Hens are domesticated birds. To date, many breeds of egg and meat are bred. The birds are bred for the needs of the family and industrial cultivation in order to sell eggs and meat to the population. At the same time, it is important to know the life expectancy of chicken for a more rational farming. What species are poultry, how to feed them properly? How many hens live at home, read the article.
Life span
The chickens living in the natural environment are shortened by predators: ferrets, rats and large inhabitants of the forest. Difficulties arise with the extraction of feed, especially in the winter. Nevertheless, the average life expectancy is a decent period of 15 years.
How long does a chicken live? Poultry are usually kept on the farm for up to four years. After this time, they lose their productivity and are allowed to eat meat. Depending on the direction, their life expectancy is different.
Meat chickens
The life span of chickens that are raised for meat is calculated in months. For these breeds, it is only two months. An exception is the brood hen which is used to incubate chickens. Their life expectancy is five years or more.
With age, meat in chickens of this orientation becomes worse, which is why they are allowed to eat meat so early. In household conditions, they live up to a year. This is influenced by the fact that they use natural food for feeding.
At poultry farms and farms, special additives are added to the chickens food that accelerate their growth. Therefore, at the age of one and a half months they reach a decent weight, their life ends there.
Egg hens
Domesticated birds can be found in every household. In the first year of life, their egg production is highest. The laying rate can be kept high for a short time with proper feeding. But still, by the third year of life, the chicken begins to lay fewer eggs. Leave the bird in the yard or get meat from it, the owner decides. Of course, chickens, whose egg instinct is good, are not sent for meat. As a rule, these are excellent mothers, they are left on the farm for a long time as an incubator.
Farms do not need laying hens. The eggs are placed in an incubator to raise chickens from them. How many laying hens live? When grown home, their average lifespan is three years, sometimes four or even five. This is influenced by the fact that the requirements for home laying hens are less serious. How many laying hens live? At the poultry farm they live a year and a half.
How many roosters live?
Their life expectancy depends on the destination. To ensure that the livestock is at the same level or higher, and the productivity of laying hens does not fall, one rooster per dozen females is enough. If the conditions of the birds are poor, the load on the rooster should be reduced, if good, increase. For a flock of 100 hens, five to six males are enough. How many roosters live? Their life span is determined by sexual activity and averages four years. In a large household or farm, roosters are kept for two to three years. If it is a meat breed - two to three months.
Life cycle
In chickens, it depends on many factors, some of which are listed below:
- The conditions in which hens are raised: in the household or on an industrial scale.
- The breed of poultry. Scientists have proved that some chickens live longer for several years than their relatives of other breeds.
- Nutrition and content, which is assessed by the level: low, medium, high. The life of chickens can be prolonged if they are fed correctly and kept in conditions that are characterized by a high level.
How do growing conditions affect lifespan?
The most important factor in how many chickens live is where they live. Growing birds at home, on the compound, the owner is more attentive and careful to his pets than workers at the poultry farm. How long does a chicken live? The life span of poultry is twice as long as that of those kept on farms. The following factors have a positive effect on the life of chickens:
- If the chicken coop will be illuminated, including by artificial means, at least 14-16 hours a day.
- Provide chickens with a place for walking.
- Provide the birds with a spacious room in which they live.
- Equip the house with a sufficient number of drinking bowls and feeders, properly place them so that access to water and feed is unhindered.
- Maintain optimal indoor temperature for chickens (20 ° C) and humidity (50-70%).
- Establish good ventilation.
- Place sand and ash tanks in the chicken coop. Bathing in them, chickens get rid of parasites.
- Decorate the walls and floor with soundproofing material so that loud noises from the street do not reach the chickens.
If you follow the rules of raising chickens and provide them with everything you need, life expectancy will increase. How long does a chicken live? On a farm, her life expectancy is three years if her mission is to wear eggs. In the household - up to nine years. Such chicken ceases to lay eggs or lays very little. When it is put on meat, it will be tough. But often the owner is sorry to part with his pet.
Feeding chickens
The basis of the diet is cereals, but this is not enough, since the nutrition of poultry should be varied. If you feed a hen with a balanced diet, its lifespan will be at least five years, while productivity will decrease by only 15-20%. What is the best way to feed the chicken? Food should contain vitamins, carbohydrates and minerals. Poultry nutrition includes the following products:
- Legumes - soy, peas and others.
- Cereals - corn, wheat, oats.
- Cake.
- Greens - cabbage leaves, beets, stems, young shoots.
- Sunflower seeds, especially in winter, hens prefer them.
- Shells, pebbles of limestone, eggshells, previously crushed into crumbs.
- Leftover meat, fish or flour from them.
The basis for the nutrition of chickens held in poultry farms is feed. Its composition, of course, is balanced, but not diverse. In the summer, it is very important to allow the chickens to move freely. Since they belong to weed birds, on a walk in the garden or on the lawn they themselves will find something to feast on. Therefore, in the summer season they should be fed once a day. During the winter colds, the frequency of feeding is increased up to two times.
Feed rationing
For proper feeding, it is important to calculate the rate of food intake of one chicken per day.
- Whole or crushed grain - 50 g.
- Additives from mineral components, salt - 6 g.
- Meat and bone meal or minced meat - 50 g.
- Juicy food from raw or boiled vegetables - 70 g.
- Protein in an amount of not more than 20 g.
All food is divided in half and fed to hens twice: in the morning and evening.
Shelf life of hens is broken brown
This breed of poultry is considered the largest, most popular and unpretentious. Layers are characterized by early maturity and endurance. Their maintenance is not expensive. The average life span is three years, as they subsequently carry few eggs. For a long time, brown chickens belonged to the meat industry due to their large size and rapid increase in body weight.
Broilers
This type of chicken belongs to the meat breed. They are grown to produce meat related to dietary products. For feeding birds use special combined feed with a high content of nutrients. Hens move little, so they gain weight very quickly. Their life expectancy is eight weeks. If they are not grown for meat, they live longer, but too much weight puts strong pressure on their legs and they atrophy. Often, for this reason, birds die.
Chinese silk hens
It is impossible to confuse this decorative breed with any. The originality of their appearance gives a fluffy hairstyle and paws with five fingers that have a clear separation. Chickens have an interesting feature: their bones are black, dark in color and in meat with skin. Birds of this breed are raised not for profit, but for beauty. How long does a chicken live? If you provide good care and a balanced diet, you can live five years or more.