Today, quite a lot of people are engaged in breeding pets. The most important thing is to understand that they always need proper care, namely: proper and regular nutrition, equipped premises for living and, if necessary, vaccinations.
Among farmers, chickens, geese and turkeys are most popular for breeding. This is because caring for them is minimal, and as a result, you can get eggs and tasty meat. The ability of chickens to carry may vary depending on the time of year and climatic conditions. This feature is associated with the physiology of birds. In the autumn-winter period, hens, as a rule, carry fewer eggs than in the warm season. This is due to the fact that animals are inactive and eat less food. Metabolism is also inhibited. However, some secrets are known to farmers that increase the egg production of chickens in winter. How to feed chickens in the cold? How to provide them with the correct conditions of detention? Let's try to deal with these issues.
Diet features
If you make a proper diet, then the bird will rush year-round. Food must include vitamins and mineral supplements. It is also important to feed the chickens three or four times a day. The full portion should contain all the necessary trace elements. How to feed laying hens in winter to rush? Food can be prepared with your own hands.
The daily diet must necessarily include the following components:
- grain - 120 grams (30 g - barley, 40 g - corn, 20 g - wheat);
- boiled potatoes - 100 grams;
- chalk - 3 grams;
- meat and bone meal - 2 grams;
- oilcake - 7 grams;
- yeast - 1 gram;
- table salt - 0.5 grams;
- a stirrer of 30 grams.
As for potatoes, the main thing here is not to give chickens green or sprouted tubers. A decoction of such root crops can cause poisoning in birds. Also, you can not give quicklime, watermelon and orange peel, chicken meat. These foods can cause serious digestive problems and even kill animals.
Full menu
How to feed laying hens so that they show high egg laying? A complete diet should include dry, wet, and combination foods. Dry food includes wheat, millet, bran, barley, corn, buckwheat, rye and oats. These cereals contain a large amount of carbohydrates and fiber, proteins and vitamins. Also, trace elements such as phosphorus, calcium and others should be included in the menu. To provide these substances with chicken food, it is necessary to add crushed shells, legumes, salt and ash.
As for wet food, it includes a whole mixture of products mixed with pure water or milk. It is prepared from oilcake, hay flour, cereals, herbs, boiled and raw vegetables. If the breeder gives the chickens both wet and dry food, then such food is considered combined. The given diet is considered the best option for increasing egg production.
Many are interested in how to feed chickens so that they lay eggs in the winter. In cold weather, you should definitely add fresh herbs. In the warm season, birds can peck it on their own.
Egg production conditions
That, regardless of the time of year, the hens rushed well, they need to create comfortable conditions. There are no serious requirements for chicken coop equipment. However, certain recommendations should still be followed.
Among them are the following:
- For a chicken coop it is better to choose a quiet place.
- Nests should be installed at the same height.
- Birds should be protected from drafts.
- It is better to fill the floor in the chicken coop with clay. This material will not freeze in winter. You can sprinkle sawdust on top. Hens will delight in digging into them in the winter.
- Better not to make the room for the hens too big. There is a pattern that chickens rush better in the dark.
- For laying eggs, the optimal room temperature is from 23 to 25 degrees above zero.
- The chicken coop should have several windows, but they should be located so that sunlight does not fall directly on the nests.
One of the most important factors that directly affect the number of eggs is the diet of hens. In the cold season, the lamps must be turned on early and better with the first feeding. The second feed is carried out at lunchtime, at about one in the afternoon. In the morning and afternoon, chickens are better to give mixers. In the evening, birds are fed with dry food. Thanks to strict adherence to the regime, the egg production of chickens can be kept extremely high even in winter.
Cold Feeding: How Does It Differ?
Many today are interested in how to feed hens at home in the winter. The main requirement is that the feed should be as diverse as possible and contain as many nutrients as possible. This is primarily due to a serious decrease in temperature in the chicken coop, a decrease in bird mobility and the inability to independently obtain a sufficient amount of green food and protein food.
What is the best way to feed chickens in winter? Food birds need to be provided 3-4 times a day. In the evening it is better to give dry food, and during the day - combined. As a wet mixture, you can use crushed and grated vegetables and root crops. They need to be laid out so that they lie upwards in the flesh. Vegetables should not be placed with the skin up. If you give the food in shredded form, then it must be mixed with ground crops. So products are better absorbed.
Green feed
How to feed laying hens to rush better? In the maximum amount in the diet you need to make green feed. In the cold season, fresh branches of conifers are well suited for feeding. They contain a large number of useful substances. In addition, they help to disinfect indoor air. Birds can be fed with hay and dried nettles. Sprouted oats and wheat are extremely healthy. They contain nutrients. In addition, chickens are happy to eat this product. It is worth remembering that green fodder is as healthy as grain.
What do birds need in the cold season?
Farmers and household owners are often worried about how to feed laying hens to rush better. In winter, the diet of chickens must include fat, fishmeal, dairy products such as whey and cottage cheese, as well as components with a high calcium content. These include fodder shells and eggshells. In this case, chickens should always have access to warm water. It must be changed several times a day. For winter feeding of birds, you can use beets grown on your site, carrots, squash, pumpkin and potatoes.
Bird food: recipes
How to feed laying hens in winter? Egg production directly depends on the air temperature in the chicken coop. It should not be lower than 15 degrees. Otherwise, the birds will stop laying eggs. A sufficient amount of nutritious and satisfying food can compensate for the lack of heating. It is recommended that birds give such food in the morning and in the afternoon. The following ingredients may be part of a warm stirrer: boiled potatoes (50 grams), grain (30 grams), bran or legumes (6 grams each), yogurt or warm water (50 grams), salt (0.5 grams), bone meal (2 grams), fish oil (1 gram), oilcake or grass (4 grams). You can also use fish or meat broth for preparing chicken dishes.
The more varied the diet, the more eggs you can collect. Several types of food should be included in the chicken mash, each of which is characterized by its beneficial qualities. If necessary, the owner of the chickens can easily make changes to the menu. As a rule, dishes are prepared from what is at hand - cereals, root crops, peelings, grains. Steamer the mash, pouring it with hot liquid. So that the product does not deteriorate, prepare it at a time.
What is the feeding of laying hens at home? Many believe that waste from the human table is also suitable for feeding birds. This is partly true. You can use cereals, dried bread, peeling vegetables and fruits, offal, bone, meat, tops. It is undesirable to feed birds with spicy and fatty foods high in chemicals. Such food can cause an eating disorder.
Ways to increase egg production
So that the number of eggs in the cold season does not become less, it is necessary to increase the number of meals. What is the best way to feed chickens in winter? If in the summer hens eat twice a day, then in the cold they should be fed at least three times. It is also worth ensuring that the food is varied and nutritious. The feed must contain all the necessary substances.
Add Vitamins
In the summer, chickens get vitamins from fresh vegetables, tops and herbs. In winter, they cannot produce the right amount of nutrients on their own. How to feed chickens to replenish all the necessary supplies? It is necessary to add special premixes, which are natural mixtures. They do not contain preservatives, growth stimulants and hormones. At the same time, these components are rich in vitamins, trace elements and amino acids, which are so necessary for chickens.
What can be used as vitamin supplements?
Many farms today use laying hens. What to feed to rush in the winter and show high egg laying?
In the cold season, as an additional vitamin supplement, you can use:
- Dried seaweed: helps to saturate the yolk and strengthen the shell.
- Fish oil: provides the body of chickens with essential fatty acids.
- Probiotics: strengthen the immune system of birds, which requires additional support and protection in the cold season.
- Apple cider vinegar: positively affects the general condition of the bird.
For normal functioning, the bird's body requires vitamin A. Individuals that receive a sufficient amount of this vitamin, even in winter, carry large eggs with a bright yolk. Its lack is also immediately noticeable: the skin and cornea of the animal’s eyes become too dry. To strengthen the immunity of birds, it is necessary to use vitamin E. It also helps to increase egg production. The lack of this substance leads to dysfunction of nerve and muscle tissues. To prevent rickets, vitamin D is used. In case of lack of it, softness of the egg shell is observed. To ensure normal functioning of the digestive and endocrine systems of birds, vitamins of group B are required. To provide animals with a full range of nutrients, special vitamin complexes can be used to supplement them in the main food.
Cooking dry food
Bird food can be prepared in advance. For this purpose, rosehip berries, mountain ash, and hawthorn are excellent. You can also use chestnuts and acorns. These components should be given to the birds mixed with dry food and a mash.
Many owners are interested in how to feed chickens to rush. What matters is not so much the feed itself as the conditions of detention. The room for this purpose must not be used too large. For 2-3 birds, only 1 square meter will be enough. You should also pay attention to temperature. It should not fall below 15 degrees. If the outside temperature drops too much, you will need to take care of additional heating of the chicken coop. A significant decrease in it can affect the level of egg production. If you choose the right thermal and light conditions, chickens may not even notice that winter has come.
You can insulate the chicken coop in various ways:
- Lay the litter on the floor. For this purpose, straw and large sawdust are perfect. When the upper thermal insulation layer is trampled, you can loosen it with a pitchfork. In spring, this litter can be used on beds as fertilizer.
- Walls and doors are additionally insulated with various thermal insulation materials. This will help reduce heat loss in the room.
- Installing an infrared emitter will allow you to maintain the optimum temperature in the room. In addition, the light of such a lamp has a calming effect on birds.
Since shorter daylight hours in winter, the chicken coop should be equipped with additional lighting fixtures. They should work in the morning and evening. In addition, it is worth taking care that the light does not fall directly on the nests.
Molting chickens
In autumn and winter, a completely natural process occurs - molting. Hens begin to lose feathers. This process is associated with a decrease in the duration of daylight hours. Chickens at this time do not look too healthy. However, this is a completely natural phenomenon, and you should not be afraid of it. But it is worth knowing what needs to be done so that the chickens rush well. How to feed the birds in this difficult time for them? Food should be rich in nutrients and elements. In addition, the kurovod can independently control the duration of the daily period of wakefulness of individuals.
Conclusion
So we examined how to feed the chickens so that they give a lot of eggs. It takes a lot of effort to prepare the right feed. It is very important to grind and steam the nutritional composition correctly. You should also ensure that food is rich in trace elements and beneficial substances. For the preparation of feed, you can use special equipment.
To maintain the level of egg production, it is important not only to know how to feed laying hens. Particular attention is also paid to bird keeping conditions. They need to provide a warm, lit room. Compliance with all norms guarantees the achievement of positive results.