Supplements

[Petfriendlyemi]

Hello BYC community! I have been getting ZERO eggs lately and I know all of my 12 girls can lay. Only a few of the older girls are molted but I think they're done with that by now. We did have their old coop removed a few days ago when we finished their new coop, but they were laying in a different coop that is still currently available. I know it's cooling down slightly here in Central Texas but it's not that bad. I've heard there are some different foods you can add to their diet like Red Pepper Flakes but I wanted to ask y'all before I actually did it, I don't accidentally poison my girls. We've used the same layer feed ever since we got chickens and haven't had problems like this before. Our eggs were overflowing this summer! The number of eggs we get definitely goes down in the winter but we normally get at least a few. Are there any supplements I can add to their feed/treat them with? Any other tips are also welcome.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Do you have a light in the coop to ensure proper light exposure to induce laying?

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Hello BYC community! I have been getting ZERO eggs lately and I know all of my 12 girls can lay. Only a few of the older girls are molted but I think they're done with that by now. We did have their old coop removed a few days ago when we finished their new coop, but they were laying in a different coop that is still currently available. I know it's cooling down slightly here in Central Texas but it's not that bad. I've heard there are some different foods you can add to their diet like Red Pepper Flakes but I wanted to ask y'all before I actually did it, I don't accidentally poison my girls. We've used the same layer feed ever since we got chickens and haven't had problems like this before. Our eggs were overflowing this summer! The number of eggs we get definitely goes down in the winter but we normally get at least a few. Are there any supplements I can add to their feed/treat them with? Any other tips are also welcome.

Hi! I also live in Central Texas. There is nothing you can add to their food or water that will make them lay. How old are your birds? The change of scenery may have disrupted their laying (chickens don't like change), other than that I would just chalk it up to the shortening daylight hours. The only thing you can do is provide supplemental light, so they are getting at least 14hrs of light a day. @aart has more info on the subject than I do, and a good article that breaks it all down.

 

[kengboss21]

not much dietary things you can do to speed up laying besides protein and calcium and lighting. But I’ve read dried Kelp is great for their health overall

 

[aart]

I've heard there are some different foods you can add to their diet

All hype, often misunderstood and misused.

I know it's cooling down slightly here in Central Texas but it's not that bad.

Its not about temps, you need to learn more about chickens, it's about light.

@aart has more info on the subject than I do, and a good article that breaks it all down.

Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting.

 

[Petfriendlyemi]

Good to know! I will get one of those! Thank yall!