JBinhungary

good morning, am hoping someone can give me some advice on the types/ names of chicken feed available here in Hungary.

We have 4 girls, for almost a year & suddenly they have all stopped laying almost 2 weeks & not a single egg... they are fed on corn & a wide variety of scraps & homegrown veg etc.

Have read they need more protein but not sure what to look for here. Someone mentioned a something called (no way this spelt correctly but this is how it was pronounced ) trit- i core- ?? very grateful for all advice & suggestions.

Peter_in_Hungary

If they were laying OK and suddenly stopped and you haven't changed their feed then it is unlikely to be the feed. Having said that what you are feeding sounds OK, some people will feed scraps and greenery without any cereal but the output will be lower. Chickens will / do go off lay occasionally e.g. when they moult.

trit- i core- ?? .... Do you mean tritikálé ? this is a hybrid grain of wheat and rye that is often (popular) grain used as animal feed. It is a good idea to mix this with the corn (maize). It is (should be) a bit cheaper than corn and many people use this without corn.

Do you grind the cereal feed? Coarse grinding can help the digestion and so the uptake of the feed value.

scrubbedexpat142

I know nothing about chickens but my Mother does - & she swears by adding crushed egg shell to the cereal, to maintain calcium levels.

scrubbedexpat142

Found this -

JBinhungary

Thanks Peter, yes that sounds about right for the grain hybrid. Will look for it as I knew what I had been told wasn't exactly correct. are moulting but we just find it odd they all stopped.

we get pure corn kernels at the local grain plant & something that is like little black balls (occasionally ) I don't grin them but maybe worth doing. I do give them ground eggshells & any eggy bits that are left.

Not sure what layer feed/pellets are here of if they exist. They fresh water twice a day & the odd time apple cider vinegar in there

Peter_in_Hungary

If there are little black balls about 1/8" across in the grain then this is a weed seed known as konkoly (Agrostemma githago), Englishcommon corn-cockle, it is not often found in maize but can be found in other cereal like wheat. specialised seed cleaning equipment is needed because the size is very close to that of wheat etc. It won't do any harm in small quantities.

Layers pellets are available but are more expensive and IMO would not be better than the cereal and kitchen/garden scraps that you are feeding. It can be cheaper to get grain from farm gate sales rather than grain merchants - as always check the quality.

It is better for the birds to have water available continuously (from a drinker) rather than twice a day

JBinhungary

They have access to water at all times, they get fresh water twice daily was what I meant..poor wording.

Good will steer clear of the pellets then, we are lucky with the grain as our neighbour's brothers all work there & she gets hers & ours at discount, so way cheaper than the guy who comes around. I think last time we paid 2500 for the huge sack. the man in the van wanted 2000 for a tiny bag.

yes small black balls about the size of ice cream sprinkles, nothing like the images I have seen of corn cockle tho. like mini BBs. They love it mixed in with their food .