Most of the time, lay mash is a supplement, standard poultry feed is their day-to-day food. Hens will lay eggs regardless, but the lay mash provides them with a nutritional boost just in case there is something lacking in their diet. At our house we feed both, along with table scraps and plenty of green grass, fresh water and free range exercise.

If ALL of your hens have stopped laying, I'd suspect illness of some sort, in which case you need to act quickly to solve it. If it is only one or two hens that have stopped, it could be that they are molting, have gone broody or ARE laying but have hidden a nest somewhere. Another possibility is that they are eating their eggs or a predator is, or a human is taking them. You need to do some detective work and glean a bit more info in order to find out what's going on here.

If you click on my 'My Page' link, there is tons of chicken info there that may help you. :)

Good luck!

Velvet ~:>

Velvet...so purina layena crumbles is not suitable as daily food to chickens? I thought that this was a complete food. What about scratch grains, I was also buying scratch grains as a treat for the chickens next door but have since become the owner of chicks that were hatched in my shed. I am currently feeding them start and grow but they also free range.