My hen stopped laying...

[Laddu]

Hey there...
My hen has stopped laying eggs since her last molt .. and already 3-4 months have passed.
And I don't think she will be laying any egg in future.
So I wanna know what kind of feed should I give to her..
Can I give her all grower feed (6-40 weeks) chicken feed . As it has no protein.

 

[DobieLover]

We have this grower feed and the layerer feed..?
How would I know if she never going to lay any egg ??
I have only one pet chicken that's why Im concerned for her health

If you offered her the oyster shell on the side, it wouldn't matter. She would consume that too meet her extra calcium needs if she started to lay again.
Keeping birds on a higher protein level all flock type feed is superior to using layer feed which has less protein and forces them to consume calcium that they do not always need.
How old is she? Where are you keeping her?

 

[DobieLover]

As it has no protein.

It has protein. It also has calcium but not at a level required by an active layer for shell formation.
Feeding chick starter or grower is excellent for hatch to death feeding. As is any All Flock or Flock Raiser type feed. Just put one or two containers of oyster shell out for free choice feeding by active layers and you never have to change the way you feed.

 

[KayisforKale]

Hey there...
My hen has stopped laying eggs since her last molt .. and already 3-4 months have passed.
And I don't think she will be laying any egg in future.
So I wanna know what kind of feed should I give to her..
Can I give her all grower feed (6-40 weeks) chicken feed . As it has no protein.

How old is your hen?

 

[nuthatched]

Diet doesn't affect laying unless it very poor. What has her diet been? A nice layer with good protein or a grower with oyster shell on the side.
She could also be depressed, chickens need other chickens.

 

[Kiki]

A layer type feed would be better than a grower type feed.

 

[Kiki]

B

BUt she's not laying.. since her last molt

Maybe she's not laying cuz she's not getting enough calcium?
Is this the same bird you were posting about last year that was sick with the respiratory disease?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Can I give her all grower feed (6-40 weeks) chicken feed . As it has no protein.

Laddu, does that feed bag have a nutrition label? One that shows the composition of the nutrients in that feed. Something that looks something like this. It might help us to see what feed you are talking about. Of main interest are percent protein and the minimum and maximum calcium. Names like "Grower" and "Layer" are more generalized names and don't always mean the same thing. I have no idea what an "all grower feed (6-40 weeks) chicken feed" would be. If you could post a photo of that label or a link so we can find it online could be very helpful.

Hens actively laying eggs need excess amounts of calcium for the egg shells. Studies have shown that non-laying chickens "can" damage their internal organs by eating that much calcium on a regular basis. "Can" does not mean that it will each and every time but it sometimes does happen. Damage to internal organs is not always visible from the outside. In these studies they cut the chickens open to see what is actually going on. Most of these studies are on growing chicks but there have been some on mature chickens. I remember a specific Canadian study on roosters.

Since there is the possibility of internal damage I consider it best practices to not feed excess calcium to non-laying chickens on a regular basis. One bite will not hurt them but a consistent diet might. Even if they are not laying they still need a small amount of calcium for body maintenance so she should be getting some calcium, around 1% as opposed to 4% calcium for active layers.

I hate to get into the protein discussion. Some people have very strong opinions about how much they need. In my opinion you have a fairly wide range of protein you can give them and them be healthy. If you are raising show chickens or meat birds there are higher requirements. The amount of protein for egg laying birds affects the size of those eggs more than the number. As you can see others have differing opinions.

Before I'd offer an opinion on that feed I'd need to know what is in the feed. Good luck!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Some birds do slow down on laying sooner than others, or may take longer coming back into lay after molting, especially as they get start getting older. If the hen is still eating well and active then that's the important part, especially as a pet.

I would not feed layer if she's not actually laying.

 

[Laddu]

A layer type feed would be better than a grower type feed.

Why layer feed ??