List of egglaying factors

[outdoorsii]

Outdoors,
Just curious...what's the deal with cedar shavings? How is the cedar bad for them?

Cedar if you have ever smelled it, smells really good lol (reminds me of having my lil guinea pig) lol, but yea its bad for chickens/ducks/etc.< my old lil ducky ate them & we didnt' realize it until it was too late. The chemicals that make it smell like that are very bad for birds & they obviously aren't smart enough to not eat it.

They will put anything in their lil beaks, now my dad actually has some out in our coop for their bedding, our big ones dont' eat it, its softer i guess, & my dad had some leftover to use up so he mixes it w/straw for their nests & we're not hatching out eggs out there so its ok for us to do that; but I wouldn't recommend it.

Pine shavings or pieces are better, they aren't toxic, although some people on here have had trouble w/their ducks/chicks eating them also and dying or getting sick - which is kinda strange; but I think thats rare. Just make sure you dont' go throwing food in the shavings & try to keep their food/water up on a block or something so they don't spill it into the shavings b/c then they might accidentally eat some.

 

[ParistoCapeCod]

Has anyone tried anchovies or sardines instead of tuna, as they have protein and calcium?

 

[ParistoCapeCod]

My girls also love yogurt, very high in protein, enzymes and calcium, mixed with a bit of rolled oats and a squirt of baby vitamins

 

[ParistoCapeCod]

Aspen is supposed to be the best shaving, I got it at Agway

 

[outdoorsii]

Has anyone tried anchovies or sardines instead of tuna, as they have protein and calcium?

I have been giving Whitey my dad's dead minnows LOL, good protein right? fish! -- He has the minnows for feeding his bass in the big aquarium, SHE LOVES THEM!

 

[blondiebee181]

I have been giving Whitey my dad's dead minnows LOL, good protein right? fish! -- He has the minnows for feeding his bass in the big aquarium, SHE LOVES THEM!

Has anyone tried anchovies or sardines instead of tuna, as they have protein and calcium?

Good protein yes, but, I have heard that if chickens eat a lot of fish products the eggs will get a fishy flavor...

 

[aggiemae]

Quote:
They molt when they molt. I've had some spring hatched chicks that have their first molt that same fall. If you can, you should add hens every year so you can cull them as they stop laying and keep up production.

BTW, though RIR are not the best layers but they don't go broody very often and I have had some that have laid every other day for three years then at least twice a week for two more. One of my Buff Orp pullets (a new breed for us) had laid 5 eggs in the past six days but the breed is know to be very broody so in the end I think I will get the same number of birds from both hens.


PS: fresh fish is ok but some canned fish, like anchovies, has too strong of a flavor and too much salt.

 

[popsicle]

Good protein yes, but, I have heard that if chickens eat a lot of fish products the eggs will get a fishy flavor...

I've had eggs from chickens that eat LOTS of salmon daily--the yolks were very orange but the eggs didn't taste fishy.

 

[Indigosands]

17 laying hens and you're getting nothing? I'd say you have a thief. Snake, raccoon, dog or human. A friend of mine's dog raids her nest box door if it's unlocked and a lady up the street from me had a neighbor stealing her eggs when she was at work! I would find it very hard to believe that all of the hens would stop at once. Lock the nest box door and the coop door, check EVERY nook and cranny and fill them and see what happens.

I also read on a chicken raising site that if you hens slack off, cleaning the nest boxes and replacing the bedding can make a big difference.

 

[outdoorsii]

17 laying hens and you're getting nothing? I'd say you have a thief. Snake, raccoon, dog or human. A friend of mine's dog raids her nest box door if it's unlocked and a lady up the street from me had a neighbor stealing her eggs when she was at work! I would find it very hard to believe that all of the hens would stop at once. Lock the nest box door and the coop door, check EVERY nook and cranny and fill them and see what happens.

I also read on a chicken raising site that if you hens slack off, cleaning the nest boxes and replacing the bedding can make a big difference.

Yea i agree with ya, definately a theif, we knew our eggs were disappearing once b/c I had gone out there late in the day & my dad had gone pretty early like before noon & whitey had laid hers already & when i went out there, bluefoot had laid hers, so usually every other day we have 1 white & 1 brown egg, some days bluefoot slacks off b/c she's gettin older, so we only get a white 1; my dad & I compiled our info lol & figured out that SOMETHIN had gotten it, to this day we don't know what...coulda been a rat snake, squirrel, coon, etc. So thats y we got a game cam & put it up facing the nests, course since then no more stealing lol, good, but typical.