Caring for laying hens at home
 laying hens

Chickens are bred for the purpose of obtaining eggs and dietary meat. If you want to have fresh eggs at home all the time, and to sell their surplus, then you need to breed chicken eggs.

Such poultry has a small body weight, thick plumage. They are able to carry eggs after four months of age. Even 20 days after the hen laid the first egg, it is considered a full-fledged productive individual.

In order for the chicken to be in your household, there are several ways:

  • To lay eggs in the incubator (or put them under the hen hen) and raise the young;
  • Buy chickens and grow it to adult chicken;
  • Buy grown bird and feed her a couple of months;
  • Buy already an adult chicken

How to choose the young?

First, the young for the production of eggs is chosen from the breeds of the egg direction. It is naive to hope for a high egg production of chickens in another direction, for example, meat.

 breeds of chickens
Breeds of laying hens

You can choose the young of the following breeds: Russian White, Andalusian, Leggorn, Czech gold, May Day, Italian Kuropatchatye, Minorca, Carpathian green foxes, Hamburg, Loman-Brown, Hisex, Kuchinsky anniversary jubilee. As a result of breeding, new cross-hens are being bred: Borki-1,2, Irtysh, Zaslavskiy-1,2,3, Zarya-17, Gibro-6 and many others.

If you have already decided on the breed or cross, when choosing young stock, you need to draw on their external signs and habits: the breast is flat, the legs are strong, the eyes are bulging, no tears, the feathers are shiny and clean, the comb (if it is grown up young) is bright. Young chicken must be movingWithout obvious signs of illness, she should not sit on the floor.

You can make a choice based on the weight of the pullets. So, to achieve puberty (4.5 months), the chicken should have a weight of about 1.5 kg.

Focusing on these indicators, depending on the age of the young, you can make a good choice for poultry farms.

Care and maintenance at home

 cage content
Chickens in a cage

If you have made the right choice of young animals, then good care and proper maintenance will provide excellent results. It is possible to care and maintain chickens in two ways: in cages and in walking.

Combining these two methods is strongly discouraged, as the hen must get used to certain conditions. Any change of such conditions, especially often, leads to stress and a decrease or cessation of egg production.

Breeding hens without walking

This method involves their constant presence in the process of life in special cells.

The size and number of cages directly depends on how many poultry stocks are planned to be kept. 7-8 adult chickens can be placed on 1 m2 area egg direction. If the population of birds is large, the cells have tiers.

It is not difficult to construct such cells, but this requires serious investments (as compared with the second method of maintenance, which will be discussed below).

Making a cage - tips for beginners

The cage is made from fine-welded mesh. Instead, they also use a chain-link (on the sides and on the back side), metal bars - in front. The bottom is a two-level.

At first, at a distance of 20 cm from the bottom of the structure, we fasten the welded mesh to the frame with a slight incline so that the eggs can roll into the egg collector, and then fasten the pallet of plywood, flat slate, other material, for example, polycarbonate, other material to the bottom of the frame.

When using a two-tier bottom in the cage will always be clean, because the droppings fall through the cells on the pallet. Then 1 or 2 times a month it is cleaned.

To improve egg production, it is desirable to carry out additional lighting in each cell. And in order to make it better, you need to either place the cage in the shed closer to the window, or do additional lighting. Drinker choose any type - vacuum or nipple. In this case, selected nipple type.

 perch
Scheme and device perch

We fix the bottom in the cage under a slight slope to the egg collector so that the eggs themselves can slide into it.

Requirements for conditions of keeping adult birds: the cages inside must be clean; the presence of ventilation in the room; optimal area of ​​maintenance (unhindered food); availability of high-quality fresh food in the feeders and fresh water in drinking bowls; increased daylight hours; air humidity 69-71%; lack of drafts and dampness; air temperature in the summer of 22-25 degrees, in the winter - 18-20 degrees.

Feeding: what should contain a diet

When feeding chickens, it is important to consider that the feed contains the right amount of protein, fat, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamin.

  • Squirrels - the main building material for the cells of the body and the main component of the egg. They are found in large quantities in legumes, oilcake, bone meal.
  • Fat - energy stock of hens. Contained in corn grain, oats.
  • Carbohydrates - necessary work of all internal organs. In large quantities is in succulent feed. There is a lot of cellulose in whole uncleaned grain.

The most necessary vitamins for layers - A, B, D.

 feeding
Feeding birds

Mineral substances are necessary for the formation of egg shells. Its much contained in bone meal, chalk, wood ash.

Chicken feeds can be provided in two ways:

  • buy ready-made feed. Advantages: in such compound feeds the proportional ratio of nutrients is respected. Disadvantage: their high cost;
  • prepare the mixture yourself. Disadvantage: requires some experience + extra time spent for cooking. Advantages: the total cost of feed is reduced.
The following daily feed composition is possible: grain - 50 g, bone meal - 2 g, succulent feed - 30 g, flour mixture - 40 g, mineral and vitamin supplements - 15 g. In addition, add protein feeds, mash and other in small quantities .

When the cell content is better to feed 4 times a day, at least - 3. In the morning and in the evening we give more grain.In the afternoon - mineral supplements, vitamins, green and juicy feed.

Rearing chickens

This type of content is significantly different from the cellular, and almost does not have differences in feeding. The main difference is the division of territory into a walk, where chickens walk freely, and the chicken coop, where they race, spend the night (if the chicken coop is built on the street).This layer is preferred for laying hens because it feels more free.

A chicken coop with a paddock can be made indoors as well, then chickens will sleep where they are comfortable - in the paddock and the hen house.

 chickens laying hens
Walking chickens

Let us consider in more detail the option of a chicken coop with a walking street.

The size of the enclosure depends on the number of livestock. The section for walking can be 2 - 3 times larger in area of ​​the chicken coop. It is possible to do such open-air cage both folding, and stationary. The welded construction of a profile pipe or wooden beam is covered with a chain-link mesh or galvanized welded mesh with a mesh of up to 50 mm.

We do this in the walking section of the bird. From above we stretch a protective mesh. The second part - the chicken coop, we build of plywood or chipboard. In the same part we make perches, sections for nests, stairs or a ladder.

About the hen house

In the chicken coop (meaning the part of the aviary where chickens are rushing) should be:

  • feeding trough;
  • drinking bowl;
  • perch;
  • ladder (gangway) - if necessary;
  • nests
The chicken coop itself must be well insulated on all sides by walls and an entrance door; there must be a roof on top. It is possible to construct a chicken coop without an entrance door.Then this part looks like a canopy.

The number of nests is directly dependent on the number of laying hens; the more of them, the more nests. Inside the nests put finely chopped straw. Extremely it is advisable to install a board in front of the slots 15-20 cm. So that the chicken can easily get from the perch to the nest.

Feeders - bunkers in the chicken coop (recall that we are considering the open-air version of the content of chickens) are conveniently located outside. Then you just need to open it and fill the feed inside. Through the receiving chute the bird will eat.

 feeders
The device coop for coop

Chicken perch in the household

There are many varieties of perches for chickens. Their main function is that they serve to make the bird sit on them. This implies the necessary design features.

The material is usually wood. Firstly, it is affordable and relatively cheap, and secondly, chicken legs will not freeze on them, which cannot be said of metal poles. You can use the usual dry strong sticks of wood. They should be relatively straightforward.

It is advisable to choose a bar of such diameter that it would be convenient for the hen to clasp its paws.Neither fat nor thin is suitable (it will be difficult for her to keep balance).

 perch
Chicken roost

Immediately make a removable perch. This will simplify the cleaning process.. But in this case it is necessary to fix it very well, so that it does not rotate around its axis. We set the perch in 2 or 3 rows, and it is not necessary to do this at the same height. It is desirable to make one perch lower, the other higher, the third at the level of the second or even higher.

It is necessary to have them relative to each other at such a distance that the droppings of the chicken that sits above do not fall on the bird sitting below. The total length of the perch should accommodate all livestock.

It should be borne in mind that in summer, chickens are seated from each other at a distance of several centimeters due to hot weather, while in winter they are pressed against each other for additional heating.

It is necessary to establish a roost at such height that the chicken could easily fly up on it. Low location does not train their muscles, high creates the likelihood that the bird does not climb on it. Ideal - from 50 to 70 cm from the floor.

 perch
Another option perch

How to care for a bird

The requirements for laying hens in a chicken coop with walking are the same as the content in the cells: the cells inside must be clean; optimal area of ​​maintenance (unhindered food); availability of high-quality fresh food in the feeders and fresh water in drinking bowls; increased daylight hours; lack of drafts and dampness.

Food is the same as with the cellular content. Add protein feed, mash and others in small quantities.

You can give daily: grain - 50 g, bone meal - 2 g, juicy feed - 30 g, flour mixture - 40 g, mineral and vitamin supplements - 15 g

In the spring, in the spring, in the summer and in the autumn there is enough fresh greenery, but if necessary, you can throw a juicy grass, watermelon rind, and other food debris. Can be limited to two meals a day - in the morning and in the evening, and once - with hinge, mineral supplements, greens.

 feeding
Feeding birds

Diseases of chickens and their treatment

Chickens are subject to many diseases. In order to protect them from undesirable consequences, including death, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures (disinfecting the premises before settling chickens and afterwards with observance of safety measures), feed them with high-quality and fresh products, give vitamins and trace elements.

However, it is not always possible to protect feathering.It is worth paying special attention to such common diseases of adult birds as:

  • heterocidosis (worms in the intestines). It is treated with piperazine. Prevention: thoroughly clean the room;
  • salmonellosis (stomach upset). It is treated with tetracycline or ditrevitom;
  • ascites (accumulates fat in the abdomen). Prevention: it is necessary to give greens;
  • arthritis (joint disease). It is treated with ampicillin. Prevention: to give only high-quality food, litter should be dry;
  • Newcastle disease (infection of the bird through the eggshells). Prevention: postponing of patients and disinfection of the room;
  • poisoning. Prevention: care must be taken that the feed is fresh and of high quality;
  • typhus (damaged stomach). It is treated with antibiotics, for example, ampicillin. Prevention: isolation of sick chickens, poultry house disinfection;
  • streptococcosis (internal organs are affected). Treated with antibiotics. Prevention: isolating sick chicken;
  • tuberculosis (affects lungs of chicken). Treatment is impossible. Prevention: maintaining hygiene in the house.

Business plan from scratch: costs and profits

The first question that beginners ask themselves beforeHow to tackle the maintenance of laying hens for the purpose of selling eggs, is it profitable?

 breeding
Breeding chickens on an industrial scale

You can make in theory 100 business plans, but take into account all the risks and what will be impossible in practice. Calculating a profitable business plan from scratch, it is assumed that chickens will not have a case or take a small percentage of it when calculating.

In fact, there may be some kind of infection in the very 2-3 years in which you purchased and keep the hens. Then we can talk about the death of not one or two chickens, but about half of the population.

In addition, the profitability of production depends on the conditions of housing, the number of livestock (the more, the more profitable production), seasonal weather conditions, breed of chickens, feed, and other factors. In the end, it depends on the experience of the poultry farmer.

Is it profitable to breed and grow chickens?

We propose to summarize this question, and to show what elements the expenditure part of the budget for growing and profit consists of. Is it profitable or not?

 household
Homemade Farm with Chickens

Expenditures (what you need to spend money on):

  • purchase of eggs for the incubator and the cost of electricity (in the caseif the business does not start with the purchase of young or adult chicken);
  • purchase chickens or young stock, or an adult laying hen (in case we don’t buy eggs for an incubator);
  • Construction Materials for poultry house equipment (profile pipe, plywood, polycarbonate, flat slate, welded mesh, chain-link mesh, drinkers, etc.);
  • power consumption for additional lighting, heating in winter time (increase in daylight hours);
  • purchase feed or grain, vitamins, mineral supplements, medications;
  • Unexpected expenses (and they will be!).

Of the above items of expenditure, most of the money will go to the purchase of chicken young or chickens (if you buy them, and not grow) and the purchase of feed.

Income part (for which you can get money):

  • from implementation eggs;
  • from implementation chicken meat (in the case of slaughter of an adult chicken, the egg production of which productively fell to the limits of its cost);
  • from implementation litter.

In the absence of force majeure, the profitability of breeding chickens leaves from 30 to 100%.

Conclusion

 chickens
Chickens chickens

In the final part of the article, we will determine what the egg production of chickens depends on. It is influenced by:

  • breed of chickens;
  • conditions of detention;
  • nutrition;
  • force majeure in the form of diseases;
  • practical experience of the poultry farmer.

Must remember! The less the laying hen is stressed, the higher the egg production.