What to feed chickens to lay eggs. List of prohibited products

The main desire of the poultry farmer is for the chicken to lay eggs every day. This is possible if you know not only how to feed chickens in winter. Egg production is influenced by certain factors:

health status of the bird;
conditions of detention;
season;
age and breed;
One of the most significant is the feeding ration.

Poultry farmers agree that chickens should be fed in equal portions and at the same time. It is worth remembering that overfeeding is equally harmful as underfeeding.

Dietary intake is also important. Chickens are early birds. Therefore, they need to have breakfast as early as possible. After all, just like for people, breakfast is very important for them.

In the morning, it is recommended that birds be given a mash of bran, boiled potatoes, crushed grain, fish or meat and bone meal. We make a fresh portion every day, because storing wet food is not recommended. Therefore, the quantity must also be calculated.

Dinner should be an hour before bedtime. And again we give exactly as much food as the chickens can eat. Whole grains should definitely be included in dinner.

The diet of chickens should differ depending on the time of year. For example, in the spring we include vitamins and mineral supplements in the diet. After all, it is during this period that eggs are selected for breeding. In summer, birds should eat a lot of greens.

Conditions for good egg production

Before thinking about how to feed chickens so that they lay a lot of eggs, we create comfortable conditions. When equipping a chicken coop, you must follow certain rules:

Place it in a quiet place.
A spacious room is not a guarantee of increased egg production. Quite the contrary.
It is better to fill the floor with clay, as it freezes much less. You can add sawdust.
There should be a sufficient number of windows in the chicken coop. But sunlight should not fall directly onto the nests.
The most optimal temperature for increasing egg production varies from 23 to 25 degrees Celsius.
Install the nests at the same height, protecting them from drafts.

Diet also affects the number of eggs produced. We will feed the birds at a certain time. At the same time, we install lamps in winter. Turn them on during the first feeding. When it is light, you can turn off the lamps.

For chickens it takes about 15 hours daylight hours. The rest of the time they rest. It is this time period that must be maintained in winter with the help of lamps.

It is worth mentioning separately about the molting period. At this time almost everything nutrients aimed at restoring feathers. Therefore, egg production decreases. Most often, the molting period occurs in autumn. After it, you should feed the birds more intensively, otherwise the birds will not lay eggs well.

To know how to increase the egg production of chickens at home, you need to correctly create their daily routine. Here is an approximate feeding schedule:

At 6 o'clock in the morning we give the birds sprouted wheat. It contains sulfur and vitamin E, which play an important role in the growth and condition of feathers.
At 9:00 - mash. It is made from crushed grains. In this case, it is advisable to add various vegetables. You can make mash not only with water, but also with fish or meat broth.
At 14:00 you can give the chickens a mixture of potato peelings and cereals. It's good to add vegetables, corn, grass. In winter we give hay, which contains a large number of squirrel.
18:00 give whole grain.

It is worth noting that roosters should be kept together with hens. They get along better if there are 10-12 hens per rooster. In such numbers they are also cold winter it will be better tolerated.

How much feed to give?

To know how to increase the egg production of chickens at home, the first thing you need to do is calculate the daily feed amount.

On average, one cinnamon per day requires 240-270 grams of feed. This includes:

grain mixture (wheat, corn, barley, oat flakes, peas);
the mash is wet;
boiled potatoes and other vegetables;
sunflower cake;
table salt, feed yeast and bone meal.

Thanks to this diet, an increase in the egg production of chickens is guaranteed.

Differences in feeding in winter

In winter, bird food should be as varied as possible. This is important due to the decrease in air temperature and the movement activity of birds. In addition, they cannot independently obtain microelements and vitamins from green food, as in the summer.

It is worth dwelling in more detail on what to feed laying hens to lay eggs better in winter. Proper and balanced nutrition is not only the key to maximizing the production of eggs, but also their nutritional value.

It is important to give laying hens vegetables in winter. They can be given whole or ground. It is advisable to mix chopped vegetables with grain. This will increase the absorption of important microelements.

Spruce paws can be given to chickens as green feed. From pine needles they get useful microelements, and the air in the chicken coop is disinfected. We prepare hay for the winter. Dried nettle is especially useful. Additionally, we provide sprouted grain.

In winter we include in the birds’ diet:

fish oil and flour;
eggshells or feed shells;
heated water.

Especially for chickens, you can grow fodder varieties of beets, pumpkins, zucchini and carrots in your garden. It is advisable to replace a significant proportion of grain with corn and buckwheat. They promote fat accumulation.

Tip for increasing the number of eggs: Dilute in 1.5 liters of warm clean water 30 grams fresh yeast. Mix with a kilogram of food and give 20 g per individual.

To increase egg production, it is not necessary to buy expensive feed or additives. It’s enough to diversify your natural diet and create comfortable conditions, and you won’t have to figure out how to get chickens to lay eggs, they’ll do everything themselves!
Watch a video on how to increase egg production in winter time?

Today, many farmers are engaged in breeding domestic animals. The most important thing is to know how to do it correctly. Any poultry farmer knows that proper feeding plays an important role when raising chickens. Only on the condition that the chickens receive a balanced healthy diet, the farmer will be able to obtain quality products. In this article we will try to figure out what you should not feed chickens, how to improve their egg production through nutrition, and whether it is possible to give flour products to birds.

What is best to give to pets?

So what do you need to know about it? Many novice farmers are interested in what they can and cannot feed domestic chickens. Typically, garden and kitchen waste is used for this purpose. Poultry can be given potatoes that are unsuitable for use. Green, too small or sprouted tubers are suitable. Chickens are also given potato peelings. One bird can eat 50-100 grams of such food per day.

It is also advisable to give chickens bread in dry or soaked form. You can also include ground bones, leftover meat, and fish offal in your diet. Beet and carrot tops, leftover berries and fruits are great for laying hens. You can make a mash from these ingredients.

Protein nutrition

What makes it special? What can and cannot be fed to chickens? Advice from experienced farmers often contains references to protein foods.

These include:

buttermilk;
milk;
cottage cheese;
serum;
curdled milk;
fish or meat waste;
small fish;
shellfish

To prepare chicken mash, cake and meal from agricultural crops are often taken. Small amphibians, chafers and worms can be used as a source of protein in the diet.

Application of compound feeds

Is it worth it or not? Owners of large farms talk about the convenience of using compound feed. It is recommended to select specific feeds designed for your type of poultry. For example, there are certain foods on sale today that increase egg production. If you are growing meat breeds, then the food should not contain components that reduce weight gain.

In terms of nutritional value and composition, ready-made food is in no way inferior to natural food. From 60 to 70% of the composition is oats, bran, millet and barley. 20-30% are corn and legumes. The food also includes berries, vegetables, vitamins and minerals, bone meal, milk powder and dried herbs.

What should you not give to poultry?

If you want to run a successful farm, you definitely need to know what you should absolutely not feed your chickens. These birds are practically omnivorous. Many breeders use this. They use stale and spoiled food as food. This can lead to disease and eating disorders in birds. With this feeding there is also a high risk of infection with fungal diseases. respiratory system.

How to prepare food?

Proper feeding of chickens requires careful grinding of all components. Carrots, beets and other root vegetables should be given to birds in grated raw form. The potatoes must first be boiled. This will get rid of excess starch. Eating green potatoes often leads to food poisoning. Also make sure that vegetables, grains and herbs are free of dirt and debris.

Prohibited Products

What can and cannot be fed to chickens? The advice of experienced farmers prescribes not to include baked goods and sweets in the diet of chickens. It is permissible to give grain bread to chickens in small quantities. In addition, food should not contain excess salts. If you want to flavor your food with fish oil, then choose only the highest quality product. Poor raw materials can cause unpleasant odor from chicken products.

Consuming large amounts of whole milk can cause the development of dysbiosis in birds. The list of prohibited products also includes sausages, smoked meats, mushrooms, sausages, cheese, butter, spices, semi-finished fish products, confectionery and jam.

Greens for laying hens

What is its use? In the warm season, half of the diet of poultry can consist of fresh greens. This approach will help provide chickens with all the necessary components and microelements. In addition, such fresh nutrition can significantly improve productivity. The advantage of feeding grass is also its cost-effectiveness. Green food improves taste qualities eggs The yolk from such feeding will be brighter. Grass is easily digested by birds and is easier to digest than artificial feed.

What greens are best to give to chickens? What should you not feed laying hens? Experts recommend using alfalfa in the diet of birds. It contains a lot of vitamin A, which has a great effect on the vision of laying hens. Wheat grains are high in vitamin E. It is responsible for the immunity and productivity of chickens. Eating clover will help meet your protein needs. Sorrel is used to saturate the body of chickens with vitamin C.

What grass should I give to adults?

The feed mixture may contain 15-30% green components. Adults should be given herbs such as plantain, nettle, alfalfa, wood lice, dandelion, wheatgrass, clover, cereals, spurge, and sorrel. You can also include legumes and durum vegetables in your chickens' diet. Cabbage leaves are a good source of vitamins. You can also include green onions, dill, and parsley in the diet for chickens. Amaranth is high in healthy proteins.

How to serve grass?

Birds can either independently peck greens in the place where they grow, or consume them together with the feed mixture. Experts recommend hanging tufts of grass near the feeding area. This way the chickens won't trample them. As a rule, birds independently choose which greens suit them best. You can safely give them herbal mixtures and weeds. The only exceptions are poisonous plants. In winter, when there is not enough greenery, you can feed the birds dried pine flour and wheat.

Herbs unsuitable for feeding

What are they? What to feed laying hens? Prohibited foods include a number of herbs. To eliminate the possibility of poisoning, experienced farmers recommend limiting the place where chickens can walk. Poisonous herbs must be dug up along with the roots, otherwise they will sprout again. What plants are considered dangerous for birds? These are elderberry, spotted hemlock, broom, hemlock, potato inflorescences, henbane, belladonna, hellebore, black nightshade, juniper, and horse chestnut. If a bird eats any of the plants on this list, it may become seriously ill or even die. You definitely need to keep an eye on your chickens. In addition, you need to understand herbs. To completely eliminate the possibility of harmful plants getting into the diet, it is better to keep chickens in closed enclosures and give them greens only with food.

Is it possible to give bread?

The main requirement for a balanced diet for chickens is the presence of nutritional and beneficial elements such as fats, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. In this regard, a completely logical question arises: “Is it possible to give chickens bread?” Opinions on this matter vary greatly. The type of baking is of great importance here. If you mix bread with bran, cottage cheese, meat, herbs and potatoes, you will get a good complete food for birds. Such food will not harm the health of chickens and will have a good effect on the level of egg production. As for bread in fresh, then it is not recommended to give it to birds. Such a product can adversely affect the health of the chicken and also reduce immunity.

The fact is that in chicken stomachs, fresh bread swells and turns into a dense lump. This may even lead to the death of the bird. Black varieties of bread are especially dangerous. They contain salt and yeast, and also differ high level acidity. This composition helps to activate the fermentation mechanism, which reduces egg production.

Many household owners believe that spoiled bread can be given to chickens. However, moldy baked goods can cause serious harm to birds. It can lead to poisoning and metabolic problems. To remove moldy baked goods negative impact, it needs to be kept in the oven.

Can any bread be given to birds? What should you not feed chickens? In no case is it recommended to give sweet buns and pastries with various fillings. This type of diet contributes to blood thickening and can lead to digestive disorders. Since white bread is also high in carbohydrates, it can only be given in the form of crackers. But even in this form, you should not be zealous with feeding. In winter, bread can be an excellent source of energy for birds. However, if chickens are kept in cages or small enclosures, it is better not to use such food. This type of food, combined with a lack of exercise, can cause blockages in blood vessels.

Conclusion

The productivity and egg production of chickens primarily depends on their diet. What should you not feed chickens? What to give to laying hens to improve egg quality? How to make a proper diet? The main requirement in this case is nutritional value and the presence of useful components. Chickens are omnivores. They can willingly eat any food, be it feed or leftovers. But to get high productivity rates, you need to choose the right nutrition. Only in this case will the chickens be healthy and able to lay eggs at full strength. A balanced feed for chickens should include grains and legumes, fresh herbs, vegetables, berries, fruits, cottage cheese and meat. To produce eggs well, you can use both ready-made mixtures and homemade mash.

Every poultry owner is invariably interested in how to correctly create a nutritional table to provide their pets with food rich in a complex of vitamins and minerals on a daily basis. In this article we will tell you what types of food for adults exist today, which one is recommended for poultry, whether it is necessary to give compound feed, what to feed your pets in the summer and winter period.

Feeding chickens at home can be organized so that their daily diet is not only balanced, but also not expensive. Having your own farm and planning the conditions for keeping laying hens, take care of drawing up proper diet, which will help make your pets run better and feel great. Making a diet at home is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. To provide your chickens with all types of high-quality food, waste from the life of the garden, garden and kitchen is quite enough.

When keeping laying hens, you can feed them potatoes - not only small, green, sprouted potatoes that are unfit for human consumption will do, but also peeling them. Consumption rates for feeding poultry are from 50 to 100 grams for each adult. Another type of food is dried or stale, black or white bread. It is offered to laying hens after soaking it in water. Kitchen waste - leftovers meat dishes, fish offal and heads, fresh crushed bones in chicken feed - these types of feeds will help domestic birds lay eggs better.

You can get green and juicy food - tops of carrots, beets, carrion of pears, plums and apples, cabbage leaves and other waste of berries and fruits - from your own garden or vegetable plot. Protein foods - skim milk, cottage cheese, whey, yogurt, buttermilk,
small fish, shellfish, meat and fish waste are also excellent option for feeding laying hens at home. For chickens, any wet mash should contain vegetable cakes and meals, which are obtained from crop waste. Feeds that grow in the wild are considered good for feeding laying hens - seeds of quinoa, clover, horse sorrel, spruce and pine henna, silage, weed hay, leaves and berries of shrubs and trees. Such feed additives should be prepared in summer or autumn - then they contain the most vitamins.

Which one to choose for laying hens

Feeding laying hens depends on their age. Before the start of egg production - on average
21 weeks - the daily diet should include grain, greens, water and everything that is usually given to young chickens. From 21 to 48 weeks, laying hens experience the most active egg production, the peak of which occurs at 28 - 29 weeks. At this time, when keeping any breed of chickens, their diet will need to be structured so that it is saturated. If it is customary to use dry food at poultry farms, then at home birds should receive food waste, greens, grain, shell rock, and so on.

When compiling a diet for laying hens, remember that it must contain plant and animal proteins (they are found in soybeans, legumes, sunflowers; birds will get animal proteins from worms, small fish, fishmeal).

You also need carbohydrates - oats, barley, wheat, millet, beets, boiled potatoes, pumpkin should make up half of the total daily nutritional intake. In order for chickens to lay eggs better, they require minerals that contain sodium, calcium, chlorine, phosphorus, and iron. Pour lime, sand, small shells, clay, wood ash, salt. It is acceptable to give ready-made mineral supplements - they are bred in mash so that adult individuals lay eggs better.

The chicken body needs vitamins just like the human body. In summer, greens from the garden will do. Feeding standards are difficult for beginners. There's an easy way to skip the calculations
grams - clench your fist, and this is exactly the volume an adult bird should receive per day. Keeping poultry at home does not involve overfeeding it. The diet of laying hens can contain any food waste at your discretion.

They willingly eat boiled vegetables, fish dishes, bread, leftovers meat broths, cottage cheese, whey or yogurt mash. Some farmers add crushed eggshells to the feed. Various mashes are good - in their production, regardless of the recipe, 60 - 70% should be carbohydrates - grain and bran, and 30 - 40% should be protein feed - feed yeast, premixes, meal, cake, peas, soybeans, beans.

Is it worth resorting to compound feed?

Whether to feed domestic chickens with food waste, or, following the example of large poultry farms, to resort to ready-made feed - each farmer decides independently. Modern dry food can be present in the diet of any type of poultry - they are developed taking into account all the needs of adult eggs. The composition and nutritional value of such food have approximately the same indicators, but the forms of release can be different - manufacturers offer cylindrical granules and crumbly feed.

If your pets have a normal-sized fenced enclosure for walking, granulated food is suitable for them - loose food can be scattered and trampled. When keeping cages, it is recommended to feed the birds with crumbly feed - less of it is required, so that later the birds can lay eggs better and have something to do for most of the day. If you feed your pets only dry food, then per day one bird should receive 70 - 80 grams of it in 2 doses. The bird will need 0.5 liters of water per day. You need to know that premixes containing minerals are only additives to the main food, so that your pets lay eggs well and cannot perform an independent species stern.

What to feed in summer

When keeping poultry in the summer, so that your pets lay perfectly, their daily diet is made up of 50 grams of grain, the same amount of flour mixture, 10 g of vitamin hay flour, up to 50 g of succulent solid feed, up to 15 g of protein feed, 2 grams bone meal, 5.5 grams of mineral supplements and salt. In summer, birds consume about 30% carbohydrates, 50% proteins and 20% other types of food. IN summer period It is important to have a sufficient amount of greens in the diet of poultry - in addition to standard millet or mixed feed.

If you properly organize a place for walking, then the issue of natural food will not arise. In summer, birds are fed three times - wet mash in the morning, dry food in the afternoon, grain in the evening. It is good for cutting dandelions and sorrel. Birds will willingly eat the earthworms, beetles and larvae you have dug up, small and large fish cut into pieces,

Chicken diet in winter

In winter, for birds to lay eggs normally, they need about 50% carbohydrates, 30% proteins and 20% other feed. Experts and experienced farmers recommend giving grated vegetables and fruits as natural vitamins. In winter, green succulent types of food
are replaced by potatoes and wet mash. Protein feed is introduced into the diet. In winter, if you want the birds to lay eggs well, give them 50 grams of grain, 30 g of mash, 100 g of potatoes, 7 g of meal and cake, 10 g of dried nettle and hay flour, 100 g of curdled milk and dairy products, 2 g of bone flour, 5.5 g of salt with mineral additives. In the cold season, it is recommended to add fish oil to the mash.

In the summer, it is recommended to prepare dried hay, stock up on grass and pine flour, cabbage and root vegetables. The bird is fed twice a day. In the morning you should give wet mash, boiled potatoes, mixed vegetables, food waste, porridge, fish broth, cottage cheese. In the evening, give a grain mixture with bran, barley cake, corn waste. Offer worms - they will be a welcome addition to any food for your birds at any time of day.

Video “Feeding chickens”

What to feed chickens in winter so that they lay eggs. Should I feed it grain? If so, which one? Should I give mixed feed? Do you need vitamins? The answers to these questions are in the video below.

The productivity of chickens is directly influenced by the breed, living conditions and diet. In this article we will consider only one factor - diet. Let us immediately warn you that it is very difficult to independently create the correct diet at home; the vast majority of owners of a small number of chickens do not even set themselves such a task. We will tell you the theory of what components and how a competent diet for laying hens should be composed. And at the end of the article, we’ll look at a few examples of how nutrition problems are solved in practice.

Zootechnicians calculate the amount and name of nutrients necessary to ensure life and egg laying. Data is adjusted depending on weight and time of year. Based on this, a daily, monthly or annual diet is compiled.

The most balanced are factory feeds. Don't be alarmed by the relatively high cost. Firstly, all homemade ingredients also cost money, but the owners often do not know their prices. Secondly, the labor and energy costs for making feed at home significantly increase its cost. And thirdly, through the use of factory feed, it is possible not only to achieve a significant increase in productivity, but also to reduce the incidence of disease in chickens. If we objectively weigh all the indicators, then the use of factory feed in individual household plots will be profitable.

Feed for chickens - photo

What is included in traditional factory-made feed? Wheat and corn, sunflower and soybean cake, bran, shells and chalk, monocalcium phosphate, salt, methionine, lysine and premix. The percentage and composition can be adjusted depending on the age and breed of chickens. Due to this set, the birds’ body receives the required amount of crude protein and fat, fiber and methionine, calcium, sodium, phosphorus, lysine and threonine. The quantity and list of elements was compiled by scientists based on laboratory research and ensures maximum performance of the birds.

Now think about it, is it really possible to make real balanced food yourself at home? The answer is obvious, a private owner will not be able to purchase even half of the components. Hence the low productivity; small poultry farms will never be able to match the egg production of chickens with large enterprises. And all the stories about eggs being “ecologically” clean are fairy tales for those who don’t understand. Modern production undergoes thorough sanitary and veterinary control. In domestic eggs, various pathogens and pathogenic bacteria than in eggs from specialized poultry farms.

How to feed chickens

Chicken needs 100–150 grams per day. feed, the specific value is determined taking into account the age and productivity of laying hens. There is one thing general rule feeding laying hens - it is better to underfeed them a little than to overfeed them.

Obese chickens sharply reduce egg production rates. Feeding twice a day, morning and evening. There should always be water.

No one can answer which food is better. There is no methodology that would allow one to calculate the efficiency of laying hens taking into account the feed consumed. The fact is that egg production is influenced by many factors; they act in combination; it is even theoretically impossible to track the influence of each individually. And diet among these factors is far from the first place in importance.

What diet should be prepared for home feeding?

A very difficult question, it all depends on the capabilities and availability of feed on the household farm. We will give approximate diet, and everyone can change it a little depending on individual conditions. Layers should include up to 100 grams in their daily diet. grains (in equal proportions corn, wheat, oats and barley), approximately 100 gr. boiled potatoes, a little cake, chalk, bone meal, salt and dry yeast. At home you can make wet, dry and combined food.

Mash - wet food

What is the difference?

Wet. On private farms, they mainly cook potatoes or potato peelings. In addition to it, chopped root vegetables and vegetables are added, given fresh grass.
Dry. A mixture of several types of grains, sometimes chalk and sand are added to them.
Mixed. Wet food is mixed with dry food immediately before feeding.

There are a huge number of articles on the Internet about feeding laying hens at home, the vast majority of them were written by those who saw chicken on TV and have no idea under what conditions and how exactly villagers keep it. Can be read very original advice feed chickens with porridge cooked in milk or whey, etc. We cannot answer for everyone, but those summer residents and villagers with whom we had to communicate did not prepare such feed for chickens and do not intend to prepare it. Below we will tell you what foods are practically prepared for home feeding.

Dry feeding of laying hens

It is used most often; nothing needs to be boiled, crushed, crushed or mixed. In addition, dry food, unlike wet food, does not spoil. It is advisable to purchase ready-made feed; they have an optimally balanced composition of minerals and nutrients. If for some reason it is not possible to buy compound feed, then you can try to prepare the mixture yourself. For this you will need wheat, oats, barley and corn. Proportions of great importance they don’t have them, no one in the village specifically measures them. Mixing is carried out in such a way that there is enough different grains for the entire feeding period.

It is highly advisable to add chalk or eggshells to such mixtures.

To feed chickens, you need to make simple feeders, and provide protection so that the feed does not get dirty. The food can be left all day; the birds will come to the feeders as needed.

A few words need to be said about the premix - a modern preparation that significantly increases the productivity of birds. Some summer residents are wary of it, saying that it is an unnecessary chemical that does not bring anything useful. In vain, this is not chemistry at all, but biological preparations that actively affect the productivity of laying hens. You definitely need to add them to your diet, and do it all year round. This is not a stand-alone food, but vitamin supplements containing a full range of minerals. But follow the rules of use, an overdose can cause negative consequences.

It is not advisable to grind grain; chickens consume whole grain much better. The ground grain clogs the birds' esophagus, making it difficult for them to eat it. In addition, it creates more waste, and you will have to spend money on grinding, which increases the cost of domestic eggs. You will need approximately 120 grams per day. such feed for one laying hen. That's quite a lot. If you have only 20 chickens, then you will need 2.5 kg per day, about 80 kg per month, and that’s two large bags of grain. You need to prepare at least a ton for the year, now calculate the cost of only grain and divide it by one “homemade” egg.

Wet feeding

Mash is used; the feed requires time and additional financial costs to prepare. Boiled potatoes, fodder or table beets, vegetable waste (cabbage leaves, overripe cucumbers), fodder pumpkin, zucchini and other vegetables are added to the wet feeding diet.

Vegetables need to be prepared; this can be done manually with large graters or using electric feed choppers. The use of electric shredders greatly simplifies the work, but is not always advisable. If on the farm a small amount of chickens, then there is no point in preparing a large volume of wet food. The chickens will not eat it quickly, and after a few days the feed will sour and become unfit for consumption. Everyone must decide for themselves how to grind wet food.

It is advisable to mix them with crushed grains, this will increase energy value feed and will provide positive influence for egg production. Do not overuse wet food, too much can cause upset digestive tract birds and they will completely stop laying eggs for a while. Be sure to feed whole grains at night.

It is best to prepare wet food immediately before feeding. Make sure that the feeders are always clean; leftover wet food quickly deteriorates and can cause bird poisoning. The total weight of wet food cannot exceed 65% of the diet, the rest is obtained dry.

Mixed feeding

This type of feeding is used most often by summer residents. Eat free time and crop products - wet food is prepared. There are no such conditions - dry ones are given. Use of compound feeds industrial production- the best option. You can independently expand the chickens’ diet with plant foods: zucchini, beets, fresh grass, etc.

Great attention should be paid to walking birds. They will find healthy food for themselves plant origin. In addition, while walking, birds have the opportunity to expand their diet with various “bugs and worms.” The disadvantage of walking is that the chickens will definitely try to dig up all the beds, both yours and your neighbors’. Keeping chickens in closed enclosures is also not an option. In a few weeks, the grass in the fences will completely disappear, and nothing will grow on the trampled ground for several years.

Winter diet

If you have winter feed, everything is great. Birds will have a full range of nutrients, vitamins and minerals necessary for the body. If not, then it’s not critical; you can prepare a more or less optimal list of additives yourself. What is needed for this?

Throughout the winter you need to pour sand and fine gravel in the corner of the building. Pebbles are needed for birds, otherwise grain feed will be very poorly digested. There must be constant water supply, and the cleanliness of drinking bowls must be constantly monitored.

Conclusion

In practice, no one in the villages prepares complex feed specifically for chickens; the birds are given everything that grows in the garden. Leftover food scraps are taken to the chickens; there is whey from the cheese - add it to the water. Do the same with all other waste. Of course, such a diet cannot be considered balanced. In this regard, domestic chickens will never produce the same number of eggs as industrial chickens of the same breed.

If possible, practitioners advise buying industrially produced feed, even if not for the entire ration, but at least 40–50 percent. The rest can be added with what is grown on plot of land. And one last thing. Carefully calculate the cost of raising chickens and the price of one egg. At the same time, take into account all the losses: from the purchase of young animals, inevitable mortality to the cost of feed and your own labor, the price of energy, the cost of making cages and pens, etc. After that, look at the price of eggs in the store and compare with the cost of homemade ones. We are sure that such calculations will help you understand whether the words “raising chickens is easy, simple, cheap and profitable” are true.

Video - How to make feed at home

Keeping and breeding laying hens is a responsible business that requires strict adherence to the rules of care. For good bird productivity, not only a balanced diet, but also a nutritional regime plays an important role. If all feeding standards are observed, chickens can lay eggs year-round. Today, in specialized agricultural stores you can purchase everything you need for this: combined feed, grain, vitamins and minerals.

Feeding frequency

The basic rule is that domestic chickens of egg breeds must be fed at least twice a day: immediately after waking up and one hour before turning off the lights in the chicken coop. At the same time, all elements important for the bird’s body must be contained in each portion. Ready-made mixed feed purchased on the market greatly simplifies the process. In this case, you will need to independently include only grains, vegetables and fresh herbs in the chickens’ diet.

In some cases, feeding may be three or four times a day. This is true for young individuals under 48 weeks of age. It is also recommended to slightly increase portions during the cold season to ensure that chickens receive the required amount of energy and are protected from hypothermia.

Feeding chickens - photo

Rules for preparing food

Food must be weighed before serving to prevent birds from underfeeding or overeating. Any deviations from the norm negatively affect the health and egg production of chickens. It is better to fill the feeder not to the brim, but to 2/3, so that the birds cannot spill and trample the food.

Sometimes laying hens are given self-prepared mash. Such food must be prepared only for one time, because it is perishable. Confirming the cost-effectiveness and practicality of keeping, poultry is not too fussy about food: table scraps with the addition of additional ingredients will not harm them, and an important part of the chicken’s diet consists of inexpensive vegetables, fresh grass, and plant tops.

It is important to know that fresh bread recently brought from the bakery is not suitable for feeding laying hens. Bakery and flour products swell and stick together in the stomach of birds, which can cause their death. It is permissible to use bread only in the form of crackers ground into powder, provided there is no mold. The content of such an additive is a maximum of 30% of total mass stern.

Correct daily diet for laying hens

Fast laying and gaining the required body weight are facilitated by the presence of grain, vegetables, fresh vegetation and mineral elements in the diet of domestic chickens. To speed up productivity, the daily menu should consist of certain components and well-calculated proportions.

In the morning, feeding should include a wet mash with the addition of crushed egg shells, bone meal, boiled potatoes, grain, food waste from the table.

For the evening portion of food, it is better to use whole grain mixed with other menu items not consumed during the day. It is recommended to steam some of the grain to improve the metabolism and digestion of chickens. You should not give birds the same grain for several days in a row; it is better to alternate it daily: today - barley, tomorrow - millet, and so on.

How to calculate portions depending on the body weight of the bird

Laying hens, depending on the breed and egg production, can have different weights. Accordingly, they should receive different quantity stern. For example, ordinary homemade chicken weighing up to two kilograms and producing hundreds of eggs annually, it is normally necessary to eat about 125 g of food per day. A bird with a body weight of two kilograms will need 130 g of food. Next, for every 250 g of chicken weight, 10 g of feed is added. It is also necessary to take into account the increase in egg production - for every three dozen eggs 100 g are added.

What to feed chickens to increase egg production?

Factory compound feed for laying hens

Combined feed is a mixture specially designed for feeding chickens, taking into account individual characteristics breed and all standards regarding balanced nutrition. High-quality feed for egg-laying chickens includes the following components:

proteins;
carbohydrates;
fats of both plant and animal origin;
coarse fibers (fiber);
and essential vitamins and mineral elements.

If one of the components predominates in a certain type of combined feed, it is recommended to mix the products. It is important to carefully study the composition and if growth hormones or any synthetic additives are found in it, it is better to refuse to purchase such a product for laying hens - this can adversely affect the health of the birds.

For feeding chickens that are large quantity time indoors, best choice will become an easily digestible crumbly product. And for those birds who have the opportunity to often go out for walks, combined food in granules is more suitable.

The most common types of industrial feed

Name	Description
	It is most popular among combined feeds intended for egg-laying chickens. Its main advantages include the absence of the need for cooking and mixing. Its composition is a complete complex useful substances, which chickens need to improve the process of egg production and strengthen the immune system and health of the whole body. The composition is predominantly wheat and contains vitamin and mineral supplements.
	Concentrated feed, which is best used in combination with fertilizing, as it is not able to provide all the nutrients chickens need. The main components of the feed are wheat bran and grain crops.
	This type of combined feed is used in combination with mixed type nutrition for laying hens. Its purpose is to replenish volume daily requirement the body of chickens in useful elements. Such a product, due to its composition, stimulates the rate of egg laying and increases the strength of their shells, has a positive effect on general state the body of birds, strengthening health and resistance to disease. In addition to basic microelements, the food contains vitamins A, K, C, B and biotin.

During the day, with a standard diet of two meals a day, a chicken needs an average of 80 to 130 grams of feed. It is recommended to increase the portion of the combined feed to 165 grams if the bird additionally receives nutritional supplements fresh. Excess daily norm threatens obesity and hypervitaminosis in chickens, which significantly reduces egg production.

Corn

Combined grain feed is the basis of the diet of domestic chickens of any breed. Grain contributes to the supply of carbohydrates, various vitamins and fiber to the chicken’s body. Wheat or oat grains are always taken as the basis, and millet, barley and corn are used as additives.

Root vegetables, vegetables and fresh herbs

Vegetable porridges or wet mashes are prepared from chopped boiled potatoes, beets, cabbage with the addition of bone meal or chaff. A mixture of vegetables as feed perfectly satisfies the hunger of chickens and promotes proper functioning digestive system, saturate the body with important microelements and fiber, which are needed for the formation of eggs.

The lack of vitamins, calcium, and phosphorus in the body of laying hens can be replenished by walking birds in the warm season, when the ground is covered with fresh grass. However, the chickens do not have enough of the greens that they get on their own. Their diet should also include fertilizing from: vegetable tops, dandelions, alfalfa, nettle leaves and stems, legume stems, clover, and so on. Additional greens should be given in finely chopped form.

The immunity and general health of laying hens, and therefore the volume and quality of the products they produce, depend on maintaining a balance in the diet. A lack of such important elements as protein and calcium in the diet can lead to the hen eating her own eggs. In addition, such a habit from one chicken is often transmitted to all its relatives in the chicken coop.

Possible reasons for low productivity

Even a thorough study of the proper diet of egg-laying chickens cannot guarantee complete absence productivity problems. There may be several reasons:

From proper feeding Laying hens directly depend on their health, resistance to disease, and compliance with the breed for the rate of laying eggs. Regardless of the chosen diet option for domestic laying hens - be it a combined feed High Quality in combination with natural feed or feed prepared independently from simple homemade ingredients, there is a need to carefully monitor the balance of important substances in the birds’ diet.