I've raised a number of different chicken breeds over the years, but this Sapphire Gem breed has me stumped. Excellent foragers, that, they are. I have them in 2 large paddocks, one that doesn't have much vegetation, the other one has a lot of grass. There are fruit trees, like a dozen, and they don't seem interested in the fruit when they fall to the ground. They do love grubs and all sorts of meats.
I got 22 hens this past spring. They were advertised as excellent layers, and since I have broilers in the freezer, I thought why not. They said 360 eggs a year, which sounded really good. But I have never gotten more than 20 eggs/day. A month ago, they started laying very irregular. Some days 19, some days 13.
They do not seem to like commercial feed at 16% protein, so I supplemented with all sorts of things besides kitchen scraps [that they really appear to like and they act like they are famished on their way out of the coop]. Every day, they rush out, even though they have full troughs in the coop [whole corn, whole wheat, commercial feed, peanuts [2nd rate, for wild birds]. Nothing doing. They have not picked up the pace.
Today, a shocker: 6 eggs only out of 22 hens. Some seem to be molting a little, but they still have most of their feathers. Frankly, even though I got them in April, I am seriously thinking of butchering them all and make chicken soup & broth. They look otherwise healthy with very few with a loose stool. They perch normally and when they do lay, the eggs are fairly large, many of them with a speckled shell. The local feed stores are saying that I pampered them too much. I placed a light in the coop 5 days ago. I had a record 21 eggs 3 days later, so I thought this is it! Nope. Today, only 6. We've had a real cold snap, so I put some heat in there.
Over the years, I've raised Isa Reds, black Brahmas, Orpington, Cornish cross [for meat].
Did I get a bad batch? I tried to increase the protein intake since they seem to have started to molt.
Can you think of something I am doing wrong? The only thing I can think of is that some are laying speckled eggs, which isn't the habit for this breed. Dark brown speckles over a brown egg. Kinda pretty but...?
I got 22 hens this past spring. They were advertised as excellent layers, and since I have broilers in the freezer, I thought why not. They said 360 eggs a year, which sounded really good. But I have never gotten more than 20 eggs/day. A month ago, they started laying very irregular. Some days 19, some days 13.
They do not seem to like commercial feed at 16% protein, so I supplemented with all sorts of things besides kitchen scraps [that they really appear to like and they act like they are famished on their way out of the coop]. Every day, they rush out, even though they have full troughs in the coop [whole corn, whole wheat, commercial feed, peanuts [2nd rate, for wild birds]. Nothing doing. They have not picked up the pace.
Today, a shocker: 6 eggs only out of 22 hens. Some seem to be molting a little, but they still have most of their feathers. Frankly, even though I got them in April, I am seriously thinking of butchering them all and make chicken soup & broth. They look otherwise healthy with very few with a loose stool. They perch normally and when they do lay, the eggs are fairly large, many of them with a speckled shell. The local feed stores are saying that I pampered them too much. I placed a light in the coop 5 days ago. I had a record 21 eggs 3 days later, so I thought this is it! Nope. Today, only 6. We've had a real cold snap, so I put some heat in there.
Over the years, I've raised Isa Reds, black Brahmas, Orpington, Cornish cross [for meat].
Did I get a bad batch? I tried to increase the protein intake since they seem to have started to molt.
Can you think of something I am doing wrong? The only thing I can think of is that some are laying speckled eggs, which isn't the habit for this breed. Dark brown speckles over a brown egg. Kinda pretty but...?
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