Layers and medicated feed

[crooked stripe]

I have 6 hens living in the coop with 4-14 week old bantams. All but one hen has stopped laying. Might this be from the medicated feed. I also offer layer pellets but the hens won't touch it. They prefer to medicated crumbles. I realize hens slow down in the winter but do they just stop. It has been 10 weeks now.

 

[B. Saffles Farms]

Not sure if the feed would have anything to do with it or not but our laying hens have pretty much quit too, 5 hens and only 1 to 2 eggs a day. And we havent changed the feed.

 

[mrandmrschicken]

It might be difficult to do but, the hens really need layer feed. It is balanced for their needs. You will probably get posts from others about the pros and cons of using a medicated feed.
The biggest thing to slow down production and possibly stop it all together is light and temperature. Is your coop lighted for 12-14 hours a day? It is also not a bad thing for them to take a break from laying. Let their bodies build up again. I feed all my birds a mixture of gamebird feed, (higher in protein), and layer feed. It has increased egg production, and keeps their bodies from getting to stressed in cold weather. I think a developer feed can be used that is not medicated and would be better for all the birds.
MsBear, has some good posts about winter egg laying. Do a search and see if any of the info helps!
Good luck.

 

[crooked stripe]

I have lights on 13 hours a day. My coop is attached to the heated barn so when It gets cold I open a 2'x3' door into the coop. The temps in the coop run around 35-45 degrees. I was hoping that would be a good temp. I could switch to grower pellets but I am not sure the bantams are large enough to eat it. I could separate the coop but it would take major remodeling. I hate to separate the birds because they all huddle together on the roost at night.

 

[mrandmrschicken]

Quote:
Sounds like everything is okay, except for the feed. What kind of birds are they? The bantams should be fine they just break it up.

 

[mrandmrschicken]

I have a mixture of birds, all bantams. They all eat the same feed and I get 4 to six eggs every other day.

ETA: I also give them treats and thatb really helps induce laying. Nice warm something something.

 

[crooked stripe]

I have 4 buff orps and 2 black australorps. The bantams are all old English game bantams of different types, not sure just what kind. The one buff orp was the broody that hatched the bantams and she hasn't layed in 18 to 20 weeks.