and keeping the oyster shell supplement.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When a pullet (female under a year old) first starts to lay it is not that unusual to get some really strange eggs. There are a lot of parts to her internal egg making factory and occasionally one has to work out the kinks to get it up and running just right. Most get it right to start with but a fair number need a few days. Don’t be concerned about that rubber egg.

Once they start to lay they need excess calcium for the egg shell. Layer feed has about 4% calcium and should provide all the calcium they need for egg shells if Layer is all you are feeding them. It’s not, you are giving them treats. So they probably need a calcium supplement. Oyster shell offered on the side is a standard though crushed egg shells help some. Just feeding them their egg shells back may be a losing proposition though. They need some calcium for body function and maintenance plus some calcium they eat is not absorbed by their body and goes straight on through and out the rear end. It doesn’t all go to shell. But if they are getting some calcium from another source egg shells may be enough.

The can sometimes get some extra calcium from certain plants they eat, creepy crawlies they eat, or if your native rock is limestone they can get some from that. If the egg shells are hard and thick you are doing OK whatever you are doing, they are getting calcium from somewhere. This is after that pullet has a chance to work the kinks out of her system. Don’t panic about that yet but it is still a good idea to offer oyster shell or some calcium supplement on the side, not mixed in with their feed. They are pretty good about self-regulating if you let them. The ones that need the calcium will usually eat enough and those that don’t need it leave it alone. If you mix it with their feed, how do you know how much they need? Just keep it simple, offer it on the side, and make them do the work.

Tums can be an emergency source but I would not use them regularly. One bite won’t kill them. It’s about how many total grams of calcium they eat from all sources each day, how much of that gets absorbed by their bodies, and how many days in a row they eat that much.

Good luck!

 

[Belle7]

give them constant food

 

[Belle7]

also I would say all natural

 

[roosterstrut]

Well said ridgerunner.