Why haven´t my chickens layed in months?

[Skywarita]

Yes, that's an excellent idea.
Your chickens are starving, they so need the vitamins, minerals and amino acids that are formulated for chickens. rice is nutritionally devoid, and cabbage isn't much better.

Thank you for the tips, I will take care of the diet ASAP

 

[Cazook]

We usually feed them corn, home grown cabbage, rice, and rests of foods that we eat in the previous day (always chicken friendly food like vegies, fruit, grains...) and now also cat food in a can!)
But it seems its not enough. I will be getting chicken protein mix!

Uhm, what about their feed though? The only thing you listed is treats. Treats should be only 10% of their diet max.

 

[Skywarita]

Uhm, what about their feed though? The only thing you listed is treats. Treats should be only 10% of their diet max.

well i feed them what I always learned i had to feed them (cabbage, eggshells and corn) but if its not enough i will change

 

[human1]

well i feed them what I always learned i had to feed them (cabbage, eggshells and corn) but if its not enough i will change

do you have layer feed?

 

[Cazook]

well i feed them what I always learned i had to feed them (cabbage, eggshells and corn) but if its not enough i will change

corn is sort of like chicken candy. they love it but not really nutritional.

domestic chicken have been bred to produce huge amounts of eggs. wildfowl chicken may lay around 20 eggs per year, while laying domestic chicken produce up to 250 per year or even more. it's not something they can choose to devote energy to or not, so you can see why feeding them proper nutrition is important. sometimes i doubt even domestic chickens in a free-range environment rich with bugs, termites, lizards, grains etc would be enough to sustain them in health. certainly not on a limited range in subtropical zone, in winter.

the misunderstanding can be easy to make though. just a few generations ago chickens made 100 eggs max per year. the selective breeding is now very extreme for egg production, so chickens of those types aren't going to be healthy unless you are feeding layer feed of at least 16-17% protein (and a lot of people recommend higher than this). it depends on the chicken breeds you have too. we are pushing these birds to their natural limits, which can be seen in the shortening life spans and increase of reproductive disease, egg binding etc.

(also, so this post isn't all doom and gloom - there's actually upsides in that chicken nutrition is highly researched so they are actually getting more well-fed than their ancestors with proper vitamins (esp. winter) as well as increase in welfare in pastured and backyard setups, in contrast to farms in past where any trouble chook just gets made into soup )

tl;dr: yes feed them layer feed please lol

 

[Skywarita]

corn is sort of like chicken candy. they love it but not really nutritional.

domestic chicken have been bred to produce huge amounts of eggs. wildfowl chicken may lay around 20 eggs per year, while laying domestic chicken produce up to 250 per year or even more. it's not something they can choose to devote energy to or not, so you can see why feeding them proper nutrition is important. sometimes i doubt even domestic chickens in a free-range environment rich with bugs, termites, lizards, grains etc would be enough to sustain them in health. certainly not on a limited range in subtropical zone, in winter.

the misunderstanding can be easy to make though. just a few generations ago chickens made 100 eggs max per year. the selective breeding is now very extreme for egg production, so chickens of those types aren't going to be healthy unless you are feeding layer feed of at least 16-17% protein (and a lot of people recommend higher than this). it depends on the chicken breeds you have too. we are pushing these birds to their natural limits, which can be seen in the shortening life spans and increase of reproductive disease, egg binding etc.

(also, so this post isn't all doom and gloom - there's actually upsides in that chicken nutrition is highly researched so they are actually getting more well-fed than their ancestors with proper vitamins (esp. winter) as well as increase in welfare in pastured and backyard setups, in contrast to farms in past where any trouble chook just gets made into soup )

tl;dr: yes feed them layer feed please lol

Thank you for your insightful reply!!! I actually just got special feed for them today and I hope to start a different diet for them. I really appreciate all the feedback everyone gave me.

And yes i have heard chickens are being altered to lay more which is very sad...

 

[human1]

Thank you for your insightful reply!!! I actually just got special feed for them today and I hope to start a different diet for them. I really appreciate all the feedback everyone gave me.

And yes i have heard chickens are being altered to lay more which is very sad...

great! hope the chickens enjoy the feed!

 

[Fallenone05]

It might take them a little bit to warm up to the new feed, but wet feed (just get some of their pellets or crumble in a bowl with water) seems to go down better at first! I wouldn't feed them anymore treats or your leftovers until you see them downing their pellets.

Mine have access to food and water 24/7. They'll eat a goat trough of food empty in about 2 days, between 8 of them. Giving them oyster shell on the side for extra calcium for their bones and eggs might also be a good idea!

 

[Skywarita]

great! hope the chickens enjoy the feed!

thank you!! They loved it

 

[Skywarita]

Thank you!!! I have an update: they are so much better now!! They are cheerful, fat and very fluffy