What to Feed Chicken to Lay More Eggs
- Scratch grains. Providing scratch for your chickens is an important step in raising more egg-laying birds. Scratch is a...
- Cracked corn. While the majority of chickens are omnivorous, egg layers need more protein. A diet that is only high in...
- Crushed oyster shell. Giving your chicken crushed oyster shell is a great way to encourage...
- Mealworms.
- Eggs and Eggshells.
- Greens.
- Watermelon and Fruit.
- Japanese Beetles.
- Sunflower Seeds.
- Scratch Grains.
- Cracked Corn.
What should I Feed my backyard chickens?
When planting corn:
- plant seeds 1 1/2 inches deep
- plant seeds approximately 4 inches apart, then thin to 10 inches once they are 2 inches tall
- for extended harvest, plant rows several days apart
What is the best organic feed for chickens?
What is the best brand of chicken feed?
- Prairie's Choice Non-GMO Backyard Chicken Feed.
- Coyote Creek Certified Organic Feed.
- Kalmbach Feeds All Natural Layer Crumble.
- Scratch and Peck Feeds.
- Brown's Layer Booster Chicken Feed.
- Small Pet Select Chicken Layer Feed (Our Top Pick)
- Manna Pro Organic Grower Crumbles.
Which chicken breed is best for eggs?
Top 12 best chicken breeds for eggs
- Golden Comet Hybrid chicken: By nature, hybrids lay many eggs. Although there are different hybrid chickens, the Golden Comet is the most popular.
- Rhode Island Red Chicken: Next on our list of best chicken breeds for eggs is the loudest chicken in the world: the Rhode Island Red.
- Leghorn chicken: The number of eggs per year: About 300–320. ...
How to feed chickens without buying feed?
How to do it:
- Put 2 – 3 days worth of feed in an adequately sized, food grade container.
- Add water until you have at least two inches above the feed. ...
- If you want, throw in a starter or add some pickle juice or similar to speed up the process.
- Cover your container loosely with a towel or lid.
Know Your Timeline
One of the best tips to pay attention to when raising chickens for eggs is that chickens don’t start laying as soon as they hatch out of their own eggs.
Mind the Feed
The good news about raising laying hens is that you don’t have to go absolutely bonkers trying to find some new, cutting-edge feed for your chickens. You just need to give them a basic, quality diet.
Add Some Treats
Although the easiest way to modify your chickens’ diets to get them to lay more eggs is to simply provide them more of their regular, high-protein and high-calcium feed, you can also supplement with treats.
Keep Things Clean
Think about it – how relaxed would you feel if your toilet was overflowing and your house was a mess? Probably not very.
Tidy Up Those Nest Boxes
How are your nesting boxes looking? Ideally, you should have at least one nesting box for every four chickens, but if your girls are struggling to lay the right amount of eggs, you may need to add a few more areas for them to do so.
Give a Girl Some Space!
If your chickens are feeling cooped up – see what I did there? – they are far more likely to lay fewer eggs.
Add Calcium
Laying an egg requires a shocking amount of calcium. Make sure your laying hens have access to a calcium supplement.
Feeding Your Layers For Egg Production
The simplest and most effective way of feeding your flock of hens for egg production is to buy a complete feed intended for this purpose. Complete chicken feeds are processed to provide all essential nutrients needed by your egg-layers for better production.
Top 5 Chicken Feeds for Laying Eggs
Here comes Hiland-Naturals Non-GMO Chicken Grower feed for your hens. This brand offers different types of chicken feed, especially for layers. Also, you can provide it to your growers and starters if you want to.
SUPPLEMENTS
Chickens are compelled to scratch at the ground. They use their toes to mix up litter or scrape the ground in search of various seeds, greens, grit, or insects to eat. Spreading scratch grains (cracked, rolled, or whole grains such as corn, barley, oats, or wheat) encourages this behavior.
MEDICATED FEEDS
Medicated poultry feeds, which typically contain a coccidiostat and/or an antibiotic, are available. Coccidiosis can be hard to control through sanitation practices alone. Chickens benefit from being fed a coccidiostat at low levels. Mature chickens develop a resistance to coccidiosis if allowed to contract a mild infection of the disease.
FEEDING AND STORAGE
The way the chickens are fed is as important as the feed itself. Supply enough feeder space for all the chickens to eat at one time. With limited feeder space, some chickens do not get enough to eat. Place the feeders so that the trough is at the level of the chickens’ backs. This will reduce feed spillage.
REPLACEMENT PULLETS
The manner in which a pullet is raised to sexual maturity will have a lasting effect on the productive life of the hen. Pullets are grown to reach a certain body weight at a specific age. Many of the problems that occur in a laying flock can be traced back to insufficient body weight during the growing period.
LAYING HENS
Once your chickens start laying eggs (around 20 weeks of age) they should be switched to a layer feed. Layer feeds are formulated for chickens laying table eggs (those used for human consumption). Broiler feeds are formulated for those chickens producing hatching eggs (breeders).
MOLTING
Each year chickens molt (lose older feathers) and grow new ones. Hens typically stop egg production until after the molt is completed. There is considerable variability in the timing and duration of a molt. “Late molters” lay for 12 to 14 months before molting, whereas “early molters” can begin to molt after only a few months in production.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
How to feed your laying and breed flock. James Hermes, Oregon State University.
1. Clean Your Chicken Coop
It’s important to keep your chicken coop clean. It should be cleaned out at least on a weekly basis, with a deep cleaning every month. When chicken manure builds up, it will begin to smell very strongly of ammonia.
2. Make Sure Nest Boxes are Clean
Hens are particular about where they lay and if their nest boxes don’t seem “right” to them, they can stop laying all together. Make sure nest boxes are clean and smell good.
3. Provide Proper Hen Feed
Once hens reach around the age of 20 weeks, they begin to lay eggs. Some hens begin laying sooner, others later. When they begin to lay, it is time to switch their feed to a layers pellet, crumble or mash and provide increased calcium in their diet.
4. Feed Chickens High Protein Special Treats
Provide high protein special treats such as mealworms, grubs, black oiled sunflower seeds (B.O.S.S.) and scrambled eggs. Yes, scrambled eggs. They are especially good for a chicken that is under the weather.
5. Provide Oyster Shell or Crushed Egg Shells
Chickens require calcium in their diet and when hens begin to lay require 2.5%- 3.5%. Growing pullets should only receive around 1.2%. This is why it is important to feed your chickens the proper feed for their age.
6. Decrease Stress
Stress can most definitely affect egg production as well as egg quality. Just like humans, hens do not like to be exposed to stress and it shows in their egg production.
7. Provide Hens Clean, Fresh Water Daily
It is essential to have water available for your flock at all times. Especially during the hot weather, chickens need access to cold water or they can become heat stressed and stop laying.
