Show Off Your American Gamefowl and Chat Thread!!!

[B123]

I’ve read it somewhere before but I’ve never tried it. Like everything else as long as they’re healthy and you’ve done everything you can for them it’s up to them. I have some 8-9 yr old hens running around. They lay an egg randomly and not that often.

Wow, those are some old hens! Centra, day length should not be an issue right now, but maybe penning them and a little extra artificial light in the morning would stimulate egg production.

 

[centrarchid]

Hens in question, just two, are American Dominique. Photoperiod I think is not the problem. Even older game hens under same care regimen are in lay. Diet is 2/3's layer pellets and 1/3 game bird starter with a dash of paprika so based on literature diet is more than complete. They also get about 2 hours free-range foraging time every second day where they really target greens like all hens in lay do. No fart eggs have been produced by either hen this year although they did produce them at end of the 2017 laying season.

 

[B123]

Hens in question, just two, are American Dominique. Photoperiod I think is not the problem.

I assumed they were well fed and in good condition. Photo period exposure is not all or none, it is a gradient. Too much light can be detrimental, especially for high intensity egg producing strains. Prolapsed hens become a problem for backyard flocks that use light as a heat source. I don't know the answer to your situation, but maybe a little extra light therapy would jump start some egg production.

 

[centrarchid]

Assumption is made that if photoperiod based on direct natural sunlight that promoted egg production earlier in season is still sufficient when photoperiod and intensity still on the increase. The birds are not subjected to artificial heating or lighting.

 

[B123]

What would buttermilk provide?

 

[centrarchid]

I have no idea. The suggestion came from parties with a lot of experience breeding older chickens, including games. I have a good amount as well with professional training to boot, but do not know everything. Greater understanding sometimes comes first from perpetrators of voodoo. It may be something like simply stimulating appetite. The older hens do not represent the chicken demographic upon which our collective knowledge of nutritional requirements was developed.

 

[sdm111]

I don't believe a foodstuff can make a chicken lay more as in the actual food or vitamin doing it. Maybe secondary to good quality food v/s not so food food. It's all in the sunlight. I did hear about buttermilk long ago but don't remember what it was for

 

[B123]

I don't believe a foodstuff can make a chicken lay more as in the actual food or vitamin doing it. Maybe secondary to good quality food v/s not so food food. It's all in the sunlight. I did hear about buttermilk long ago but don't remember what it was for

That was my line of thought too. If Centra's birds are in good condition, then I just don't see it as a dietary limitation. For broiler breeder production flocks, feed is restricted by about 30% less than they would eat if given free choice. For their body type, a leaner bird is actually more productive. Again, I am speculating here Centra, but perhaps it is hormonal and short of hormone therapy, increased day length is the easiest thing to try.

 

[centrarchid]

It is age related to be certain with genetics as well. Only the two old American Dominiques pose the problem. Balance of hens not broody are in lay and maintained under identical nutritional conditions. Hens in question are not overweight /undeweight, nor are they broilers. This will be a simple trial to see if I can squeeze a few more eggs out of these turnips. I just moved them to a location affording more shade yet access to same photoperiod making so diet adjustment alone not to be realized. We are approaching situation where increasing photoperiod would result in a 24-h lights on requirement to get what you suggest. Somewhere you are missing they were in lay when photoperiod was a good 1.5 hours shorter just a month or so ago.

 

[sdm111]

Maybe she just don't want to