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

[B-Goock]

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.

Thats a good point. Nicer weather people tend to stay out watching them longer and end up throwing more treats.

 

[Kmacretro]

feeding hens, My egg production improved when recently I started feeding them fermented pellets. I only have six hens so a quart mason jar of fermented pellets is more than a days worth of food but they eat other treats and things. My birds have several sources of water inside and out side the coop. A quick protein boost is milk curds. First have people in your house who don't drink all the milk. Then put in pan and bring to boil and a glop of vinegar it turns lumpy strain liquid (whey) carbs, white lumps are (curds) protein. Chickens love it. I do not think activity reduces egg weight but less water and protein would reduce the size of eggs.

Hi!

That's really interesting.

Thank you for your feedback

 

[Mrs. K]

Please do not think I was scolding you, or your care of your birds. I know you are highly interested in this new hobby, I am still interested after 20 years... so I understand.

I just think that you ARE doing fine, and that your girls are perfectly normal and healthy and that there really is nothing to worry about.

Mrs K

 

[lnsoaps]

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?

ROFL!!! And your neighbors will love you too....lol

 

[Kmacretro]

Please do not think I was scolding you, or your care of your birds. I know you are highly interested in this new hobby, I am still interested after 20 years... so I understand.

I just think that you ARE doing fine, and that your girls are perfectly normal and healthy and that there really is nothing to worry about.

Mrs K

Thank you Mrs K. It's encouraging to know people think I'm doing a good job