Laying hens have become popular not only among rural residents who are engaged in farming, but also among urban residents who have their own summer cottages. Chickens that lay eggs need special nutrition. The diet for them should be as complete as possible, i.e. include both animal and plant foods and minerals.
Feeding laying hens. Helpful hints
The main diet of egg-laying hens is compound feed. However, before purchasing them, you must carefully familiarize yourself with the composition of the mixtures. The fact is that manufacturers add calcium, chalk and various vitamins to some compound feeds. If these additives are not available, be sure to purchase them separately, independently adding to the daily diet of the bird.
Small amounts of food are poured into the feeder: the chicken must completely empty its "plate" at one meal. It is necessary to ensure that the water in the drinkers is always clean. If necessary, then you need to change it several times a day. You should be aware that the average amount of feed consumed by one hen is from 180 to 200 g per day.
Egg production in chickens is phase. The first stage is characterized by the most intensive egg production and lasts from 22 to 48 weeks. Its peak is reached by 29 weeks. During this period, layers should be fed with high-calorie, but low-volume feed. The need for nutrients and, accordingly, productivity decreases after 48 weeks of egg production.
How and what to feed the laying hens?
The diet of hens laying eggs should include cereals, oilcakes, legumes and meal in the form of concentrates. Do not forget about fish meat and bone meal, milk, cottage cheese, green grass. Laying hens need vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and beets. In addition, the diet of layers should include chalk and limestone, pine flour and feed phosphates, and salt.
The diet for laying hens should be complete and include both plant-based whole grain feeds and flour mixtures, as well as animal foods and minerals. In addition to complete feed mixtures for carrying chickens, various food waste and vegetable tops are also relevant. For example, fish scales and entrails that are not consumed by humans work well as a dietary supplement to the main diet of chickens.
It is also important to know and understand that mineral feed should always be present in the house. So experts in the field of breeding poultry recommend to create a reserve of calcium in the body of the bird 2-3 weeks before the start of egg-laying. For the strength of the eggshell, bone meal is added to the feed, as well as additives in the form of seashells, mixtures of sand, salt and chalk. Sources of minerals and vitamins are various herbs and weeds. Not a single diet of poultry can do without them.
The diet of chickens laying eggs is of great importance. Dry food should be given to the bird no more than 2 times a day. Moreover, if wet mash is used, the frequency of meals increases up to 4 times a day. An important point: you need to ensure that food does not linger in the bird's feeder for more than 40 minutes. Otherwise, it will lose its beneficial properties.
