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Hi Lanae,
As blue egg layers are the product of the indigenous cultures of South America and Meso America we only have to look at their food basket to ameliorate the diets of these fowl.
Traditionally, since the first day Pacific Junglefowl were introduced to South America and Central America by seafarers, the primary food has been parts of fish and crustaceans inedible to humans. They would also have been fed plenty of taro and other high starchy Polynesian roots before introduction to South America.
Turmeric is a mainstay of Polynesian culture even while it is not known to have taken root in South America. It is an important supplement to every poultry diet regardless of species, breed or class.
Getting back to blue egg layers- grow Indian corn; quinoa ; sweet potatoes, chili peppers and pumpkins-these are the non-animal staples that these birds would have been maintained on for countless generations.
In my opinion, quinoa and cooked sweet potatoes are the two most important supplements for the daily maintenance of these fowl.
For reproductive health one must supplement animal fat and animal protein - a can of sardines once every few weeks is a nice supplement.
To guarantee a higher hatch rate for the earring inarius races, quinoa and crustacean chitin are recommended.
Everytime you and your family have prawns, shrimp, crayfish or lobster, save the shells and process them into small fragments that can be frozen for storage.
~ three weeks before you begin to start setting eggs- begin ameliorating the diet with the crustacean meal- mix this material into cooked sweet potato, canned corn,
raw quinoa and hot chili peppers. This should be the only food put out each morning and only as much as they can eat in a few hours at most.
All pellets and mashes, crumbles- these need to be pulled for reproductive season. Replace with Farmers' Helper UltraKibble; Mazuri Extruded Pheasant kibble or any other extruded (baked as in dry pet food) mixed into canary seed or wild bird seed and scratch, OYSTERSHELL and the occasional treat of a can of sardines -whole in the skin with bones in olive oil.
Optimal formula ForageCakes should be provided to adult breeding groups/pairs. These will need to be slightly soaked on one edge before feeding.
Wash them off every few days and if they become very hard bricks- by the pounding pecks of the birds- soak slightly again.
The foragecake is rich in antioxidants- in nuts and micronutrients etc. It is what you keep in front of breeding birds- to improve the sperm mobility and health of the roosters
as well as increase the nutrient value of the egg yolks themselves- naturally- the egg yolk is what nurtures the growing embryo- better food - better birds-- guaranteed.
Another issue people sometimes fail to catch on to is the issue of sperm competition. These archaic races are not polygamous - if anything they are serially monogamous-
in other words, keep your ratios of males equal to females or very nearly so.
