The maintenance of laying hens in the country and care for them
The maintenance of laying hens in the country and care for them
It is very beneficial to keep laying hens at the cottage: The taste and nutritional properties of domestic eggs are incomparable with store eggs. Therefore, you need to know how to choose a bird, from which to make a chicken coop, what to feed the chickens, how to care for them.
How to choose laying hens?
It is best to keep hybrid breeds in the countrychickens. The rules for selecting layers are the following: the bird must be active, its crest and earrings bright red, legs marked yellowish (if they are pale, this is a sign that the bird is old). The feathers of the hen should be clean and shiny, close to the body. If you buy a cock together with hens, the eggs will be "alive", that is, you can bring the chicks out.How to take care of layers?
Care for chickens is simple, with this task will be able toany adult can handle. The first thing to do after buying layers is to build a 1-m2 chicken coop for them for 4 birds or use any suitable room for it. On the floor lay a layer of straw or sawdust with a thickness of at least 5 cm. In the poultry you need a roost installed at a height of 60 cm from the floor. It is important to know that the more chickens are in the sun, the higher their egg production. Therefore for walks of a bird it is necessary to fence a site. This is necessary so that the chickens do not run around the beds. As a fence, the grid of the rabitsa is quite suitable. Next to the chicken coop it is desirable to organize a place for bathing birds: pour sand or ash on the ground. You should know that laying hens should not be overfed. In the morning they need to give any grain: corn, wheat, barley. It is better if they are crushed. Cereals should be at least 60% of the bird's diet. Nesushkam can be given food waste, cereals, boiled potatoes. To increase egg production, special mixtures are added to the feed, for example, "Ryabushka". As a protein food for chickens, cake and meal are suitable. Their share in the diet is at least 15%. Special value is different for such food as fish and meat-and-bone meal. It is good to increase the egg laying of the layers of boiled or freshly chopped fish. For chickens need fresh grass. For this purpose, they are preparing nettles, alfalfa, and pine. As a vitamin supplement, the bird is given carrots, beets, pumpkin, special ready-made preparations. For proper digestion, chicken needs small pebbles. The bird swallows them and they help to rub hard food in the stomach. Therefore, in the area for paddock laying must be fine gravel. It is important that the bird always has plenty of clean water. Its shortage can affect egg production and it will noticeably decrease. In total, the maintenance of laying hens will take no more than 30 minutes per day. In addition to feeding, you will need to clean the coop and collect eggs.
