Restricting food

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

The food in the morning (right after laying) is the most important for your egg production.

It is absolutely true ( for me) that mornings when there is lots of food there are maximum eggs the next day.

 

[Phillyndilly]

Quantity of feed seems low to me too. But within a normal range for your flock.

You don’t live somewhere that can rely on free ranging, for even half their feed, I can’t imagine….unless you specifically plan this. And even then, you are in a colder area, so snow, cold, and lack of bugs will limit the value of free ranging.

However, you have space!! So, do some research on types of plants, grass, greens that are nutritious for the poultry. Encourage bugs to find this area attractive. I know I’ve seen seed mixes (from online resources) that are made for poultry so you can grow a nutritious pasture. I would think that with some research and effort, you can create a nutritious free ranging area for your poultry that helps cut some of your feed costs during the growing months.

Even with free ranging, most people find their birds do best with supplemental commercial feed. I second the idea of letting them eat feed first thing in the day. Cover it up after an hour, if that is possible with your schedule, then re-open 2-3 hours before roost time so they can fill their crops.

FWIW, we are in year 6 of gardening in our current home. It took a good 2-3 years to notice an obvious population boom of insects and worms. But, your efforts will pay off.

thank you I like this idea I wanted to play around with opening and closing but I wasn’t sure what times would be best. I don’t want to risk the health of everyone so I just gave up on the idea but planting certain grasses and veggies sounds good as well in the spring I have a garden mostly for the chickens anyway! And I get a lot of leftover duck eggs so I’ve started to just cook them up and feed them back to everyone recently

 

[Phillyndilly]

The food in the morning (right after laying) is the most important for your egg production.

It is absolutely true ( for me) that mornings when there is lots of food there are maximum eggs the next day.

Thank you that is interesting they def all run to the feeders in the morning lol

 

[nuthatched]

Sometimes higher quality feeds cut back on intake. My birds take about 2-3 days longer to eat a full feeder of 21% layer than they do 18% layer.

 

[Acre4Me]

thank you I like this idea I wanted to play around with opening and closing but I wasn’t sure what times would be best. I don’t want to risk the health of everyone so I just gave up on the idea but planting certain grasses and veggies sounds good as well in the spring I have a garden mostly for the chickens anyway! And I get a lot of leftover duck eggs so I’ve started to just cook them up and feed them back to everyone recently

Nice!

When I give eggs back to the girls, I put them in the food processor, shells and all, blend and cook in microwave. The shell bits are tiny, and nutritious to the birds. Alternatively, the shells can go into your compost, of course.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Sounds like less than they should be eating personally. I go through about 900 pounds every month with just birds (between 80-120, not an accurate head count yet). Granted pests also likely enjoy some of the food at night, but I don't have turkeys anymore, which eat way more than a chicken will

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Sometimes higher quality feeds cut back on intake. My birds take about 2-3 days longer to eat a full feeder of 21% layer than they do 18% layer.

YES

When I have had to buy lower protein food (shortage at local store) I always regret it. They will also waste it more, and they will not lay as well. (I think of it was employees who will protest their work conditions )

If there is not what you need, "consider" chick feed + oyster shells if you can, Rather than cheaper feed. (It is not ideal, this is a bad situation)

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

pests also likely enjoy some of the food

(To OP) If you can set no-poison mice/other traps, you might reduce lost feed. I do that before I reduce the food to the hens.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Oh, and... Many people opt for *soy free* feeds, but the truth is that soya is a great protein and sometimes those feeds are less expensive because people have bought into the marketing hype and don't want it. There is no truth to the idea that there is something wrong with soya. People all over the world eat it multiple times a day with no ill effects. The issue was that it was not grown in North America and there were people who wanted to protect the market. Now we have soya grown in the US, so we know it is great quality.

It might be worth asking your feed store if there is a higher protein soy food that might save a little money

 

[Phillyndilly]

Nice!

When I give eggs back to the girls, I put them in the food processor, shells and all, blend and cook in microwave. The shell bits are tiny, and nutritious to the birds. Alternatively, the shells can go into your compost, of course.

That’s a good idea! I will try that I was trying to think of an easier way because stirring them so long was a pain