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Buying in chicken household egg breeds, owners want to get the most out of them. Any farm animal owner knows that the full benefit from them can only be obtained with proper feeding. You cannot feed a cow with straw alone and expect to get 50 liters of 7% fat milk from her.
It's the same with chickens. In order for chickens to lay large eggs with strong shells, they must receive all the vitamins, minerals and trace elements they need. This is not counting what is indicated on all food packages: proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
But organizing the correct feeding of laying hens at home is very difficult even for an experienced poultry farmer, not to mention beginners.
All tables showing feeding rates and the amount of required elements contain very average values. For example, all tables indicate that laying hens need 0.5 g of table salt per day. But in which region does this chicken live, and most importantly, which region does it eat grain from?
In the Altai Territory, fodder grown in saline areas is highly valued by local farmers, since as a result of eating these fodders, animals do not need to add fodder salt.
Mountainous areas are poor in iodine and a “mountain” laying hen should receive more iodine than a hen living by the sea.
So you can see almost any element. In one area there will be an excess of it, in another there will be a shortage.
To correctly formulate the diet of a laying hen, you will have to take for analysis every new batch of feed and at the same time chicken blood for biochemistry. Considering that usually laying hens are given several types of grains and protein products, the chemical analysis of each batch of feed is a below average pleasure.
There are two ways to solve this problem: feeding chickens with special feed for layers and not bothering yourself by reading the feeding norms in reference books and textbooks. With the exception of a very critical shortage / excess of any elements, a living organism is able to independently regulate the assimilation of the substances it needs.
Features of feeding laying hens
It is almost impossible to organize feeding laying hens at home according to the norms presented in textbooks on zootechnics.
In addition to the well-known proteins, fats, carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus and the most famous vitamins, laying hens need much less well-known substances, which the owners of domestic laying hens do not focus on.
Usually, there is enough phosphorus in grain feed, so you can not think about it and just add feed chalk or limestone.
When feeding laying hens at home, the norms of nutrients can be estimated by the condition of the eggs and their number. The most difficult thing here is that a lack or an overabundance of any element causes a chain reaction in the absorption of other nutrients, and it is often very difficult to understand what exactly needs to be added or reduced.
Calcium
The content of calcium in a hen's egg is on average 2 g. With a high egg production, a lack of calcium greatly affects the condition of the laying hens themselves and the quality of the eggs.Decreases not only egg production and shell quality, but also increases the plasticity of the bones of the laying hen. Such bones are called "gutta-percha". The amount of calcium that a laying hen can "give" to eggs from its own bones is only enough for 3-4 eggs. Next, the hen will give out the egg without the shell.
Phosphorus
Calcium without phosphorus is not assimilated. But fortunately, there is a lot of this element in grain fodder and a lot in the waste of milling production - bran. If moist bran-based mash is prepared for laying hens, there is no need to worry about a lack of phosphorus.
Vitamin D₃
There is always limestone in the feeder, the bran is dispensed regularly, and the shell of the eggs is still weak and soft. Have the feed been tested for vitamin D₃ content? With its lack of calcium, it is poorly absorbed, so there is little constant presence of limestone in the feeders, you also need cholecalciferol in the feed or long walking on the street.
Sodium
Vitamin D₃ has already been added in the required quantities by chemical analysis of the feed, and the eggs, as they were with poor shells, remain. Because it's not that simple.
Calcium will be poorly absorbed even with a lack of sodium. Sodium is part of common table salt, another name for which is sodium chloride. Laying hen should receive salt 0.5 - 1 g per day.
Added salt and it got worse? Perhaps the fact is that before that there was an excess of sodium. Chickens that eat the remains of prepared food from the human table often suffer from an excess of salts in the body. Due to an excess of salts, the absorption of calcium also slows down.
Manganese
The shell becomes thinner and egg production decreases due to the lack of manganese. In addition to shell thinning, mottling is also observed with a lack of manganese. Not more intensely colored spots, but thinner shells visible when looking at the egg at light. Manganese requires 50 mg per day.
In addition to the above trace elements and minerals, laying hens also need:
- zinc 50 mg;
- iron 10 mg;
- copper 2.5 mg;
- cobalt 1 mg;
- iodine 0.7 mg.
Daily doses are indicated.
The metabolism of chickens is influenced not only by trace elements, but also by amino acids. Assimilation of trace elements and minerals is impossible without amino acids. The necessary protein synthesis for an egg without amino acids is also impossible.
The table below shows the daily amino acid requirements for laying hens.
Daily feeding rates for laying hens:
| Amino acid | Required amount, g |
|---|---|
| Methionine | 0,37 |
| Lysine | 0,86 |
| Cystine | 0,32 |
| Tryptophan | 0,19 |
| Arginine | 1,03 |
| Histidine | 0,39 |
| Leucine | 1,49 |
| Isoleucine | 0,76 |
| Phenylalanine | 0,62 |
| Threonine | 0,52 |
| Valine | 0,73 |
| Glycine | 0,91 |
During the laying period, laying hens have a great need for vitamins. But again, you need to be careful not to overdose vitamin supplements. Hypervitaminosis is worse than hypovitaminosis.
In addition to the most famous and usually indicated in the list of the chemical composition of vitamins A, D, E, group B, chickens also need a couple of rather exotic vitamins K and H.
Excess calcium
Eliminated the lack of calcium, another problem appeared: a thick, rough shell.
Such a shell can form when there is an excess of calcium or a lack of water.
With a lack of water, the egg lingers in the oviduct of the laying hen, overgrowing with extra layers of the shell. To eliminate this problem, it is enough to provide the laying hen with constant access to water even in winter. Heated drinkers can be supplied if you can find them.
The second reason for the retention of eggs in the oviduct is the short daylight hours in winter. In this case, egg production decreases, and calcium continues to be supplied with feed. It is necessary to increase daylight hours due to artificial lighting and replace part of the calcium-rich compound feed with whole grains.
Features of the diet of egg laying hens
The basis of the diet of laying hens is the grain of cereal plants: barley, millet, corn, sorghum, oats and others. Legumes: soybeans, peas and others - give in an amount of about 10%, although it is this grain that contains the maximum amount of protein necessary for laying hens and a part of essential amino acids, for example, lysine. But a protein overdose is also unnecessary.
But it is impossible without fiber at all. It stimulates the bowels.
Dry type of food
When self-preparing feed for chickens, they adhere to the following proportions (in%):
- grain 60-75;
- wheat bran up to 7;
- meal / cake from 8 to 15;
- fish / meat and bone /bone flour 4-6;
- yeast 3-6;
- feed fat 3-4;
- herbal flour 3-5;
- mineral and vitamin premixes 7-9.
With a dry type of feeding, it is better if the laying hens receive a complete feed that already contains all the nutrients they need. Compound feed for one chicken will go up to 120 g per day.
Combined type of feeding for laying hens
With combined feeding, the ration for laying hens will consist of 80% grain and additives and 20% succulent feed.
With a combined type of feeding, the hens can be fed the animal protein found in milk and meat. In addition to flour made from fish, bones, blood, chickens are given whey and reverse. Some owners even give away cottage cheese.
A good option is dry bread soaked in dairy products.
Feed your laying hens on a schedule or with access to feed at all times?
Chickens have a habit of digging in food with their feet, scattering it in all directions, so many owners prefer to feed the chickens at a certain time. The portion in this case is given to the chickens so that they can eat it right away. At the same time, at poultry farms for laying hens, constant access to feed is provided, which is economically more profitable, given the need for a high intensity of egg laying in laying hens in poultry farms.
When feeding according to the schedule, laying hens should be fed at least 3 times a day in winter, and 4-5 in summer at intervals of 3-4 hours. It’s not to leave the house, only to feed the chickens.
There is also a way out for home conditions. You can make bunker feeders for chickens from sewer pipes. It is inexpensive, but laying hens will have constant access to feed, and they will not be able to dig it up.
There can be many options for such feeders. The video shows another example of a chicken feeder. And not only feeders, but also drinkers from pipes.
