New to chicken world

[JeNayNay]

I have 6 chickens...LOVING them! I just want to be sure that I am feeding them enough. I am giving them their chicken pellets with crushed eggshells in it. This is a free feed for them all day. Clean water and then I am giving them cut up fruits and veggies as well. They do not have access to a grass area but I am creating a compost pan in their coop with the rinds of the fruits and veggies. Their former owner said he gave them 1/2 cup of scratch every morning as well. Going out to to buy that today. How do I know if they are getting enough to eat? Any advice would be awesome!! OH....and one more thing....do you think DE is important or just a dry sand/dirt box? I live in a very wet/rainy climate so trying to keep it dry is a little difficult. THANK YOU!

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYC! So glad you joined us. There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

Scratch is a treat and should be treated as such... no more than 10% of their diet. If you're leaving pellets for them free choice, I don't see how they wouldn't be getting enough. What type feed are you giving them and protein content? Generally, chickens will continue to eat until they meet their protein needs. So if the feed is really high protein, they stop eating and don't get enough, too little and they eat continuously and don't get enough. If you only have hens, you might consider getting a layer formulated feed. With the 5 breeds of large fowl that I had, I found ~16% protein to be ideal and I fermented their feed.

DE will not work in wet conditions. It works by scratching/cutting the exoskeletons of bugs causing them to dehydrate (desiccate) and die. If it's wet, that process obviously won't work. Drainage would be the most appropriate fix. Build up the ground area where the run is so water will drain away to a lower area. Sand helps drainage, but not sure it will absorb... you'd need something like wood chips or shavings or one of the commercially available products designed to absorb like what horse folks use in stalls.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

As @Latestarter said, if you keep feed available all day, they are getting enough feed.
I wouldn't mix egg shells, or anything else with the feed. If you want to provide them, they go in a separate container so the chickens can choose to consume if needed. If you mix with feed, they'll likely be getting too much calcium.
If you are feeding birds that are all actively laying eggs, layer feed will satisfy their nutritional requirements. If some are not laying and they are adults, feed a lower protein(16-18%) grower or all flock feed with crushed egg shells or oyster shell in a separate container.
Most feeds are complete nutritionally and intended to be fed with no supplements.
If I give scratch, I do so in the afternoon because I want them to fill up on the nutritionally complete feed first.

 

[RodNTN]

Great advice from the above posters But feeding them scratch every morning isn't necessary, it can actually do more harm than good, it's a good treat, but not a meal.

Thanks for joining and best wishes to you and yours!

 

[cebbell]

Sounds like you feed your flock properly. Some people may try to avoid giving them too many veggie scraps or eggshells, but we feed ours as long of the eggs seem fine. The only potential problem could be onion-tasting eggs from onion scraps, or rock-hard eggshells from too much calcium. All easily fixed. We also mix cracked corn with our Layena (Purina Brand layer pellets) in a 2 part corn to one part layer ratio. They seem to be just fine and our flock of 16 hens lay close to a dozen a day! Basically, don’t worry too much about quantity or type of feed, as chickens diets are very flexible, and their eggs are a direct indicator of any problems!

 

[jthornton]

I feed 18% all flock with grit and oyster shells on the side. I grind up all my egg shells and put it in with the oyster shells. If you have non laying birds don't feed them layer.

JT

 

[ShannonMarie]

Lots of great information!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Sounds like you feed your flock properly. Some people may try to avoid giving them too many veggie scraps or eggshells, but we feed ours as long of the eggs seem fine. The only potential problem could be onion-tasting eggs from onion scraps, or rock-hard eggshells from too much calcium. All easily fixed. We also mix cracked corn with our Layena (Purina Brand layer pellets) in a 2 part corn to one part layer ratio. They seem to be just fine and our flock of 16 hens lay close to a dozen a day! Basically, don’t worry too much about quantity or type of feed, as chickens diets are very flexible, and their eggs are a direct indicator of any problems!

If that works for you.
Layena is a high quality product but Purina intends for it to be fed as the sole ration. Mixing it with that much corn isn't a good idea. Printed on the feed label is this statement.
Feed Purina® Layena® free-choice as the sole ration to free-range and confined laying chickens (including backyard egg producers, small to medium breeds and fancy and exotic breeds) after 18 weeks of age and throughout the laying cycle.
https://www.purinamills.com/chicken-feed/products/detail/purina-layena
I'm surprised you're still getting eggs. The main ingredient in Layena is already corn. Mixing 2 parts corn and 1 part Layena (16% crude protein) will yield 10.5% crude protein. That's much too low for body maintenance, metabolism, especially of the immune system.
Moreover, corn is low in some essential amino acids. Your mix is providing your birds with 0.4% lysine while a minimum of 0.75% is needed.
There may also be some vitamin and mineral deficiencies from that practice.
I hope your birds free range on some pristine forage so they can compensate.

https://www.nap.edu/read/2114/chapter/9

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poult...mino-acid,-and-energy-deficiencies-in-poultry

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6847546

Excessive calcium is a problem but not as you describe - causing rock hard eggshells.
It isn't a direct correlation of input and output. In fact, excessive calcium, if it creates an imbalance of the calcium/phosphorus ratio, can cause weaker shells.
Egg shells are calcium carbonate. But after the intake of calcium carbonate, whether that be from oyster shells or egg shells, it is broken down by digestion into calcium 40% of the total and carbonate. That then has to be reformulated into calcium carbonate in the shell gland but must also have proper levels of phosphorus, vitamin D3 and to a lesser extent, magnesium.
Excess calcium must be processed by the kidneys leading to atrophied or enlarged kidney segments.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm013

 

[MrsMistyReal]