I found my chooks would only lay if fed the pellets from the pet food store. Tried them for months on kitchen scraps but no eggs. When they have the option of either, they just ate the pellets, so we spent as much on food as we saved on eggs (this was a few years ago). If they're only going to lay with the pellets, then they're not great apocalypse insurance, as there are only so many bags of pellets you can stockpile. Might need to better research which breeds lay without pellets if I decide to try again.