Layer Feeding Guide: From Point-of-Lay to Peak Production

A layer is a long game. Where a broiler is done in six weeks, a layer flock earns over more than a year, which means every small feeding decision compounds. Underfeed calcium for a few weeks and you get thin shells and cracked eggs for months. Push pullets into lay underweight and they never reach a proper peak. Let feed intake drop in the heat and production quietly slides before you notice. Feeding layers well is less about a single big move and more about consistency over a long stretch.

This guide covers feeding from the developer stage through point-of-lay and up to peak production, with the numbers that matter for Lohmann Brown, ISA Brown, Bovans and Hy-Line birds in Ghanaian conditions. The goal is simple: get to peak, hold it, and protect egg size and shell quality all the way.

Get the pullet to weight before you switch

Everything good about a laying flock is built during rearing. A pullet that reaches target body weight and uniformity comes into lay strongly and holds peak; an underweight or uneven flock never does. Feed a good grower and then a developer ration through rearing, and weigh samples weekly against the breed target. Do not rush the switch to layer feed. If you put high-calcium layer feed into a young pullet that is not yet laying, the excess calcium can damage her kidneys.

Timing the switch matters. Move to a pre-lay or layer ration as the flock approaches first eggs, around 17 to 18 weeks or at about 5% lay, whichever your birds show first. This dovetails with your lighting programme, since light stimulation and the feed change work together to bring the flock into production.

Feed intake, protein and energy

A laying hen eats roughly 110 to 120 grams of feed a day, more in cool weather, less in heat because birds cut intake when hot. That intake has to deliver enough protein for egg production (a whole egg is protein and fat wrapped in a calcium shell) and enough energy to keep the bird's body running and warm. In hot Ghanaian houses, the trap is that birds eat less exactly when they are laying hard, so the ration has to be nutrient-dense enough that a smaller intake still meets needs.

This is why watering down layer feed to save money backfires so badly. A hen that cannot get enough protein and energy from her daily intake either lays fewer eggs, lays smaller eggs, or pulls from her own body reserves and burns out early. If you are struggling with feed cost, the answer is smarter formulation and less waste, covered in our guide on cutting feed cost, not dilution.

Calcium and shell quality: the layer's special need

A laying hen needs a lot of calcium, far more than a broiler, because she is building a hard shell almost every day. Layer feed should carry around 3.5 to 4 percent calcium, and much of it should be in a coarse form like limestone grit or oyster shell rather than only fine powder. Coarse particles sit in the gizzard and release calcium slowly overnight, which is exactly when the shell is being formed. Thin shells, cracks and "wind eggs" almost always trace back to calcium, either too little, the wrong form, or poor vitamin D3 to use it.

Reaching and holding peak production

Peak lay, when a good flock hits 90 percent or more, comes around 28 to 32 weeks and is the payoff for everything you did in rearing. To reach it, feed must never run short in the run-up; a flock that goes hungry approaching peak simply never gets there. To hold it, keep intake up, keep water clean and cool, keep the birds free of disease, and keep the lighting steady. Peak does not last forever; a healthy flock holds high production for several months, then declines gently. Your job is to make that decline gentle, not a cliff.

Egg size grows through the cycle. Early eggs are small; as the hen matures they get larger, which is why feeding for the right protein and amino acids early helps drive good size. If you sell by size, this feeding detail affects your price directly, as does the market you sell into, covered in selling chicken and eggs.

Heat, water and afternoon feeding

Ghana's heat is the layer farmer's constant opponent. Hot hens eat less, drink more and lay fewer, smaller, thinner-shelled eggs. Fight it with cool, clean water always available, good ventilation, and by feeding the heavier part of the ration in the cooler afternoon and evening. Afternoon feeding has a bonus: it puts calcium in the gut in the evening, right when the shell is forming overnight. See our note on heat stress for the full picture during the hottest months.

Grit and clean water are not optional extras. Insoluble grit helps the gizzard grind feed, and clean water is half the diet by weight. A layer deprived of water for even a few hours in the heat can go off lay, and it takes days to recover.

Feeding mistakes that crash layers

The classic errors: switching to layer feed too early and damaging young pullets, or too late and starving them of calcium as they start to lay; letting feed or calcium run short at peak; diluting feed to cut cost and getting fewer, smaller eggs; and ignoring water and heat. There is also the slow killer of poor storage, where feed goes mouldy and loses nutrients in a damp store. Because layers earn slowly over a long cycle, none of these announce themselves loudly. They show up as an egg count that is a little lower than it should be, week after week, which is money you never see.

Frequently asked questions