Hi everybody,
I'm new to this group and chicken raising. I have 6 brown sexlink hens, 3 black sexlink hens and 2 white leghorn roosters. I bought them as chicks March of 2000 from a feed place in my area. That would make them around 10 months old. I had only given them scratch as feed. A few days ago one of the brown sexlinks laid an egg and she and her sister hens ate it. This sent me into a research frenzy via the internet. Since I have learned that chickens cannot live on scratch alone. I have started giving them morning feedings of a variety of things including fresh greens, table scraps, fruit, etc. I throw the scratch down too since I did read regardless of diet they will still want to *scratch*. They are in a big hen house built by my hubby and they have a yard and all is enclosed with chicken netting from top to bottom to keep out hawks and other predators. The yard and their house is floored with straw (get it free am surrounded by pines :-) ). I had two old double sinks I hadn't taken to the dump yet and that's what I fixed up as their nesting boxes and they are filled with straw. Finally my question :-) When will they begin to lay now? The Roosters have been mounting them and I know I don't need roosters for eggs but is that an indication that they will begin to lay soon? Any advice would be most appreciated.
Lisa

If you go to a regular 16% protein feed as your main diet for the birds and only feed a little scratch as a treat, they will probably begin laying within a couple of weeks. Your sexlinks should begin to lay by 5 months of age. The scratch you are feeding does not have enough protein by itself to supply the extra nutrients needed for the chickens to produce a surplus product: eggs for you. You should also feed crushed oyster shells (available at the feed mill) to supply the extra calcium your birds need to put shells on the eggs. Shells should be available free choice at all times, and fed from a separate feeder. Hope this helps.

Thanks Dr. Bruce. Yes that does help. I have started to feed them table scraps and things I prepare for them..not bag feed bought from feed store so they will get a variety of different things minus meat :-) Also I will substitute kale and other leafy greens for their calcium (oyster shell) wondering if this will be okay (feeding them food and the greens for calcium) wondering if this will be sufficient food and they will begin to lay.

It takes a lot of calcium to make a nearly pure calcium shell for an egg. I would think that to avoid problems, you will need to feed a hefty source of calcium. I would be surprised if regular dietary things would be enough. Some of the complete feeds are supposed to have "all the calcium layers need," but I have never found this to be the case. What are you fixing yourself to supply the protein?

Lisa, Chickens have a totally different digestive system from people. Do not expect healthy people-food to be an adequate diet for healthy poultry. Assimilation of their food requires grit for the grinding of foods, as hens have no teeth you know, and the grinding of oystershell is part of their system's utilizing minerals, if they are to lay eggs with good shells for more than their first year. It may be lack of proper nutrition that your hens have not matured and started to lay, even at 10 months of age. You may be able to find a commercial feed that does not have animal products in it, read some labels. But in the "wild" poultry will eat meat, as well as insects, and vegetable matter. I consider table scraps as garbage and prefer to compost rather than feed to poultry, but that is just my preference. (and chickens love compost!) CJR

They receive some meat, oats etc for protein content. I also compost CJR :-) I consider my table scraps recycleables and use them in various ways, chickens, compost, even my poochies. :-) I have read a gazillion (well not quite that many) post of ppl who feed table scraps and other things down to beef jerky etc. :-) I've also read about grit and have questions about it but I asked on another group. Looking into organic feed(there are some great sites on the web!!) Thanks Dr. Bruce and CJR
Have a blessed day
Lisa