When starting chickens, any poultry breeder primarily plans to get a large number of fresh and tasty eggs. However, it is not always possible to immediately achieve the desired result. In some cases, it is necessary to master farming by trial and error before the goal is achieved. But still, if you figure out how to increase the laying capacity of chickens at home, you can save a lot of time and effort.
Which breeds should be preferred?
Before buying chickens or adult birds, you should decide what exactly you want to get. Is your goal a large amount of diet, young and tender meat? In this case, it is worth paying attention to the breeds, which are meat. They grow very quickly and can already be clogged up at the age of several months. But if you want to get a large number of eggs, then only productive laying hens should be planted.
Loman Brown chickens can be a good choice. They are highly resistant to cold conditions, which is an extremely important factor in a country with such a harsh climate as Russia. Although they do not develop too quickly, they grow to very impressive sizes. This makes them doubly profitable - when the birds become too old to trot, you can always put them on meat.
Another good option is cross leggorn. It was the chicken from this breed that set the world record - laid 371 eggs in one year! It is also important that they begin to reward their master with good productivity surprisingly early - at the age of 20 weeks. True, starting them up, you need to take care of good sound insulation or distance from any noise sources. Otherwise, the chickens will feel bad, productivity will drop, and the birds themselves may become ill.
Finally, the third place in the ranking of the best laying hens is occupied by Hysex hybrids. Although in fact, this is not an independent breed, but a variety of Leghorn. Unlike the latter, representatives of the Haysex breed easily tolerate low temperatures, rarely suffer from infectious diseases, and at the same time are very undemanding to feed. And in terms of the number of eggs laid, they are comparatively not far behind.
What is the best chicken age?
Before looking for ways to increase the egg production of chickens at home, you need to carefully study the characteristics of birds. The fact is that at a certain stage of their growth, representatives of one breed can bring a different number of eggs per day. In this respect, young individuals show their best performance - from full maturity (in most breeds it occurs at the age of six months, but there are earlier specimens) to 3 years.
After that, the chicken still remains healthy and strong. But still, the number of eggs decreases and will fall for several years, until the bird ceases to hatch completely. In most cases, the best solution in such a situation would be to put a hen on meat, replacing a younger individual.
Choosing the right chicken coop
If you are interested in how to increase the egg production of chickens at home in summer and winter, you need to pay attention to every little thing. For example, how the chicken coop was built and decorated, the way of life of birds.
Of course, it is best if the chickens walk quietly on a vast fenced area. Eating the right grass, diversifying their diet with live food, having healthy physical activity, they will bring much more eggs. However, such a luxury is not always possible. So, you need to at least try to find a suitable chicken coop.
Immediately it is necessary to abandon the concrete floor. In winter it will be cold, and many breeds of chickens react very sharply to such differences. The best choice is wood material. If this is not possible, then at least sprinkle the floor with a thick layer of sand or sawdust. But they will often have to be changed in order to protect chickens from infectious diseases, and themselves from an unpleasant odor.
In general, concrete and brick are not the best materials for building a chicken coop. They absorb the cold, which makes it very difficult to maintain a temperature comfortable for chickens in winter. It is better to give preference to wooden or at least clay buildings. Otherwise, the walls and ceiling should be sheathed with plywood or boards under which to lay the insulating material - from polystyrene foam to polyurethane foam. The main thing is not to let the birds reach it. Sometimes they begin to eat polystyrene, which is not the best way affects their health.
We create optimal conditions
The next step is how to increase the egg production of chickens at home in the spring. After the winter period it is important for birds to create comfortable conditions. Only in this case, you can count on a good result.
To begin with, the room should be well lit - use artificial devices or large windows. But the nests themselves, in which the birds will be carried, should be obscured.
Drafts should also not be - they pose a serious threat to both egg production and the health of the birds themselves.
The door in the chicken coop should be covered with a tarp or other thick, windproof fabric. This will further reduce heat loss, increasing indoor comfort. In general, the temperature should not fall below +23 degrees Celsius. Otherwise, the chickens practically stop rushing. So, if you are interested in how to increase the egg production of chickens at home in the spring, first of all, take care of heating.
We make the right diet
It is on the correct feeding, in the first place, how many eggs the chicken will carry. So, the diet needs a varied and complete. All trace elements, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and fats should be present in it in sufficient quantities.
Of course, you can use special feed in which there are all the substances necessary for laying hens. However, this is quite expensive, so many farmers are looking for more affordable options.
The best choice is traditionally wheat. It contains a lot of proteins, as well as vitamins B and E. Therefore, the diet of laying hens may well consist mainly of wheat - 50-60%.
But barley is more rich in carbohydrates. But nevertheless, it is also a good help for the economy - you can add up to 20-30% of this valuable cereal to the feed.
Oats are digested quite hard, so they usually do not give it. But if you need to stimulate the growth of feathers, as well as prevent cannibalism, then you can spend 5-10% of the diet on this grain.
But corn should be treated more carefully. This is a healthy cereal, but chickens gain weight when it is eaten. Although if your task is to feed the birds before slaughter, you can allocate 70-80% of the diet for corn.
Greens are a very good help. There are few nutrients in the grass, but there are plenty of trace elements and vitamins. Of course, this food is seasonal, but in the summer it is worth giving the birds as much green as possible.
As an additional top dressing, you can use eggshell, chalk, fishmeal. All of them contain calcium, which chickens spend in large quantities when they lay eggs.
Preparing food
As practice shows, the digestibility of ordinary cereals can be significantly increased if they are subjected to the simplest preparation. And to do this is quite easy and simple - no need to spend a lot of time or use expensive equipment.
Any grain, be it wheat, oats, barley or corn, must be brewed with warm water - but not hot. After that, the container is left in a warm room for 2-3 days. During this time, sprouts appear, the grain itself becomes softer. Therefore, digestion in birds takes less time, and the percentage of assimilation of nutrients increases significantly.
The correct daily routine
Another tip for beginner poultry farmers on how to increase the egg production of chickens at home in the summer is timely feeding. In the warm season, you need to do this twice - at the same time, about an hour after the rise and an hour before the end of the day. In winter, birds spend a lot of energy fighting the cold. Therefore, an additional meal should be made - around lunchtime.
Why is this needed? When birds feed at the same time, their body gets used to a certain schedule, and they feel more relaxed, confident. Constant failures in the schedule introduce birds to a state of stress. Of course, in such conditions, egg production is rapidly falling, but a good owner will never allow this.
What to do in the winter?
But the most difficult task is how to increase the egg production of chickens at home in winter. Alas, in the cold season, the birds in any case will rush worse than in the warm season. But there are tricks that allow at least a little smooth out the negative effect.
As mentioned above, the chicken coop should be warm and light, food should be increased by about 30%. You should also add twice as many vitamins to the diet - in the summer they get everything they need from the grass, in winter such luxury is not permissible. Some experts recommend abandoning ordinary water in favor of melt. There are no problems here - you just need to put snow in a bucket or other suitable container, carefully pack it and leave it in a warm place. After a few hours, you can drink chickens with the resulting water. But it is advisable to let it warm to room temperature.
Conclusion
Now you know about some techniques that allow you to get the maximum number of eggs from laying hens at any time of the year. Surely this will help beginner poultry farmers in farming activities.