Magic Egg Laying Potion? YOU MUST READ!

[Mosey2003]

Haha right! It does taste pretty good so i might use it on the outside for dinner! lol

I trust EggSighted's judgment, so I would say the Poultry Cell. It's easier to come by in retail stores, too.

 

[ldrchickens]

I trust EggSighted's judgment, so I would say the Poultry Cell. It's easier to come by in retail stores, too.

Thanks. It seems like a better deal as well at my local tsc

 

[imnukensc]

Cayenne/red pepper flake CAN have something to do with it, if the birds are already lacking Vitamin A. It won't make them lay more eggs than they normally would IF they are normally getting all the vitamins they need.

Daylight is the huge aspect, though.

Totally agree that Vitamin A is needed for egg production, but if the OP is feeding a nutritionally complete feed (they didn't say what they were feeding) then they wouldn't be needing to add any additional Vitamin A in the first place. If the OP is not feeding a nutritionally complete feed then their spice rub might make a difference. In another of the OP's posts they said they were feeding Purina feed. If that's still the case, then it was nothing more than increasing daylight leading to an increase in egg production and not the addition of some magic spice rub.

 

[Mosey2003]

It's only a few minutes more daylight at this point, does that little make a difference?

 

[MissChick@dee]

Foods naturally high in vitamin A.
Kale, chard, mustard greens.
Fish and Liver.

 

[PouleChick]

It's only a few minutes more daylight at this point, does that little make a difference?

Yep, my egg count has gone from 2 sometimes 3 to 5 everyday in the last week!

 

[PouleChick]

It's only a few minutes more daylight at this point, does that little make a difference?

And it is more like 20 - I have an alarm to remind me to lock my girls up on dusk - it was set at 5.35 by the solstice and now it's up to 5.55pm

 

[Mosey2003]

This led me into a sidetrack looking at sunrise/sunset and day length charts and I have learned that my first 12 hour daylight day will be March 18th. That's fun.

 

[Northern Flights]

Seasonal time change is highly dependent on latitude. Folks in Southern Cal will experience much less of a difference in length of day than, say, us at >52°N. Our days are not simply getting longer, but increasingly so. At first after solstice the increase was minor, but it's becoming more and more lengthy each day. In fact, it's coming right at us! (Jumps out window)

BTW, and not to hijack this thread, my now year old Bovans pretty much kept their egg production up rather better than I was expecting. The worst count we got all winter (so far) was 24 eggs from 4 hens in 7 days, even though natural light steadily fell to less than 8 hours at solstice. I know Bovans are laying machines, but we did not supplement the light and the only change we made was to ~10% of their diet. (90+ % Proform 18% layer and the rest "snacks")The LOD seems to have only slightly affected production. We were hoping/aiming to give them a winter break but they just keep pushing them out. Just how does one convince a chicken to lay off (!) for the winter? Is it their age?

 

[ldrchickens]

It's only a few minutes more daylight at this point, does that little make a difference?

Thats what i was wondering. If that little bit of time change could help but i guess so.