We started adding in the new layer and meat bird dry foods the week of March 13, 2023. Up to this point we had been getting 1 – 3 eggs per day and many days there would be no eggs at all. They get the new food in a fermented form every day and have been getting this for about a month. The weather had been nice, warmer, lots or rain but we still were getting sunny days here and there and the days are getting longer. The week that we started adding in the new food it was actually colder and cloudy with mixes of snow and rain just about everyday. I noticed that their “old” food was running low so I mixed up a five gallon bucket of half meat bird crumble and half layer pellets using the new foods. All information here has no scientific basis it is observational and perhaps even coincidental. I’ve added in 2 of those 5 gallon buckets mixes on top of the old food. They have had access to this for three days and are still getting their fermented food in the morning. It’s been to cold and miserably wet here all week for me to spend any quality time with them out in the yard so they have only had access to their larger fenced in area.
No matter where you stand on the theories going around about why egg production seems lower I think we can all agree that good nutrition makes a difference. Also time of year, molt, access to clean water, weather (extreme cold or heat), amount of light each day all play their own roles. Because we had such a dramatic increase in eggs and new food was the only real variable added this week I decided to look at the bags and here is what I found:
Old Food – Country Road Layer Pellets from Rural King
First five ingredients: Processed Grain By-Products, Grain Products, Calcium Carbonate, Plant Protein Products, Salt
New Layer Food – Kalmbach 17% Organic Layer
First five ingredients: Organic Corn, Organic Soybean Meal, Organic Wheat Middlings, Organic Wheat Flour, Organic Soybean Oil
New Meat Bird Food – Kalmbach 20% Organic Chick & Meatbird Starter Grower
First five ingredients: Organic Corn, Organic Soybean Meal, Organic Wheat Middlings, Organic Wheat Flour, Organic Soybean Oil
Now lets look at the analysis of each of the foods:
| Country Roads | Organic Layer | Meatbird | |
| Crude Protein (min) | 16.0% | 17.00% | 20.00% |
| Lysine (min) | 0.6% | 0.88% | 1.10% |
| Methionine (min) | 0.25% | 0.35% | 0.45% |
| Crude Fat (min) | 3.0% | 3.00% | 3.50% |
| Crude Fiber (max) | 8.0% | 5.00% | 6.00% |
| Calcium (min) | 3.5% | 3.50% | 0.80% |
| Calcium (max) | 4.50% | 1.30% | |
| Phosphorus (min) | 0.55% | 0.50% | 0.60% |
| Salt (min) | 0.25% | 0.20% | 0.20% |
| Salt (max) | 0.70% | 0.70% | |
| Sodium (min) | 0.15% | ||
| Zinc | 125 ppm | ||
| Manganese (Min) | 125 ppm | ||
| Vitamin A (min) | 5,000 IU/lb | 6,000 IU/lb | |
| Vitamin D (min) | 2,000 IU/lb | 2,000 IU/lb | |
| Vitamin E (min) | 20 IU/lb | 30 IU/lb |
The deck is definitely stacked against the old food with the two new ones teamed together so it’s not a fair fight. While I cannot with 100% authority state that food changed the laying patterns I can with 100% authority state that I’m sure it did not hurt it any. I can also say that the new food is a smaller bag at a higher price. For us it was worth making the swap because doing all the work without getting eggs was making me sad. I’m buying food, I’m hauling it home, I’m filling the feeders, I’m doing the water, I’m cleaning the coops, I’m investing in everything needed to keep them healthy and safe and not getting any eggs. I was buying eggs at the grocery store.
A couple of other things to note there is a difference in the yolk color. I cracked a store egg in the same bowl as a fresh egg and the color was eye popping. Then I cracked an old food fresh egg into the same bowl with a new food egg and again saw a difference. The new food is improving the shells. I haven’t been adding calcium because in the past our chickens have never really had an issue with shells not being tough enough. Here lately the shells have been so tender that just picking them up caused some of them to break. I’ve noticed that in the last few days the shells have been stronger.
Summer will be coming on and the chickens will spend more time foraging for themselves. They will also have more access to garden scraps. All of that will again change their eggs and laying patterns. For now I’m thinking we will stay with this new food. We may make some adjustments like adding the foods for molting or feathers in when they are needed. In the warm weather I will probably stop the meat bird food and maybe try some of the Henhouse Reserves.
If you want to know more about any of these products you can use these links to the spec sheets to read the full details on each one.
Kalmbach Meat Bird food
https://www.kalmbachfeeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/O1040.pdf
Kalmbach Layer food
https://www.kalmbachfeeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/O1117-new-2020.pdf
Country Roads layer food
