Hummmm you mention corn.. if your girls are overweight, they will not lay well!! Just reminded me! I feed mine corn too, but mine are laying, and don't seem to be as heavy as they were...
Just a thought!! Two ton lily has a hard time jumpin/flying up to the nest.. LOL
Sunflower Seeds to Increase Egg Production
One scoop of mash, one scoop of corn, sprinkle grit and some oyster shell calcium and a little bit of sunflower seeds. Babies get starter mash but sneak out and eat what the other birds eat. None of the birds are big except for Whitey (light brahma) and she's the one that is laying eggs. We have one two year old rir laying eggs and the one brahma. That's it. The one rir that lays has kind of a bald spot on her back that looks like she's moulting. None of the other birds are missing feathers. The golden comets are a good weight and some tend to look thin. We do put some food grade diatimaceous earth in their food and also in the area where they take dirt baths. We also put a little organic vinegar in their water. We give them well water. We're not letting them free range now to see if it makes a difference. So far it hasn't so maybe today we'll let them out. I know they miss foraging. We had a stray black lab run up in the yard the other day and it kind of scared us because the chickens were out but the dog disappeared in to the woods never to be seen again.
Even without knowing how much a 'scoop" is. Your ration of mash and energy feed is off. Think of your mash as protein. Protein is converted to meat and egg production. Energy feed is converted to fat. Both are essential, just not in equal proportions. A free range bird (if they have access to wide range in diet) will need far less energy grains during the summer months and more protein for laying. More fat is needed for winter months.
In a coop they need a bit more energy. I can't remember, perhaps someone else will remember....something about, only feeding as much scratch as they can clean up in 30 min, once a day?
So focus mostly on the mash and less corn right?
Yes, to less corn. I'm going step back at let someone else say, "by how much", tho.
We only feed grain the coldest months of the year down here (Dec-Feb). But my birds get plenty from the manure of the others animal that are fed grain, and by free ranging. We also (b-word) our extra birds. It gives me an opportunity to see exactly how much of a fat layer the birds have. I know others have to go on proportions and can give you a better estimate. They'll get your ladies laying in no time:0)
I reread my last post. It sounded like I'm saying, they need more fat then protein, during the winter. What I meant is they need more fat then what they get during the summer. Sorry for the confusion, hope that makes sense.
I go by this... Corn makes fat, protein (mash) makes muscle... they need to be lean in the summer months to deal with the heat.. nice and plump in the winter for the cold..
By no means is this scientific... but it's what I do to fill the feeder... 3 scoops lay crumbles, 1 scoop scratch (corn) (summer time) Winter I probably do one and one..
I toss corn out for them to scratch around in, but only by hand.. not scoops.. :)
I'd love for them to be eating sunflower seeds.. but remember, they are loaded with fat, so they should be a treat. IMHO..
You really can't tell by looking at the birds if they are "slow to molt" you kinda have to go by the feathers in the pen, nest, coop, etc. Some birds don't have a real "radical" molt, it's gradual and hard to notice.
I assume that the commercial laying feeds have a reasonable amount of research behind them and therefore are all the hens need to thrive and lay well. Mine free range all day and add whatever they fancy to that diet. I use corn as a treat and to get the chickens to go where I want them to: in the coop, out into the pasture, etc. They have oyster shell and egg shells free choice. So far I have yet to have a laying strike.
Since we feed clabber it's been a long time since I read a feed bag...do they mention anything on the bags about supplementing with grains? just curious.
My sunflower seeds and seedling are disappearing :0(
My first thought was the chickens, but the mulch is pulled up in spots. Looks like squirrels! Drats.
Got 4 eggs yesterday but one was a weird little all white egg. Have no clue who laid that ???? I do see some feathers in their run so maybe it is a slow moult ?? I don't know. I'll give it till winter sets in and if they aren't laying I'm calling the neighbors down to take them to freezer camp at their house. I told the wife she can take one a day so it's not noticable. :)
That sounds like they were in molt Loon... If they are just starting back up to lay, they will probably produce some weird sizes, shapes and even colors might be off... might have soft shell, no shell, big egg, double yolk, or no yolk... till they get their cycle going again.. If it was molt, and they are a "slow" molt.. that is supposed to be better for the bird.. better for laying.. frustrating for the owner is all.
I found black poo so some of mine found they liked the sunflower seeds.. I sure am glad cause I could have bought 2 bags of feed for the price of that lil treat.. I'll never buy them again though.. that is just tooo expensive for me... If I can grow some next year I will.. Was a great thread/experiment though. :)
Winter before last I had a lot of leftover pelleted fish food for my pond fish. They weren't eating it for some reason so I decided to feed some to my chickens so it wouldn't go to waste. It's a high in protein type thing that must be made of fish cause it smelled like it. THe chickens really were doing good on it and laid good eggs all winter. When it ran out I never bought any more. They loved it though.
Loon, did it affect the taste of the eggs? I always worry about strong-smelling feed, although we do feed our chickens crab and shrimp shells from our own meals. They really enjoy picking through them.
No, it didn't affect the taste of the eggs at all. In fact, that was when we were getting a lot of double yolk eggs. We cut out all corn and are now just feeding laying mash and a little big of the sunflower seeds and whatever they forage for when free ranging in the evening. It's real hot here and will be for the next week. 90's + every day. So far, today we got 5 eggs so production is going up. Yesterday we had six eggs. If I get 6 eggs a day I'll be happy. That's what we eat for breakfast every morning. I hate buying eggs. Now, I don't know if it was cutting out corn or adding sunflower seeds or both that made egg count go up.
I don't see why cutting out the corn would have made a difference. I do know that ours gear down a bit when it's either very hot or cloudy.
Ours were laying poorly way before it got hot. It had been about two eggs a day for more than a month.................maybe month and a half. We'll keep them off the corn for a while and see if they continue to lay better.
I think they will continue to lay better no matter what you feed them. I seriously don't think it was diet related. Might sound crazy cause I wasn't there to see them or know the entire situation, but just a hunch..
Talked to the neighbor today and he said he's started making up his own feed. He buys big bags of soy for protein and I forget now what else he puts in there. He said after he started feeding his hens that they started laying super good. Of course he insists I need a rooster to do his thing....................even offered to "loan" me one of his roosters. He thinks like a man. I told him my hens don't need no rooster. They take care of each other. :)
I do think protein makes a difference. But my friend whose hens weren't laying at all is now getting 17 to24 eggs a day with the sunflower seed supplementation; I'm really happy that worked for her because she was about to get rid of them all!
I think roosters just hassle the poor dears; we used to have a very aggressive one and the hens' back were bare of feathers because he kept pulling them out.
How long did your friend feed the sunflower seeds before production increased?
I agree with the roosters. Who needs to be chased and raped all day long.
It was really only a few days before she started to see a difference. I was really surprised that it had such a rapid effect!
I have noticed no difference yet,still hoping.But some of my hens are three and four years old.And the rest are one year old
My friend's chickens were a similar age-range. But maybe yours need something else other than a protein boost. I don't know that anything's laying well if you have a heat wave going on, though. Even ours are slacking off a bit.
5 eggs today but one egg was broken.
Mine are starting to eat the sunflower seeds... No increase in eggs... there was something or someone taking eggs I'm sure.. I've had a couple broken eggs, and not like the hens did it.. such a mystery.. No fun!
ZZ, have you ruled out humans, then? You need a spy camera; what a shame you can't just rent one for a couple of days!
Loon, that's a hopeful sign! That's how my friend's chickens started back up. Two or three, then five, and then more and more.
Yes it probably is the heat,my chickens are panting on the roosts at night,I gave them a fan and it has helped them a little.We are not used to the heat here in northeren Maine,its in the 80`s and only has been going down into the 60`s at night.The humidity is awful.
Mine drop in production when it's very hot or else cloudy. Or if something has upset them.
its 100 to 104 here.. i was down to 3 eggs a day from 18 hens.. but 6 of those hens are bantams & don't lay every day. Starting feeding them sunflower seeds every day.. about 3 cups for all of them. in 2 weeks time we went from 3 eggs a day to 11 eggs a day. It definitely made a difference from corn to sunflower seeds. I use to get near 1 egg a day per hen when i fed the higher protein crumbles i had found around here & mom's nut & berry bird feed. I also put the crumbles in one spot of the coop... the sunflower seeds in another. They always without fail go to the crumbles & eat all of it first then eat the sun flower seeds last munching them throughout the day like a hiker would trailer mix.
Greykyttyn, I'm so glad that helped your flock! It's especially surprising in that heat; ours have cut back because of it, although we still get seven or eight a day. Normally it's more like fifteen. It's nice to get a return for your investment in all that feed!
Hmmm, makes me want to try it for my girls...
Didn't do a thing for mine.. of course it took a while before they all ate them.. but they are now and my RIR is not laying every day.. which is just toooo weird. My Seramas are laying good.. so are the bantams, but they always have. We are in the upper 90s.. so that could be slowing them down.. never did before though.. I'm lost. LOL
Maybe it just works under certain circumstances. My friend in Oregon is now selling her eggs and is very happy to be making some money from her birds again!
I do think that the weather has been more extreme this year, and I know ours slack off when it's really hot. Upper 90's qualifies!
mine are use to bird feed just never fed them sunflower seeds on purpose.. they normally steal them from the bottom of the bird feeders.... so they had no problem eating them. just smidgen of them, not enough to really do much. But as i said we feed them bird feed in the winter along with corn and crumbles. I won't sell till i am back to enough birds to get a dozen eggs a day. even at that... we only sold this spring when we were getting 15 to 18 eggs a day. dumb foxes dwindled my flock down a bit, lost some good layers.
I was just digging around for nest box plans and came across this site that mentioned that they were having the same problem with diminished egg production. They changed the nest box sizes to something smaller and that seemed to improve things for them. Link --> http://www.byexample.com/homestead/barn/chicken_nesting_boxes.html
That is interesting.. My nest boxes are already that size.. a few are a little taller, but not "communal" like they mention..
This whole thread is interesting to me.. I think that once we find what our girls need, be it nutrition, or housing, they lay better. Might have been the one element in Sunflower seeds that those hens needed in their diet to just boost them up to optimum health.
All mine, (except the Seramas) are eating the seeds now.. I'm happy about that. I have a big fat Black Australorp that would shovel them in if she could.. LOL
I can't figure out how size of nest boxes could make a difference; if they're physically ready to produce eggs it seems to me they will regardless of what's available to lay them in! We use old cubbies from a school cloakroom for nest boxes and the chickens have always been fine with that.
If the nest boxes don't suit them, I guess they may lay under the coop or somewhere that you'll never find them?
I am against them being big enough to share.. seems there is just no good when they pile in there... eggs get broken, tossed out, etc. When brooding, there are not real good hatches (in my experience) when there is more than one broody involved... That's the only thing I can come up with at least for my set up..
I'm afraid my problem is much more serious.
We've had 3 hens die in the last few weeks. They are over 2 years old. They just died. Today my husband is working hard to clean out their run and the indoor coop and sanitize everything. He's been scrubbing their food troughs and water bottles with a mixture of bleach and water. He'll put down clean shavings. I don't know if this will cure our problem or not. The young chickens are exactly 11 weeks old and seem very healthy. I did have them vaccinated. The two year olds were not vaccinated. Other than loose stools they seemed fine till they died. The last day they seemed listless and not eating then just die. We're destroying everything so none of the other chickens are exposed but it is difficult to do this hard work in the heat. Tomorrow we'll clean off the pole barn porch and power wash it. They like to hang out on there sometimes and there is some feces on the cement.
We're getting 4 eggs a day. Sometimes 5. The little ones won't start laying for another ten or fifteen weeks I'm guessing. They are all out free ranging now like they do every day. Everyone else seems to be perky and eating and drinking. There is no way we'd every find every poop and destroy it. They go everywhere. I hope no more will pass.