2 months ago I started putting the feed in a big freezer drawer to stop bow weavels and I topped it off with fresh bags of Dumar scratch grains/layer pellets. I was getting average sporatic egg production for winter, but they stopped laying completely... no eggs for 2 months so I got some different feed 4 days ago and I'm already starting to get eggs again.
we started doing a mixture feed and not just chicken feed and they started laying again but everyone i know with chickens that kept feeding Purina feed there egg production kept not producing.
I've been using Nutrena and haven't seen a problem with laying. Got my chicks 6 months ago, and now they are laying in the middle of winter. It might not be every day, but there's at least one or two a day. I also supplement their feed with greens, sensible scraps, and a protein seed mix.
Ok just my 2 cents I'm 65 years old had chickens all my life and everything you said is true as far as I know but what caught my ear is so many of these people said was thear flock just quit laying and I have never seen that befor and like you nothing at this point would not suprises me. God bless
We switched feed a couple weeks ago and now make our own. The naysayers that say this is really not a feed issue?? I beg to differ! I live in a small town and we know. 😉😁
I have been keeping laying hens for about 20 years.... I have noticed the feed quality going down for about five years...... I do not put a light on my birds..... my girls rest... they don't normally lay from October to February first....... normally my flock starts laying like clock work February 1... not this year.... I have used both Tractor Supply and Family Farm and home......I have some old gals and young gals..... I have a 12 year old Rhode Island Red still laying last season... not sure what happened... though I have switched to making my own feed...hopefully they will start laying.. Will be hatching out some peeps soon
I became a subscriber to your channel about a week ago, and I would have to say that your videos are very informative. I look forward to watching your channel grow.
Mine stopped laying when it was super cold in Dec. but they started laying again last month. Maybe only 3 a day but mine are two years old. We feed ours Nutrena with DE. We go to TS and price match. We also give them oatmeal and scrambled eggs. Add minced garlic, oregano, chili pepper flakes, and ground cinnamon. Also cabbage and winter squash as a treat. Apple cider vinegar and minced garlic to their water. ❤️🐓❤️
I’ve used tractor supply feed for a year now with no problem but I also supplement their feed with greens, seeds and scraps every day. I also keep a light on in the run and let them stay up after dark for an extra hour. That way the coop is still dark enough for them. Love you videos. Lots of info.
Your spot on. I went and checked the feed. I found that some feeds have gone from 16 percent to 15 percent. I read that chickens need at least 16 percent for egg production. There was some 20 percent but I also read that sometimes when the percent is to high its hard on the birds. So yes your right some are cutting the protein percentage. But it's very hard to get some of these supplies nowadays.
My chickens are not having any issues laying. I have been feeding them the TSC Producer Pride layer feed pellets for over a year and I have not seen any production slow down. I have see an increase in my chickens going rogue and laying around the yard than in the box so we have been going on early Easter egg hunts. I totally understand how people would think this but honestly I think they need to start looking around the yard for other laying spots. PS- I have a Rhode Island Red that as soon as I open the coop in the morning, she hops the fence and goes and lays up under a bush, every day.
Glad to hear that it’s hopefully just nothing or maybe a bad batch or something. Just wouldn’t surprise me with how everything is that if some major company was doing anything
@@AcresOfAdventure I totally agree but TSC isn't like most major companies. I don't really shop at stores for stuff, usually get stuff on amazon or order online but I will always go to TSC. They are always nice to me, always wanting to help out. I don't think they have the market share to do anything like that. If it was ever found out that they did do something shady, it could kill their business.
Are usually don't let my chickens out to free range until about 2 o'clock in the afternoon when they're done laying their eggs. But if you want to let the free range all day. Get a couple covered litter boxes, and throw some straw in there. They will go in there and lay their eggs. Easier than trying to crawl under the bushes.
We’ve been using purina scratch for years from tractor supply and they lay even during the winter California And our stores sell organic dozen for well under $10
I’m happy to hear that! Like I said I just wouldn’t be shocked if they were doing something. Hopefully if it was anything it was just a bad shipment or batch or something and everything is good now
I've been using Producer's Pride for about a year now cause it's cheaper than most others. I've not seen a major difference in egg production especially in the winter time than other feed. That being said I probably got lucky not being affected but I'm dedicating a portion of my field this year to grow my own grain/feed for my chickens because everything going on.
Can you help advise what grains are you growing for your chickens? I was growing corn & big rats cleaned them all up before they weee even ripe on the stock!
All this conspiracy stuff with the chicken feed can be avoided very easily. Number one: Mix your own high protein feed. Number two: Free range when possible and safe to do so. Number three: Make sure your chickens are not stressed by anything in their environment. Number four: Feed your kitchen scraps to your chickens. And last thing: Personally I don't like to do this, but you can add supplemental lighting when days are short. Chickens need 12 to 16 hours of daylight for the best egg production.
IT IS THE PURINA FEED! I got almost no eggs for months. I switched and now getting 6-7 eggs per day from 9 hens. It may not be intentional, but something has been done....too much filler, non enough protein. Who knows but something happened
I have 4 who are just coming up on laying age, and I gave them leftover hot dogs and the next day I got my first egg! Probably not related but was funny. I feed purina from tractor supply but mostly they eat scraps and leftovers. I don’t think the companies are messing with the feed because people would stop buying and they’d lose money, but idk! 😅
As always, awesome video! I wish I could keep up with how quickly you can get a video out 😂. It takes everything I have to get one a week! Keep it up, you’re doing great!
Thanks so much!! It isn’t the easiest thing but if making these videos can one day keep me home with the family it will be more than worth it. Love your videos as well, you do great editing and explaining, Keep it up!
@@AcresOfAdventure we have the same goal, my friend! It’s been fun watching your channel grow, you took off real quick! Keep it up, your videos are informative and you do a great job of keeping the viewers interested! I know from experience that is the hardest part 😂
You're right. It wouldn't surprise me in the least of they're altering the chicken feed. After all, they've been destroying thousand of chickens by fire.
It's because since 2020 there's hundreds of thousands of new backyard laying hen owners and most of them don't realize chickens lay less in the winter and less as they get older, it's simply natural.
I have been feeding our chickens Purina mostly they haven't been laying barely anything. I mixed their food 2 weeks ago and they are laying 9-12 a day now! Pretty awesome
I use TSC feed. Sometimes,I mix my own feed for them. They have plenty of fresh water. They eat table scraps,greens,fruit peels..... even dry cat food - when they can 🤣🤣🤣 I have 4 black copper marens hens. I get 2-3-or 4 eggs every single day!!!
I feed dumor nongmo mini layer pellets. Have for years. Every winter my hens stop laying because I live in northern Maine. This year, however, they are still laying! SO, I can say pretty certainly that the dumor nongmo minipellets are fine to feed. Just sayin.
Many of the other videos I’ve seen feature people who’ve had chickens for years. If these were complaints from first-timers, I’d be less inclined to believe something is up with the feed, but this so-called conspiracy theory is coming from many, many people who’ve spent their lives caring for chickens, and who all made the claim that something major changed right around the same time. Whether it’s some intentional conspiracy or someone in the chicken feed supply chain has cut costs and caused it unintentionally is largely irrelevant. We can’t just outright dismiss the notion that something is wrong with the products we’re feeding to our livestock; if nobody was ever allowed to questioned the claims made by corporate PR, execs, government officials, and so forth, we’d live in a very different world. The implication is that the end consumer is simply inept or misguided for questioning the quality of what they’ve been sold; if that’s the world we live in, we’d still be prescribing Thalidomide to pregnant women, OxyContin for sprained ankles, and cigarettes for asthma; we’d still be blaming “poor driving habits” when faulty vehicles kill their drivers, user error for airline crashes caused by faulty computer codes, and god for mesothelioma. This isn’t to say we should always blame the big, evil corporations for everything, but in this particular case, we might start with an easy, well-documented experiment to determine if the feed is truly the problem. For anyone with more than 30 chickens, they’d split them into three groups. For 60 days, feed each group one of three options; two different brands from two separate parent companies, and a control group fed from a mix of one’s own (table scraps, fresh vegetables, crickets… whatever is feasible). Record the results. Then, switch the feed around, and repeat, until all three groups have had all three feeds. If Purina is the problem, that’ll give you strong evidence.
My chickens had been scratching. Summer here in Australia. I can’t see an mites or lice. If we don’t anything other other than keep their coup clean will it all come good? I had been adding apple cider vinegar to their water as well. It’s imposssible for me to treat their coup & everywhere as they free roam the pastures in the day digging dust baths etc. so where do I start but hope the pests can disappear eventually on their own , or will they?
I use the brown carton 1% swine/cattle injectable noromectin. But dose carefully. It is 0.1 ml per bird. You dont mix it in the feed or water. You wait til they roost and then draw up your syringes and squirt it in their mouths. Yes. I do this twice a year and have no lice, no mites, and no worms. This will keep your birds very healthy and is easy to do. They say you shouldnt eat the eggs for a month afterwards, but I do and have no issues. Just remember it is zero point one. So that is one tenth of a cc or one tenth of an ml. You will need like 1 ml oral dosing syringes for ease of dosing. This dose is for smaller birds like mine which are americana banties. If you have massive birds like RIR ask your vet to do you a dose based on their body weight.
The feed tags are not really giving ingredients now. Purina, nutrena and the other one saying grains instead of what kind of grains. I want to know what is in the feed. Better yet I will never buy Purina and it’s off brands ever again and that goes for all animals
