Supplements for laying hens for egg production: what top dressings are needed and how to give them

Chickens have long been bred for meat and eggs. There are breeds of birds that can bring from 200 to 300 eggs per year. The number of eggs depends on the conditions of keeping and nutrition of the bird. The use of special additives for laying hens to improve egg production allows you to get a high-quality product from domestic laying hens in a larger volume. These supplements may be mineral, but it is possible to increase productivity by properly balancing the feed.

What to feed chickens to increase egg production

A balanced diet is the main, but not the only, factor that allows you to increase the egg production of a bird.It also depends on the conditions of detention, the breed and age of chickens, and the length of daylight hours. Therefore, additional lighting is mounted in the chicken coop. Feed at any time of the year should consist of several components.

Grain

This is a staple in the diet of laying hens. Birds being fed:

• wheat;
• barley;
• oats;
• corn;
• beans.

Corn should be crushed. Usually, a grain mixture is used for feeding, including various cereals, the basis of which (70-80%) is wheat. The film must be removed from the grains of oats. Peas and soybeans are sources of protein, but legumes should not be given to birds in large quantities, so as not to cause obesity.

Vegetables

These are sources of vitamins and essential trace elements. They must be present in the feed of chickens every day, at any time of the year. The bird is given: boiled potatoes, carrots, beets, cabbage, zucchini. They should be thoroughly washed and chopped. Do not give birds frozen and rotten vegetables.

Greens

Birds also cannot do without it. In summer they are given clover, alfalfa, tops from the garden. If the chickens are free-range, during this period they find the greens on their own, if not, the owner needs to collect the greens and grind it before giving it to the birds. For the winter, greens for chickens are dried or bundles of high-quality hay are given to birds.

Mineral supplements

Chalk, s alt, bone meal, shell rock, cake, fodder yeast are added to the chicken diet. Such top dressing is a source of calcium, with a lack of this mineral, the shell will be thin and fragile, in critical cases - soft.In addition to calcium, supplements contain other useful elements: magnesium, zinc, potassium, phosphorus.

Important: small pebbles that are placed in the chicken coop are not a source of minerals for birds, they are necessary for proper digestion.

You can use ready-made mineral complexes for laying hens: "Ryabushka", "Laying hen", "SilaKur".

Mixed feed

The use of compound feed increases the egg production of chickens by 25-30%. You can buy it ready-made or make your own. Compound feed has a different composition, the choice depends on the age of the livestock, its orientation (egg-bearing breeds need one species, broilers need another). In addition to a mixture of cereals, the finished mixture contains a complex of mineral additives: s alt, chalk, fodder yeast, meat and bone meal, and other varieties. Feed additives save time when feeding chickens, make nutrition balanced, eggs and poultry meat of high quality, and increase egg production.

Features of increasing egg production depending on the season

Chickens lay more eggs in summer than in winter. An abundance of varied food, increased daylight hours - all this increases the number of eggs laid.

Summer Diet

In order for a bird to rush well, you should feed it at the same time, provide access to clean water. Chickens are "early birds", the first feeding is carried out at 7 o'clock in the morning, the last - at about 21 o'clock. The daily norm for one head is 120-130 grams. In summer, morning feeding is wet mash. Prepare them before use. The composition includes crushed steamed grain, root crops, finely chopped greens.

Properly cooked mash should be crumbly, if the substance sticks together, it can harm the bird.

In the evening, the birds are given dry compound feed. It is easier to digest, the amount is calculated so that there is no grain left in the feeder. In the afternoon, in the summer, chickens are released from the chicken coop so that they can forage on their own. Found insects, worms are sources of protein, they are very useful for birds. If the feed is not enough, the birds are supplemented with grain.

Winter Diet

In winter, the diet consists of wet mash, feed, silage. Bundles of high-quality hay are tied in the feeders, it replaces the summer greens. The lack of vitamins is compensated by germinated grain or they are given ready-made vitamin-mineral complexes to birds. When preparing mash, you can use the reverse, the remnants of the broth.

Tips on what not to feed laying hens

Chickens are not given fishmeal and fish oil, because the laid eggs acquire a nasty smell. Sprouted green potatoes and potato peels are not offered to the bird. Watermelon and pumpkin rinds are difficult for birds to digest and can cause diarrhea.

Don't give birds unwashed vegetables. Potatoes and beets are boiled in a mixer and finely chopped (possible with the peel), pumpkin, zucchini, carrots are crushed and mixed with boiled root crops.

If poultry feed is of high quality and balanced in composition, and poultry houses are clean and bright, chickens will lay well at any time of the year. This will allow the owner to quickly recoup all the costs of arranging livestock and receive a stable profit.

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