Unusual low egg production

[CapricornFarm]

What's Cob?

? Corn on the?

 

[Floxi]

What's Cob?

I'd like to know as well

 

[FruFru]

Have you heard about this? It seems that they're changing the ingredients in chicken feed and it's seriously cut into the chickens' ability to produce eggs. DuMor and Producer's Pride are specifically mentioned. Just click where it say's watch on youtube. The relevant portion of this is from the 4 to 7 minute mark.

Yes! I saw this and went to buy other feed because of course I was using Dumor and Producers Pride. I had started a thread about what could be wrong with my chickens that they started then stopped laying, and it wasn't daylight hours or molt or too cold, they were 7 months old. I had never seen this in the 18 years I have raised chickens. I Knew it had to be something in the environment. Figures it would be the only affordable feed. I had raised the chicks on organic and then changed to Dumor! What the actual heck! The Dumor bag was $17!! now for me to get cheapest feed it's $20-$24 and organic feed is $40-46!!!! So I can attest that Dumor is the worst and I'm boycotting the TS.

 

[FruFru]

I wanted to add that the cost of keeping my chickens if I used organic feed is $20/month per two chickens - that is giving them 6 ounces each of layer crumble a day.

 

[Elyrian1]

I have 8 hens just shy of a year old. Couple cuckoo marans, copper marans, orpington, and EEs. Last year when they started laying in early fall, I was lucky if I got three eggs a day. This way below my previous flock's numbers, where I frequently got the same number of eggs a day as I had layers, or one or two less. I blamed a virus they picked up, because I heard sneezing and their combs were pale. Then when it got really cold and I had to stop fermenting my feed, they stopped laying at all. I blamed the daylight hours. Thought we weren't getting enough sun.

Then I watched that video, by chance. I almost never watch prepper stuff, but this caught my eye. And when Dumor and Producer's Pride were mentioned my eyes popped a bit. I was using Dumor. Five days ago I switched to a somewhat local grain company. Within two days I had my first egg in four weeks. I've had one egg a day, every day for the last three days. More than I had for the whole month prior.

I can't rule out coincidence. The days might have finally grown long enough again. The birds might finally just be over their sniffles.... But I'm seeing chicken keepers everywhere saying the same thing. It seems that Dumor, at least for now, is not a viable option for feeding layers.

I suspect that fermenting my feed was what allowed my birds to lay any eggs at all last year, and once I had to stop due to the weather, they could no longer scrape together enough nutrients from the feed to keep up egg production.

What a mess.

 

[TexasLisa]

I was watching the news tonight when they brought up the big fire in Connecticut and the company lost over 100,000 hens. Another issue that was mentioned was the feed (Purina- made) was causing the hens NOT to lay eggs. Purina says it isn't their feed. 'eye roll'

 

[MarnieCarr]

I don't believe it... I think they definitely have something to do with it... I have been using Purina for a long time... I have been raising chickens for five years. I moved from Florida two years ago with 4 hens. Georgia Winters are dramatically different than Florida Winters and YET still, my girls laid during the winter. I now have 10 chickens, and 1 left, my Orpington from the original flock....along with her, 3 Red Sex Link, 2 California, 1 Barred Rock, 2 Rhode Island, 2 Golden Laced Cochin... I bought a new bag of feed from TS and have had NO EGGS for 10 days!!! I may get 5-7 eggs a day during the winter but they produce for the most part. Our Temps have been warm here so that is not the issue. They have molted already and still I get eggs. Not the usual things that may see less egg production but now NOTHING at all. I am gonna do my own testing... Gonna buy a different brand not made by Purina and see what happens.