Feeding a laying flock with roosters (calcium concerns, etc.)

[rjohns39]

What state are you in?

 

[Digby57]

Florida

 

[perchie.girl]

be careful with cattle feed it can have additives that are good for cattle and not for others.

deb

 

[barred2rock]

Just continue to do what you're doing with added oyster shells on the side for any layers.

 

[rjohns39]

I know there are several producers through out Florida--but don't have an easy way to find them. Producers who use pasture based system generally tend to be more than open about where to find things like feed. The first link is the Sustainable Poultry Network's site. But there's only one farm listed. The second link is the Fertrell Dealer Lookup site. This is not straight forward and takes some leg work. Phone is your friend. Find the dealer closest to you and call them. Find out who they sell nutri-balancer to, let them know you want to find a feed source close to you. Make a list as many of the feed guys have established delivery routes. If you can pickup along the route they generally charge little or nothing. Also, I'm pretty sure Resecca Sun out of GA delivers to Florida and Hillsboro feed out of AL may as well.

 

[Digby57]

Awesome! Thank you very much. I don't mind the leg work or phone calls at all, I always end up learning useful things along the way. I'm on it!

 

[rjohns39]

Awesome! Thank you very much. I don't mind the leg work or phone calls at all, I always end up learning useful things along the way. I'm on it!

Now I'm learning... Here's another site that lists pastured poultry producers in FL, It's not everyone--but four is better than one. They'll also know who else is out there.

 

[MoreHens]

For those of you wondering if extra calcium is really a concern, I just lost a 6 year old hen to extensive gout, which might have been caused by exclusively feeding Layena. Early on in my chicken-keeping I had tried to find feed without extra calcium, but I wasn't able to find a reliable supply. I decided to just continue feeding Layena, and now I am seeing the side effects in my older (non-laying) hens. I also have a rooster that may also run into gout down the road.

So I need to look again for a good source of feed without extra calcium, especially since I have a large flock of old hens.

I just wanted to confirm that this is indeed a health concern. I was really shocked when I got the necropsy result back from the vet.

 

[coach723]

For those of you wondering if extra calcium is really a concern, I just lost a 6 year old hen to extensive gout, which might have been caused by exclusively feeding Layena. Early on in my chicken-keeping I had tried to find feed without extra calcium, but I wasn't able to find a reliable supply. I decided to just continue feeding Layena, and now I am seeing the side effects in my older (non-laying) hens. I also have a rooster that may also run into gout down the road.

So I need to look again for a good source of feed without extra calcium, especially since I have a large flock of old hens.

I just wanted to confirm that this is indeed a health concern. I was really shocked when I got the necropsy result back from the vet.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Many of us recommend flock raiser for just such reasons. If the chickens are culled when they stop laying as some do, then layer feed is not such an issue, but for those of us that let our birds live out their full lives and keep roo's, it's important to know that there is a down side to feeding layer feed all the time.
I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[fur-mum]

I've been feeding feather fixer to my entire flock, with oyster shell on the side for my girls. But I have one hen that's laid several soft shelled eggs and am worried that she's not supplementing her calcium enough. What else would cause that if not a lack of calcium? I really don't want to switch to layer feed because of the chicks and my roo. He's my baby...