Keeping laying hens It is profitable in the household, provided that the bird has good egg production. Under the same feeding and housing conditions, not all chickens show consistently high egg production. A poultry farmer must be able to determine whether a chicken is laying eggs at the height of the season or not, in order to promptly remove unsuitable birds from the flock. Inspection (grading) and culling of birds is carried out 3-4 times a year.
What does productivity depend on?
The egg production of chickens rests on three “pillars”:
- genetic “sourdough”;
- adequate feeding;
- correct content.
To obtain a large number of eggs, you should have egg breeds or crosses: Leghorn, Rhodonite, Dominant, Russian White.
Representatives of these breeds can lay up to 300 large eggs a year, but do not get meat from them. Meat-egg chickens (Kuchinskaya, Adlerskaya, Amroks) are especially popular on private farms, laying about 200 eggs per year, but also producing a hefty carcass.
Balanced feeding of the livestock allows you to unlock the full potential of the bird. You can feed chickens with complete factory compound feed for laying hens or prepare mixtures yourself. In addition to grain, the poultry diet includes greens and vegetables, animal feed (dairy products, meat and fish). Be sure to provide mineral supplements (chalk, limestone, shell) to strengthen the shell.
To preserve egg production, especially in winter, chickens are kept in warm and bright chicken coops. Comfortable temperature for poultry is from +15 to +25 degrees.
In order for the hen to continue laying eggs in winter, she is given 12-14 hours of daylight.
When does a healthy laying hen start laying eggs?
Normally, pullets of egg or meat-egg breeds begin to lay their first eggs at the age of 5-6 months. Leghorns are the record holders in this regard; they begin to lay eggs at 4.5 months.
The age at which eggs begin to lay is influenced by environmental conditions. If the chicken matures in the fall, and the poultry farmer does not place the bird in a warm barn with additional lighting in time, the bird will hatch later.
How can you tell if a chicken is laying eggs or not?
On average, a hen at the peak of egg production lays 1 egg daily for 3-4 days, then takes a break of 1-2 days.A bad laying hen may only lay 1-2 eggs a week, which doesn't even justify feeding her, let alone making a profit.
Determination of laying hens by palpation
The surest way, but it requires some practice. A hen that is actively laying eggs can be determined by the distance between the ends of the pubic bones. These are semicircular bones extending from the ischium. In a good laying hen, the distance between the tips of the pubic bones is 4-5 cm, and in a bad hen, no more than 2 cm.
To palpate the chicken, pick it up and place your palm on its stomach, with your fingers towards the cloaca. Immediately below the cloaca, under the skin, the pubic ossicles can be clearly felt. In order not to run after the ruler, the distance is measured with your fingers. A healthy laying hen will have 3-4 fingers folded together that will fit between these bones.
External signs of a laying hen
A hen that is actively laying eggs may not look like the picture; she is spending all her energy and nutrients on producing an egg. The laying hen's plumage may be “disheveled”, with minimal fat deposits.
The exact signs of a hen actively laying eggs:
- the hen's comb is bright red; in egg breeds it is large and hangs to one side;
- legs are bright yellow, widely spaced;
- the belly is voluminous, slightly hanging;
- the back is straight and level;
- The body shape resembles a triangle with an extension towards the hips.
The cloaca of a laying hen is slightly swollen, and a small amount of clear mucus may be released from it. In a non-laying bird, the cloaca is dry, the opening is tightly compressed and small in size.
Other methods of determination
If free time allows, you can often go into the barn at a certain period of time (for example, during the week) and mark the chickens sitting on the nest with green paint.
The bulk of laying hens lay from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., therefore, with a small population, it is not difficult to track the best hens.
By the number of marks on the plumage, you can even determine how many times the bird laid eggs in a week.
How to increase egg production?
The chicken lays the maximum number of eggs in the first and second years of life, then egg production decreases. This means that the flock must be formed from birds of this age. The presence of a rooster in the chicken coop is not necessary (if there is no desire to hatch chickens), but with the owner of the farmstead the chicken feels protected. It has been noted that the presence of a rooster (1 per 12-15 hens) has a positive effect on egg production.
In winter, when birds are locked in the barn, proper diet has a huge impact on productivity.
If chickens are fed homemade feed, Zdravur Layer or Ryabushka premix must be added to the grain mixture. The premix contains all the vitamins and microelements the bird needs.
Laying hens need to be fed well, but not overfed. The daily requirement of grain feed for 1 chicken is 140-150 g. It is better to exclude boiled potatoes from the chicken menu, as it makes the bird fat.
