Now that chickens are laying

[ddcarter]

Now that my ladies are laying thier eggs, do i need to change thier food? They are on the crumbles now.

 

[hellokittyfive]

Hi - they should be on a layer feed if they are 18 weeks or over. It has extra nutrients in it for laying hens.

 

[Chicken Girl1]

Hello

and Welcome to BYC!

Glad to have you join! Feel free to make yourself at home! x2 on the advice hellokittyfive has given you!

 

[aart]

Now that my ladies are laying thier eggs, do i need to change thier food? They are on the crumbles now.

Welcome!

What kind of crumbles?
Different nutritive formulations can come in crumbles and/or pellets and/or mash.
Protein and calcium levels are the most important levels, you can read on the label what they are.
Laying birds need about 4% calcium and a minimum of 16% protein.


I like to feed a 'flock raiser' 20% protein crumble to all ages and genders, as non-layers(chicks, males and all molting birds) do not need the extra calcium that is in layer feed and chicks and molters can use the extra protein. Makes life much simpler to store and distribute one type of chow that everyone can eat.

Calcium should be available at all times for the layers, I use oyster shell mixed with rinsed, dried, crushed chicken egg shells in a separate container.

Animal protein (mealworms, a little cheese - beware the salt content, meat scraps) is provided during molting and if I see any feather eating.

The higher protein crumble also offsets the 8% protein scratch grains and other kitchen/garden scraps I like to offer.