Chickens not laying eggs?
There has been a lot of talk lately about possible causes for chickens not laying eggs. There are a number of reasons why, and many have more to do with time of year and weather than the situation with Tractor Supply Feed.
We did change feed, and I think our chickens getting back into production has a lot more to do with higher protein than anything else. We haven’t been feeding TSC feed exclusively, but rather had been following some other advice for cutting feed costs and improving chicken health.
We added crushed oyster shell and diatomaceous earth to both supply calcium and eliminate any pests and parasites.
Some chicken wheat and black oil sunflower from Azure Standard has also been added. While Azure Standard is more expensive than TSC, I think the fact that none of their products have any GMO “food” is worth a few extra dollars. I’ve also become less trusting of anything to do with big pharma and big farm. I still need to read the analysis of the suspect feeds.
I am also going to be buying from our local mills rather than TSC until I can get enough home grown feeds going to feed our birds and rabbits.
The plan is to plant several strips of sunflowers, squash, beans, wheat and oats. Sweet potato vines are vigorous, corn leaves and shoots are enjoyed by both rabbits and chickens, and I will be sprouting a number of seeds for our eating as well as the animals.
We’re going into the coldest part of the winter here, so I can get some sprouts going in my homestead office and the kitchen alongside the seed flats.