Raising Chicks: Week 40

Chickens Week 40! (or month 9) If your hens are doing great, have enough energy and are laying eggs keep feeding them Layena Pellets or Crumbles. If your hens are slowing production, you can add some alfalfa - we have 100 pound bales for $16.99. You can feed them a flake every few days (for about 6 chickens). A flake is an amount which naturally breaks off of the whole bale. It can range from one to three pounds. The alfalfa will also help keep your hens entertained - good if they've been fighting. This would be fed in addition to Layena. Another option if your hens aren't laying is to feed them cracked corn. Cracked corn contains sugars which will give your hens energy and a fatty layer which will help keep them warm. You can add cracked corn as a treat. Feed them a cup of cracked corn per chicken each day. This would be a supplement to the Layena. An easy supplement is an Onate Wild Bird Block. We offer them at Horse N Hound for around $13. If you have 6 chickens, the blocks can last up to a week. Each winter your hens will molt causing egg production to slow down or quit. Their feathers fall out and they look like a mess, but this is a natural occurrence. The quickest way for them to get over their molt is to put a heat lamp with a red bulb in their hen house and/or add alfalfa, cracked corn and a bird block to their diet.