What kind of feed for laying hens is desirable to use in the household

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

In industrial poultry farming, special rations are compiled, which are tested by time and practice. In poultry farming, it is not always possible to provide chickens with feed according to industrial standards, but there is a set of feed that will give the necessary productivity and provide high-quality nutrition for birds.

There are these types of feed for laying hens:

• compound feed;
• cereals;
• greens, vegetables and table scraps.

Compound feed for poultry is produced at specialized factories. They include crushed (crushed) grain, vegetable fats, premixes (vitamin supplements), s alt and meat and bone meal. For chickens, crushed shell rock is often included in the compound feed. On sale, feed for laying hens can be in the form of crushed, as well as in the form of granules. Practice proves that pelleted feed is better stored, as air circulates freely between the individual pellets. Air circulation is difficult in crushed feed, so their shelf life is short, they often absorb moisture fromair, self-heating and sour.

Compound feed for birds is fed dry or in the form of mash. This is where preferences differ. Some believe that steamed food is better absorbed by chickens, others believe that under natural conditions, birds do not have the opportunity to consume wet food, so breeders prefer to use only dry food. Who is right? Bird observations have shown that wet food is absorbed faster and better, and feeding only dry food leads to the fact that the body removes part of the food eaten without digestion. Therefore, in domestic poultry farming, it is better to give compound feed in the form of pre-steamed mixers. At the same time, the cellulose in the feed is partially broken down into short molecules, which also contributes to better absorption of the feed.

When breeding chickens at home, the share of feed is no more than 50% of their diet, since some of them can be replaced with other feeds available on the farm. Feed for laying hens is supplemented with ordinary grain, and wheat is pecked with great pleasure by the bird. But to give only one wheat means not to add a number of necessary components that are not originally in it. Sunflower seeds will add the necessary vegetable fat, barley - fiber, which is necessary to improve digestion. Corn pecks only after partial crushing, otherwise it is almost not digested by chickens.

How much grain do you need? Researchers have proven that laying hen feed should contain at least 0.12 feed units daily. For onethe energy value of 1 kg of oats is taken as a feed unit. But chickens almost do not peck oats, they practically do not digest it. Therefore, the recalculation is performed for wheat, which has a high energy value. It is believed that chickens should be given 115-117 g of feed in terms of wheat.

Feed for laying hens in the household is supplemented with greens. In the summer, free-range birds constantly peck at all types of grasses available to them. In winter, they are happy to eat cabbage, nettle brooms harvested in summer, pumpkin cut into slices and other similar foods.

In winter, boiled potatoes will also be a useful addition to the mash, but it should not exceed 30% of the total composition. It is important even in winter to give the mash chilled, otherwise the birds can burn the esophagus, which will lead to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and death. For the prevention of gastric diseases in the winter, you need to give chickens chopped hot peppers. It contains many different vitamins, and also helps to destroy any infection in the bird's stomach. The feed for laying hens should also include river sand, which helps mechanical grinding of coarse food, including grains, increasing feeding efficiency.