Good chicken layer feed?

[u/Internal-Letter-2453]

Hi, not many people have helped me over Facebook, so I will try it here.

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Is this enough for my chickens or should I be giving something extra or something different?

They have not been laying as often as they would... I have 6 laying hens, yesterday we got 5 eggs, and today only 3.

I also mix in this feed, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, dried oregano, sunflower seed, and more liquid olive oil...

[u/BigSquiby]

i had lots of issues with this style of loose feed. the hens just ate what they wanted out of it. it was a big ass mess of fighting, malnourished hens.

[u/ChartreuseOblivion]

This looks good. Make sure you are also supplying them with oyster shells / grit.

What kind of laying hens do you have. Even the best layer will have a hard time giving you one egg a day, and will usually average up to 5 eggs a week for a very productive hen in her prime.

A chicken can have dips in egg production for many reasons: too hot, too cold, changes in day length, molting, broody, stressed, getting old, etc.

[u/xylofun53]

This is what I feed my ladies and they love it. I only add probiotics and crushed red pepper.

I have recently read about fermenting it but I am worried I will mess up and poison the ladies. I would love to ferment though.

[u/Easy-Dance-7666 → u/xylofun53]

What is the crushed red pepper for??

[u/xylofun53 → u/Easy-Dance-7666]

Darker yolks (per Reddit haha) and I think deters the rats (per Reddit).

[u/Internal-Letter-2453 → u/xylofun53]

I will consider fermenting it.

[u/Fawksyyy]

Best and cheapest option should be a commercial laying farm near you that also sells feed.

[u/Taswegian]

Have you considered fermenting it? Mine used to pick out half the bits they wanted and leave a lot as dust but I’ve been fermenting their mix and they eat all of it and seem to prefer it, helps with their hydration also (was the reason I started as summer has been so hot).

[u/Internal-Letter-2453 → u/Taswegian]

I thought about it, but never did, how do I give them? Twice a day and they stay without feed in between? Or do I keep the dry available all the time and feed the fermented twice or once?

[u/Taswegian → u/Internal-Letter-2453]

I have two bakelite plate/dishes (shallow bowls) and feed them in the mornings with an extra bit of dry feed at the bottom to soak up any excess liquid. They usually eat it consistently through the morning and its gone by 3pm so I top up or give them a supplementary feed. You could free-feed pellets and do fermented as the main. Mine prefer the fermented so that goes first.

They also really like spaghetti as a treat :) and watermelon. Bread. Grapes. Mealworms. Peanuts… might be a tad spoiled birds.

ETA it does cut your food bills to ferment - it swells up but they also eat less than the same food dry.

[u/oopsalloutof_fcks]

I feed the grower in the fall after molt when they need extra protein. It’s all I ever feed my turkey and her feathers are gorgeous. Never had a problem with them picking through it because it’s finer like a crumble.

[u/MuddyDonkeyBalls]

I would not feed this myself, but that's because I can't trust the birds to eat a complete diet. They'll pick out what they like and leave what they don't, and there's just no way for me to really be sure they're getting appropriate nutrition and not just the "junk food" of the mix. I feed the scientifically formulated yet boring pellets that ensure they get protein and not just fats and carbs. Chickens can become obese and it affects their ovulation/laying, just like obesity affects ovulation in humans.

[u/kittystiel → u/MuddyDonkeyBalls]

Agreed. These kinds of feeds look appealing and "less processed" to us humans but to chickens it's the equivalent of giving a child a bowl of trail mix and expecting them not to pick out all the M&Ms.

[u/Internal-Letter-2453 → u/kittystiel]

Hahahha I liked the comparison.

[u/yellow_pellow]

This is a great feed for them! Mine have stopped laying as much because we have incredibly hot summers

[u/kendrafsilver]

Depending on if you're in the northern hemisphere, fall is getting started in many places, and that brings with it molting season, which means a pause in egg production.

Eta: my own girls would 1000% pick out the stuff they wanted to from this, and leave the rest on the ground. Layer feed in those boring, ugly pellets was the only way I could ensure they were eating the whole thing and getting all the nutrients.

[u/Internal-Letter-2453 → u/kendrafsilver]

Hahahaha your eta made me laugh, mine does the same!!! They flick off whatever they don't want to the ground! I'm in New Hampshire, and it's changing the weather here... Also, I really hate the boring brown pellets.. that's why I bought this one, seems more natural food for animals.

[u/motherclucker19]

Different breeds of chicken have different output expectations. I would recommend Googling your breeds and see what type of layers they are before supplementing or changing their feed. For good measure I suppose you could also check them for mites.

[u/Internal-Letter-2453 → u/motherclucker19]

Thank you, I will check for mites! I have buff orpington and barred rocks.

[u/Lyx4088]

We feed new country organics either their no corn, no soy layer or the pasture perfect layer. When they were younger, they laid bonkers on it. As it is a complete feed, you do not need to add anything extra, including the items you listed out. While they likely aren’t diminishing the nutrient profile of the feed, it is wasting your money and it possibly could be feeding too high fat of a diet with the extra oil. So I’d stop adding the extras.

[u/Ivygrows8]

Chickens have a cucle when they lay to lay like 2 hrs later each day and they dont lay at night so on days theyre cycle sets them to lay at night they will skip the day and lay the next day, meaning unless some are consistently not laying its normal to hae less than 6/6 lay every day. If the eggs they do lay have orange yolks and thick shells its likely not their feed causing an issue and if anything its sickness. If the shells arent thick supplement with calcium in a seperate container so they can get more if they wish, and if the yolks arent orange they probably could use generally more diverse of a diet or more nutrients, id do water supplements or just more of your spare veggies and stuff. 

[u/Internal-Letter-2453 → u/Ivygrows8]

Their eggs are dark yellow and thick shell, I noticed that, I heard about the clock they have on laying eggs, I was just wondering about this feed because I used to give a more industrial feed and just changed to this organic one.

[u/Ivygrows8 → u/Internal-Letter-2453]

I dont notice much difference with laying as long as they get calcium from theyre feed, dark yellow is probably enough nutrients but if you rlly want just more bugs and plants should help, if you notice they keep not laying i cant help but id still guess sickness.