I have seven chickens and feed them chicken scratch, oyster shell and scraps from the kitchen. I even dry old egg shells and crush them up for them. I found the only time they don't lay is when they are moulting. They don't seem to need anything special to lay eggs, but do require water and feed. I feed my chickens Purina Mills Layena SunFresh Recipe. I started mixing a little into their chick starter at 14 weeks. This product will help strengthen the shells and give a rich yellow yolk. You can learn more about the different kinds of feed at http://www.showchow.com/flock/index.html
Hens do not need grass to lay eggs if their food contains all the nutrients they need, but they do enjoy eating it!
No.
Hens naturally lay eggs without the need of a special diet; however, a balanced diet will encourage steadier and more numerous egg laying.
No, they will lay anywhere if there is no other choice - the eggs have to come out.
All chickens are edible. Some are raised specifically for meat not eggs but even laying chickens can be eaten. Old hens and roosters can be used for food also, they just need special cooking to tenderize the tougher flesh.
Commercial feed is recommended and chicks need a special diet that is small enough for them to eat and digest easily. Ask for a "chick starter" when buying feed from an agro store. There are many brands available.
NO, hens lay eggs without roosters at all. The only thing roosters do for eggs, is fertilize them (Threw Mating) so that a chick can hatch.
One hen lays one egg a day, so if you want 1,000 eggs in one day you would need 1,000 hens.
The hens are told that they need to give up all of the eggs that they lay. Despite the fact that they were warned about it. They flew up into the rafters, and dropped their eggs up their, therefore, destroying them.
No. You do not need a Rooster ( no such thing as a male chicken) to get a chicken to lay eggs. Eggs are produced based on daylight paterns. The rooseter is only needed if you want to fertilize the eggs.
Eggs are fertilized by a rooster, hens do not need a rooster to produce an egg, they will do this with or without mating. Eggs available at the grocery store are produced by hens that never have contact with a male bird. Fresh eggs bought from a farm or roadside stand are likely to have been fertilized since most farms keep a rooster both to protect the hens and to renew stock as the hens age out each year..
No hens do not lay unfertilised eggs as fertilisation in hens is internal. But when she lays eggs the zygote is very small in liquid form,so hen sits on egg in order to provide it full warmth and when chick develops after 3 weeks the egg shell burst opens.