They Are Laying Now. Do I Need To Supplement Their Feed?

[Uncle Marc]

My flock is now 21 weeks old. At least two hens are laying. The rest should be coming on soon. I switched them to the layer crumbles available at our local Southern States feed store. Do I need to add any calcium to their diet? They do not free range but we do give them treats from the garden and orchard from time to time.

I've heard about oyster shells. I am giving them a little extra chick grit from time to time.

Any other supplements you think I should start feeding?

 

[downsm75]

Just offer the oyster shell free choice and they will take what they need

 

[mickey328]

In addition to the calcium, I like to make sure mine have a bit of extra protein...I give them cooked pinto beans, yogurt, cheese of any sort. I also like to make sure they have lots of fresh green vegetable matter...the beta carotene helps the yolks maintain that beautiful gold color and imo, adds good flavor. Ours love dandelion leaves, spinach, chard, clover. They nibble grass as well, but I confess...they're spoiled, so they don't pay too much attention to it, LOL

 

[Mtn Laurel]

My girls prefer crushed egg shells instead of oyster shell. I save their shells in an aluminum pie plate on my counter and then pop them into a cooling oven after I've cooked something to make sure they're dry. I then crush them up and keep them in a sealed container. I give them a handful or so about every other day. [only have 3 girls]

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Layer feed has all the calcium and nutrients they need. Treats are always good if not over done.

With them unable to free range and obtain their own grit you could supply that. Grit functions as a primary digestion grinder. I don't buy grit but do provide crushed stone in winter when they can't dig for it themselves. I'd never purchase it as I don't see any savings, without grit they consume more feed and bags of crushed granite in feed stores is expensive so it's a six in one hand half dozen other thing. It's relatively easy to find sources of crushed construction stone, driveway stone or roadway apron stone that's about half the size of your pinky nail.

For less feed consumption we moved up to layer pellets. Our birds seemed to get a lot of the crumbles on the ground then not eat it. Our food bill went way down once we moved to pellets.

 

[BigBren]

A layers pellet or crumble contains enough of the calcium, protein and nutrients required to produce great eggs and healthy birds. Both soluble and insoluble grits should be offered at all times, the insoluble helps break down the mixed grains you may feed your birds, the soluble helps shell production - oyster being a favourite of mine.

There should be no need to increase their calcium or protein intake to produce great eggs and healthy birds, any decent layers will contain enough and any extra may actually do the bird more harm than good. You can supplement their diet with greens, the darker the better in my opinion. Spring greens, cauliflower leaves, cabbage, broccoli etc, these will give your eggs a deep and richer colour.

We generally offer unlimited layers, grit and water. They have two treats per day, one of which is always mixed corn, the other may be rice, porridge, greens etc.

Remember, many free range or organic poultry farmers breed and raise their stock on growers/layers, mixed corn, grit and water and nothing else.

 

[mickey328]

Ours had been on layer mash where we got them, so we kept them on it after the move...figured one less change would help reduce the stress level. You are right, Egghead...there is a lot of waste with that fine stuff. We've switched to pellets now and are seeing much less waste.

Since ours are only "sort of" free range (they're in a portable coop/run that gets moved around the back yard, so they're always on grass) we do buy grit and make it available for them as needed. We only have 6 hens, so it's not a huge expense for us. We don't have easy access to grit of the right size that we KNOW hasn't been exposed to any chemicals so it seems a good idea

Commercial feed does contain all the real essentials but I feel that more variety is a more natural thing for them; by nature they scratch and peck at all kinds of things, so I like to give them that opportunity as much as possible. Plus providing other things that are free or less expensive, it cuts down on their feed intake, which reduces the bills a bit.

There are all sorts of options...it's great that we have them, right? Seems it's not what's "right" but what's right for you