Hit 12 eggs in one day from my 8 hens and it totally changed my feeding plan

Honestly I was always against giving my girls any scratch grains because I thought commercial feed was all they needed. But last Wednesday I collected a full dozen eggs and one of my Easter Eggers looked a bit pale in the comb. A neighbor who's kept chickens for 20 years said try mixing in a handful of cracked corn with their evening scratch. After 5 days of that I'm still getting 10-11 eggs daily and they seem way more energetic. Has anyone else seen a big jump in production from just adding a little scratch?

2 comments

2 Comments

charlie_allen20h ago

Admitted I was in the same boat as you, always thought the feed bag was the end-all be-all for my girls. But after a bad molt last fall where my layers dropped way off, I tried mixing in some black oil sunflower seeds with their scratch and it was like a switch flipped. They perked up and egg production came back faster than I expected. Now I do a small handful of scratch grains in the afternoon and my birds seem a lot happier overall.

drew90618h ago

Wait, you're telling me black oil sunflower seeds made that big a difference? I always figured they were just filler that'd make 'em fat, not something to actually boost egg production after a rough molt. How much are you mixing in with the scratch exactly? Cause I'd try anything to avoid that drop off again.