Okay, the chickens made liars out of me, but only with TWO measly eggs. The same day as my last post, 5/31, we got one egg and we got one today. (outlined at right)Although I can't fully explain these new slacker egg-laying practices, I think it has to do with Lottie going broody and the fact that the ladies aren't exactly excited about their feed.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I ordered the organic feed from Purina. They only had "crumbles" and the ladies had previously been only eating "mash." I foolishly thought they wouldn't really mind trying something new, but they seem to be partial only to the mash. I find leftover food in their feed bin every morning, which never happened when I was feeding the mash.
I tried to order mash today at East Valley Feed since they don't charge me shipping, but apparently Purina only makes organic in crumble form. So, I broke down and ordered the expensive organic layer mash from McGeary Organics through My Pet Chicken. Although $26 doesn't seem like a lot for a bag of feed that lasts several months, the shipping ends up costing an additional $29! This better pay off in some serious egg laying!
Maybe they're on the verge of moulting? I heard than hamper egg laying. :-)
ReplyDeleteI just read about that. I just got two eggs this morning, so hopefully they were just in a bad mood. ;)
ReplyDeleteOne of our chickens stays broody almost all the time. Its like she sprints for the nearest egg that has been laid and plops her tiny chicken butt down on it. She even keeps her belly plucked... almost all the time. and she almost never lays. But even when she does lay because she is a Banti she only lays every two to three days. But I do let our chickens get broody ever soften to give them a break from laying.
ReplyDeleteChickens are very picky about food. Once you start your chickens on something if you don't change it when they are young or change it over very very slowly they won't eat it. They can even starve themselves. So Make sure you do it slowly and make sure everyone is eating good... Good luck. ;)