How and what to feed chickens to lay a lot of eggs
One of the conditions for a stable, healthy and good condition of an animal is its nutrition. Many farmers do not know how to feed chickens to lay many eggs. The productivity of birds consists of many factors - and their conditions of keeping, the availability of daylight hours and even walking conditions. However, the issue of feeding chickens is one of the most important, which needs to be sorted out by a novice poultry farmer, first of all, so that the birds fly well.
What and how to feed chickens so that they carry a lot of eggs
Competently composed nutrition is the basis for the quality of eggs and high, almost year-round productivity, as well as strong immunity and health of chickens. If you follow the simple rules for care and feeding hens, then even a novice poultry farmer will be able to raise healthy birds and get quality eggs. In more detail, how and what to feed the hens at home can be studied in a photo or video.
Rates and modes of feeding
The biggest mistake is not to teach chickens to use feed correctly, as well as to a specific time of eating. A haphazard meal, like insufficient daylight hours, also significantly affects the quality and the eggs are not so voluminous and tasty. Unaccustomed to any system, the birds will simply walk on aviary waiting for the next portion of food, not knowing when it is better to incubate eggs in the chicken coop, and when to eat. Fortunately, they quickly and easily get used to the right time - if you feed them systematically every day, at the same time, they will come to the feeders only during the hours that you taught them.
The optimal number of meals per day for adult chickens depends on the area in which they are walking. Also, consider the feeding rates in summer and winter are slightly different. In the summer, you need to give fresh herbs and vegetables. In winter mash should be warm to keep the birds warm, and vitamins and supplements should be given instead of fresh herbs. If this is a limited area, then you need to feed the birds correctly three times a day, with an open range - two will be enough. At the same time, it is worth remembering the basic rule - the second meal for chickens should mainly consist of greens and vegetables. Young laying hens need food four times a day.
Bird nutrition recommendations
- One of the best "breakfasts" for birds, so that they rush better at home - mash-ups based on ground grain or combined feed... They are prepared just before the very "meal", and it is not recommended to keep them in the feeders longer than 2-3 hours. By the evening, it will not hurt to pour whole grain into the feeders.
- Since chickens by nature wake up at sunrise - ideally, their first meal of the day should be at this time.In winter, due to a decrease in daylight hours, this time may shift - but it should not be later than 7-8 o'clock in the morning.
- The amount of feed for each chicken is determined based on its breed, desired performance and weight. Optimal formula - for every 250 grams of laying hens' weight, there is 10 grams of feed. It is important to feed the hens so that they are fully satiated - as overfeeding and overfeeding equally lead to a deterioration in the well-being and quality of the eggs.
- The nutritional value of feed can and should be increased by winter; however, for breeds prone to obesity and rapid weight gain, it can be useful to arrange fasting days.
Good nutrition and essential elements
Even people who are completely unfamiliar with poultry know that the basis of the diet of chickens is grain. It is the basis for every meal. There are many varieties of grains suitable for feeding chickens, but this does not mean that you need to take a whole "cocktail" of grains every day. Each variety has its own properties, but oats and wheat are recognized as the main and most useful ones, since they are characterized by the highest indicators of vitamins, fiber, proteins and fats.
How to feed the laying hens so that a lot of feed does not go away and they rush better at home? It is best of all with grain in the correct proportions with the addition of various elements. It is recommended to add variety to the grain part of the diet every day - grains of barley, rye and corn are also suitable. Only in this way the chicken will receive a huge share of important trace elements and vitamins.
There are some rules for each type of grain:
- oats - it should first be germinated or steamed, you don't need to give a lot;
- barley - does not differ in a large percentage of protein, therefore it should not be a frequent element of "dishes" in the feeder;
- corn - it is highly desirable to grind it, as this grain can provoke obesity in birds;
- rye - it is not recommended to give constantly and in large quantities, since this type of grain is too rich in proteins.
For greater benefit, it is always recommended to germinate the grain; this only makes egg production better. You can watch and study the diet of layers in detail in the video. Vegetables are also an important element of the diet. It is very useful to feed the hens at home with beets, potatoes and cabbage. All vegetables are usually served chopped or mashed with a mash. It is also worth remembering that an overabundance of vegetables leads to digestive disorders - therefore, you should not make them the basis for the diet.
It is important to know that when cooking potatoes, they release into the water a substance poisonous to birds - solanine. Therefore, the water from boiling potatoes should in no case be used either in the mash or as an additive. The boiled potatoes themselves need to be kneaded with the addition of flour, and only after this procedure can they be fed to the chickens.
Diet for every day
The "menu" should include greens. The most varied are vegetable tops from the garden and crops of grain crops and even ordinary grass. Free-range chickens usually eat enough greens themselves; in the absence of free range, it is recommended to collect it yourself, finely chopping large leaves. Also, greens can be prepared for the winter: by tying bundles in small brooms, dried in the shade or in a well-ventilated area. In winter, such "bouquets" should be hung in the chicken coop - after all, even in dried form, greens retain their natural properties and trace elements, can support the appearance of birds and their ability to lay eggs better. Also in winter they can be added to mash or dry feed mixtures.
Especially for chickens, vitamins of groups A, D and B are important, which just can be provided with herbs, pine flour, baker's yeast.
In addition to the aforementioned greens, it is also a good idea to provide chickens with varieties of food that grow specifically in the wild: these are plant seeds (such as clover, quinoa, horse sorrel), hay and silage made from weeds (alfalfa or nettle), as well as mashed leaves and berries of wild shrubs, as well as trees (acorns, chestnuts, in addition - berries of mountain ash, rose hips, hawthorn).
And the last, but not insignificant element in the diet of birds is mineral feeding. It is the minerals that are responsible for the strength of the egg shell and the lasting health of the chickens.Crushed shells, chalk, pure limestone, bone flour, wood ash, mashed eggshells and salt. All mineral dressings are dispensed in separate feeders in crushed form. Eggshells and salt can be used as additional ingredients for the mash.
Preservation of productivity of layers in winter
The nature of chickens is such that in cold seasons they begin to lay fewer eggs - and this depends on many factors, working on which you can maintain productivity. In addition to a balanced diet, birds should be kept dry, insulated room (the temperature should not go below 12-18 degrees Celsius). An important role is also played by the artificial increase in daylight hours due to the lamps arranged in the hen house.
By the end of autumn, the nutrition of chickens should be filled with vitamins and minerals, preparing them for the cold weather. Excellent options are sprouted wheat and greens harvested since summer. In winter, all birds need to eat four times a day, as well as constantly heated water. The lack of greenery in the cold season can be made up by fresh needles, hay from legumes and grass flour.
Appointment of vitamin and mineral complexes in chicken feeding
Even with proper planning and balanced nutrition, the problem of lack of desired productivity can arise. If this problem occurs, the birds are most likely not getting the required amount of minerals and vitamins. A good solution in this situation is vitamin and mineral supplements to food. At the moment, there are a huge variety of different food additives, which one to choose is up to you.
All of them equally well supplement the nutrition with the necessary substances, improving the productivity and general condition of the birds. However, in this matter, it should be borne in mind that the use of such dressings in the summer is corny unprofitable, since in the summer all the necessary substances are already present in the diet of chickens. On the contrary, it will be much more appropriate to diversify and supplement food with complexes in cold seasons, when the birds just do not have enough vitamins and minerals to produce high-quality eggs. Supplements can also reduce the waste of the main feed, as the birds are much more likely to fill up with supplements.
Useful Tips
To improve the quality of egg production at home, it is recommended to keep birds with a similar color of feathers in the same pen. Such a measure helps the birds to enter into conflicts less and to peck each other. In the summer, you can prepare fresh greens for future use, so that in the winter you can make mash for layers. For eggs to have a strong shell, you need to give calcium or foods rich in calcium.
To prevent the development of infections and diseases in the hen house, it is necessary to regularly clean the house with disinfectants. During the hygiene of the poultry house, all individuals should be taken outside or in another room so that they do not absorb harmful chemicals, as egg production and egg quality also suffer from this.