when to start layer feed?

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Great advice for us beginners. Thanks! So here's another question. I see egg washes in the stores for eggs. What do you all recommend as the proper care for fresh laid eggs as for as cleaning goes?

I think it depends on what you're going to do with them. If you are keeping the eggs for eating, just was off any dirt in with hot water before you use the egg, but store them unwashed because they'll keep longer with the bloom on them. We sell to lots of people we don't know, so we wash with a commercial chlorinated egg wash.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Hi everyone, been gone all day.

I am quite aware the most feeds do not contain animal proteins, at least most of the retail, pre-bagged stuff. That's a shame. Real shame. The US is the world's leading supplier of meat by-products, which basically the internal organs and other bits and parts. A chicken would gorge on the innards of a slaughtered animal. LOL.

I have an email in to Hubbard Feeds asking some questions. We'll see if I get some replies that have any substance. I certainly hope so. As for "mad cow" type worries, I have none, quite frankly, none at all. Every pig, every cow that gets slaughtered for hamburgers for Mickie D's to steaks at AppleBee's to sausage at Bob Evans has innards and we, as a nation, and Canada too, have millions of metric tons of the stuff. It is perfectly safe and important as a source of feed. We simply couldn't do agriculture without this protein source, not as we know it, anyhow.

With DuMor, the only product I saw last with animal content was the high protein, 20% ??? Start N Grow or something akin. Check it out and see if it still does.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

A great source of protein is mealworms. Easy to raise, super easy!
There is a huge thread on BYC to help anyone start from the beginning.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/492636/mealworm-farming

I started mine a month ago to prepare for winter.

So far i am doing well Worth it!

 

[deb3627]

I am going to use Crushed egg shells to feed back to my chickens..I don't think it will hurt them and I have heard it contains calcium... So I will add it to their Feed and it will be will not cost me anything.

 

[Rhoise]

I have fed cat food as a treat before when I had birds that needed some extra protein in the winter. Ironically, the cheaper brands seem to be better for hens (based on the ingredient list)

I am raising some foster kitties that spill their food while I'm at work and they're locked in a kennel, so the pullets get about a 1/2 cup or so of the left overs, first ingredient on the bag is chicken, 2nd is rice!! I hope this is ok for them, i hate to see it dumped in the garbage at over a dollar a pound, and the girls seem to enjoy it as a teat. I volunteer at a local shelter, and we have a rescue ranch and alot of chickens and re-homed roos that eat the left over dog and cat food that the other animals don't eat. This isn't ideal but it is free and keeps their bellies full of protein to supplement the corn and feed that is donated.We mostly get chickens that have been abandon or cockerels that people don't have the wherewithal to deal with themselves. Roo's aren't allowed in city limits, and everyone is getting BYchicks(straight run duhh)nowadays so they end up at the shelter

 

[Rhoise]

A great source of protein is mealworms. Easy to raise, super easy!
There is a huge thread on BYC to help anyone start from the beginning.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/492636/mealworm-farming

I started mine a month ago to prepare for winter.

So far i am doing well Worth it!

hmmm I may have to try this but not crazy about having them in the house, i think my garage is too warm/cold to do it?

 

[lonnyandrinda]

hmmm I may have to try this but not crazy about having them in the house, i think my garage is too warm/cold to do it?

We have ours out of the way in our dining room, you don't even know they are there if you don't look. They don't fly and can't get out of the rubbermaid tub, and they like it dark so it works great that they are tucked under a shelf! They will not grow and multiply properly if they are not warm enough, TOO MUCH heat can be a problem too but cold is worse. Head over to that mealworm thread link, there is tons of information. It takes A LONG TIME to get a colony going to where you can feed from it, so start sooner rather than later! Ours have been going for 2-3 months and I think it will be 2-3 more months before we will be able to feed from them. But they are very easy to care for, I toss a fresh carrot or sliced potato in their bin a couple of times a week and THAT'S ALL.

 

[aoxa]

[COLOR=B22222]I am going to use Crushed egg shells to feed back to my chickens..I don't think it will hurt them and I have heard it contains calcium... So I will add it to their Feed and it will be will not cost me anything.[/COLOR]

It's not enough calcium to withold oyster shell for your layers. Especially if you are on grower feed. If you are on layer, it would be fine.

Oyster shell costs $3 for a 5kg bag, or $20 for a 50 kg bag. Since I have so many birds, I buy bulk. If I had 20 chickens, 5 kg would do me for a long time.

 

[Fred's Hens]

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.

 

[aoxa]

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.

I didn't buy them in the beginning either Fred. Found a few shell-less eggs, and wasn't willing to put them on Layer feed, so I just gave them a side of calcium I was told by a friend that there is no point of putting them on it unless you see a need.

My birds flock to the oyster shell. I assume they know what their body needs, and eat it. Not like they eat it for the taste