When to switch food and provide oyster shells?

[efowl24]

My 7 chickens are now 18 weeks old. Two of them are cinnamon queen, two are black sex link, and three are americanas. The cinnamon queen and black sex link, to my understanding, are pretty close to laying age. I heard one of them the day before last singing the egg song, but I’m not sure who it was and never found an egg. They do free range in the evenings, so it is possible they’ve laid an egg somewhere in the yard or woods. They were all at the coop when I heard the egg song. One cinnamon queen and the two black sex link have nice red combs and wattles, but none of them are doing the squatting I keep hearing about when you put your hand near their back. Either way, they should be pretty close to laying.

My main question here, is when do I switch to layer feed and provide oyster shells? Their feeder is a five gallon bucket, and it’s still about half full of chick starter. Is it okay to finish this bucket off, or should I switch to layer feed now? Will that be okay for the girls who aren’t laying yet?

My next question, is it okay to provide oyster shells now? I’ve got a mineral feeder with two compartments, one side has grit, and the other I was planning to put oyster shells in when necessary. Is it okay to go ahead and give them the oyster shells if they haven’t laid an egg yet, and will the girls who don’t need it avoid it?

Bonus question- is it normal to hear the egg song with hens that are very close to laying but haven’t actually laid an egg yet?

 

[ChickyCh00k]

1. Technically you don't ever need to switch them to layer feed, but if you were going to, you could do it now. They can finish the starter and I would provide oyster shell on the side (see 2.)

2. Yes. You can provide oyster shell now as well. They can typically regulate their intake of calcium if they need it in addition to the added calcium in the layer feed (if you were going to keep them on a starter or all flock feed, which many ppl choose to do for the extra protein, you would definitely want to make sure they have oyster shell available at this time as starter and all flock feeds do not contain the higher amounts of calcium that laying pullets and hens require.

3. If my recollection is correct, I believe some pullets may start the "egg song" just prior to laying, but I'm having trouble remembering whether I actually noticed any of mine doing it.

Such an egg-citing time!!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Nutritionally there is not much difference in most of the ingredients in Chick Starter and Layer. Calcium and maybe protein being the ones. Since yours free range some, you've lost the ability to micromanage everything they eat anyway. You can look at the analysis on the label to see what percentage of the various nutrients are supplied by that feed. The Layer should have around 4% Calcium, the Starter around 1%. That is the significant difference. Many of us never feed Layer. If you offer oyster shell on the side they are pretty good at regulating their calcium intake.

I have a flock that has hens laying eggs as well as young chicks still growing. The amount of calcium in Layer can be risky for growing chicks. I feed a low-calcium feed to all of them with oyster shell on the side so the ones that need the calcium for their eggshells can get it while the ones that don't need it in that amount don't eat enough to hurt themselves.

I'm not sure what we call the egg song has anything to do with laying an egg. I think it has more to do with finding the flock. When a hen comes off of the nest she does not know where the flock is so she calls to them to find them. They could use the same call for other times. Also there is another call that sounds close to the egg song but is to show nervousness or distress. That might be what you heard. I know it is a logical conclusion from the names but don't assume the egg song means she laid an egg.

 

[KurtRyanGrehlinger]

My 7 chickens are now 18 weeks old. Two of them are cinnamon queen, two are black sex link, and three are americanas. The cinnamon queen and black sex link, to my understanding, are pretty close to laying age. I heard one of them the day before last singing the egg song, but I’m not sure who it was and never found an egg. They do free range in the evenings, so it is possible they’ve laid an egg somewhere in the yard or woods. They were all at the coop when I heard the egg song. One cinnamon queen and the two black sex link have nice red combs and wattles, but none of them are doing the squatting I keep hearing about when you put your hand near their back. Either way, they should be pretty close to laying.

My main question here, is when do I switch to layer feed and provide oyster shells? Their feeder is a five gallon bucket, and it’s still about half full of chick starter. Is it okay to finish this bucket off, or should I switch to layer feed now? Will that be okay for the girls who aren’t laying yet?

My next question, is it okay to provide oyster shells now? I’ve got a mineral feeder with two compartments, one side has grit, and the other I was planning to put oyster shells in when necessary. Is it okay to go ahead and give them the oyster shells if they haven’t laid an egg yet, and will the girls who don’t need it avoid it?

Bonus question- is it normal to hear the egg song with hens that are very close to laying but haven’t actually laid an egg yet?

When they get ready to lay eggs you can start giving them oyster shells, but it's many other sources of calcium if they free range they can also get it from the rocks and stuff usually they are great foragers, I highly recommend free ranging, but you got a be aware of predators of course. Mine usually end up laying eggs early around 4-5 months. I say you can start offering layer feed around the time they start squatting when you go to pet them or approach them, because that's a sign they are getting ready to start to lay eggs soon usually.