What to feed chickens to lay more eggs.

[FireTigeris]

Ruarc- why grind the feeds can't you provide enough grit and gizzard stuff and let them do the work? Do they get more out of ground food?

 

[Ruarc]

Tyger
Interesting question
Cracked fresh is FRESH. whole grains stay fresh cracked go stale much more quickly. Actually I grind only SOME grains (especially large corn) but I also crack wheat and barley. Honestly I cracked some only because I see it sold that way in feed store, so just copied that. The brown rice I never crack and occasionally they have tried whole wheat "berries" and seemed fine with that. Whole brown rice seems to be their favorite grain. ~R
(They gave plenty Grit)

 

[rmasimpson]

Tyger
Interesting question
Cracked fresh is FRESH. whole grains stay fresh cracked go stale much more quickly. Actually I grind only SOME grains (especially large corn) but I also crack wheat and barley. Honestly I cracked some only because I see it sold that way in feed store, so just copied that. The brown rice I never crack and occasionally they have tried whole wheat "berries" and seemed fine with that. Whole brown rice seems to be their favorite grain. ~R
(They gave plenty Grit)

So is it really OK to give rice? I thought they quit throwing rice at weddings because it was killing birds? Or is it only the white rice? I am anxious to know. Thanks!

 

[Ruarc]

RMA SImpson;
That is a dry JOKE (regarding rice at weddings) Amazing how many fall for it. Think birds blow up etc. Hysterical. Ask the Asians...Evidently they generally feed rice to their Chickens. Anyway Mine have been eating lots of it their whole life...and even prefer it to their other grains. (When offering rice and other grains in separate feeders the rice goes more quickly.) I like human grade foods...lay pellets, feedstore grains mix etc I think are okay enough but still inferior.. My birds eat human grade grains, and no GMOs. (such as Corn, Soy/"plant derived protein"). Cost washes out near enough.
Cheers

 

[nmurphy]

I am new to chickens and our chickens are almost ready to start laying......I hope. Can you give me some more information on what you meant by "I mix 1 part chops and 1 part scratch--makes the yokes rich"

I am also looking for any truth in something I heard, there are particular chickens that lay higher protein eggs. If you have any information on that too I would be greatful!!
Thanks
Have a great day!!

 

[margiedawn]

I was told by the store that laying pellets are the best thing to feed chicken that are laying eggs. Thank your for the information. I have 6 chicken and only get 2 eggs a day and most of those from the same 2 hems. So 4 of my chicken only lay eggs once a week. I think I'm going to change feed. Thanks again.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

If you feed chickens eggs, do you get more eggs?

 

[Den in Penn]

Unless your feeding the roosters.

 

[chrissyr]

It doesn't have anything to do with pellets in particular, but the level of protein and how much they are eating.

A pullet won't start laying until it reaches the appropriate weight and has the proper light stimulation. We feed 17-18% layer feed to 18 week old pullets until they reach peak production around 28 weeks old. Since the birds are still fairly light and not eating as much as a full-grown hen they need the extra protein in the ration to support the growth required until adult weight. Once they are all laying and have reached their adult weight (around 28-35 weeks old) then the protein is reduced to around 16% which is enough to maintain their weight and egg production in moderate temperatures (70-80 degs F). If it's colder than that then the protein can be reduced even further (or the ration can be cut with some scratch) due to the hens increased consumption. During the summer, when it's warmer than 85 degrees, the hens will reduce their consumption and require higher levels of protein in the feed to get the required protein into them.

Here's an example:

A 4-5 lb brown layer needs about 20 grams of crude protein per day to sustain egg production. In the winter, that hen will easily eat .3 pounds (135 grams) of feed per day. To get 20 grams of crude protein into her the feed needs to be at least 20/135=.148 (15% protein).

Conversely, in the summer when that hen is only eating .25 lbs (113 grams) or less due to warmer temperatures, then the level of protein needs to be 20/113= .177 (17.8 %) to get that 20 grams of protein into her.

There could be a number of reasons why 16% feed didn't support your hens' production; it may have been a poor ration lacking in specific amino acids, the hens may not have put on enough weight before production to sustain production, the outside temperatures may have been too high which led to reduced consumption, they may have been eating too much other forage or scratch and offsetting the nutrition in their regular ration, your hens may be fairly large breeds requiring more protein than a standard dual-purpose hen, or the caloric content of the feed may have been too low to sustain reproduction in cold weather (there is a limit to the amount of calories that they can take in each day and they may have been using all of them to maintain versus reproduce).

But it's not necessarily the case that layer pellets cause poor production versus other types of feeds. You need to feed the level of protein that is appropriate to their stage of growth, level of production, and level of feed consumption. It doesn't need to be as exacting as I described, but a general understanding goes a long way towards deciding what to feed them.

Hi Mac in Wisco,
Thought you might be able to give me input on this: What about the calcium? I free choice oyster shell, but a couple of my birds STILL have soft shell issues. I'm worried if I add gamebird feed I'll get more soft shells. Have you seen this problem?

 

[Angel16]

Hi Mac in Wisco,
Thought you might be able to give me input on this: What about the calcium? I free choice oyster shell, but a couple of my birds STILL have soft shell issues. I'm worried if I add gamebird feed I'll get more soft shells. Have you seen this problem?

Hello! I also had this problem with my hens. They had very soft shells and i also had free choice oyster shells but they didn't eat it/not enough of it. So i had to mix crushed calcium and magnesium pills in a oat meal mash for them. It worked! they eat it all and it salved the problem! I hope this helps