[bubs]

can anybody tell me the correct amount of layers pellets that should be fed to each hen for maximum egg production , i have got 17 hens and used 4 20 kilo sacks in 7 weeks and  i thought that excessive given i am not getting 50% egg production from them , they also get some corn and household food waste .
i was telling my neighbour who has got 12 hens and gets at least 90% productivity about me going thru 4 sacks in 7 weeks and he went thru 4 sacks in 4 weeks ?  surely i ain't underfeeding them they get about 3 jugs a day plus other foods , so i think i had better weigh the pellets out to see if i can get them laying more eggs . many thanks for any help.

[Bigblacktaximan]

I thiink the general consensus is that they should have pellets available all the time.

I don't its the best time of year to be worrying about maximising egg production owing to colder temperatures,   shorter daylight hours,

In fact,  if you look through the forum you'll see several people bemoaning the decreased productivity despite same or increased food consumption.

[Foxy]

also could be something else eating his pellets apart from chickens..

As long as your birds have layers pellets ad lib you are feeding them correctly. Make sure that the main bulk of their diet is layers pellets and not treats. Most poultry apart from first laying season hybrids will drop off laying due to the reasons above.

[hillfooter]

Yes make the pellets available adlib.  They won't over eat if you use a balance compound feed though they can if you give them a high energy density feed.  Any normal layers is fine.

A typical L/F layer will eat around 900grams a week and although they won't be producing many eggs at this time of year, to keep warm they will need to consume more calories. Based on my figure they should consume around 107kgs over 7 weeks which is 5 X 20kg sacks (or 4 X 25kg).  Given you are also feeding corn and some scraps it doesn't seem you are too far wrong.  Don't overdo the scraps and corn (keep to less than 10%) as foxy says.  Larger breeds will eat more and smaller less so it will depend on what type of chx your neighbour has which will determine how much they eat as well as their egg production.  His chx consumption seems very high even so.  It could be mice or wild birds helping themselves too as Foxy suggests.

You can't force feed the hens to produce more eggs I'm afraid.
Best wishes
HF

[Fredjones]

I have read that you give your hens 125g of layers pellets/mash per bird per day plus treats

[Foxy]

I have read that you give your hens 125g of layers pellets/mash per bird per day plus treats

That probably about right, however a watchout is that hens will always prefer their calories from treats and not pellets so if you do feed treats in the afternoon is a good idea.
I have never weighed the birds feed just have always einsured that there is always plenty in the feeder. I dont feed any treats though  just accasionally a little mixed corn  in the afternoon if exceptionally cold.

[lightyears]

i put 4 mugs of layers into my hopper per day and they more or less eat it all. still getting 5 eggs from 5 birds at the moment.

[hillfooter]

Although it's often said that chx regulate their intake to suit their needs research has found that this is only true when they are fed a low energy density feed so clearly bulk plays a part in this self regulating process.  Not surprising really and a similar mechanism exists in humans which I suspect is the reason fast foods which contain high energy levels for low bulk tend to cause or encourage obesity through over eating.  So this is why it is recommended to feed treats later in the day so that the chx get the bulk of their intake on the balanced feed and just "top up" on the unbalanced high energy treats.

This is also why you need to know about nutrition and formulating feed to formulate your own bulk feed.  Not only do you need to understand your chx need for particular nutrients and their proportion but also the energy to bulk ratio for optimum performance.  Using ingredients because they are reputed to be "good and health giving and readily eaten" can lead to over eating and obese unhealthy chx.  Feed companies take a lot of trouble to get these factors right so commercial egg producers optimise the cost/ return of feed.  Obviously this doesn't need to be quite so precise for hobbist's flocks but you know if you feed a balanced compound feed as a staple diet you won't be far wrong.

Best wishes
HF

[dizzylizzie]

hI, I have 15 birds, i go through a large sack every 3-4 weeks. I think you need to make sure you give them a good quality layers pellets to meet their needs. I dont give mine access to anything other than the pellets till lunchtime, when they free-range in the garden and have access to all manor of 'goodies'. If it is very cold i give them a handful or so of corn late afternoon also. The most important thing to remember is to make sure you have enough feeders to allow everyone to feed.(watch out for bullies etc), and leave the feeders out so they have unlimited access to it throughout the day. I personally wouldnt weigh it out because of several reasons..
The measurement is there as a guidline only.
Some may eat more than others, so if you weigh out a set measurement, when its gone its gone and some of the less dominant birds may not have had enough to eat.
Something else may be helping themselfs to food. If you have 'dinner guests', i.e.rats, mice etc, they are eating into the birds rations, giving the birds less than the required amount to sustain them at a healthy level.
I have found my girls to be hungrier in the colder weather, so again, if you measured out a set ration per bird, someone will go without!
I just half fill a few feeders, spread them around so they all have access to them all day, clean up spilt food at the end of the day to discourage vermin, and bring the feeders in the house at night. Wash the feeders and re-fill when they are empty...SIMPLES

[bubs]

i put 4 mugs of layers into my hopper per day and they more or less eat it all. still getting 5 eggs from 5 birds at the moment.

i have had 17 chicken for 18-24 months now and i have not averaged 50 production over the complete period , i know they moult and go off laying and there have been a number of periods where i have not had eggs for weeks yet the hens are about 6 months apart age wise , i am really baffled because my neighbour gets about 90% from the same hens roughly the same age and every day he gets more eggs from 12 than i got from {19} now down to 17 , in the last 3 days i have had 12 eggs to collect from a possible 51 , he would have collected at least 28 from a possible 36  .

[Foxy]

sure he's not telling little porkies??

[dizzylizzie]

[/quote]i have had 17 chicken for 18-24 months now and i have not averaged 50 production over the complete period , i know they moult and go off laying and there have been a number of periods where i have not had eggs for weeks yet the hens are about 6 months apart age wise , i am really baffled because my neighbour gets about 90% from the same hens roughly the same age and every day he gets more eggs from 12 than i got from {19} now down to 17 , in the last 3 days i have had 12 eggs to collect from a possible 51 , he would have collected at least 28 from a possible 36  .
[/quote]

maybe he's jumping over the fence and nicking some of yours

[SMD66]

Hi bubs,
I have 17 hens, 2 in moult and am getting 10 - 12 eggs a day. 
3 are almost 2 yrs old, 9 are 11 months old and 5 are about 8 months old.

Are you sure you don't have red mite in the shed?  That would account for the low egg count.  I got red mite in my small shed when I only had 3 hens and the egg laying fell off dramatically before I found what the problem was.  i,e before I found this forum and discovered what to look for!!

[lightyears]

i put 4 mugs of layers into my hopper per day and they more or less eat it all. still getting 5 eggs from 5 birds at the moment.

i have had 17 chicken for 18-24 months now and i have not averaged 50 production over the complete period , i know they moult and go off laying and there have been a number of periods where i have not had eggs for weeks yet the hens are about 6 months apart age wise , i am really baffled because my neighbour gets about 90% from the same hens roughly the same age and every day he gets more eggs from 12 than i got from {19} now down to 17 , in the last 3 days i have had 12 eggs to collect from a possible 51 , he would have collected at least 28 from a possible 36  .

i find a happy hen seems to be a more productive hen, there isnt anything around your chickens thats distirbing or upsetting them is there? mine went off lay the other day as the leader bird died, but since then they are back on form. A old guy at my allotment said, that chickens are weird little things, some can be laying some not, and its just nature, nothing no one can do about it.

[IMOmimey]

what are the breeds of your hens, and what breed does your neighbour keep? some breeds are happy to lay through the winter, (sadly, not mine). Some lay every day for first 2 years, then down to 2-3 per week, some will lay every other day or so, for nearly all their lives. Each chook is born with a finite number of potential eggs, and once they have been laid, they are gone.

So whether they are laid all in first couple of years, or steadily over time is mostly down to breed. This is assuming all in good health of course. Remember, each hen is an individual, and some live by their own rules

A certain member on here, discovered his hens had been laying underneath his shed!, All along he thought egg production was poor, whilst his girls were very successfully laying and hiding them from him. I think he found over a hundred eggs.  So have a check for mites, eggs hidden, and for vermin.

Good luck, but dont expect eggs for a while over winter anyway.  Roll on spring, thats what I say