It's important to eliminate all the likely causes first. After that, we can look for other possibilities. So what do you think about the "bad chicken feed" conspiracy? Let me know in the comments!
@@faithevrlasting I did read that study along with several other reports dealing with Purina, Cal-Maine, etc. Wasn't going to stir up a hornets nest about all that given that a lot of people still think it is just normal for literally 1000's of people all across the US to have this problem with PURINA produced chicken feed sold under the name of TSC brands. Normal, I mean by them saying it is winter & cold, shorter days or molting. Even a well known YT Homesteader had the same problem with the same feed & made a video that their chickens had slowed down laying back in Sept & completely stopped in November. These people would NOT risk losing viewers by reporting on a "conspiracy theory" and lose their reputation on top of that. I didn't want to admit that I had bought 2 bags of that feed in question but if I kept quiet about it, as well as others that have used it, no one would know. I commented on this video, too with the facts. What about the bird flu being diagnosed with the fake PCR tests that have resulted in the culling of over 70 MILLION chickens...and the Hillandale Egg Farm fire (one of the largest FAMILY OWNED-OPERATED Egg farms in the US) in CT burning down last weekend. A top US family owned-operating egg farm competing with the country's LARGEST Corporate egg producer, Cal-Maine that has made MILLIONS since egg prices have skyrocketed? This rabbit hole goes much deeper than most will even care to listen to. But those wouldn't believe the Pub Med study, either, would they? Could this be about centralizing the food supply into one huge conglomerate! Take out every private company and every individual farm/homestead. Making everyone dependent on just one mega establishment? Or rid the country of eggs because of other nefarious actions coming down the pike re: Pub Med study??? Who the heck knows anymore!!
@@davidthegood Yes there is, unfortunately. A lot of people are using the Tucker Milling Feed that is made here in North AL. Excellent quality and the chickens eat it very well. Baldwin Feed/Seed in Bay Minette (by the tracks) carries it as well as the feed store in Canoe in case you're interested in using it. Found this comment in another Homesteader YT. I've reached out to the person that made the comment to see if I could get a copy of the report. I've also got a sample of the feed I was using & will go Monday to the County Extension office to see if they can send it off for testing. Not that I want to file a class action lawsuit against anyone but only to have written PROOF so the truth can be made known about this feed debacle so it can hopefully be laid to rest. Seems the problem is a major PROTEIN deficiency. I will keep you posted either with the report from the person in FL or when I get my feed sample testing back (Producer's Pride-Purina produced & packaged for TSC). This is what the comment said (can't post a screenshot here or I would have done that instead): “A friend of my sisters raises chickens, and she had the same problem with Dumor and Producers Pride. The hens completely stopped laying. She changed the feed and sent samples to our local county extension office, who then forwarded the samples to the University of Florida for testing. They determined that the feed had LESS THAN HALF THE PROTEIN STATED ON THE BAG. She said that if enough people take their feed to get tested and get the same results, then a class action lawsuit would be possible.”
The more questions I ask the more that I have come to realize that my chickens are lying to me. I don't know what they are doing but I'm going to find out. I think that loud one with the fancy feathers is the ring leader.
If you’re looking to sort the venerable language of our favorite barnyard fowl, the chicken, there is a great book on Amazon entitled: How to speak chicken. I learned that the name my chickens gave me was “buck-buck derrrrr”. That book will change your life. Sincerely, David The Good’s Doppelgänger
I put a baby monitor in our chicken coop so we could hear when the predator was getting in at night. We called it Chicken Radio. The predator was a mink, very sneaky, but we got him. Ya know, hens talk in their sleep? It's a cross between clucking and cooing. Very soothing: better than Zone Out TV on Roku. I always wondered what they dreamed about... that grass snake they pulled from the rock wall and slurped like spaghett then they all talked about it like Miss Marple at a tea party? Maybe. Prescription for moms and dads with a toddler who fights sleep because he "might miss something gojng on in his miniscule world": a comfy rocker and tune in to Chkcken Radio. Our toddler is now 30. Sorry. But your comment reminded me.😂
@@RTCPhotoWorkThe primary decline is in the unnatural products used in U.S. foods, like High Fructose Corn syrup. Its one of many horrible ingredients that gets U.S., FDA-approved foods, banned from import, in other countries. Where I live, the farmers rejuvenate their soil in between crops. They add, and plant stuff that's strictly meant to renew the soil. Their soil is their livelihood, so taking care of it, is crucial to their survival.
@@RTCPhotoWorkMy bad, it just dawned on me, that you specified "industrial ag". I'm assuming you mean big brute companies like Monsanto's. I have heard that. That their GMO's not only contaminate us when we eat their products, but that it also contaminate the soil. I've also read that they know their GMO's will naturally spread to neighboring farms, after which, Monsanto's sues the small farmer for copyright infringement, after their GMO's contaminate the neighbor's crops.
In the Northern part of Mississippi lots of folks I’ve spoken to don’t buy from Tractor supply do to change in feed. Most buy locally from little mom & pops stores & their layer hens are happy.
If you have dairy animals, and have a surplus of milk, you can feed some of that to your chickens to supplement whatever else you are feeding them. I know some people say not to do this, but I've done it a lot without any adverse effects. A friend was feeding her chickens just organic grains, and wondered why she wasn't getting many eggs. She was milking a cow, and I suggested she just add some of the milk to their grain -- that did the trick, and the eggs came back up where they should be. Her hens were free-ranging, too.
Two of our new pullets went into lay just before winter and two others started laying after having mostly stopped for the winter. The two oldest never lay in winter. This is the first time we've had eggs over winter. We ran out of Dumor feed just before winter hit and I decided to make my own feed of eggshell, scratch, seeds, and dried greens I saved from the yard before winter (chickweed, nettles, henbit) because I just don't like processed foods of any kind. I've developed it to be nutritious. But we also give them egg or mealworms or liver during the week, yogurt occasionally, crushed acorns or pecans once a week, and a good amount of produce scraps. The birds seem happy and healthy on this diet and are laying excellent eggs. In summer, they have a large fenced yard for free-ranging and they get just a little scratch or fermented wheat and the produce scraps and occasional extra protein but they get tons of bugs, seeds, and weeds all summer. That said, I did just find a 2021 study that shows a constituent in eggs actually stops Sars-Cov2 virus from binding to docking receptors in humans. So......it all just makes you wonder.....as egg farms burn to the ground and people say the feed may be involved. That's all pretty coincidental.
Lol, as someone who’s raised chickens for over 35 years I appreciate your humor about chickens not laying in winter and the “great conspiracy“ behind it……in the dead of winter……..during the shortest part of the year……..when they’re coming out of molt…….😂 I however have had horrible luck with that Dumor brand feed. My local feed mill makes a much higher quality feed at a lower price and my chickens do great on it. I gave up on buying feed from Tractor Supply years ago when I was getting nothing but dusty stale feed from them.
I started buying conventional purina layer feed and scraps and when winter came i got less eggs as per usual..but then one day they stopped laying completely...i changed to feeding them my pig feed and then they started laying again..so i have some suspicions about the feed change phenomenon
It's good to pay attention to things like that. We stopped feeding the cheap feed some time ago, and our birds have been laying well. However, some of our chickens went to a friend's farm and quit laying for a while afterwards. The feed /does/ make a difference.
Mine are still in prime laying years and have stopped laying regular for almost a year. I buy expensive feed too. Also get table scraps. They are free range. I don't know what's going on.
Fifty plus coturnix quail born October 24. Not one has laid and egg yet. Started with Purina game bird starter, then switched to layer about 7 weeks of age. Feed mealworms, and oyster shell is available. Quail can start laying anytime from 7-9 weeks. I live in AZ. Plenty of sun. Plenty of safe space for them. Not one egg from any of them. Recently started a new feed brand, but still purchasing from tractor supply as it’s about the only option for mixed commercial feed. Near me, and that’s an hour and a half away. I recently started grinding black sunflower seeds,oats, dried and crushed egg shell with mealworms. Nothing yet. One of my friend lives in Hawaii. Another here by me in AZ, all of us understand the seasons of poultry, there’s a big difference between slowing down and stopping altogether. Both friends was advised to stop feeding chicken feed and change to goat feed (dry cob/scratch), hens started laying again. I haven’t gone that route. Still no eggs from any of the fifty plus quail. Brand new flock as of October.
@Raven’s Ridge I am in Florida. I have quail hens and am having the same problem. Out of all my hens only one lays eggs occasionally and the rest have never laid an egg. They are all almost a year old and I have been adding mealworms/calcium and extra light. Nothing yet. I am about to call it quits with the quail. I also started mine on new feed from Tractor supply. I do have a few males left and they do not act like typical quail males. No crowing. Not interested in the ladies either. This is not self sustaining or self sufficient with no eggs or hanky panky!
I've had the same in Australia, 21 chickens, used to get 6-12 a day only a few months back and now lucky if I get 1-2 eggs day. Feeding them mainly Showbird atm + some fermented scratch mix as a treat.
Very level-headed, realistic and thoughtful response to this current subject. Boring! It would be much more exciting if you affirmed my fears and demanded that I move my chickens into my house for their protection. Just my opinion. BTW, the bamboo chicken house is the Bee's knees!
My hens are finally laying well again, swear it was October since I got a reliable production. No, it's not the food, lousy weather, winter, and a hard molt.
I don't know cause I always buy grains separate and mix my own, I add sunflower seed and a little dry catfood to boost the protein. Yeah, mine stopped laying when they molted then came shot days but they're laying like crazy now. Happens every year and I glassed 20+ doz in reserve... gave the last jar away last week.
We had a bigger slow down this winter. But ..our hens turned 2, we got new chicks in fall, our chickens molted, new chicks got integrated, we had a very early artic plunge. So, there was a lot going on, and I expected a slow down. We use the organic too, the highest priced one tsc carries. Now the eggs are rolling in, earlier than last year. Hopefully everyone gets some soon. I love giving them some extra black oil sunflower seeds in winter, too. I'm going to try growing a crop of sunflowers for them this year.
@@cecilitaH I grow sunflowers in my chicken yard. I have a fenced area within the run that they can't get into. I do kind of a 3 sisters thing in there with whatever pole beans I have around, gourds and sunflowers, good shade in the summer and I let them pick around at the seeds after frost.
We likewise were feeding the organic TSC layer feed to our Spring 2022 hens (not DuMor or Purina), mixed with DuMor non-GMO scratch grains and some black oil sunflower seeds. When it was time to top off our feed can, we decided to switch to Tucker Milling's Nature Crest mini layer pellet. I have to say, the day we mixed that into their feed, all of our girls jumped on it like it had live crickets and grasshoppers in it or something! We had one leghorn who was going through some spotty laying (skipping one day between eggs, then only laying one or two before skipping another day) and she has not had another skip day so far since switching to this other food.
I did a video on this and the mob came after me with pitchforks and flaming torches just because I did not jump on the bandwagon. I have my opinions about the feeds they're griping about, never fed them, but when I read the labels, well, those tell the tale. All this happened when chickens naturally slow down, late summer to early winter, someone screamed that the sky was falling and everyone else jumped on board. I have fed feed with meat and bone meal for 18 years, plus free ranged groups on a rotating basis. Chickens crave animal protein, I swear. I feed them fat off my steak, extra hamburger and they go nuts for it and I have old hens laying. Some of my hens have lived to 14+ years old, some even would still lay a few eggs each year approaching that age. But, people did not want to believe my logic and common sense and experience and are making up insane stories. Thanks for some common sense here. I had to make a second video analyzing the best feeds at TSC and the crappiest ones, though I never buy from that place myself. Geez. Thanks, David. ~Cynthia
It can be harrowing to be on UA-cam. I've run into people that are better educated on a topic than myself, and into people who are know-it-alls and are not on my level, and into people that are just trolls that need banning. It can be tough sorting through what you're facing, especially on a hot topic. As for the chickens - yep - they really do love animal protein. We've soaked their feed in sour milk from our cows and they love that.
@@davidthegood yep, used to be an old remedy for coccidiosis, raw and/or dry milk mixed in the feed. Anyway, thanks for a rational video, so few on this current subject right now. I've been quite disappointed in many channels with the fearmongering and bandwagon-jumping clickbait stuff. Have a good weekend!
Chickens are obligate omnivores. We had a possum problem. The possum hordes attacked my chickens on a regular basis. I can only conclude they wanted the sweet sweet chicken meat from my sweet hens. I shot those possums and left the carcasses for my birds. Whoever ate the eyeballs probably laid the most eggs that year. Those birds loved eating possum in the winter. Some people like to grab fresh roadkill on their way home from work and throw it in the chicken pen. Give them some fresh meet of your local woodland creatures and they’ll love you for it. Sincerely, David the Good’s Doppelgänger
@David P Robbins Exactly right there. My chickens dive on meat more than anything else. I've watched them obliterate a mouse, fight over baby snakes and lizards. When companies removed good animal protein from feed round about 15 years ago (most of them, I still fed meat based feeds-Tucker Milling in the south still sells one or two, though they removed it from the feed I used for 17 years, a 22% layer mini pellet, and even Dumor has an All Flock with meat and bone meal), feather quality and egg production just tanked for many who didn't allow any other feed or free range time.
Glad you go organic. I do too. Nowhere around here deliberately carries organic feed in my small town. I get my local feed store to special order my preferred organic brand. I use New Country Organics brand corn and soy free "house blend #8" in the red bag. Its fairly expensive but I can't deal with regular brands and the stuff they contain. Perhaps a local store near you can source it if you want to try it. There's bunches of different blends and feeds for other livestock too. Always have great success with this feed. All American grown ingredients too.
That statement "you are what you eat" is so very true! We likewise only feed our animals the best food we can afford... We have one cat that is special needs and gets a prescription food, but the other cat gets grain-free food that isn't the brands you'd find at the grocery store, so it's not the cheapest food. Our chickens, therefore, also get fed only organic feed along with their foraging and treats. Also, it seems that the food that is cheapest is an "easy target" for anyone who wants to ensure there's health disruptions in the population that consumes that food. For people, what I think about is "Supersize Me" - one person ate nothing but fast food for breakfast, lunch, and supper for a certain period of time and developed a LOT of health issues that were not there before he started eating this CHEAP food. If he had continued on that way of eating, he would have been on many pharmaceutical medications. Our animals are the same way... Cheap and filling ingredients of stuff that may not even be food in the "food products" of animals will have the potential to cause issues. I'm a fairly new chicken Momma, and one thing that sticks out to me is that the checklist of indicators that your hens are not healthy is - activity level (are they lethargic?), - appetite (are they interested in and eating their food well?), -age (are they younger than 18 months old? If older than 18 months, are they older than 3 years old?), and -eggs (are they laying?). So. Where the activity level and appetite is good, I would look at the age of the hens and their condition. If all the boxes check off as "no issues", then I would look at the food. You have to do your own sleuthing for your own birds... If you think the feed is the reason, then, by all means, change what you're feeding your birds.
My local farm sells feed in 50 pound bags that are 3 dollars less then tsc. Pullen feed. I buy Vermont organics for 2 dollars less then tsc organic feed. It helps to shop around and support the local business while we still have mom and pop shops.
I was feeding New Country Organics to mine and had great laying. Longer molting time than I expected, but great now. The girl that has my Florida flock says 20 chicks, has about 16, 18 eggs a day...but they have almost 10 acres free range, and she grows lots of treats and is even starting meal worms, God bless her. I have read a lot of posts where folks changed feed from tsc and got eggs, so, who knows... a new conspiracy every day...but so many come true!!!
Great video, David. I have 32 hens less than a yr old that were laying great prior to and during the Christmas Freeze. (I was collecting frozen eggs during the 3-4 days we had that didn't go above freezing). I live just west of you so our weather/sunlight etc., is the same. Was at TSC getting pipe wrap, styrofoam water spigot covers, heat lamps & bulbs for pump house & extra bedding for my chickens and picked up 2 bags of Producers Pride Chicken Layer Pellets. My normal feed store had already closed...by the tracks downtown, I'm sure you may have been there when you lived in my area prior to moving. I was almost out of their normal feed & the ONLY reason I bought TSC feed. ALL of my chickens stopped laying completely. Not one egg for over a month now. I heard about this TSC feed issue & did my own research & found that most all of TSC feed, even the Dumor Organic, the Layena, etc., is made by Purina. From what I have found out, Purina has used very poor quality protein/grains and may not even be up to the 16% protein as advertised. There is possibly no needed amino acids added, two being Lysine & Methionine that is needed for egg production to help bind protein. There is a Lysine shortage in the US since Russia stopped exporting it to the US in 2021. People that have fed their chicken's cooked rice (Lysine is in rice) and cat food (Much higher protein), their chickens started laying eggs again that had used the TSC feed that is in question. I started my hens back on their regular brand 3 days ago. I also added dry cat food to boost their protein. Cooking some rice now to feed them to add some Lysine to help them a bit more. Waiting to see if they will start laying again any day now. I don't use extra light in the winter months to let my hens REST, as God intended for them. I understand Mike Adams, Health Ranger with Natural News has gathered all brands of the TSC feeds on Jan 28th and is running tests on it to see if he can help solve this NATIONWIDE problem after he got MANY reports of chickens that just STOPPED LAYING even as far back as the summer, November and a big wave began in December. ALL of the reports from people whose hens stopped laying were using the PURINA produced TSC feeds...Producers Pride, Dumor, Dumor Organic, Layena, etc. I know of some friends that were feeding their dogs nothing but Purina Dog food started seeing a decline in their health with skin conditions, dull coats and losing weight so this could be due to the PURINA feed all around. You know that some companies are more into PROFITS than providing quality products. I'm NOT a conspiracy theorist but I do know that when I started using the Producers Pride Layer Pellets (a product of Purina) my hens COMPLETELY stopped laying eggs. Nothing else changed with them except the feed I gave them. They do get greens (weeds) as my greens (kale/collards) were killed off with the Christmas Freeze. They do get food scraps & oyster shells. Do I blame TSC, NO, but I could say that it is the cheap, poor-quality Purina Chicken Feed & my fault for resorting to its use but had no other option for buying any other feed at 6:30pm except from TSC. LOVE your bamboo chicken house. Gonna go hit up some people I know locally that would all but PAY ME to cut down some of the bamboo that has taken over their whole place! Need to redo one of my hen houses and I LOVE the look of the bamboo!!
I think you're wasting time, money & effort thinking rice is a good lysine source. Highest-Lysine Grains: Three grain products stand out for having the highest amounts of lysine per serving: seitan, quinoa and amaranth. It's only high(er) protein grains that even have a modicum of lysine. Oats has highest level of all the grains but even that is low.
Grits, Nice write up. Thank you. I agree that Purina "food" has gone downhill rapidly in the past few years. My cats would get Purina cat chow, along with other healthy food, and they started to get sick. I stopped the Purina cat chow and now feed better food. The same is true for chicken feed. People should be blaming Purina, not TSC.
@@willbass2869 Thank you for your info. I should have looked up what would have given me a higher Lysine level instead of doing what others had done that worked. I will go tomorrow to get Quinoa as I've seen it. I've got Amaranth seeds to plant to grow for my chickens. I've not heard of seitan. I am also picking up a higher level of protein feed like Game Bird feed to give them which is what I should have done, to begin with when I heard about problems with the feed I had given them which was only 2 bags. Since you seem to be well versed on things, my friend that owns the local feed/seed store had also heard about this feed problem and suggested I give my chickens a mash made with buttermilk or plain yogurt mixed with some of their NORMAL feed 2 times a week to help clear their systems as well as restore their GUT health. Any input on that regiment?
@@davidthegood Thank you, and I will get the info to you either here, or somehow on your website as I'm sure Mike will either do a report on his website, Brighteon or on his Telegram channel once the results are in. Blessings to you & your family, always.
as much as a conspiracy would make sense with what is going on. I believe its crappy chicken feed from a company (s) that always had crappy chicken feed, but because of the cost of things going up they are cutting even more corners and the feed is basically filler. I spent a year using Dumor a few years ago and it ended up being the worst year I ever had with chickens. I switched feed and the health of the chickens improved
Chickens also have a limited life cycle. At a given time they will slow down then stop laying eggs. You can also build a compost in their protected space . It will draw in bugs and worms. They will tear it down looking for goodies and you just have to pile it up with more fresh scraps and all the stuff they kick off.
Check out Edible Acres YT channel - they do composting in their chicken runs. I believe they are in Vermont (?) - have several videos of winter time chicken and compost. Super interesting.
From Beyond Lables PodCast- Jole Salatin: “ when I was a kid we were sent out every morning and were told to bring back a rodent of some kind, squirrel, rats, muskrat, field rat.. you bring it back rip it open and throw it in there with the chickens.
I think my hens are farming rats. They let one pair nest in a corner they can easily reach and pick off the pinkies as they arrive. I’ve seen them hunt down and eat adults, but they don’t get the adults in this single nest. Maybe that’s the conspiracy?
@@WinkTartanBelle they will keep producing protein for them, the chickens know better than take out all the food. Would it be nice? Of course but only for a day. The rats reproduce 10s of babies a month every month. Chickens aren’t dumb. I love that you shared that information!
Our new hens (hatched 2022) are laying. The old hens are not. Pretty sure. When I make bone broth, I give the pressure-cooked bones to the girls. The bones are soft, and the girls LOVE them. They get all the weeds during the growing season, and grass cuttings. I'm really glad I can go get rejected produce from the local grocery. We did switch out the purchased feed about 18 months ago. We now get it from a local farm'n'feed store.
Same thing has happen to my hens here in our Aussie summer .... I'd imagine due to costs the feed companies have opted to cut costs via a cheap substitute rather than an mrna feed or something along those lines
I think the conspiracy has a part to play in it...regarding bottom of the barrel stuff, that is. Like you say though, when the days get shorter the hens don’t have time or energy to lay. Your tips on grubs and greens will be a godsend to many, no doubt 💯💛🍀
@@gelwood99 intentional? Naw. Probably just an error at the feed plant. Someone probably moved the decimal point over when calculating the ingredient mix after the plant got a new source. The big plants have to rebalance the ration pretty often cause they're juggling new ingredient sources due to supply chain issues. You know.....typical modern American public school innumeracy.
I have ducks .. because everything wants to eat chickens. Well, mainly because I have access to large amounts of wood chip biomass, that makes terrific soil, but attracts large amounts of land mollusks and slugs .. earthworms, too, big 'uns. I get a larger egg per bird, thicker shells, and a laying rate of 300/year on the low end. By keeping them out of the corn until it gets chest high, I can use them to mitigate grasshopper issues, and they can be given some weeding responsibilities, depending on the plant .. they don't have a preference for alliums, for example, and I can let them graze the dead nettle, chickweed and clover in my garlic patch. I suspect that they might eat pak choy.
We have been feeding our chickens the same as long as we have had chickens. BUT when we get spring chicks they usually lay even when the others dont. And we usually get an egg here or there.....we get zero! Since october!! Thank god for water glassing!
I usually buy feed from a local feed store. I got lazy the last time they were low and didn't want to make the extra trip to the feed store since I was going to TSC anyways. Bought 2 bags of Purena Layena and they quit laying shortly after. I figured it was just because it was winter, but I've always got eggs in previous winters. They had just finished those bags and I got them back on the other feed when I heard about TSC feed being bad. All my chickens are laying again only after about 2 weeks on the other feed.
I was using Dumor and my hens stopped almost completely, switched to another organic feed and they started producing very abundantly. My girls pasture on two acres as well
@@davidthegood yes, would love to switch to whole seed feeds. It can get kinda pricey tho! But hoping to switch over to this soon and just give them less feed and get a better system going where they’re getting most of their food from the land. Also, the pause of egg production definitely could have been that the cold was nearing but this seemed different. I could just be overthinking haha I didn’t think about it too much when it happened. But once all this chatter about the feed stuff surfaced then I remembered that I was using Dumor when they almost stopped altogether producing. Good talking with you Mr Good 😀
My hens stopped laying over a month ago, and then right before the first hard frost, I moved them into the hoop house and they all started laying again, albeit still not as much as in the spring and summer months.
Great idea with the bamboo. I've tried to make roll up shades for my porch and several fences. They were all too heavy. Screwing them to a permanent structure makes sense.
Hey there, try splitting the bamboo into thinner strips rather than using an entire stalk of bamboo. This is a traditional Japanese practice for shades.
Bingo. But God forbid you should mention the most logical and reasonable thing on some other 'homestead' channels. No, that won't fly. They wants themselves some spooky Davos repitilian overlord conspiracy stuff, sho'nuff
So, not only the chicken feed is tainted, but Purina dog food as well.... I always buy them Purina one Lamb and rice , and since November,all of the sudden,all my dogs have rashes and ear infections ....
Our chicken are eating Cerified rganic feed exlusively, oyster shells, table scraps, no eggs....no "less eggs", just no eggs sinse two months. They have huge, comfortable, sunny, insulated chicken run, water never freeze. It will be 12 years of raising chickens, it never happed before.
I thought it had to do with Chinese spy balloon hovering the skies but I did get my chickens to start laying eggs again after I realized they lost a lot of weight from eating layer feeds. I mixed it up using cut grass, breeder feeds and a bit of broiler (high in protein) and sure enough, after a week and a half, they gained some pounds and got busy laying again everyday.
My egg lady had her hens totally quit laying. She changed where she bought her feed and her hens immediately started laying . Many others have had the same results.
My hens hate soy in their food. They waste food and reduce egg productivity. Love the mealworm idea. Always wanted to try that. Illness can also reduce egg production. Locally there have been some subclinical illnesses in flocks and the first symptoms are productivity.
Hi David. I saw a report on Redacted where a group of Bioimunologist did a study and found that egg yolks caused something in the body that would not let the spike proteins on the corona virus attach to the human receptors this was in 2020-2021 and all of a sudden we are having supposed avian flu breaks everywhere. Poultry farms getting whipped out and now feed problems. It just seems a little to coincidental😁👍 !!! David do you think it's time to start my Ube Bulbils in pots to get them going? I'm about 100-159 miles west of you in south Mississippi zone 9a . Thanks
Are you going to trust a "scientific" paper about Co-of and egg yolk therapy that was written by 10 or 12 CHINESE scientists? Really? You should do a little research...
@@davidthegood dang I should have planted them last month in pots🤔. Thank you David. I figured if anybody knows you would I think our first frost is expected for Dec. 2 . So that should give us a good growing season this year.🌹😁🙏.
But, I just received a demand note that said, "If you want our unborn babies for unspeakable acts, you must 1) provide solar heating in winter, cooling in summer 2) personal avian chef who will plan gluten and crap free food 24/7 3) on call masseuse during sunlight hours - if Japanese cows get massages, we need them, too. I mean, if there is no conspiracy, WHO taught the durn chickens to write? Hey?
Is there really a problem with people being unable to feed their chickens naturally? Before chicken feed was invented and bagged "In addition to green food, turn-of-the-century chickens ate rations comprising grains, protein from milk or meat, and scraps from the family's table. “Bits of bread, cheese, meat, cake, pie, doughnuts, all kinds of vegetables are served up to the hens,”
Yes - and Noah Sanders shared with me that raw milk from cows was a common ingredient as well. You really have to farm holistically to get all the animals fed off the homestead.
@@davidthegood No pun intended, but the people running around like headless chickens over bagged feed is crazy! Chickens don't need bagged feed, just like most animals don't need bagged feed, including cats, and dogs!
I'm not into conspiracy theories. I run like hell away from those conversations. My hens stopped laying and one of them, (my favorite) looked a little off. My chickens have only been given Dumor organic layer feed. I started making my own mix and within three weeks, they were laying. I don't think Dumor intentionally put something in their feed, but something happened. I also don't give them artificial light. They get mealworms and red wigglers that I raise. They free range when the weather permits. ( I'm in New Hampshire). I also give them "dinner" every night before they go in for the night. They are spoiled, but I love them. So if there is a reason behind all these people's chickens not laying, I'd really like to know what I unintentionally gave them. I should have added that we are at minus 42 wind chill factor. I have four chickens in my basement right now. Please don't judge me. 😳
Turned Earth? Conspiracy or not, if I can manage without the big box stores I will. To me that is what survival gardening is all about. Our chickens are still laying 3 a day with 6 old hens and 4 too many roosters! Almost time for canned rooster. Just got to see if this kid support I just made fits my wood burning “Home Comfort “ stove/range, so I can use my new All American canner. Using it with my electric glass stove top is a no no. Too much drain on the batteries too since I am gridless. Well I’ve sixteen bare root trees that just came in to go bury. I appreciate all your Good advice David and all your books too. Even the conspiracy theory ones with crazy mushrooms and painting seals and fire breathing dragon flies.😂❤
There's also molting and age that can also cause them to stop laying. Alot of new folks are buying grown hens, and may be unknowingly buying hens at the end of their laying age.
We heard on the news last summer that Mississippi River levelsbwerebso low that barges were unloading grains for outdoor storage on the ground until other transport could be arranged. It is possible that the grains reduced in quality due to improper storage and delayed transport and yet still made it into the feed.
In my area this past summer at a certain point in time hens simply stopped laying eggs. The output was less than what it usually is in the dead of the winter. And this happened at pretty much the same time to several people from whom I purchse eggs. Now that we are still in the winter, the production has increased considerably.
I have switched feed from TS but it was for different reasons than how many eggs I was getting. I am purchasing locally made feed and I also give them kitchen scraps and garden left overs. I feed the eggshells back to mine as well. Sometimes I even give them scrambled eggs. I let them free range at times too.
They went to zero and wen I changed feed went up. Up north no greens so I see your point but something is different since September besides sunlight hours
This was an excellent video. I just found you, David the Good. Yep, gardening lady living under a rock. I'd just add, if your winters are cold, be good to "the girls." Wrap that hen house in tarps or something to keep out the wind. A shop light to huddle under for warmth, deep shavings bedding, and nest boxes stuffed with hay. Some cracked corn spread on a cookie sheet, in the oven at low temp then fed before sundown will keep them warm too from the inside. Put their water under a lamp so it doesn't freeze. Their toes get frostbite, so if possible, a coop inside a barn is awesome. They can poke around on a barn floor on sunny days without going outside. Not possible for everyone, I know. Just be nice to the ladies and keep them warm.😊
I'm in the Northern US. We feed run of the mill feed. Our hens can't really freerange eat in winter, but I still get eggs. I give them scratch plus a small amount of house scraps. I use a reg lightbulb over their water all winter....thus extra light. I Have had eggs for us plus eggs to sell all winter.
As a worm farmer myself, I concur with keeping them around lol! Quite a few years ago Edible Acres did a video on using their chickens to work their compost on something like 25cents a day by using sweepings from a local mill, it's always stuck with me and refer back to it. I enjoyed the options you put forth for those who may be new or simply worried, we can easily overlook things we may already know when we're fretting. Nice troubleshooting👍
My 21 hens (17 which are young gals) quit laying almost completely at the beginning of last summer. I'd get two or three eggs a week TOTAL. It wasn't until December after adding artificial light with a dim-to-off controller that they started laying again. The fourteen hours of light did the trick. I was at the point of getting rid of my flock, but now I'm getting a dozen per day, and they're earning their keep now.
Call me crazy, as I’ve not ever had chickens to try this with, but would there be issues with hanging up bones from a harvest that still had bits of protein on it or roadkill?
I think everyone that doubts Producers Pride has added something to their feed that’s affecting laying hens should go get a bag of Producers Pride & feed it to their hens. Altho I would think by now that TSC would have replaced or sold all the bags that were causing the issues. Most complaints said that their hens stopped laying in September. And for those not paying attention, September is NOT winter. And the primary complaint wasn’t that egg production slowed, the complaint is that hens stopped laying altogether in September & still haven’t laid to this day. I probably would have changed the feed long before now but I’m sure the thought didn’t occur to them that Purina or Tractor Supply was untrustworthy. 🤨 In 2019 Producers Pride feed was blamed for the death of enough cattle that the Florida Dept of Ag to issue a recall. I get organic feed from Azure Standard & I’m very thankfully my girls haven’t had any issues. It’s worth mentioning😂 that Nestle (which owns Purina) has partnered with a lab created meat (beef/chicken/pork) company named Believer Meat (formerly Future Meat). I think I t’s pretty incredible actually that they keep moving forward w the fake meat since fake meat sales are tanking…but I suppose they won’t be tanking when there’s no more animals to eat. 😂 Why else would they partner with the 3rd largest Food company on the planet & start building the largest lab created meat production plant in the world in NC? Maybe bc cows chickens & bacon will be a thing of the past. But what do I know, my tin hat has screws rattling inside it. 😂
Thanks for the great comments. I think that maybe Tractor Supply might be getting a bad rap on this "bad" feed deal. Just my thoughts having raised chickens.
I have raised hens since the 1960's. I have 500 hens now. There is something that tells birds to fly South in the Winter. There is something that allows Geese to fly in formations. Different birds have different adaptations to nature and their environment. I believe chickens are somewhat in tune with nature regardless of what they are fed. The quality of their feed is only one facet of a complicated puzzle that we do not fully understand.
Our local food bank gets donations of less-than-perfect and not-perfectly-fresh-looking produce from our local organic chain market (where all the wealthy millennials shop) almost daily. What they reject for their clients' use (or is an excess) comes to our chickens, because we donate perfectly fresh beautiful eggs on a regular basis. I can't free-range my birds for the same reasons you can't, so this is the next best thing in my suburban setting. I do feed bagged feed (usually it is one made by Purina, sometimes it is a mix from a local mill), but not the cheapest and not "layer" feed. I opt for one that contains animal protein made for growing out poultry. My benchmark for minimum protein content is 20%. I reject any bags that don't smell and look right. I also feed back excess eggs (scrambled with the shells and some ghee) or eggs I can't be sure are laid that day. I use one candelabra bulb on a timer in the coop for about an hour either side of the sun just for me to see by for chores. From about 30 hens (they have no rooster in that coop) I am now getting about two dozen eggs a day on average. These hens are from chicks hatched the first week of October 2021, and a mix of about 8 different breeds. Some are "egg laying" breeds, most are "dual purpose" breeds, all are standard large fowl. Most of my hens went through the molt by late December, though a couple just recently got their tail feathers all back. This is how I've been doing it at this north Texas location for the past 13 years. It's very close to what I did before that on my rural property, and before that on our family property. Part of me says that a lot of newbie or newish chicken keepers are around now and surprised at how the decreased sunlight and a hard molt can affect their egg harvest. Part of me thinks blaming a certain retail feed chain or supplier that they don't like (maybe for perceived past transgressions? not saying it was a good thing) is not entirely out of the question. Dogpiling is common on the interwebs. I'm even looking at some reformulations of some feeds and not liking that either. Not to mention the headline sure gets clicks! "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses. Not zebras."
Free range is different from pastured. You mean pasture. It's ridiculous that free-range is different from pasture but free range means they aren't confined to a nestbox. Hens only lay for about two years. Chickens prefer to lay in cool weather, but weather extremes are hard on them, and laying...
So many folks brought chickens 3 years ago. Most of these were hybrid egg layers to first time chicken owners. Isa browns for example slow way down as they get older. Maybe there is something with the chicken food, but it’s important to know your breed and their lifespan.
My girls eat Dumor that I buy from tractor supply. They also have access to greens, scratch, bugs and wormies. They lay everyday. Even through this winter.
It's important to eliminate all the likely causes first. After that, we can look for other possibilities.
So what do you think about the "bad chicken feed" conspiracy? Let me know in the comments!
If there ever was a shortage of eggs due to the feed, I'd look to Farmer Bill. He's heavily invested in lab created meat and eggs.
I like how on your thumbnail there is a crossed out Chinese Spy Balloon- this goes far as camouflage in Lower Alabama...
😆
I can say that I have not purchased feed since November, and I get 6 eggs from 8 hens. I am feeding cracked corn and starting feed mixed.
Hello David, I'm just curious as to the last time you have purchased the Dumor organic feed.
Its the feed imo not incompetence. I don't know though I don't have chickens yet.
Just because I'm paranoid doesn't make it not true
Facts don't take mind to paranoia
@@dudeitsamy1210 Youd better read the pub med study noted above before you decide its.conspiracy first.
@@faithevrlasting I did read that study along with several other reports dealing with Purina, Cal-Maine, etc. Wasn't going to stir up a hornets nest about all that given that a lot of people still think it is just normal for literally 1000's of people all across the US to have this problem with PURINA produced chicken feed sold under the name of TSC brands. Normal, I mean by them saying it is winter & cold, shorter days or molting. Even a well known YT Homesteader had the same problem with the same feed & made a video that their chickens had slowed down laying back in Sept & completely stopped in November. These people would NOT risk losing viewers by reporting on a "conspiracy theory" and lose their reputation on top of that. I didn't want to admit that I had bought 2 bags of that feed in question but if I kept quiet about it, as well as others that have used it, no one would know. I commented on this video, too with the facts.
What about the bird flu being diagnosed with the fake PCR tests that have resulted in the culling of over 70 MILLION chickens...and the Hillandale Egg Farm fire (one of the largest FAMILY OWNED-OPERATED Egg farms in the US) in CT burning down last weekend. A top US family owned-operating egg farm competing with the country's LARGEST Corporate egg producer, Cal-Maine that has made MILLIONS since egg prices have skyrocketed? This rabbit hole goes much deeper than most will even care to listen to. But those wouldn't believe the Pub Med study, either, would they? Could this be about centralizing the food supply into one huge conglomerate! Take out every private company and every individual farm/homestead. Making everyone dependent on just one mega establishment? Or rid the country of eggs because of other nefarious actions coming down the pike re: Pub Med study??? Who the heck knows anymore!!
@@DeepSouthBamaGRITS There is definitely a lot - LOT - of weird stuff going on right now.
@@davidthegood Yes there is, unfortunately. A lot of people are using the Tucker Milling Feed that is made here in North AL. Excellent quality and the chickens eat it very well. Baldwin Feed/Seed in Bay Minette (by the tracks) carries it as well as the feed store in Canoe in case you're interested in using it.
Found this comment in another Homesteader YT. I've reached out to the person that made the comment to see if I could get a copy of the report. I've also got a sample of the feed I was using & will go Monday to the County Extension office to see if they can send it off for testing. Not that I want to file a class action lawsuit against anyone but only to have written PROOF so the truth can be made known about this feed debacle so it can hopefully be laid to rest. Seems the problem is a major PROTEIN deficiency. I will keep you posted either with the report from the person in FL or when I get my feed sample testing back (Producer's Pride-Purina produced & packaged for TSC). This is what the comment said (can't post a screenshot here or I would have done that instead):
“A friend of my sisters raises chickens, and she had the same problem with Dumor and Producers Pride. The hens completely stopped laying. She changed the feed and sent samples to our local county extension office, who then forwarded the samples to the University of Florida for testing. They determined that the feed had LESS THAN HALF THE PROTEIN STATED ON THE BAG. She said that if enough people take their feed to get tested and get the same results, then a class action lawsuit would be possible.”
The more questions I ask the more that I have come to realize that my chickens are lying to me. I don't know what they are doing but I'm going to find out. I think that loud one with the fancy feathers is the ring leader.
The “king” chicken wouldn’t lie to you. Democracy has shown us that…
@@nicholas755 lol 😅
Looks like your chickens are into prepping. Can't blame them.
🤣
If you’re looking to sort the venerable language of our favorite barnyard fowl, the chicken, there is a great book on Amazon entitled: How to speak chicken.
I learned that the name my chickens gave me was “buck-buck derrrrr”. That book will change your life.
Sincerely,
David The Good’s Doppelgänger
I took the TV out of the chicken coop. They were watching to much media and becoming stressed out.
I put a baby monitor in our chicken coop so we could hear when the predator was getting in at night. We called it Chicken Radio. The predator was a mink, very sneaky, but we got him. Ya know, hens talk in their sleep? It's a cross between clucking and cooing. Very soothing: better than Zone Out TV on Roku. I always wondered what they dreamed about... that grass snake they pulled from the rock wall and slurped like spaghett then they all talked about it like Miss Marple at a tea party? Maybe. Prescription for moms and dads with a toddler who fights sleep because he "might miss something gojng on in his miniscule world": a comfy rocker and tune in to Chkcken Radio. Our toddler is now 30. Sorry. But your comment reminded me.😂
Has anyone noticed a decline in the quality of human food in the grocery stores? Is it possible the quality of the chicken feed has also declined?
Yes, for sure.
Considering how industrial ag in general has contaminated and depleted nutrients from soil and water, I'd expect it has.
@@RTCPhotoWorkThe primary decline is in the unnatural products used in U.S. foods, like High Fructose Corn syrup.
Its one of many horrible ingredients that gets U.S., FDA-approved foods, banned from import, in other countries.
Where I live, the farmers rejuvenate their soil in between crops.
They add, and plant stuff that's strictly meant to renew the soil.
Their soil is their livelihood, so taking care of it, is crucial to their survival.
@@RTCPhotoWorkMy bad, it just dawned on me, that you specified "industrial ag".
I'm assuming you mean big brute companies like Monsanto's.
I have heard that. That their GMO's not only contaminate us when we eat their products, but that it also contaminate the soil.
I've also read that they know their GMO's will naturally spread to neighboring farms, after which, Monsanto's sues the small farmer for copyright infringement, after their GMO's contaminate the neighbor's crops.
@@YouKnowN0thing you are right. They will sue the small farmer that uses heirloom seeds that have been contaminated.
In the Northern part of Mississippi lots of folks I’ve spoken to don’t buy from Tractor supply do to change in feed. Most buy locally from little mom & pops stores & their layer hens are happy.
Shorter days, colder weather, weird weather, molting, age, and to cold for all the stuff they would normally eat while free ranging.
If you have dairy animals, and have a surplus of milk, you can feed some of that to your chickens to supplement whatever else you are feeding them. I know some people say not to do this, but I've done it a lot without any adverse effects. A friend was feeding her chickens just organic grains, and wondered why she wasn't getting many eggs. She was milking a cow, and I suggested she just add some of the milk to their grain -- that did the trick, and the eggs came back up where they should be. Her hens were free-ranging, too.
Two of our new pullets went into lay just before winter and two others started laying after having mostly stopped for the winter. The two oldest never lay in winter. This is the first time we've had eggs over winter. We ran out of Dumor feed just before winter hit and I decided to make my own feed of eggshell, scratch, seeds, and dried greens I saved from the yard before winter (chickweed, nettles, henbit) because I just don't like processed foods of any kind. I've developed it to be nutritious. But we also give them egg or mealworms or liver during the week, yogurt occasionally, crushed acorns or pecans once a week, and a good amount of produce scraps. The birds seem happy and healthy on this diet and are laying excellent eggs. In summer, they have a large fenced yard for free-ranging and they get just a little scratch or fermented wheat and the produce scraps and occasional extra protein but they get tons of bugs, seeds, and weeds all summer. That said, I did just find a 2021 study that shows a constituent in eggs actually stops Sars-Cov2 virus from binding to docking receptors in humans. So......it all just makes you wonder.....as egg farms burn to the ground and people say the feed may be involved. That's all pretty coincidental.
Lol, as someone who’s raised chickens for over 35 years I appreciate your humor about chickens not laying in winter and the “great conspiracy“ behind it……in the dead of winter……..during the shortest part of the year……..when they’re coming out of molt…….😂 I however have had horrible luck with that Dumor brand feed. My local feed mill makes a much higher quality feed at a lower price and my chickens do great on it. I gave up on buying feed from Tractor Supply years ago when I was getting nothing but dusty stale feed from them.
Agreed I buy my feed in bulk form the mill and haven’t gotten very many eggs this winter as per usual though I have quail and chickens.
You could say they stopped laying eggs suddenly
“Egg production died suddenly”
Lol
...and coincidentally!
I started buying conventional purina layer feed and scraps and when winter came i got less eggs as per usual..but then one day they stopped laying completely...i changed to feeding them my pig feed and then they started laying again..so i have some suspicions about the feed change phenomenon
It's good to pay attention to things like that. We stopped feeding the cheap feed some time ago, and our birds have been laying well. However, some of our chickens went to a friend's farm and quit laying for a while afterwards. The feed /does/ make a difference.
In my area (north central Florida) people changed to goat feed & their chickens started laying again.
Mine are still in prime laying years and have stopped laying regular for almost a year. I buy expensive feed too. Also get table scraps. They are free range. I don't know what's going on.
Fifty plus coturnix quail born October 24. Not one has laid and egg yet.
Started with Purina game bird starter, then switched to layer about 7 weeks of age. Feed mealworms, and oyster shell is available.
Quail can start laying anytime from 7-9 weeks.
I live in AZ. Plenty of sun. Plenty of safe space for them.
Not one egg from any of them.
Recently started a new feed brand, but still purchasing from tractor supply as it’s about the only option for mixed commercial feed. Near me, and that’s an hour and a half away.
I recently started grinding black sunflower seeds,oats, dried and crushed egg shell with mealworms.
Nothing yet.
One of my friend lives in Hawaii. Another here by me in AZ, all of us understand the seasons of poultry, there’s a big difference between slowing down and stopping altogether.
Both friends was advised to stop feeding chicken feed and change to goat feed (dry cob/scratch), hens started laying again.
I haven’t gone that route.
Still no eggs from any of the fifty plus quail. Brand new flock as of October.
@Raven’s Ridge I am in Florida. I have quail hens and am having the same problem. Out of all my hens only one lays eggs occasionally and the rest have never laid an egg. They are all almost a year old and I have been adding mealworms/calcium and extra light. Nothing yet. I am about to call it quits with the quail. I also started mine on new feed from Tractor supply. I do have a few males left and they do not act like typical quail males. No crowing. Not interested in the ladies either. This is not self sustaining or self sufficient with no eggs or hanky panky!
I’m in Australia, it’s mid summer and they all stopped laying when I opened up a new bag of laying pallets.
Reckon my chooks would stop laying if I expected them to eat pallets.
@@SamStone1964 😂
I've had the same in Australia, 21 chickens, used to get 6-12 a day only a few months back and now lucky if I get 1-2 eggs day. Feeding them mainly Showbird atm + some fermented scratch mix as a treat.
Very level-headed, realistic and thoughtful response to this current subject. Boring! It would be much more exciting if you affirmed my fears and demanded that I move my chickens into my house for their protection. Just my opinion. BTW, the bamboo chicken house is the Bee's knees!
I didn’t even think of the chemtrails… probably best to move em into the bedroom
My hens are finally laying well again, swear it was October since I got a reliable production. No, it's not the food, lousy weather, winter, and a hard molt.
I don't know cause I always buy grains separate and mix my own, I add sunflower seed and a little dry catfood to boost the protein. Yeah, mine stopped laying when they molted then came shot days but they're laying like crazy now. Happens every year and I glassed 20+ doz in reserve... gave the last jar away last week.
I bought pigeon food. Then planted handfuls. Lots of sprouts. Plan on growing them out and saving seeds from them.
I've tried to grow pigeons from seed three or four times. Let us know how it works out.
Thanks for putting this one out David. Education goes a long way. Had a good chuckle at the end 😆
😄 ditto
If you live near the Amish, they have great chicken feed at a great price, and you can buy in bulk.
I'm glad I stayed until the end, the impression was great.
We had a bigger slow down this winter. But ..our hens turned 2, we got new chicks in fall, our chickens molted, new chicks got integrated, we had a very early artic plunge.
So, there was a lot going on, and I expected a slow down. We use the organic too, the highest priced one tsc carries.
Now the eggs are rolling in, earlier than last year. Hopefully everyone gets some soon.
I love giving them some extra black oil sunflower seeds in winter, too. I'm going to try growing a crop of sunflowers for them this year.
I know the Trying part....they pretty much destroy everything I am trying to start lol
@@cecilitaH I grow sunflowers in my chicken yard. I have a fenced area within the run that they can't get into. I do kind of a 3 sisters thing in there with whatever pole beans I have around, gourds and sunflowers, good shade in the summer and I let them pick around at the seeds after frost.
We likewise were feeding the organic TSC layer feed to our Spring 2022 hens (not DuMor or Purina), mixed with DuMor non-GMO scratch grains and some black oil sunflower seeds. When it was time to top off our feed can, we decided to switch to Tucker Milling's Nature Crest mini layer pellet. I have to say, the day we mixed that into their feed, all of our girls jumped on it like it had live crickets and grasshoppers in it or something! We had one leghorn who was going through some spotty laying (skipping one day between eggs, then only laying one or two before skipping another day) and she has not had another skip day so far since switching to this other food.
@@OrganicMommaGA Sadly Tucker Miling is not available in NC and I have had good luck with the Dumoor brand food but I don't get it from TSC.
I did a video on this and the mob came after me with pitchforks and flaming torches just because I did not jump on the bandwagon. I have my opinions about the feeds they're griping about, never fed them, but when I read the labels, well, those tell the tale. All this happened when chickens naturally slow down, late summer to early winter, someone screamed that the sky was falling and everyone else jumped on board. I have fed feed with meat and bone meal for 18 years, plus free ranged groups on a rotating basis. Chickens crave animal protein, I swear. I feed them fat off my steak, extra hamburger and they go nuts for it and I have old hens laying. Some of my hens have lived to 14+ years old, some even would still lay a few eggs each year approaching that age. But, people did not want to believe my logic and common sense and experience and are making up insane stories. Thanks for some common sense here. I had to make a second video analyzing the best feeds at TSC and the crappiest ones, though I never buy from that place myself. Geez. Thanks, David. ~Cynthia
It can be harrowing to be on UA-cam. I've run into people that are better educated on a topic than myself, and into people who are know-it-alls and are not on my level, and into people that are just trolls that need banning. It can be tough sorting through what you're facing, especially on a hot topic. As for the chickens - yep - they really do love animal protein. We've soaked their feed in sour milk from our cows and they love that.
@@davidthegood yep, used to be an old remedy for coccidiosis, raw and/or dry milk mixed in the feed. Anyway, thanks for a rational video, so few on this current subject right now. I've been quite disappointed in many channels with the fearmongering and bandwagon-jumping clickbait stuff. Have a good weekend!
@@rootsrocksfeathers1975 You too. Thank you.
Chickens are obligate omnivores. We had a possum problem. The possum hordes attacked my chickens on a regular basis. I can only conclude they wanted the sweet sweet chicken meat from my sweet hens. I shot those possums and left the carcasses for my birds. Whoever ate the eyeballs probably laid the most eggs that year. Those birds loved eating possum in the winter. Some people like to grab fresh roadkill on their way home from work and throw it in the chicken pen. Give them some fresh meet of your local woodland creatures and they’ll love you for it.
Sincerely,
David the Good’s Doppelgänger
@David P Robbins Exactly right there. My chickens dive on meat more than anything else. I've watched them obliterate a mouse, fight over baby snakes and lizards. When companies removed good animal protein from feed round about 15 years ago (most of them, I still fed meat based feeds-Tucker Milling in the south still sells one or two, though they removed it from the feed I used for 17 years, a 22% layer mini pellet, and even Dumor has an All Flock with meat and bone meal), feather quality and egg production just tanked for many who didn't allow any other feed or free range time.
Glad you go organic. I do too. Nowhere around here deliberately carries organic feed in my small town. I get my local feed store to special order my preferred organic brand. I use New Country Organics brand corn and soy free "house blend #8" in the red bag. Its fairly expensive but I can't deal with regular brands and the stuff they contain. Perhaps a local store near you can source it if you want to try it. There's bunches of different blends and feeds for other livestock too. Always have great success with this feed. All American grown ingredients too.
That statement "you are what you eat" is so very true! We likewise only feed our animals the best food we can afford... We have one cat that is special needs and gets a prescription food, but the other cat gets grain-free food that isn't the brands you'd find at the grocery store, so it's not the cheapest food. Our chickens, therefore, also get fed only organic feed along with their foraging and treats.
Also, it seems that the food that is cheapest is an "easy target" for anyone who wants to ensure there's health disruptions in the population that consumes that food. For people, what I think about is "Supersize Me" - one person ate nothing but fast food for breakfast, lunch, and supper for a certain period of time and developed a LOT of health issues that were not there before he started eating this CHEAP food. If he had continued on that way of eating, he would have been on many pharmaceutical medications.
Our animals are the same way... Cheap and filling ingredients of stuff that may not even be food in the "food products" of animals will have the potential to cause issues. I'm a fairly new chicken Momma, and one thing that sticks out to me is that the checklist of indicators that your hens are not healthy is - activity level (are they lethargic?), - appetite (are they interested in and eating their food well?), -age (are they younger than 18 months old? If older than 18 months, are they older than 3 years old?), and -eggs (are they laying?). So. Where the activity level and appetite is good, I would look at the age of the hens and their condition. If all the boxes check off as "no issues", then I would look at the food. You have to do your own sleuthing for your own birds... If you think the feed is the reason, then, by all means, change what you're feeding your birds.
My local farm sells feed in 50 pound bags that are 3 dollars less then tsc. Pullen feed. I buy Vermont organics for 2 dollars less then tsc organic feed. It helps to shop around and support the local business while we still have mom and pop shops.
I was feeding New Country Organics to mine and had great laying. Longer molting time than I expected, but great now. The girl that has my Florida flock says 20 chicks, has about 16, 18 eggs a day...but they have almost 10 acres free range, and she grows lots of treats and is even starting meal worms, God bless her. I have read a lot of posts where folks changed feed from tsc and got eggs, so, who knows... a new conspiracy every day...but so many come true!!!
Great video, David. I have 32 hens less than a yr old that were laying great prior to and during the Christmas Freeze. (I was collecting frozen eggs during the 3-4 days we had that didn't go above freezing). I live just west of you so our weather/sunlight etc., is the same.
Was at TSC getting pipe wrap, styrofoam water spigot covers, heat lamps & bulbs for pump house & extra bedding for my chickens and picked up 2 bags of Producers Pride Chicken Layer Pellets. My normal feed store had already closed...by the tracks downtown, I'm sure you may have been there when you lived in my area prior to moving. I was almost out of their normal feed & the ONLY reason I bought TSC feed. ALL of my chickens stopped laying completely. Not one egg for over a month now.
I heard about this TSC feed issue & did my own research & found that most all of TSC feed, even the Dumor Organic, the Layena, etc., is made by Purina. From what I have found out, Purina has used very poor quality protein/grains and may not even be up to the 16% protein as advertised. There is possibly no needed amino acids added, two being Lysine & Methionine that is needed for egg production to help bind protein. There is a Lysine shortage in the US since Russia stopped exporting it to the US in 2021. People that have fed their chicken's cooked rice (Lysine is in rice) and cat food (Much higher protein), their chickens started laying eggs again that had used the TSC feed that is in question.
I started my hens back on their regular brand 3 days ago. I also added dry cat food to boost their protein. Cooking some rice now to feed them to add some Lysine to help them a bit more. Waiting to see if they will start laying again any day now. I don't use extra light in the winter months to let my hens REST, as God intended for them.
I understand Mike Adams, Health Ranger with Natural News has gathered all brands of the TSC feeds on Jan 28th and is running tests on it to see if he can help solve this NATIONWIDE problem after he got MANY reports of chickens that just STOPPED LAYING even as far back as the summer, November and a big wave began in December. ALL of the reports from people whose hens stopped laying were using the PURINA produced TSC feeds...Producers Pride, Dumor, Dumor Organic, Layena, etc.
I know of some friends that were feeding their dogs nothing but Purina Dog food started seeing a decline in their health with skin conditions, dull coats and losing weight so this could be due to the PURINA feed all around. You know that some companies are more into PROFITS than providing quality products. I'm NOT a conspiracy theorist but I do know that when I started using the Producers Pride Layer Pellets (a product of Purina) my hens COMPLETELY stopped laying eggs. Nothing else changed with them except the feed I gave them. They do get greens (weeds) as my greens (kale/collards) were killed off with the Christmas Freeze. They do get food scraps & oyster shells. Do I blame TSC, NO, but I could say that it is the cheap, poor-quality Purina Chicken Feed & my fault for resorting to its use but had no other option for buying any other feed at 6:30pm except from TSC.
LOVE your bamboo chicken house. Gonna go hit up some people I know locally that would all but PAY ME to cut down some of the bamboo that has taken over their whole place! Need to redo one of my hen houses and I LOVE the look of the bamboo!!
Thank you for the added info - I will watch and see what they come up with on lab results.
I think you're wasting time, money & effort thinking rice is a good lysine source.
Highest-Lysine Grains:
Three grain products stand out for having the highest amounts of lysine per serving: seitan, quinoa and amaranth.
It's only high(er) protein grains that even have a modicum of lysine. Oats has highest level of all the grains but even that is low.
Grits, Nice write up. Thank you. I agree that Purina "food" has gone downhill rapidly in the past few years. My cats would get Purina cat chow, along with other healthy food, and they started to get sick. I stopped the Purina cat chow and now feed better food. The same is true for chicken feed. People should be blaming Purina, not TSC.
@@willbass2869 Thank you for your info. I should have looked up what would have given me a higher Lysine level instead of doing what others had done that worked. I will go tomorrow to get Quinoa as I've seen it. I've got Amaranth seeds to plant to grow for my chickens. I've not heard of seitan. I am also picking up a higher level of protein feed like Game Bird feed to give them which is what I should have done, to begin with when I heard about problems with the feed I had given them which was only 2 bags.
Since you seem to be well versed on things, my friend that owns the local feed/seed store had also heard about this feed problem and suggested I give my chickens a mash made with buttermilk or plain yogurt mixed with some of their NORMAL feed 2 times a week to help clear their systems as well as restore their GUT health. Any input on that regiment?
@@davidthegood Thank you, and I will get the info to you either here, or somehow on your website as I'm sure Mike will either do a report on his website, Brighteon or on his Telegram channel once the results are in.
Blessings to you & your family, always.
as much as a conspiracy would make sense with what is going on. I believe its crappy chicken feed from a company (s) that always had crappy chicken feed, but because of the cost of things going up they are cutting even more corners and the feed is basically filler. I spent a year using Dumor a few years ago and it ended up being the worst year I ever had with chickens. I switched feed and the health of the chickens improved
There is another one cheaper than Dumor , check it out,is the one I use from TS
@@cecilitaH I found a feed mill that had top quality feed for less than Dumor. I try to buy directly from feed mills now.
Sounded almost like red green there at the end 😄
Chickens also have a limited life cycle. At a given time they will slow down then stop laying eggs.
You can also build a compost in their protected space . It will draw in bugs and worms. They will tear it down looking for goodies and you just have to pile it up with more fresh scraps and all the stuff they kick off.
Yes The Hollar on YT do this method
In the winter? When is -20 degrees?
May I refer you to a setup in north west New York state ua-cam.com/video/cXrk6NnXObM/v-deo.html
Check out Edible Acres YT channel - they do composting in their chicken runs. I believe they are in Vermont (?) - have several videos of winter time chicken and compost. Super interesting.
@edibleacres
Talked with one egg producer. You can making them lay more. But they only have so many eggs to lay. Once they lay them all they are done.
From Beyond Lables PodCast- Jole Salatin: “ when I was a kid we were sent out every morning and were told to bring back a rodent of some kind, squirrel, rats, muskrat, field rat.. you bring it back rip it open and throw it in there with the chickens.
Or a pound of home grown hamburger meat.
I think my hens are farming rats. They let one pair nest in a corner they can easily reach and pick off the pinkies as they arrive. I’ve seen them hunt down and eat adults, but they don’t get the adults in this single nest. Maybe that’s the conspiracy?
@@WinkTartanBelle they will keep producing protein for them, the chickens know better than take out all the food. Would it be nice? Of course but only for a day. The rats reproduce 10s of babies a month every month. Chickens aren’t dumb. I love that you shared that information!
Our new hens (hatched 2022) are laying. The old hens are not. Pretty sure.
When I make bone broth, I give the pressure-cooked bones to the girls. The bones are soft, and the girls LOVE them. They get all the weeds during the growing season, and grass cuttings. I'm really glad I can go get rejected produce from the local grocery.
We did switch out the purchased feed about 18 months ago. We now get it from a local farm'n'feed store.
David you are the voice of reason for so many of us!
Same thing has happen to my hens here in our Aussie summer .... I'd imagine due to costs the feed companies have opted to cut costs via a cheap substitute rather than an mrna feed or something along those lines
I think the conspiracy has a part to play in it...regarding bottom of the barrel stuff, that is. Like you say though, when the days get shorter the hens don’t have time or energy to lay. Your tips on grubs and greens will be a godsend to many, no doubt 💯💛🍀
Conspiracy?.....pfft!
More like poor quality feed, decreased sun in winter etc
@@willbass2869 I do believe it is an intentional lack of protein in the mainstream chicken food!
@@gelwood99 intentional?
Naw. Probably just an error at the feed plant. Someone probably moved the decimal point over when calculating the ingredient mix after the plant got a new source. The big plants have to rebalance the ration pretty often cause they're juggling new ingredient sources due to supply chain issues.
You know.....typical modern American public school innumeracy.
I feed organic also and have not had a decrease in eggs except for molting. I do turn on the lights until 9 pm though
I have ducks .. because everything wants to eat chickens. Well, mainly because I have access to large amounts of wood chip biomass, that makes terrific soil, but attracts large amounts of land mollusks and slugs .. earthworms, too, big 'uns. I get a larger egg per bird, thicker shells, and a laying rate of 300/year on the low end. By keeping them out of the corn until it gets chest high, I can use them to mitigate grasshopper issues, and they can be given some weeding responsibilities, depending on the plant .. they don't have a preference for alliums, for example, and I can let them graze the dead nettle, chickweed and clover in my garlic patch. I suspect that they might eat pak choy.
Been waiting for David’s take on this! Knew that you could bring light to this situation...Thanks.
We have been feeding our chickens the same as long as we have had chickens. BUT when we get spring chicks they usually lay even when the others dont. And we usually get an egg here or there.....we get zero! Since october!! Thank god for water glassing!
I usually buy feed from a local feed store. I got lazy the last time they were low and didn't want to make the extra trip to the feed store since I was going to TSC anyways. Bought 2 bags of Purena Layena and they quit laying shortly after. I figured it was just because it was winter, but I've always got eggs in previous winters. They had just finished those bags and I got them back on the other feed when I heard about TSC feed being bad. All my chickens are laying again only after about 2 weeks on the other feed.
Yes! Good to see you and Cynthia at "Roots Rocks & Feathers" addressing this subject in a logical, educated manner!
I was using Dumor and my hens stopped almost completely, switched to another organic feed and they started producing very abundantly. My girls pasture on two acres as well
We switch regularly - just happened to have Dumor Organic right now. My favorite is to buy bulk milled from the local feed store.
@@davidthegood yes, would love to switch to whole seed feeds. It can get kinda pricey tho! But hoping to switch over to this soon and just give them less feed and get a better system going where they’re getting most of their food from the land. Also, the pause of egg production definitely could have been that the cold was nearing but this seemed different. I could just be overthinking haha I didn’t think about it too much when it happened. But once all this chatter about the feed stuff surfaced then I remembered that I was using Dumor when they almost stopped altogether producing. Good talking with you Mr Good 😀
"free range birds end up dead" PREACH! these stray cats would have my girls in a new york minute lol.
I have cats and they run away from my Hens but they do snatch up the chicks the feral chickens hatch, not to many when the mom is nearby.
Fantastic video! 13 eggs a day in the dead of winter is an awesome family yield, can’t complain about that…
My hens stopped laying over a month ago, and then right before the first hard frost, I moved them into the hoop house and they all started laying again, albeit still not as much as in the spring and summer months.
Great idea with the bamboo. I've tried to make roll up shades for my porch and several fences. They were all too heavy. Screwing them to a permanent structure makes sense.
Hey there, try splitting the bamboo into thinner strips rather than using an entire stalk of bamboo. This is a traditional Japanese practice for shades.
@@ifyouloveChristyouwillobeyhim I saw bamboo slicers on internet sights. I think I went down the rabbit hole.
@@nancyfahey7518 That's very cool! Probably expensive though?
I need to up my flock! 13 hens and one rooster. Been getting 2-8 eggs a day this winter. Summer we get 8-12 a day
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not watching you.
I think like others have said that they are just stretching it with less nutritional ingredients
Bingo.
But God forbid you should mention the most logical and reasonable thing on some other 'homestead' channels. No, that won't fly. They wants themselves some spooky Davos repitilian overlord conspiracy stuff, sho'nuff
Yeah, it's quite possible that it's getting stretched.
The outakes are always worth the wait 😂😂
Listening to Curtis Stone he stated that by warming up their area that increased their egg production in the winter.
Always be suspicious. Self sufficiency is the enemy of corporate greed.
You are unfortunately correct.
I've never kept chickens, I plan on getting into it this spring
We just got ours 2 weeks ago! Boy it’s a trip lol!!!
@@GrowingwithAnastasia I've been wanting them for a few years now, finally talked myself into it lol
my birds never really stopped laying eggs here in texas. we had like 5 days of winter this year. that might be another conspiracy though..
So, not only the chicken feed is tainted, but Purina dog food as well.... I always buy them Purina one Lamb and rice , and since November,all of the sudden,all my dogs have rashes and ear infections ....
Our chicken are eating Cerified rganic feed exlusively, oyster shells, table scraps, no eggs....no "less eggs", just no eggs sinse two months. They have huge, comfortable, sunny, insulated chicken run, water never freeze. It will be 12 years of raising chickens, it never happed before.
It’s Purina - stay away. Feed them black oil sunflower seeds and mealworms as a daily supplement and you’ll be good to go. God bless you brother!
I would think so, I buy Purina dog food,and all of the sudden,all have rashes and ear infections...
@@cecilitaH Yep - wicked wicked corporation.
“Just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean they are not out to get you “
I thought it had to do with Chinese spy balloon hovering the skies but I did get my chickens to start laying eggs again after I realized they lost a lot of weight from eating layer feeds. I mixed it up using cut grass, breeder feeds and a bit of broiler (high in protein) and sure enough, after a week and a half, they gained some pounds and got busy laying again everyday.
You.might want to read the research study mentioned above published by the government before you decide.
We add small pieces of chopped up fat, liver, and trimmings from the animals we butcher to their feed. They love it, even the ducks!
@davidthegoodgiveaway not sure what telegram is?
But the conspiracy is so much more interesting 😂😂😂
My egg lady had her hens totally quit laying. She changed where she bought her feed and her hens immediately started laying . Many others have had the same results.
I would not be surprised at all if there are bad batches of feed.
My hens hate soy in their food. They waste food and reduce egg productivity.
Love the mealworm idea. Always wanted to try that.
Illness can also reduce egg production. Locally there have been some subclinical illnesses in flocks and the first symptoms are productivity.
Mike Adam's, The Health Ranger , has an extensive food lab. I heard he is supposed to be testing the feed along with several other brands.
I have 8 hens and haven't gotten an egg since November. They're young birds, but I've never seen production just stop completely
Hi David. I saw a report on Redacted where a group of Bioimunologist did a study and found that egg yolks caused something in the body that would not let the spike proteins on the corona virus attach to the human receptors this was in 2020-2021 and all of a sudden we are having supposed avian flu breaks everywhere. Poultry farms getting whipped out and now feed problems. It just seems a little to coincidental😁👍 !!! David do you think it's time to start my Ube Bulbils in pots to get them going? I'm about 100-159 miles west of you in south Mississippi zone 9a . Thanks
Are you going to trust a "scientific" paper about Co-of and egg yolk therapy that was written by 10 or 12 CHINESE scientists?
Really?
You should do a little research...
If you plant your ube now, it will pop up in about two months.
@@davidthegood dang I should have planted them last month in pots🤔. Thank you David. I figured if anybody knows you would I think our first frost is expected for Dec. 2 . So that should give us a good growing season this year.🌹😁🙏.
Thanks for the great insight!
But, I just received a demand note that said, "If you want our unborn babies for unspeakable acts, you must 1) provide solar heating in winter, cooling in summer 2) personal avian chef who will plan gluten and crap free food 24/7 3) on call masseuse during sunlight hours - if Japanese cows get massages, we need them, too.
I mean, if there is no conspiracy, WHO taught the durn chickens to write? Hey?
Is there really a problem with people being unable to feed their chickens naturally? Before chicken feed was invented and bagged "In addition to green food, turn-of-the-century chickens ate rations comprising grains, protein from milk or meat, and scraps from the family's table. “Bits of bread, cheese, meat, cake, pie, doughnuts, all kinds of vegetables are served up to the hens,”
Yes - and Noah Sanders shared with me that raw milk from cows was a common ingredient as well. You really have to farm holistically to get all the animals fed off the homestead.
@@davidthegood No pun intended, but the people running around like headless chickens over bagged feed is crazy! Chickens don't need bagged feed, just like most animals don't need bagged feed, including cats, and dogs!
Great video David, I love the bamboo chicken coop!!!
I'm not into conspiracy theories. I run like hell away from those conversations. My hens stopped laying and one of them, (my favorite) looked a little off. My chickens have only been given Dumor organic layer feed. I started making my own mix and within three weeks, they were laying. I don't think Dumor intentionally put something in their feed, but something happened. I also don't give them artificial light. They get mealworms and red wigglers that I raise. They free range when the weather permits. ( I'm in New Hampshire). I also give them "dinner" every night before they go in for the night. They are spoiled, but I love them. So if there is a reason behind all these people's chickens not laying, I'd really like to know what I unintentionally gave them.
I should have added that we are at minus 42 wind chill factor. I have four chickens in my basement right now. Please don't judge me. 😳
Turned Earth?
Conspiracy or not, if I can manage without the big box stores I will. To me that is what survival gardening is all about. Our chickens are still laying 3 a day with 6 old hens and 4 too many roosters! Almost time for canned rooster. Just got to see if this kid support I just made fits my wood burning “Home Comfort “ stove/range, so I can use my new All American canner. Using it with my electric glass stove top is a no no. Too much drain on the batteries too since I am gridless.
Well I’ve sixteen bare root trees that just came in to go bury. I appreciate all your Good advice David and all your books too. Even the conspiracy theory ones with crazy mushrooms and painting seals and fire breathing dragon flies.😂❤
I have a couple of hints that not only lay eggs they crow periodically in fact one was doing the fancy dance this morning
There's also molting and age that can also cause them to stop laying. Alot of new folks are buying grown hens, and may be unknowingly buying hens at the end of their laying age.
We heard on the news last summer that Mississippi River levelsbwerebso low that barges were unloading grains for outdoor storage on the ground until other transport could be arranged. It is possible that the grains reduced in quality due to improper storage and delayed transport and yet still made it into the feed.
In my area this past summer at a certain point in time hens simply stopped laying eggs. The output was less than what it usually is in the dead of the winter. And this happened at pretty much the same time to several people from whom I purchse eggs. Now that we are still in the winter, the production has increased considerably.
I have switched feed from TS but it was for different reasons than how many eggs I was getting. I am purchasing locally made feed and I also give them kitchen scraps and garden left overs. I feed the eggshells back to mine as well. Sometimes I even give them scrambled eggs. I let them free range at times too.
Where did you get all that bamboo for that chicken coup ? 😁
They went to zero and wen I changed feed went up. Up north no greens so I see your point but something is different since September besides sunlight hours
This was an excellent video. I just found you, David the Good. Yep, gardening lady living under a rock. I'd just add, if your winters are cold, be good to "the girls." Wrap that hen house in tarps or something to keep out the wind. A shop light to huddle under for warmth, deep shavings bedding, and nest boxes stuffed with hay. Some cracked corn spread on a cookie sheet, in the oven at low temp then fed before sundown will keep them warm too from the inside. Put their water under a lamp so it doesn't freeze. Their toes get frostbite, so if possible, a coop inside a barn is awesome. They can poke around on a barn floor on sunny days without going outside. Not possible for everyone, I know. Just be nice to the ladies and keep them warm.😊
I'm in the Northern US. We feed run of the mill feed. Our hens can't really freerange eat in winter, but I still get eggs. I give them scratch plus a small amount of house scraps. I use a reg lightbulb over their water all winter....thus extra light. I Have had eggs for us plus eggs to sell all winter.
As a worm farmer myself, I concur with keeping them around lol! Quite a few years ago Edible Acres did a video on using their chickens to work their compost on something like 25cents a day by using sweepings from a local mill, it's always stuck with me and refer back to it. I enjoyed the options you put forth for those who may be new or simply worried, we can easily overlook things we may already know when we're fretting. Nice troubleshooting👍
This is good common sense. 👏🏼
"This big one with the pretty white tail feathers is not laying, something wrong with this chicken"🤣
Thanks for the voice of reason during a panic- driven time !! You are always calm and reassuring, David.🙏
My 21 hens (17 which are young gals) quit laying almost completely at the beginning of last summer. I'd get two or three eggs a week TOTAL. It wasn't until December after adding artificial light with a dim-to-off controller that they started laying again. The fourteen hours of light did the trick. I was at the point of getting rid of my flock, but now I'm getting a dozen per day, and they're earning their keep now.
hilarious brother! and informative. God bless
Call me crazy, as I’ve not ever had chickens to try this with, but would there be issues with hanging up bones from a harvest that still had bits of protein on it or roadkill?
I think everyone that doubts Producers Pride has added something to their feed that’s affecting laying hens should go get a bag of Producers Pride & feed it to their hens. Altho I would think by now that TSC would have replaced or sold all the bags that were causing the issues. Most complaints said that their hens stopped laying in September. And for those not paying attention, September is NOT winter. And the primary complaint wasn’t that egg production slowed, the complaint is that hens stopped laying altogether in September & still haven’t laid to this day. I probably would have changed the feed long before now but I’m sure the thought didn’t occur to them that Purina or Tractor Supply was untrustworthy. 🤨 In 2019 Producers Pride feed was blamed for the death of enough cattle that the Florida Dept of Ag to issue a recall.
I get organic feed from Azure Standard & I’m very thankfully my girls haven’t had any issues. It’s worth mentioning😂 that Nestle (which owns Purina) has partnered with a lab created meat (beef/chicken/pork) company named Believer Meat (formerly Future Meat). I think I t’s pretty incredible actually that they keep moving forward w the fake meat since fake meat sales are tanking…but I suppose they won’t be tanking when there’s no more animals to eat. 😂
Why else would they partner with the 3rd largest Food company on the planet & start building the largest lab created meat production plant in the world in NC? Maybe bc cows chickens & bacon will be a thing of the past. But what do I know, my tin hat has screws rattling inside it. 😂
Thanks for the great comments. I think that maybe Tractor Supply might be getting a bad rap on this "bad" feed deal. Just my thoughts having raised chickens.
Great advice!
It feels so good to hear you say what i have been for weeks.
also, your rooster is absolutely beautiful.
🙏💙🐓
I have raised hens since the 1960's. I have 500 hens now. There is something that tells birds to fly South in the Winter. There is something that allows Geese to fly in formations. Different birds have different adaptations to nature and their environment. I believe chickens are somewhat in tune with nature regardless of what they are fed. The quality of their feed is only one facet of a complicated puzzle that we do not fully understand.
Our local food bank gets donations of less-than-perfect and not-perfectly-fresh-looking produce from our local organic chain market (where all the wealthy millennials shop) almost daily. What they reject for their clients' use (or is an excess) comes to our chickens, because we donate perfectly fresh beautiful eggs on a regular basis. I can't free-range my birds for the same reasons you can't, so this is the next best thing in my suburban setting. I do feed bagged feed (usually it is one made by Purina, sometimes it is a mix from a local mill), but not the cheapest and not "layer" feed. I opt for one that contains animal protein made for growing out poultry. My benchmark for minimum protein content is 20%. I reject any bags that don't smell and look right. I also feed back excess eggs (scrambled with the shells and some ghee) or eggs I can't be sure are laid that day. I use one candelabra bulb on a timer in the coop for about an hour either side of the sun just for me to see by for chores. From about 30 hens (they have no rooster in that coop) I am now getting about two dozen eggs a day on average. These hens are from chicks hatched the first week of October 2021, and a mix of about 8 different breeds. Some are "egg laying" breeds, most are "dual purpose" breeds, all are standard large fowl. Most of my hens went through the molt by late December, though a couple just recently got their tail feathers all back. This is how I've been doing it at this north Texas location for the past 13 years. It's very close to what I did before that on my rural property, and before that on our family property.
Part of me says that a lot of newbie or newish chicken keepers are around now and surprised at how the decreased sunlight and a hard molt can affect their egg harvest. Part of me thinks blaming a certain retail feed chain or supplier that they don't like (maybe for perceived past transgressions? not saying it was a good thing) is not entirely out of the question. Dogpiling is common on the interwebs. I'm even looking at some reformulations of some feeds and not liking that either. Not to mention the headline sure gets clicks!
"When you hear hoofbeats, think horses. Not zebras."
Free range is different from pastured. You mean pasture.
It's ridiculous that free-range is different from pasture but free range means they aren't confined to a nestbox.
Hens only lay for about two years. Chickens prefer to lay in cool weather, but weather extremes are hard on them, and laying...
Not everyone is having this issue. Cycles of nature are a peculiar thing.
Love the cute ending!
So many folks brought chickens 3 years ago. Most of these were hybrid egg layers to first time chicken owners. Isa browns for example slow way down as they get older. Maybe there is something with the chicken food, but it’s important to know your breed and their lifespan.
My girls eat Dumor that I buy from tractor supply. They also have access to greens, scratch, bugs and wormies. They lay everyday. Even through this winter.