Think I messed up raising my chickens....now what do I do???

[Scale Master]

Layer crumbles or layer pellets are both fine, but I go through a lot more feed if I use crumbles. The birds will throw food around when they hit the
feeders in the morning, and the crumbles just get trampled into the ground. When the pellets get spread the birds will still eat them off the ground,
this eliminates the wasted feed. Scratch is OK, but they shouldn't get very much. I only give mine scratch in the cooler weather. I have read that
it takes much more energy to digest the scratch and will actually raise a chickes body temp, so as hot as it is here in the summer they don't get any.

 

[chickenwhisperer123]

Quote:
Me too. Thats all I fed mine for probably at least a year. I know better now, but they WERE healthy.


You should definately cut down on the scratch, and if you put a light in the coop, and leave it on 14 hours a day, you should have eggs before you know it!!

 

[Overeasyplz]

Quote:
This will work, trust us!
You will have eggs everywhere in the spring!

 

[Renee']

Also, if your girls free range, they may be laying in the bushes, planters, buckets, some where besides the nest box.

 

[RocketDad]

When my hens were at the stage of fully grown but not yet laying I noticed that they hardly ate. When my Red Star began laying, her appetite went up like crazy, and she wanted protein. She was not very aggressive about getting her share of scratch, but she was nuts over the high-protein kitchen scraps.

The hens will let you know.

 

[Msbear]

My dad's wellie's freerange and he feeds them nothing but cracked corn

and gives them grit and they look great and lay consistently. Your birds might just be too young to lay. Different breeds start laying at different times... different lines of different breeds lay at different times. I don't think your feed has anything to do with it. They should be getting more nutrition if you can so the layer pellets is a great way to do that.. but that's not the reason you aren't getting eggs. Try putting a dummy egg in the box.. one from the grocery store and it might kick them into gear.

 

[PandoraTaylor]

here is a link for winter feeding :
http://www.bing.com/search?q=Lisa+Jansen+Mathews&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=IE8SRC

 

[cybercat]

Ok you are going to need to jump start them. So cut out everything not layer right now like everyone said. BUY some Purina Flock Raiser because it has 20% which is what you need to jump start them. Only feed that for a week then mix it with a lower protien layer which will bring you to about 18% which is good and should do you fine. Do not feed corn this is important it is way to low in protien and will bring feed protien down alot. Do not add any treat right now anything will lower protien and you need to raise it. Chickens need protien to lay eggs and large chickens need more than smaller chickens. Just PM me with any questions I have done alot of feed research.

 

[JKCASWELL]

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!! As long as I have done no irrepairable harm to them....I don't care if they never lay an egg!!! They haven't been getting any scratch for a week now, only the layer pellets. I am going today to get them some oyster shell and Flock Grower. The main question I have on this is should I just change them gradually....or just a instant change? Also, the only time they are let out of the chicken run, is when I am home and right there, as we have too many predators around here. I lost my entire flock last year to racoons and the neighbor's starving dog, and I do not ever want to go through that again! The lights come on at 6:00 am and stay on until 9:00 pm. It might be a bit overkill on brightness, as there are 2 8 foot flourescent fixtures in a 16 x 16 coop.....hmmm could that be too bright for laying? Never thought of that!

 

[Ariel301]

When I was growing up, my flock of Barred Rock hens ate little other than scratch, certainly never any layer pellets or anything like that. They laid eggs daily and were healthy. I don't know about long-term effects, as we never kept them more than a couple of years before eating them or a predator got them, but they did fine. I don't think that your birds' diet has damaged them at all. It's certainly not the reason they aren't laying.