No eggs

[aart]

Quote: Layer is minimal in protein(16%), the corn lowers that further.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Always keep a dish of oyster shells available, it's cheap insurance in my opinion.

 

[odysseychicken]

Basically what they said. They are probably going through a molt. It may be a partial or full. But since they free range, are they hiding a nest? Hiding a nest is probably the second most common cause of them quitting laying, after a molt.

Some chickens are fast molters, some slow. It’s not about how fast the feathers grow back in, it’s how fast they fall out. A fast molter can look pretty bald, but they get over the molt pretty fast. You may not even be able to tell a slow molter is molting by looking at them, the only way is that you see feathers flying around. It may take a few months for them to get over a full molt and back to laying. How fast the feathers fall out is controlled by genetics. I wish you luck.

It is an unusual spring. A couple of days ago we hit 81, it smashed our heat record by 5 full degrees. Two days before that, my morning low was 18F. My daily egg production is all over the place. It seems to vary as much as the weather, probably because of the weather.

I am pretty confident that there are no hidden nests. With the snow on the ground now they don't go much further than their run and the small area that I have shoveled outside the run for them. They are probably just going through a young molt. The orpington who molted in early fall and is still not laying is just being lazy.

 

[cscigu]

Well, based on the feedback, it seems protein is the keep element?

I felt it was logical to continue feeding layer formula, if the hens were mature, even when not laying. If that makes sense. Guess I'll read some labels, and try the flock raiser, or whatever has 20% protein, and see if that helps. They are starting to lay more, which I attributed to longer sunlight.

It is so hard not to toss them some corn. They hit that like a fish on the line.

 

[aart]

Well, based on the feedback, it seems protein is the keep element?

I felt it was logical to continue feeding layer formula, if the hens were mature, even when not laying. If that makes sense. Guess I'll read some labels, and try the flock raiser, or whatever has 20% protein, and see if that helps. They are starting to lay more, which I attributed to longer sunlight.

It is so hard not to toss them some corn. They hit that like a fish on the line.

Read my blurb about feeding carefully.....
.....one of the main reasons I feed a higher protein crumble is so I can give them some scratch grains cause we all love it.
I carefully, but kinda of roughly, measure and adjust how much scratch and other 'treats' they get to keep the overall protein levels from going too low.

Laying more now is probably attributable to the longer days...mine are slowly ramping back up.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Read my blurb about feeding carefully.....
.....one of the main reasons I feed a higher protein crumble is so I can give them some scratch grains cause we all love it.
I carefully, but kinda of roughly, measure and adjust how much scratch and other 'treats' they get to keep the overall protein levels from going too low.

Laying more now is probably attributable to the longer days...mine are slowly ramping back up.

Me too.