NEEDING ADVICE ON MY FEEDING DILEMMA

[tomsrunpoultry]

After a little over a year getting to this point, I have finally taken possession of 26 bantams, 24 hens and 2 roosters. They are about 9 months old and appear to be in good health, with the exception of 3 or 4 who have been pecked on a bit. The previous owner fed them only cracked corn and permitted daily free ranging. I thought their housing was a little tight, but I am a novice at this. He spoke strictly against feeding a commercial layer mix such as Layena and advised that it would quickly burn them out aside from being filled with all kinds of hormones and steroids. They are laying on the average 10 eggs a day. I am feeding the same cracked corn and allowing them daily access to a sizable fenced run. I have given them a coop with about 80 sq. ft. of floor space, sufficient roosting and nesting space, and lots of ventilation. But I am questioning if they need additional nutrition like that in the Layena to boost their egg production as well as improve their overall health. I'm hoping that some of you more experienced flock owners will take a moment and guide me with your thoughts. If you think Layena would be a better choice, should I switch gradually or all at once? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

 

[ChickenJerk]

After a little over a year getting to this point, I have finally taken possession of 26 bantams, 24 hens and 2 roosters. They are about 9 months old and appear to be in good health, with the exception of 3 or 4 who have been pecked on a bit. The previous owner fed them only cracked corn and permitted daily free ranging. That is inadequate nutrition. I thought their housing was a little tight, but I am a novice at this. He spoke strictly against feeding a commercial layer mix such as Layena and advised that it would quickly burn them out I'll bet he is cheap too. aside from being filled with all kinds of hormones and steroids. there are no hormones and steroids in chicken feed because there are no hormones and steroids that would work in feed if they did exist. They are laying on the average 10 eggs a day. I am feeding the same cracked corn Stop and allowing them daily access to a sizable fenced run. I have given them a coop with about 80 sq. ft. of floor space, sufficient roosting and nesting space, and lots of ventilation. But I am questioning if they need additional nutrition like that in the Layena to boost their egg production as well as improve their overall health. Yes they do. I'm hoping that some of you more experienced flock owners will take a moment and guide me with your thoughts. If you think Layena would be a better choice, Yesshould I switch gradually or all at once? You can change all at once and that would probably be better. You are improving the nutrition not decreasing it. They may not eat to much of the new feed at first but they are undernourished now so anything will be an improvement. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

If the previous owner of the birds knows anything about chickens then he is the only one in the world who does. That would make everyone else wrong, which I suspect that he thinks is the case. Considering the value of his advice thus far I would suggest that you forget everything he says.

 

[tomsrunpoultry]

The previous owner just seems to be "too old school" in many ways. I agree that he may tend to be too cheap to buy a good balanced nutritional food. I, too, am concerned about cost, but not at the expense of raising undernourished animals. As I said, I am a novice, but something tells me these chickens need more.

 

[Percheron chick]

There are things you can do to decrease your feed costs so you aren't buying bags of feed. The first thing is to let them free range which you already are doing. That alone will decrease their feed consumption by 50% or more. A bantam is only going to eat about 1/2# of feed a week so now that's cut down to 1/4#. That would be about 7# a week. One bag is going to last 6-7 weeks.

The cost of feeding corn vs a layer feed is insignificant. Corn costs $13/bag. 7# will run $1.82 for the week. Layena costs $18 or $2.52 per week. That's $.10 more a day. Your egg production is suffering because of the incomplete diet. 10 eggs our of 24 hens is only 42%. I'd expect that # to increase to about 70% or 17 eggs per day with proper nutrition.

Other things to do to decrease feed costs is to feed kitchen and garden scraps to your chickens. Most leftovers like pasta, vegetables, fruit, bread, hamburgers, cheese... and compostables like egg shells, grass clippings, fruit and vegetables can all be tossed to the chickens.

 

[tomsrunpoultry]

I bought a hanging feeder...3 lb. one...and I notice they have the corn all over the floor under it. I can put a gallon of cracked corn in it and they will have it on the floor in no time. However, they seem to be picking it off the floor, so I'm hoping that they are at least getting enough of what I am currently feeding them. Yesterday I cut up a head of cabbage from the garden and scattered it throughout their run. They cleaned it up in about 45 minutes. I've read where the crumbles may not be as easily wasted from the feeder as the corn. Again, I just want to make certain I am doing all I can to see they have proper nutrition.

 

[jesirose]

You filled the feeder with corn? Did you completely ignore the previous advice? Go but a bag of layer feed and give it to them. Right now.

 

[salt and pepper]

I bought a hanging feeder...3 lb. one...and I notice they have the corn all over the floor under it. I can put a gallon of cracked corn in it and they will have it on the floor in no time. However, they seem to be picking it off the floor, so I'm hoping that they are at least getting enough of what I am currently feeding them. Yesterday I cut up a head of cabbage from the garden and scattered it throughout their run. They cleaned it up in about 45 minutes. I've read where the crumbles may not be as easily wasted from the feeder as the corn. Again, I just want to make certain I am doing all I can to see they have proper nutrition.

I would get pellets if you don't want waste, or wet their feed so that it doesn't spread out. Definitely get them on some good feed. I feed grower with oyster shell, and while I was going through one bag a week, I now only go through one every three weeks! Also look into fermented feed, as that cuts the feed cost even lower.

 

[tomsrunpoultry]

No, I didn't ignore the advice. I'm going shorty to TSC and get a bag of Layena. The chickens are out in their run foraging at the moment. The feeder information was with regard to what I had noticed about the scattering of the corn. It just seems like there may be a lot of waste with the hanging feeder.

 

[jesirose]

Get one with a grill on it.

 

[Percheron chick]

Another reason to remove the corn from their diet is it's a "heating" feed. It produces a ton of body heat in the digestion process. It's hot and humid where you are and the extra heat is increasing their stress load which in turn could be reducing your egg production. Save the corn for a winter bedtime snack.

The cabbage is a good treat and they obviously enjoyed it. It has a high water content (helps keep them hydrated) and it's packed with vitamins. You can cut it into wedges and throw it in the freezer for a mid day frosty. I keep a ziplock bag of vegetable and fruit scrapes in the freezer for treats.

As far as they wasting the corn, what type is it? The size of the particle probably has something to do with how much the pull out of the feeder. If it's too big, they'll toss it out and go for another piece. I prefer "chops" over the other sizes for my standards but you might want it finer for bantams.