What to feed chickens in winter
One of the most popular poultry in the post-Soviet space is chicken. This unpretentious helper has been the breadwinner for millions of families for many decades. On the one hand, raising chickens is a very profitable event due to the constant availability of light, healthy and dietary meat. On the other hand, chickens are a constant source of eggs, which are used in home cooking almost daily. With year-round maintenance, you need to know what to feed the chickens in winter and summer.
How to feed laying hens in winter
In order for them to rush regularly, they need proper care: special conditions of detention, temperature regime and the correct diet. Feeding hens in the summer does not cause much trouble, since nature itself provides the necessary conditions: grass, grain, etc. But what to feed chickens indoors in winter is an important question that worries many novice poultry farmers. Today we will try to comprehensively answer it and how to prepare food for your chickens in winter.
The Basics of a Good Laying Diet
Before proceeding to consider the features of the winter menu for layers, it is necessary to highlight the general principles of feeding this type of hens. It is important for the owners of domestic birds to understand that in this case, the old folk wisdom, which says that you sow, you reap, is very welcome, because the quality and quantity of eggs obtained at the output directly depends on the quality of the bird's nutrition. So, what constituents must be present in the diet of layers at any time of the year than it is better to feed them? To answer this question, let's turn to the list provided by the professionals.
- The first pillar of the menu is vitamins which can be added to the winter diet of domestic chickens. It is a well-known fact that it is necessary to systematically support the immune system of pets. A sick bird cannot lay a sufficient number of eggs, and sometimes completely loses this ability. Vitamins can be given in the form of a specially selected complex, which can actually be purchased at veterinary pharmacies. You can also mix baking yeast, fish oil, green grass, etc. into the feed. All these products are rich in vitamins A, B and D, on which the quality of the eggs and the health of the bird itself directly depend.
- Another important element is proteins. They are found in products such as soybeans, rapeseed, etc. It is they that become the basis for the formation of eggs, so their importance for feeding chickens is difficult to overestimate.
- The next component of the diet of laying hens is carbohydrates. They are especially rich in substances such as starch, sugar and fiber, respectively, poultry farmers who want to increase the productivity of their wards are obliged to regularly give them beets, pumpkin and potatoes.
- The final factor is fat. They are consumed in the chicken's body directly during the formation of eggs.In addition, this element is needed for the production of energy by the bird, so feeding must necessarily include grain and corn, which are enriched with fats by nature itself. A healthy, viable chicken will emerge from a quality egg.
Types of feed for layers
Experienced owners of this common poultry, when the question arises, of how to feed laying hens in winter, distinguish several main types of feed: protein, concentrated and green. Let's dwell on each of them in more detail. Protein fodder is subdivided according to its etiology into plant and animal, but both types must be present on the menu. To enrich the nutrition of layers with proteins, they need to be fed with small fish, add meat and bone and fishmeal and legumes.
feed, which is called concentrated feed, means grain and corn. Both of these products contain the maximum amount of concentrated elements and perfectly fill the body of chickens with the necessary substances. In addition, both grain and corn are quickly digested in the stomach of the bird and do not require special energy costs for this, which are needed for the formation of eggs.
The disadvantage of grain nutrition is the lack of amino acids and proteins, therefore, if you are going to feed layers only with grain, you will not achieve high results in egg production.
As for the type of grain included in the diet of birds, the wider its choice, the better. It is important not to focus only on wheat or corn because feeding laying hens in winter should not be limited to these foods only. Both barley and oats should be added. The more varied the filling of the trough, the better for your pets.
Green food is the most popular product for poultry farmers in the summer. Do not forget that fresh green grass should make up at least a quarter of the chickens' daily menu. Young nettles, peas, clover are useful for them. Young shoots of meadow grasses will be very useful, because they are the most saturated with trace elements that are useful for the body. Towards the end of the summer period, you can add cabbage leaves, carrot and beet tops and unnecessary fruits (if possible) to the diet.
Winter diet for laying hens
Of course, the summer period of keeping chickens is the most favorable time, during which they better store the necessary vitamins with the help of natural feed. But sooner or later, nature takes its toll, the seasons change, taking with them both the green grass and the leaves of the tops of home vegetables. It is impossible to stock up on them for the winter, because birds do not feed on hay, like, for example, cows, so feeding your chickens in winter may make it somewhat difficult for novice poultry breeders. However, it is necessary to understand this issue and how chickens get good nutrition in winter.
First of all, you need to understand that when keeping chickens at home in winter, they need to be fed especially often. This is due to the fact that in the cold season, the bird spends a lot of energy to maintain the desired body temperature. In order for the bird not to freeze, it must be placed in an enclosed space and ensure the correct maintenance and feeding of domestic chickens in winter. Proper care of the nurses implies compliance with the temperature regime in the hen house, therefore it is advised in advance to take care of its possible insulation and creating the most comfortable conditions. The warmer it is in it, the less energy the bird will spend on not freezing, directing this energy to the formation of eggs, and this is the main purpose of keeping layers.
How to properly feed birds in cold weather?
Feeding chickens in winter should be carried out at least 2-3 times a day. In the morning, experienced poultry farmers advise feeding the birds with warm food, for example, mash... It is necessary to mix boiled potatoes, fish broth, vegetables and porridge, if possible, add cottage cheese or milk.Pets will be very grateful for such a royal breakfast and will definitely reward you with a lot of eggs!
Special attention should be paid to potatoes. It is an excellent source of starch, which is essential for the formation of eggshells. This means that without it, you will not be able to get strong eggs from chickens. It is important to organize a separate supply of potatoes for birds in advance. To do this, it is not at all necessary to select or buy a good large root crop. An economical option would be small potatoes, which are not suitable for preparing human food. It can be bought from people who breed this culture. Its price is usually low, but its presence in the diet is mandatory for layers. During the day, you can pamper a bird compound feed, however, it is important to try to mix chalk, table salt or shell dust into it. All of these ingredients improve the body's egg-forming ability.
In the evening, caring for chickens at home means feeding a mixture of different grains, to which it is desirable to add barley cake. This nutritious meal will help keep the hens strong until the morning and maintain their body temperature. A clarification should be made here: veterinarians usually recommend chopping the crops before feeding them to the bird. The optimal size of the crushed pieces is 1-2 mm. This will make it easier for the bird to swallow and digest food, which will reduce its energy costs and save them for laying. In order to properly prepare grain feed, it will not be superfluous to watch special videos on the Internet, in which experienced owners explain all the rules for their preparation in an accessible way.
If during the preparation of homemade food there is food waste in the form of cabbage leaves, peelings of beets, carrots or other crops, you should not rush to throw them away: they are perfect for feeding chickens. A good option is to cook porridge for poultry with them: it will serve as a wonderful breakfast.
What else is important to remember
Of course, it is advisable to stock up on fodder types of vegetables for the winter especially for layers. You can grow them in your own garden in the summer or buy them at autumn fairs. Usually, vegetables such as fodder beets or carrots cost much less than their noble relatives, and are quite affordable for caring owners who constantly include them in the winter feeding of their laying hens.
Do not forget to add poultry and seeds to the winter diet. In this case, both sunflower seeds and zucchini or pumpkin seeds are suitable. They are rich in trace elements and will only play into the hands of those who want to get a large egg from their pets. The pumpkin itself can be given raw. This excellent product keeps well in winter and is easy to grow, so it is extremely important to take care of its stocks from summer. It is necessary to allocate a small plot of land in your garden for this crop, and in winter the bird will be provided with tasty and healthy food. In general, it makes no sense to give it to chickens, it would be much more rational to rub it on a medium grater and add it to dry grain mixtures or cereals.
Taking care of birds is the key to success
In winter, it is especially important to help the hens maintain their immunity. Green grass, young shoots of clover and nettle are not available at this time, therefore the artificial introduction of various vitamins and minerals necessary for their body is strictly mandatory in the winter. It is extremely important to select their complexes in conjunction with a veterinarian, only then it will be possible to count on good egg laying rates.
So, in order to bring all the above recommendations into the system, consider the following list of recommended food products and their quantities per 1 bird per day in winter:
- chalk - 3 g;
- boiled potatoes - 120 g;
- bone meal - 2-3 g;
- grain - 60 g;
- cake - 6-8 g;
- whey - 90-100 g;
- bran - 15 g;
- table salt - 0.5 g;
- warm grain mash - 35 g.
It remains only to calculate the livestock and prepare the required amount of food for the layers, based on the already known proportions. Overfeeding your birds is not recommended because excess food will turn into body fat and may interfere with laying. In addition, chickens may simply not eat excess food, and it will quickly disappear (this primarily concerns boiled cereals and warm whey-based mixtures), which is an irrational budget expense. It will be useful to take a closer look at how much pets can eat, and each time try to prepare exactly that amount of food.
Let's summarize
Laying hens, like all other poultry, require special care. If there is a desire to get a high-quality result from them in the form of a large number of eggs, one should not neglect the quality and quantity of properly prepared feed for them, and then hopes will certainly be justified! You can even film the feeding of your chickens in winter on video and share your successes with friends.