[Silkychicks]

I have 2 silkies and they get fed mixed grains, fruit, worms, some granulate for chickens, eggshels, oystershells, grit, seeds..

Now I was wondering: should I feed them granulate for laying eggs? Is this to improve production or is it for good eggs? (Good shell that sort of thing)..

Ad is 7 months now she is laying eggs but Truus is younger and she hasn't start laying yet.

Thank for your reply.

[joyfull]

by granulate I assume you mean a ready made product such as layers pellets or layers mash. A growing hen should be on growers or rearers pellets until they are around 14 - 16 weeks old (they can stay on it until they start to lay but if it has ACS in it you cannot eat their eggs. - ACS is an anti coccidiousis supplement). As you already have one laying I would feed both on layers pellets as it contains the correct vitamins and minerals they need for laying 

[Silkychicks]

Pellets! That was the word I was looking for

I got Truus when she was about 4 months and she was with some older birds in the same coop/cage so I guess she was off the 'baby-chicken' food.

Sounds fine. I found a shop where they sell an organic variety.
Ad her eggs have gone a little smaller since she came, maybe that is because she doesn't get layers pellets now. She eats little from the grains I feed them. She gets most of her food from the run. Truus eats at least 2/3 of the portion I feed them daily. She is growing really fast.

[ANHBUC]

It is best to let them have as much layers pellets as they want, you don't need to give them a daily allowance.  The pellets are a balanced diet for them so they will be healthy and produce a good quality egg.  They will eat the layers and bugs, greens from the run as well.  Best not to give them other things which will fill them up and not give them the balance they need.   Any treats like mixed corn should be a small amount before they go to roost, that way they will have eaten enough of the beneficial food. 

[Silkychicks]

Realy Anhbuc?
I was afraid I would over feed them, especially because Truus eats so much. Yesterday I felt her chest and she not to fat I thing, she is just growing.

Before I got the chickens a friend gave me a few Kg of pellets wit some broken sweetcorn, weat.. that sort of stuff. I mixed it with rye, buckweat, some brow rice, oat.. All uncooked.  (Ad loves the rye and Truus the brown rice).

So I will finish the last bit and get some layers pellets tomorrow, or just mix 2/3 1/3 so I can finish my old bit as well.

I am quite surprise to hear they actually need the pellets.. My parents have never fed the chickens: they had about 6 hectares to free range and  that's where they got their food, so I didn't think it would be really nescessary to give them a sort of 'concentrate' in a ready made product since granes and seeds are very healthy as well 
Learning every day..

You know a lot about chickens Joyfull and Anhbuc. How long have you been keeping chickens??

[ANHBUC]

I have only had mine for around 28 months but I did loads of research first.  I have also learnt plenty from this site.

You are right about your parents hens, if they have access to all their needs in the wild they will have been fine.  When they are enclosed in a smaller area their isn't enough goodness for them to stay healthy and produce nice eggs.

You could always feed them the layers pellets and keep the other to give them a small amount in the late afternoon.   

[joyfull]

I have hens for about 9 years or so and before that ducks, but I have been bought up with relatives keeping bantams so have picked my knowledge up over many years, plus reading up like ANHBUC, and have learnt a lot from people on here. Nobody knows it all so we are all still learning 

[Silkychicks]

So you both picked up quite some information on this forum as well.. I can imagine you coninue learning for a long time.. Once the situation is like this and next time it's different so you can't just copy your solution 
This forum (and the rest of the site) is really good. Very friendly and helpfull.

I did quite some reading before I started but still when they got here, everything seemed to be different then the books said 

(Ad just went up the stairs to lay an egg  she often has one or two goes before settling down to lay..)
Do you know when a silky starts laying? Ad was 6 months when I got her and the breeder was allready breeding with her.. Her eggs where allready having the size of a 'grown up egg'. Now Truus is about 5 months, but she looks like she is far from laying: she is still in her babysuit, developing her feathers..

[Sassy]

I would echo what Joyfull and Anhbuc have said. I have been keeping poultry for about 10 years and have learnt a lot both from experience and this site. I would also recommend feeding layers pellets - you can them be certain that they are getting the vitamins and minerals that they need to make good eggs and to stay healthy.

Truus may start to lay soon but is still a little young. At the end of the day they lay when they are ready and they are all different.

[joyfull]

Birds over here are often sold at 14 weeks and called point of lay, this causes so many buyers a lot of grief because they think they will start laying straight away or in the following couple of weeks and they wonder what is wrong with their birds or if they are doing something wrong.  Hybrids can lay from about 17 weeks but most pure breeds can be anything from 24 weeks through to 32 weeks (and even the odd one won't lay until they are nearly a year  ).

The breeder shouldn't have been using your older girl for breeding with as it is still a pullet (a female chicken under 1 year old), they should wait until the bird becomes a hen - this helps to make sure that the chicks are the right size. Breeding too young has made a lot of birds smaller than they should be.

Over the years you will pick up things from your own experiences and yes two situations are never the same but with time you gain confidence in your own abilities to sort things out and also to offer help to others. In a years time you will be on here saying "well when mine did that I did .............." 

[Silkychicks]

A Year!?!?  That means chickensoup!!

No, I am not in a hurry for Truus to start laying: just being curious 
She needs to mature first: she is still growing and finishing her feathers.

So the breeder shouldn't have done that.. Maybe that explains why Truus is getting bigger than Ad allthough it's the same breed and they are both banthams. The reason I could take her with me was that he found her to small to breed with, but she was his only black bird.
He had an ad up for baby chickens and I phoned: they where still really small. So I was a bit dissapointed after being on a waitinglist twice allready with anonther breeder without succes: to many males. The pen and the coop have been ready since mid-summer last year!
We discussed this and then he said I could have the two I have now: Ad being to small and Truus has one toe less than she should have so he wouldn't be able to sell her to someone who would want to do a show.

Yesterday I went to the shop all happy because now I knew what I was looking for    Wormingstuff: they don't do all the worms: no worming stuff that also does the lung worms, no layerpellets: you have to order them and they wait until they have a full sending (I maight have to wait for 3 weeks before they order it), no  diatomacious earth, no repellent for bloodlice.
I was deeply dissapointed in the progress of understanding of keeping chickens here! 

Sometimes it cheaper to order things (Juicers for example) from the UK..
Could anyone advise me on a good site where I could order things? Maybe they also do delvery through Europe (not the layer pellets, I ordered them at the shop).

[ANHBUC]

It must be frustrating for you.  I think that back yard chicken keeping has been popular for a lot longer over here.  I am not sure you would be able to order some of the things from the uk due to regulations.  Hopefully another member might advise you on that.