How to raise Backyard Chickens: [CHICKENS-101] Re: how to identify a hen who does not lay well

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

[CHICKENS-101] Re: how to identify a hen who does not lay well

Cathryn, thank you for the info about the turkey grower. I might give that a try next winter. We feed regular chicken food we get from the feed store yr round. The ladies have oyster shells, in a seperate dish out for them all the time. I also add crushed egg shells. Acually I found an old cast iron skillet works very well - they can't tip them over, even if they stand on the handle. The soft shell is from one of the older girls and only every now and then. They all seem to have 'their spot' on the roost, so its easy to tell.
The babies are still on medicated food - They are in their own seperate crate but in the coop. Just this week I started introducing some of the big girl food to them - a little at a time. In a couple weeks they should be only on regular food.

Thanks again for the info

Rita

--- In CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com, CathrynTherese <cathryntherese@...> wrote:
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> Rita, The animal protein and extra nutrition is provided by the turkey grower. When the weather turns hot I'll have an 18% made. They also do well on 20% broiler in the summer, no grain. For the hen laying softshell eggs, you can add poultry vitamins with minerals to their water and see if it makes a difference. Wheat helps make good shells on eggs. Oyster shell on the side in their dish or in a separate dish. What are you feeding the 8 week olds? Non medicated chick? You can feed all chick if you want.
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> Cathryn rainbowsilkiesTM in Michigan
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> From: Rita <ritabohn2001@...>
> To: CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 5:50 PM
> Subject: [CHICKENS-101] Re: how to identify a hen who does not lay well
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> Curious about the turkey grower - never thought about that before. Tell me more. My hens get regular layer food, plus lots of scrapes - we use to get the ends from a wheat milling place, but they are no longer open. The girls LOVED the wheat. They also get scratch. In the winter when there aren't bugs - they get meat scraps now and then. In the winter not only do they have a light on, which is on a timer. They also have a small heater for those days/nights that get below 0. We also do what we can to get them out of their run in the winter - like shoveling snow for them. I have 1-4yr old and 1 that is 3. One of those lays a very soft shell egg while on the roost. The 3 yr olds get into the nest all the time, and nothing happens. I also have 2 that are 2 and 5 that are 1 plus 5 that are 8 weeks. Not sure I could really put any of them down - but when the babies are bigger it's going to be cozy on the roost and in the 3 nesting boxes.
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> Thanks for all your wonderful ideas
> Rita
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