Should I try and put my hens in the coop while the days are longer?

[Kmacretro]

Hello everyone, I am new to keeping hens and have had my three since July 2019 (aged around 17 weeks back then). I'm just wondering if they are spending too much time outside now the days are getting longer? I let them out around 6.15am when it's light and they are taking themselves to bed at around 8.10pm at the moment. I keep an egg diary and have noticed since the days are getting longer their eggs are weighing a fraction lighter and I'm wondering if it has something to do with them getting more 'exercise'. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thank you

 

[B-Goock]

What do they have available to eat? My guess is being "cooped up" they eat more of their feed that has all necessary nutrition and close to drinking water so they drink more. With more free ranging may be eating more grass now, less nutrition and farther away from drinking water, so drink less. What's their free range environment like?
Sometimes when they free range they eat alot of grass and start getting thinner egg shells due to less calcium in their diet.

Not much to worry about but you could set a waterer in the General area of their hang out and offer a calcium supplement like oyster shell in the coop. Once bugs and more plants sprout they'll have more of a selection to snack on.

 

[Kmacretro]

What do they have available to eat? My guess is being "cooped up" they eat more of their feed that has all necessary nutrition and close to drinking water so they drink more. With more free ranging may be eating more grass now, less nutrition and farther away from drinking water, so drink less. What's their free range environment like?
Sometimes when they free range they eat alot of grass and start getting thinner egg shells due to less calcium in their diet.

Not much to worry about but you could set a waterer in the General area of their hang out and offer a calcium supplement like oyster shell in the coop. Once bugs and more plants sprout they'll have more of a selection to snack on.

Hi, I'm an urban hen keeper so they have layer pellets and fresh water available at all times while they are out in their run. They also get vegetable scraps and some dried corn snacks in the afternoon. They have access to oyster shell and grit as well. I add poultry cider vinegar to their water and verm-x. When it was a lot colder I would give them some porridge in the afternoon (instead of corn). Unfortunately the grass disappeared less than a month after they arrived When they go up and I shut the coop at night I don't leave food or water in it.

 

[B-Goock]

Well sounds like you've got it covered. Good job.
I had the impression they were out free ranging most of the day. It very well could be just being more active that youve noticed smaller eggs. Mine have several acres to free range over. Yard, woods, field, berry bushes, wood piles, and some food plots I've done so they have a nice variety to search for food. They always check the wood piles for dormant bugs when I take wood in the garage.

 

[Kmacretro]

Well sounds like you've got it covered. Good job.
I had the impression they were out free ranging most of the day. It very well could be just being more active that youve noticed smaller eggs. Mine have several acres to free range over. Yard, woods, field, berry bushes, wood piles, and some food plots I've done so they have a nice variety to search for food. They always check the wood piles for dormant bugs when I take wood in the garage.

That sounds like they have a lovely area! Thanks for the reply

 

[Ridgerunner]

My thoughts are that with the longer days they would be eating more so the eggs should be larger, not smaller. But it's not working that way for you.

There is a correlation between how much protein they eat in a day and egg size. It's not what is in one bite but how many total grams they eat in a day. Even that is sort of averaged over a few days. Are you increasing the amount of treats they getting in good weather, especially low protein treats? I do that with wastes from my garden. You might try either cutting back on the treats or using higher protein treats to see if you see a difference.

 

[Acre4Me]

When you amend water with anything (vinegar, electrolytes, etc) you always need to provide fresh/plain water too, so get a second waterer for the two choices.

the treats are not as nutritious as their feed, and since they are eating grass, the veg scraps aren’t needed. Corn is generally like junk food to a bird-tasty, but low on nutrition, high in carbs.

Is there any bullying going on? If you only have 1 feed station, a bully can prevent one or more flock mate from eating. If so, add a second feed station, preferably in another sheltered area away from the other feed station. We have had this happen in our flock a couple of times and a bird can quickly lose weight within a short period of time causing other issues.

 

[Kmacretro]

My thoughts are that with the longer days they would be eating more so the eggs should be larger, not smaller. But it's not working that way for you.

There is a correlation between how much protein they eat in a day and egg size. It's not what is in one bite but how many total grams they eat in a day. Even that is sort of averaged over a few days. Are you increasing the amount of treats they getting in good weather, especially low protein treats? I do that with wastes from my garden. You might try either cutting back on the treats or using higher protein treats to see if you see a difference.

Thank you. Can you recommend protein treats? I've been told that in the UK we should avoid giving our hens dry meal worm. Maybe because I am giving them treats they aren't eating enough layer pellets which I've been advised should be sufficient for their diet but perhaps that's not right. I appreciate your comment help.

 

[Kmacretro]

When you amend water with anything (vinegar, electrolytes, etc) you always need to provide fresh/plain water too, so get a second waterer for the two choices.

the treats are not as nutritious as their feed, and since they are eating grass, the veg scraps aren’t needed. Corn is generally like junk food to a bird-tasty, but low on nutrition, high in carbs.

Is there any bullying going on? If you only have 1 feed station, a bully can prevent one or more flock mate from eating. If so, add a second feed station, preferably in another sheltered area away from the other feed station. We have had this happen in our flock a couple of times and a bird can quickly lose weight within a short period of time causing other issues.

That's a good point on keeping a separate water feeder. Yes, I do have two so I'll put one in with nothing added.

I tend to agree with you on the feed they are getting, Unfortunately we don't have any grass left so that's why I give them vegetables (they aren't actually scraps, it's fresh stuff I have that would otherwise potentially go to waste if I don't use it).

I haven't noticed bullying at the feeding station, but one of the three hens is a bit less invited to have fun (i.e. when the two others perch together, she tends to not jump up and join them, but that's when they are outside. They are all fine in the coop together at night.

This is all very useful! Thank you!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do you know why it's recommended to not give dry meal worms? I don't over-trust information that comes without a why. It just seems incomplete. I don't see why meal worms would be any different in the UK than the US or Australia.

If all they eat is Layer, it should be enough of everything they need to stay healthy and lay eggs, a balanced diet. But if you give them other things, then all they eat is not Layer. It's generally recommended that "treats" form at most 10% of their daily diet. That doesn't help much does it? If they can't clean a treat up in about 15 minutes, it's too much.

One good high protein treat is BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds). Those give a nice protein boost. But you do not want to overfeed them, just a few is enough. The Black OIL Sunflower Seeds are pretty high in oil, you don't want to overdo that but it will make the feathers nice and shiny.

Some people feed cat food. Dog food is often too salty.

Many people won't like this, but another high protein treat is meat. Mine get cooked meat from table scraps but I also feed raw meat. If I trap a mouse they eat the mouse. When I shoot or trap a predator or pest, they might get to peck at the carcass for a while before I dispose of it.

If you thought that was disgusting, just wait. Or don't read any further. Some people feed them maggots. They make it sound nice by calling them black soldier fly larva. They put meat up on a platform protected so that the chickens can't get to it. The meat rots and stinks to high heaven. That draws flies that lay eggs that hatch into larva (maggots). The platform has slots for the larva to fall through to the ground, where the chickens eat them.

Now, what did they say was wrong with meal worms?