If you decide to keep chickens, you need to make sure they have more than just a source of fresh water and tasty food to live a long, happy and stress-free life. A chicken coop and chicken feed should be your number one concern if you want to raise healthy birds. Let’s take a look one by one, how to properly keep chickens for eggs, what conditions need to be created.
Henhouse
A decent chicken coop can cost from ten thousand hryvnias, depending on its size, the materials used and the complexity of the design. Remember, a chicken coop in winter is more than just a shelter and a roof over the bird’s head.
The coop is the house where the bird will spend most of its life, so it is your duty to make it as hospitable as possible. After all, a happy chick is a healthy chick.
Today we will look at the chicken coop of the mobile version, this is not a fundamental construction designed for decades ahead, but a house that can be reinstalled in the next season.
Useful area of the chicken coop
A rule of thumb is that one hen needs about 1 m2 of walking space, so choosing the right size depends on the number of birds you plan to keep.
Be aware that overcrowded spaces will make birds feel restless and even depressed. In addition, the coop will be filled with feces, which means that you will spend more time cleaning it and keeping it in good condition. Most ready-made chicken coops sold online have a length of about 2 meters, which is enough to keep up to eight chickens at the same time.
Remember, if the chickens have few squares in the house, then they should be given unlimited access to the open space. All animals should spend as much time as possible enjoying the weather outside, so be sure to let them roam freely in your yard when the temperature is optimal for walking.
A suitable place
After deciding on the size of the chicken coop, it is also necessary to think about a suitable place on the farm, in the garden or in the backyard. You should choose a location that receives enough natural sunlight, but is not exposed to it all day – chickens also need shade, especially on hot summer days.
Windy and open areas should be avoided. Therefore, it would be good to place the chicken coop under a tree or in a place close to a shed or garage. Keep in mind that birds smell and no matter how often you clean the cage, you will not be able to get rid of the odors. Therefore, you should not build a chicken coop too close to the house or to the neighbors.
Noise level is another aspect to consider. Chickens can become stressed easily and should not be exposed to loud noises for long periods of time. It would be better if they lived in a quiet place surrounded by natural sounds instead of constant car horns and noises caused by vehicles or power tools.
And last, but not least, consider the issue of placing the chicken coop in an accessible place. Even if you install automatic feeders and provide your chickens with plenty of entertainment, you’ll still need to check on them at least twice a day.
What should be contained in the chicken coop
Although there are many drawings and designs available for free, you can build your own chicken coop yourself and provide all the necessary elements for a happy life.
Some of the essential elements of the cage include perches, an egg-laying box, doors or windows that provide easy access and excellent ventilation, and a drinker and feeder large enough to accommodate all the birds.
Light source for chickens
After hatching, the chicks are usually kept with the lights on for the first few days so they can find their food and water sources. After that, you can reduce the light bulb to 8 hours a day.
Feed for chickens
In addition to a constant source of fresh water, your birds will also need high-quality chicken feed. However, buying feed at the store will cost you a lot, especially if you own a small chicken farm. Thus, you may want to consider switching to more affordable options.
Chickens are not picky when it comes to their diet and will eat almost anything. They eat a lot of bugs and worms, mice, grass, as well as vegetables and fruits. And the leftovers from the master’s table will seem like a delicacy to them!
However, if you want to raise healthy chickens and enjoy healthy poultry meat and eggs, you need to make sure that your bird is fed fresh, natural and organic ingredients.
Avoid soy and fish meal. Soy contains high amounts of estrogen, which can be dangerous for most people, while fish can contain traces of mercury and can be dangerous for both you and your chickens.
However, it is recommended to use seafood and oyster shells, as they are rich in calcium and are included in standard feed for chickens.
Perfect feed
If you want your chickens to enjoy a variety of ingredients and get all the necessary vitamins and minerals, you can use the following recipe as a starter mix:
- two parts whole corn,
- three parts of hard red and soft white wheat,
- whole barley,
- sunflower seeds,
- peanut,
- sesame seeds,
- lentil,
- chopped peas
Corn should not be fed to chickens alone, as it is high in empty calories and provides only a fraction of the essential nutrients your bird needs.
Feed for chickens of a certain breed
There is no one-size-fits-all mixture for chickens, as different breeds have slightly different dietary requirements. For example, laying breeds need alfalfa, bone meal and cod liver oil in different proportions.
Broiler breeds need feed with a high protein content at the beginning of their life, so their diet should also include fish meal and amino acids. Bone meal is rich in calcium and is a must for most breeds if you want to ensure strong bones.
Diet also varies depending on the climate and environment your chickens live in, as well as local crops.
Keep in mind that overfeeding is a problem for all animals, including these birds, even if you are raising them for meat.
When choosing the right feed for poultry, the farmer must take into account many factors, such as the rate of egg production, the growth rate of the poultry, its current and desired weight, the amount of energy the bird spends during the day, etc.
It doesn’t matter if you own a poultry farm or raise poultry on a smaller scale – feed should always be kept dry and clean, because the chances of fungal growth are higher if the feed gets wet.
Wet feed can lead to mycotoxin poisoning, which is one of the most common causes of toxicosis in chickens. Make sure homemade bird food is properly placed and feeders are cleaned regularly. This will reduce the risk of animal diseases.
A laying hen needs 4 grams of calcium per day. Half of this amount will go into the egg. If you want to increase the amount of calcium, then oyster shell is an excellent choice.
Ready feed
Feed for chickens is supplied in various forms: puree, crumbs and granules. Each of these categories has its own characteristics.
- Puree is a better choice for young birds as it is not processed and is much easier to use. You can also use it to feed mature chicks. The correct method of preparing mashed potatoes is mixing with water. Puree should be served and used as soon as possible so that it does not become moldy.
- The use of crumbs and pellets is recommended for adult chickens.
How many eggs does a chicken lay in a year
Productivity of a laying hen depends on many factors, from which we highlight the breed, feeding, life expectancy and environment, although science estimates the first two or three years of its life, as a rule, to be the most productive. During this period of time, the number of eggs that a hen can lay can grow to hundreds (per year).
The record of a laying hen was 276 eggs per year.
Many people don’t know that all the eggs a hen ever lays are in her body, from the very beginning, in an undeveloped form. While we may not be able to x-ray a chicken and see that number early in its life, it’s still worth considering.
A hen can lay only one egg a day. The reason for this is that the chicken’s body begins to form a new egg only after the previous one is ready to lay, and it takes 26 hours for the egg to fully develop.
A hen starts laying soon after reaching puberty, they reach a peak and then production slowly declines each year. 4 years is the maximum gestation period.
When it comes to choosing, be aware that young leghorns, for example, can lay up to 300 eggs a year. Young martens, on the other hand, will be able to lay only 100 eggs, while the Sumatra breed will give you a maximum of 50 eggs.
Some breeds of chickens have been commercially bred for egg production, so their lifespans are drastically different from domestic chickens. White laying hens, for example, are the most used breed in large poultry farms, but you should not try to raise them in a home flock, as they are very whimsical.
Many hatcheries also offer something called sexing, done with the sole purpose of allowing the hatchery to determine the sex of the chicks at hatch by feather color, so companies and producers are less likely to end up with an unwanted rooster.
Some people like to have a flock of different types of chickens, and some even like to get colored eggs from their birds. For example, maranqui chickens produce chocolate-colored eggs, and the Araucana breed from South America has a light blue shell.