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Getting chickens through their molt

642 views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Alder 
#1 ·
My chicken are in molt. I have maybe 4 young pullets and they are close
to laying but not yet. I have customers crying for eggs.
I was planning on not adding to my standard hen numbers. I have quite
a few bantams but those new pullets are not laying yet either.
Ducks are doing good though :)
I now have a customer who will take all the chicken and duck eggs
I can produce every week. I have told her that my regular customers
get first priority. And this week my regulars are wanting more than usual :(

So I been keeping the protein going into these hens. And lots of pep talks.
And giving them warm water. Also a good size bowl of dog food for a little extra.
Today the egg numbers are finally starting to go up. I sure hope so.

What do you do ?
 
#3 ·
Oh mine are getting a rest. Eggs have been low in numbers for awhile now.
I got to feed them, so may as well feed them as good as I can afford to.
I wish I could give them meal worms now and then but that is not in the budget,
especially for the numbers I have.
I don't play the light game is what I call it. No timer on the lights. I just turn
the lights on at 6 am and when it is dark outside , it is get on the roosts, and lock down.
Now it is about 5 pm when that happens.

Depending on if I keep this new egg customer who wants big numbers ( she resells )
will determine if I seriously keep the standard size hens going in numbers. I should
put on so many new pullets each year. I don't want to go much more than 50 big hens
at a time. I really like my bantams.

I am going to have to ask for more money for the eggs. Especially from this bulk customer.
She keeps coming back so I must be doing something right.
 
#4 ·
What do you do ?
My customers know that eggs are a seasonal food.
If they need more, they buy at the grocery.

But I only have a half dozen folk I sell to regularly, and few others during high production times.
When I get a dozen, and pullet eggs take more than 12 to make weight, I call the next person on the list.
Even using timed lights the hens molt and stop laying but probably start up again sooner than without lights,
which is good so I can hatch replacements earlier.
I use a higher protein feed all year and adjust 'treats' accordingly.
 
#5 ·
Sometimes the molt just takes forever no matter what we do. A lot of times the hens won't lay for a while even after they are finished.

I use a fish feed during times when I need high protein. It's lower in sodium than dog or cat feed and has some good things in it for chickens. What I use is around 45% protein. It uses fish meal, so don't over do it or the eggs could taste a little fishy. I like to use it as a scratch in combination with a high protein chicken feed.

Some of my hens are taking some extra time this year. I don't use lights, but I sure am starting to think about putting one in the coop.
 
#6 ·
More light (extend their day-length to 14 hours) and give them higher protein feed if they are molting, but it's the day-length that really makes the difference.

It's natural for them to quit over the winter. I'm farther north than you. Usually mine quit about the first of November and start up again about the first of March. It gets so darned cold here in winter that I usually don't encourage winter laying because the eggs freeze and crack almost immediately anyway. My customers can wait 'til spring - just like me.
 
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