Layer pellets

[usedhobarts]

Hi all, being a newbie I rely a lot on advise and info I get anywhere. I'm not yet free ranging my chickens so they depend on me entirely for their diet. They have continual access to a mix of cracked corn, scratch grains, rolled oats and purina layer pellets. They get plenty of treats also. I'm finding that they seem to systematically rifle thru the hanging feeder contents and eat all the pellets first. I've been told that they should each get 1/3 cup or so of layer pellets per day so when I blend my mix for the feeder I account for that. The feeder holds about 5 days of food for them. I have eight hens and one roo. They are great layers. I get an average of 7 eggs a day but I have noticed towards the end of feeders contents ( day 4 and 5) the shells on the eggs seem to have a slight variation in texture. Could this be do to them gorging the pellets first and not having enough towards the end?

Any thoughts would be appreciated? Thanks

 

[Den in Penn]

I am surprised that they eat the pellets first. The 1/3 pound is the amount that they will eat of all foods if they are a large breed. I have would have two concerns about mixing the grains in with the layer. The first is the over all protein level they are getting. Grains run under the 16 percent protein, so the mix seems to be a little low in protein. The second is the calcium level. Layer has around 4% calcium and the grains don't. Giving them a calcium supplement on the side would fix that. This may be why you are seeing a difference in the shells. Though usually when the calcium is low the shells get thinner, the texture is the same.

 

[usedhobarts]

My shells are thick and hard. As I stated its more of texture. The eggs are smooth. At the end of the week the eggs seem to get just a slight ruff ness on them I guess is the best way to describe it. My hens are red stars except for one which is a leghorn and one is a red star/leghorn cross. The leghorn lays white eggs and the rest are brown. The white egg does not seem to change at all.

I'm going to not mix pellets in this week and just give them the pellets once a day in the evening before they go to roost to see if that changes anything. I'm not concerned about the eggs per say I just want to make sure I'm not doing something wrong in their diet. Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

 

[buckbye]

I have read that roughness, or those little raised bumps on the shell, can be due to excess calcium. (I get it sometimes, too, and I just supplement All Flock feed with crushed egg shell for calcium.) I believe I read about this in an article or a thread on this site having to do with egg quality. Try searching for it. I'd find it for you, but I'm on my phone and juggling pages is a bit tricky.

 

[usedhobarts]

Thank you. I did a little experiment tonight that my mother said my grandmother did out here many moons ago with chickens here. She told me that when she was kid and layer pellets were a pipe dream and they fed the chickens all kinds of stuff. She said that they used to take cans of rusty nuts and bolts and smack um on a table and pour the filings from the bottom unto garden treats because someone said they were short on iron. She said the bottom line was that chickens are way smarter than most want to believe and they will only eat what is good for them. She said unless your chickens stop laying eggs stop being a "putz" lol. My experient was simple. I brought them each food source in small amounts but not mixed and they did the same thing aggresivively each. They just seem to like the pellets more. Kind of like Cheetos I guess.

 

[annelions]

Strange that they will go after the pellets first. Mine prefer to eat scratch over pellets. I have to throw out only a small handful of scratch at once, or they'd gorge on it like candy!

Corn and oats are, from what I remember, high energy feeds. When a horse or person is really energetic, they are "feeling their oats." If you haven't got your birds free ranging, it's likely they don't need the extra energy that the scratch and oats are providing them. In this case, it doesn't sound like a lack of nutrients, but perhaps an excess. They are eating the pellets first because that's about all they need at this point.

I would lay off on the scratch and stuff, though you can continue to feed it separate I guess. Maybe just a little as a treat. Free ranging, at least a little, would obviously be optimal.

 

[BirdsOfAnarchy]

Usedhobarts; your grandmother and her chickens seem like hardcore bad@$$es. Lol