How many grams of feed should a laying hen be given per day?

In order to achieve maximum egg production of a particular breed of chicken, you need to clearly know how much feed you need to give a laying hen per day. A properly formulated diet, taking into account the age and physiological characteristics of the bird, determines its growth and development, productivity, resistance to various diseases and adverse environmental factors.

Types of feeding laying hens

Depending on the physical properties (humidity, flowability), caloric content of the nutrient mixtures used, there are three types of feeding of laying hens: dry, wet and combined.

Dry

With this type of feeding, the basis of the diet of laying hens is made up of specialized dry crumbly feed for different ages. Feed consumption per adult laying hen ranges from 110-120 grams in the summer to 150-160 grams in the cold season.

Wet

With this type of feeding, the diet consists of such nutritional mixtures and feeds as:

1. Wet mash of coarsely ground grains, chopped green herbal mass, root vegetables. To make the mash juicy, in addition to succulent feed, skim milk and broths prepared by cooking large bones are also added to them.
2. Juicy food - various root vegetables (beets, potatoes, carrots), cabbage. In order to improve digestibility and reduce the risk of chickens having digestive problems, such feed is pre-boiled or well ground.
3. Grain – barley, wheat, triticale. Approximately 2/3 of the grain is given to the bird in dry form and only 1/3 in sprouted form.
4. Grain waste – cake, small grain.

The main part of the nutrients with this type of feeding (about 40% of the daily requirement) is given in the form of wet mash 2 times a day.

Combined

With a combined type of feeding, the daily diet of laying hens consists of 75% bulk feed and 25% wet mash. Compound feeds are fed throughout the day using automatic feeders. Wet mash is given to the bird 2 times a day, at strictly defined hours.

Laying hen needs

For normal growth and development, laying hens need carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals.

Carbohydrates

For normal growth and development, the carbohydrate content in feed should be 70-75% of its weight. The content of crude fiber with such a large amount of carbohydrates should not exceed 5-6%.

Squirrels

The need of laying hens for proteins and amino acids depends on their age:

1. For chickens and young animals under 20 weeks of age, the crude protein content in feed should be 17%;
2. For adult birds aged 10 to 15 months, feed containing 16% crude protein is used.
3. For laying hens over 15 months of age, feed with a protein content of no more than 14% is used.

Fats

The average fat content in feed for laying hens should be within 3-5%.

Vitamins

For full development and growth, laying hens need vitamins of two main groups:

• fat-soluble – A (retinol), D (calciferol), E (tocopherol);
• water-soluble – B vitamins (B₁,B_2, B_3, B_4, B₅,B₆,B₁₂ B_c),H,C.

The poultry's need for vitamins is met by adding special synthetic preparations to the feed.

Minerals

Of the mineral substances, laying hens need calcium and phosphorus to form large eggs with a strong shell. These elements are added to feed in the form of chalk, limestone, and shell rock.

The calcium requirement for a laying hen is calculated using the following formula:

• Ca=C×2.251×0.5;
• where Ca is the need for calcium, grams/head;
• 2.251 – the amount of calcium in grams that is required to produce 1 egg;
• 0.5 – correction factor.

Among microelements, poultry also need manganese, zinc, copper, iron, cobalt, iodine, and selenium.They are introduced into feed in the form of special mineral additives.

How do nutritional standards depend on the age of the chicken?

In order for feeding to be balanced, a correctly physiologically based calculation of the daily ration is necessary, taking into account the age of the bird.

For chickens

There are two age groups of chickens - from 1 to 7 weeks and from 8 to 20 weeks.

1-7 weeks

Chickens of this age are fed frequently (every 2 hours), but in small portions, which include barley and corn grits, low-fat cottage cheese, and the yolk of a hard-boiled egg. Also, from the first days, chickens begin to be given green mass of alfalfa, clover or nettle. The daily feed consumption per chicken in the first 5 days should not exceed 13-15 grams.

Until 30 days of age, grains are given to chickens only in crushed and steamed form. At the same time, despite the fact that one small laying hen eats very little grain at this age, feed crushed in this way is an essential component of the chickens’ diet.

Starting from a week of age, mineral supplements containing calcium and phosphorus - chalk, shells, shells - are introduced into the diet.

8-20 weeks

From 8 weeks of age, the diet of chickens should consist of the following components:

• grain – 65 grams;
• millet – 10 grams;
• rye bran – 10 grams;
• hydrolytic yeast - 3.5 grams;
• finely ground bone flour - 3.5 grams;
• lime materials - 1.5-2.0 grams;
• rock salt - 0.5 grams.

At this age, the chicken also eats well a moist mash of steamed and crushed grains, green mass, and skim milk.

For adult chickens

In adult chickens, there are two age categories - 20-45 weeks and over 45 weeks.

20-45 weeks

The daily feed consumption rate for adult chickens of this age group is about 190 grams of feed per head. In this case, the main part of the diet is crushed grain (about 60 grams), boiled potatoes - 50 grams. It is also necessary to add chalk, shells, yeast, bone meal, and root vegetables to the food.

After 45 weeks

For chickens over 45 weeks old, the diet is the same as for the previous age category, increasing only the amount of grain and root vegetables by 10-15 grams.

How to give homemade food and how much you need per day

Nutritious feed can not only be purchased, but also made at minimal cost at home.

To prepare 1 kilogram of homemade balanced feed for laying hens you need:

• 560 grams of crushed grain;
• 200 grams of millet;
• 100 grams of flour;
• 100 grams of wheat bran;
• 40 grams of bone meal.

They give this homemade feed to adult laying hens 3-4 times a day, pouring it into automatic feeders.

Consequences of overfeeding and malnutrition

Feeding hens should be balanced and rationed. Overfeeding, as well as underfeeding, have their negative consequences for the bird.

Thus, insufficient feed leads to a decrease in growth rate, exposure of chickens and adult poultry to various diseases, a significant decrease in egg production and resistance of chickens to negative environmental factors.

Too much feeding, as a rule, leads to the accumulation of excess weight in the bird and a decrease in egg yield.