Taking in friends chicks .

[CTDELANEY]

Good Morning yall , we raised 7 hens since chicks ( they are now 18 months ) and all were doing well . With a few hiccups along the way .
We took in some girls from NC mountain area before the storms 4 girls and 1 rooster .
2 of the newbies havent started laying yet but the others 2 were . We have hit our first molt and man its been frightful for us because the girls look tore up and even some had got what looks like that dry pox not the wet pox probably from all the misquitos that came after the flooding. Were down on the Coast in NC so this county we live in had major flooding but they werent in water or nothing like that cause they are up high on the bank .
I started giving them a combo of feather fixer from tractor supply and a hen show feed i got off CHEWY. We give em beets , carrots , apples , all types of fresh herbs from our micro farm and some greens .
They free range and pasture range .
What else can i do to help them get back to normal . We were getting xxl / double yolk jumbo happy eggs everyday . 9 a day without fail .
Now 2 maybe 3 if that .

 

[red horse ranch]

I think any time chickens get moved to a new location it takes a while for them to adjust and the hens may not lay. Most hens stop laying eggs when they are molting. And the days are getting shorter. So your chickens have had a lot of changes recently. It sounds like you are treating all of them very well. Just give them time to get back to normal.

 

[aart]

Your 18 month olds are right on time for a molt.
They won't start laying again until after the molt is done and the days start getting longer again.
Feather fixer feed doesn't 'fix' feathers, it's a marketing ploy.
It's an 18% protein layer feed, most are 16%.
Your molting birds don't need the calcium in a layer feed while they are molting and not laying eggs.
Better off feeding them an 'all flock' type feed, which has higher protein(18-20%) and lower calcium. You can provide Oyster Shell in a separate feeder for the active layers.
All those veggies are just diluting the nutrition in the regular feed, cut them down to once a week..

 

[HollowOfWisps]

The little to no eggs is actually a good thing when they are molting. This is because they are conserving those nutrients usually used for producing eggs and instead using those to grow new feathers. When it comes to molts protein is what you want and i highly recommend a 20% protein feed. Other than that, keeping their protein consumption up and being patient are about all you can do.

 

[red horse ranch]

I have to say that I admire you for taking in your friend's chickens during a major disaster. I would imagine that quite a few people lost their livestock because of the floods.
We were almost faced with evacuation this summer when a wildfire roared by a few miles away from us. I was faced with the fact that I probably wouldn't be able to save my 33 chickens and guineas. I didn't know anyone who could have taken them. And I wouldn't even have had time to find all of them since they free range. So I applaud you and all the people who helped with the victims of these disasters!