List of egglaying factors

[Lady Ressler]

These are all great tid bits. I LOVE this site. I have 4 month old chickens and I can't wait for them to start laying. When will this be? I am feeding mine a grower ration and wondering if this is enough protein for them while they are molting and growing. Or, would some tuna be a beneficial addition? Did someone say that the Apple Cider Vinegar helps with deworming? Thank you everyone!!!

 

[RockerHen]

My layer flock is 9 SL wyandotte girls. They have one rooster, also a slw, in with them. They're about a year old now, ordered them from MPC in September last year. I've been getting 9 eggs a day, but these last two weeks I've gotten 2 or less a day. They have a huge run that's grassy constantly, there's a small tree they can get in in the middle, it's shaded by two large oaks, they get layer mash and tons of scraps and fruit from our trees, I treat for mites regularly, they get plenty of fresh water. I haven't changed anything lately.The only thing I can think of is that they might be getting ready to molt?

 

[hdowden]

my production was pretty well 2-3 a day with 3 pullets when i was feeding them corn on the cob, cheerios, strawberries, rasberries, watermelon and things like that. since i have all but stopped feeding them those cold/cool treats their production has cut back to 1-2 a week if that maybe i should start feeding them the treats again lol

 

[playsndirt]

Weather seems to effect my girls. Its rained 4 days in a row now and only getting 3 eggs when I was ave 6 a day from 8 hens. They love that beautiful sun shine.

 

[outdoorsii]

Lol my brahman discovered that they werent real though. She grabbed one by a little bit of plastic handing off and ran around with it as the whole flock chased

lololol

 

[outdoorsii]

These are all great tid bits. I LOVE this site. I have 4 month old chickens and I can't wait for them to start laying. When will this be? I am feeding mine a grower ration and wondering if this is enough protein for them while they are molting and growing. Or, would some tuna be a beneficial addition? Did someone say that the Apple Cider Vinegar helps with deworming? Thank you everyone!!!

Yea, i have 4 month old golden laced wyandottes & they definately need pellets or whatever type of feed you choose but it needs to have at minimum 16% protein, more if you can find it !!!

I'm gonna try the vinegar too b/c my 4 RIR's, only 1 has been laying, I think 2 are molting also though. My leghorn though lays everyday, she takes a day off a month usually though even through all this 100-110 degree weather!

 

[bruceha2000]

I'd switch them to pellets, I've read that there is a chance they don't get a balanced diet with crumbles if the ingredients stratify or they only eat what they like.

OK, I find this confusing because:
I stopped at the farm and garden store yesterday to get another 50# bag of grower feed, the 2 month old girls are almost out of the first one.

The girl at the counter said "crumbles?" and I said "no, pellets". So she rings me up and the guy who is going to get the bag happens by just then and says "crumbles?" and I say "no, pellets". He looks at the slip (which I've not seen) and says something about turkey pellets. I say "no, they are chickens". He says I want crumbles, I say the last bag was small pellets. He then educated me on terminology:
Pellets are, well, pellets
Crumbles are pellets broken in half (and a tad cheaper which I don't understand)
Chick starter crumbles are pellets (different formula of course) really broken up.

So I don't see how crumbles (i.e. half pellets) can be separated into "I like this and I don't like that" bits any differently than could happen with pellets. I've not noticed any separation into "determinable bits".

If it makes any difference, I'm buying Poulin Feeds - local Vermont feed company, family owned (not MY family

) in business since 1932. I prefer to support VT families and businesses rather than the conglomerates like Purina.

 

[bruceha2000]

Sort of off topic but it's come up so though that I'd mention that I personally don't mess with the light or do anything else that forces laying since in the end you will get the same number of eggs over a longer period with a natural light cycle.

I asked here on BYC about the effect of supplemental winter light on egg laying before our chicks arrived. Specifically:
- Did is stress the birds to lay all year? Want eggs, don't want stressed chickens!
- Whether it stressed them or not, does it mean they will lay eggs for a fewer number of years?

The answers I got were:
- No
- They, like humans, have as many eggs (more than they will ever lay) from the get go. They will slow down and stop laying based on age, not the number of eggs laid.

Another thing I read (not BYC I don't think) talked about laying less in winter and egg storage. It made sense to me:
- They naturally cut back in the winter because if they were laying eggs to hatch chicks rather than for predators like us to steal, they wouldn't want to be hatching them in the dead cold of winter when there is little food.
- Eggs stay 'good' (in limbo as it were) for MANY days before the hen sits on them since she can only lay one a day and isn't going to hatch them one at a time. Thus it is not necessary to thoroughly clean and refrigerate them (except by the US gov if you are selling them). In fact, thorough cleaning removes the natural protection that allows them to stay 'good' so you then HAVE to refrigerate them since they are now vulnerable to bacteria and whatever else can get in.

So it would seem that if they lay more through the winter with longer 'daylight' hours, one would not be paying for feed but no production with no adverse affect on the chicken nor how long they will lay.

BUT, I'm a noob. Won't even have eggs for a couple more months so I'm all eyes to everyone's knowledge.

 

[PuffyChick]

Marking for reference, thank you all for an informative thread.

 

[Poetical Peeps]

Getting a lot from this -- thanks! Gotta throw in my two cents, fwiw.

For protein and a calcium boost, I feed my chickens scrambled eggs (sometimes with nonfat dry milk mixed in -- just because I happen to have some nearing expiration) and save all eggshells to feed back to them. It's best to crush them up so they don't recognize what they are -- I usually pop them in the oven for a few minutes while I scramble up the eggs, it helps to dry them out and kill germs.

I live in the northernmost tip of Wisconsin, so I'm more worried about the long cold winters -- though I swear they've been getting milder as climate change raises the temp in L. Superior. My chicks are on crumbles. Pellets are not available in my area, so hens are on the mixed stuff that does have potential to form sediment, but I've found that in gravity-type feeder, it works itself out. When I spread it out on the ground, they love picking at it so much that they may eat it in a preferential order, but they do still eat it all. They also do a lot of grazing and get plenty of good scraps.

I have nine grown hens right now -- chicks won't be ready for a while. They give me 7-8 eggs a day, which I'm happy with. They're eleven-month-old dual purpose breeds.




To the person looking to part with the sweet rooster: I would suggest keeping him. I am not sure how true this is (you may want to research some more), but have read in several places that if you're going to keep more than one rooster, you should keep more than two. The thought is that they have more trouble establishing their pecking order with just two, and the two will keep challenging each other for the lead spot.