when to start layer feed?

[yo burrill]

If you've seen what some chickens eat you'd know they don't taste like we do !!!!!

 

[Rhoise]

If you've seen what some chickens eat you'd know they don't taste like we do !!!!!

ewwww! mine where tossing around something yesterday and playing tugowar, when i went out to investigate it was a dead sparrow half eaten(guts heart lungs) I think a pair of breeding sparrow hawks on our property killed it sat up in the oak tree and must have dropped it to the ground, then my "ladies" were going to town ewwwwww! "homemade/animal protien product"

 

[Missa Chickabee]

I've never bought oyster shells. I'm not opposed to doing so, I've just never seen the need.

Yes, I feed a Layer formula. That accounts for much of it. Yes, I feed back eggshells which accounts for the rest, I suppose. Also, good quality, calcium can be taken up in a powder or tiny pellet form as well. Since we garden commercially, we have bags and bags of calcitic lime for the fields. If I ever find the shells getting a bit thin, which is a rare event, that's always available. Be careful, though, as most lime for gardening is the wrong kind, both for the garden and for the birds. Way too much magnesium.

Remember too that other factors go into a hen's processing of calcium and building strong shells. There has to be Vitamin D and a balance of phosphorus as well. The only time I've ever noticed the hens lacking Vitamin D is in winter, usually late February to mid March when we can get days and days of gloomy skies. That's really tough on them.

Hi Fred's Hens, thanks for your amazing advice. Would love to have had all your experience, but you're writing a book for us.
Was wondering how you know it's vitamin D they're lacking. Is it just that you see them get lethargic when the sun doesn't shine for awhile?
Also...where is 'Northern Mitten'???

 

[jrottie]

Most people have noticed lately that Dumor brand from TSC now has Purina stamped right on it. So how much difference is there in Dumor, and purina layer crumbles?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Hi Fred's Hens, thanks for your amazing advice. Would love to have had all your experience, but you're writing a book for us.
Was wondering how you know it's vitamin D they're lacking. Is it just that you see them get lethargic when the sun doesn't shine for awhile?
Also...where is 'Northern Mitten'???

Since Vitamin D (both 2 and 3, I believe) is essential for the chicken's overall health, but particularly essential in shell formation, that's a signal to me that our grey winter periods are taking a toll. Normally, the shells are like a rock and hard to crack. When they get a bit thin, it isn't just a matter of more and more calcium, but they need some sunlight, quite frankly. When the gloom and doom lifts and the day promises to be sunny, I force them out. I force them to partake of winter sun bathing. They're not really happy if it is zero or something, but if I can clear a path to some places, usually under the pines, where the snow isn't deep, and toss them something busy themselves with, they'll fuss around for a few hours.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Modern birds can and do lay in the winter, but it is a "unnatural". The modern layer has been genetically selected for decades to do so. This is pretty much in opposition to nature. Asking a hen to lay eggs in winter, when they would freeze solid in a few hours, when she'd never want to hatch/raise her young, when there is not enough sunlight to photo react with the hen's retina, when, by nature, she'd simply not be laying, creates issues.

 

[bruceha2000]

just a loving healthy respect for what they are!

Miniature Velociraptors! That is what comes to mind when they see a bug and run after it. Especially funny when they kind of stumble over their feet getting started, like a baby Velocitraptor from a movie not yet adept at running.

 

[bruceha2000]

Actually, our local mill would mix and grind a feed for me to my precise specs, but they can't do it in batches of less than 500 pounds. I don't really have a good way to store it.

How about a Craig's List ad for a "group buy"? There have to be more people looking for cheaper chicken feed. And if there aren't they must have found a source and would likely be willing to share the name of the seller

 

[CibolaChooks]

sry. I did a double post some how. erased to save space

 

[CibolaChooks]

Black soldier fly larva is 42 percent protien and about 30 percent fat he reports. This guy uses them to feed his fish in his Acroponics setup. I am almost done building a Duck ponics acroponics pond . I will be getting a colony started soon i hope

http://www.thebiopod.com/

http://catawbacoops.com/soldier-fly-larvae-as-a-cheap-food-source-for-chickens.html