Chicken care

How nice it is to have your own farm, eat a natural product and know that everything is under your control. But not everyone knows how to properly care for chickens so that they are healthy and run well. Therefore, this article is for you!

Correct chicken keeping

Chickens are quite unpretentious animals, but this should not be neglected. Like any animal, birds require attention and care.

There are 5 rules to follow:

• maintaining cleanliness;
• separate feeders for young animals and adults;
• availability of food and water;
• heat;
• shine;
• walks in the open air.

These simple rules will help you have fresh food on the table all year round.

Chicken care

In addition to building a house, proper bird care is important. Let's take a closer look at the algorithm for raising birds:

• The cleanliness of the room. The flooring, which is made from hay and lime, needs to be changed every week. Chicken droppings do not have a strong odor if there is no moisture. And lime, just, neutralizes it. Plus, it is worth scattering piles of ash. It helps birds to fight insects that may appear in feathers.
• Separate feeders. Very often they meet aggressive birds that do not allow younger ones to eat or water. Therefore, it is advisable to place food bowls in different corners.
• Birds need to be fed constantly. The digestive system requires a stable feed intake, therefore, it is extremely rare to allow the emptying of the feeders.
• Heat. In winter, the house was not supposed to be cold. The temperature should not drop below 15 degrees. But you shouldn't forget about ventilation either. To do this, you can make a small hole in the door through which the chickens can go outside, and at the same time ventilate the room. Or you can build an air duct.
• Shine. In summer, daylight hours are much longer than in winter. Therefore, a light bulb must be provided in the room. The light is chosen warm. Otherwise, chickens may stop laying altogether.
• The birds definitely need freedom. Even if the coop is spacious, the birds need to spread their wings.

Another important rule, which, as far as possible, must be observed: 1 sq.m. should account for no more than 5 birds. The tightness does not affect them in the best way, fights for a place are possible.

Don't forget about rods and nests. The hen can spend free time on the floor or on a pole, but it is necessary to lay an egg in a cozy nest.

After each meal, wash the bowls that contained the food. Birds are prone to a disease called pip.

In general, it is worth following the rules for the benefit of your health and the health of your pets.

How and what to feed

Chickens can eat almost anything edible. The distant ancestors of birds did not hesitate to eat small frogs, worms, beetles, a variety of grass, etc.

At home, the owner must provide a complete diet, since the usefulness of the resulting product depends on it.

First, let's determine what grain can be given to chickens:

• corn;
• oats;
• millet;
• barley;
• wheat;
• rye;
• buckwheat;
• various bran.

Coarse grains can be ground to prevent the chicken from choking. Small ones can be given whole.

Also be sure to feed with grass.

This could be:

• dill;
• cabbage leaves;
• tops of carrots and green peas;
• nettle;
• dandelion;
• clover.

Don't forget vegetables like potatoes carrot, beet, pumpkin, zucchini. Products can be boiled and mixed with grain. Such porridge satisfies the hunger of the animal for a long time and quickly warms up.

Birds also need mineral-rich feed. Egg shells, ash, small pebbles are perfect.

It is strictly forbidden to give pastries to chickens, only ordinary bread is allowed. The sanctioned list of plants includes wormwood and celandine.

How many chickens rush

Vigorous postponing activities eggs chickens start at 6-7 months. You can get up to 200 eggs from one layer per year. In the second and the following year, the indicators are reduced by 15%. The maximum period until which a bird can fly is 6 years. But in fact, there is no point in keeping a chicken for so long, because it will be carried very rarely, and it will eat a lot of feed. And then the meat becomes tough and tasteless.

On poultry farms, animals are given a maximum period of 2 years. Otherwise, the owner will only incur losses.

In order not to confuse new chickens with old ones, the back of the young is painted with paint.

Why chickens don't rush

Many new owners ask this question. In fact, there is nothing wrong with that. Birds may stop laying for the following reasons:

• winter has come;
• too little space in the chicken coop;
• lice or fleas appeared in the feathers;
• molting;
• cold and humidity indoors;
• overeating or starvation;
• lack of minerals.

In winter, as a rule, birds are transferred to warm food. Reorganization of the body gives a slight disruption in the process of laying eggs.

If you understand that the chickens are cramped, they constantly fight, then you will not wait for the eggs until you remove the extra couch potatoes.

The cold room also plays a big role. Insulate the house as soon as possible.

To prevent lice, add sand or ash every day. Birds that already have insects will actively bathe in such a bath.

If birds begin to molt, then eliminate grains from the diet. This will help to shed old feathers faster.

By following these simple tips, you can raise a healthy flock of layers.