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 lay eggs well. Therefore, this article is for you!

Proper keeping of chickens

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

There are 5 rules that must be followed:

• maintaining cleanliness;
• separate feeders for young animals and adults;
• availability of water and food;
• warm;
• light;
• walks in the fresh 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:

• Cleanliness of the room. The flooring, which is made of hay and lime, must be changed every week. Chicken droppings do not have a strong odor unless there is moisture. And lime just neutralizes it. Plus, it’s worth scattering piles of ash. It helps birds fight insects that may appear in their feathers.
• Separate feeders. Very often we encounter aggressive birds that do not allow younger ones to approach food or water. Therefore, it is advisable to place cups of food in different corners.
• Birds need to be fed constantly. The digestive system requires a stable supply of food, so it is extremely rare to allow emptying of feeders.
• Warm. In winter, the poultry house should not be cold. The temperature should not drop below 15 degrees. But you shouldn’t forget about ventilation. 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.
• Light. In summer, daylight hours are much longer than in winter. Therefore, a light bulb must be provided in the room. The light is chosen to be warm. Otherwise, the chickens may stop laying eggs altogether.
• Birds definitely need freedom. Even if the chicken coop is spacious, the birds need to spread their wings.

Another important rule that must be followed whenever possible: 1 sq.m. should account for no more than 5 birds. The cramped space does not have the best effect on them, and fights for space are possible.

Don't forget about perches and nests. The hen can spend her free time on the floor or perch, but she needs to lay her egg in a cozy nest.

After each feeding, wash the bowls that contained the food. Birds are susceptible 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, various grasses, etc.

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

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

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

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

Also be sure to feed it grass.

It could be:

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

Don't forget about vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, beets, pumpkin, zucchini. The products can be boiled and mixed with grain. This porridge satisfies the animal’s hunger for a long time and quickly warms it up.

Birds also require food rich in minerals. Egg shells, ash, and small pebbles are perfect.

It is strictly forbidden to give rich products to chickens; only regular bread is allowed. The sanctioned list of plants includes wormwood and celandine.

How long do chickens lay eggs?

Active procrastination activities eggs chickens start at 6-7 months. You can get up to 200 eggs per year from one hen. In the second and subsequent years, indicators decrease by 15%. The maximum period until which a bird can lay eggs is 6 years. But in fact, there is no point in keeping a chicken for so long, because it will lay eggs very rarely and eat a lot of food. And then the meat becomes tough and tasteless.

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

In order not to confuse new chickens with old ones, the backs of young animals are painted with paint.

Why don't chickens lay eggs?

Many new owners ask this question. There's really nothing wrong with that. Birds may stop laying eggs for the following reasons:

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

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

If you understand that the chickens are crowded, they are constantly fighting, then you will not get 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 the birds begin to molt, then exclude grain crops from the diet. This will help shed old feathers faster.

By following these simple tips, you can raise a healthy number of laying hens.