How to grow hens at home?

When a new lover of wildlife has mastered the garden, he will think about getting animal products. Breeding chickens at home for beginners is the first experience of commercial production of meat and eggs. Chickens are most tolerant of lack of grooming, almost omnivorous and friendly. This is almost waste-free production - droppings, eggs, meat, feathers - everything goes into business.

Livestock conditions

The first step is to determine whether a seasonal or year-round flock will be kept. For summer time, a light shelter and a walking area are enough. In winter, you need a warm shed. In the summer, in order to feed on eggs, you need to buy pullet hens. For beginners, raising chickens at home all year round determines the quality of the chickens. It is better to buy a batch of day-old chicks at a poultry farm with a guarantee that the livestock will be thoroughbred and zoned.

It is necessary to read the literature and determine the physiological norms of keeping and feeding chickens. Some facts about the conditions for breeding chickens will need to be known in advance.

For floor keeping, the room should have an area at the rate of 5 chickens per 1 square meter. The temperature of the content is not lower than 5-7 degrees. The room should be warm, light, dry, egg production depends on it. At night, regardless of the season, chickens should be indoors, equipped with perches. On the roost, each chicken should be 20 cm long and they should all be placed at the same level.

In the cage, the bird develops faster, rushes and gains weight. 5-7 individuals are placed in one cage. A rooster in the herd is needed if fertilized eggs are needed in the future to incubate chicks. In summer cottage life, a rooster is needed for beauty and a flooded announcement of a new day.

A walking area for chickens is necessary, they must be outdoors. A shed is needed so that the herd can shelter from the rain.

For beginners, breeding chickens at home is important to determine the number and place of residence of the birds.

What breeds of chickens are suitable for home breeding

Not all chicken breeds are suitable for backyard farming. Therefore, it is necessary to choose chickens for home breeding taking into account the specifics of the content, simple or thoroughbred. Simple ones are less demanding on the balance of feed, on keeping conditions. There are breeds of meat or egg orientation. So, meat broilers can be grown for a full-fledged slaughter in a season with a carcass weight of 3-4 kg. Egg breeds rush abundantly, but during the molting period they can be hammered, the soup will be rich.For a personal backyard, it is recommended to breed chickens of egg breeds:

• Russian whites;
• Red white-tailed;
• Leghorns

Got one day old chicks, what's next?

You need to take a large warm box. Day-old chickens will knock on the wall with their noses, if it is cardboard or foam, they will prick and die. At the bottom, cover the bottom with newspapers, place a drinker and a feeder on them. Place an incandescent lamp on a tripod on top, adjusting the height so that it is 30 ° C on the floor. A brood will be hindered at the bottom of the box and illuminated on the first day, even at night, later daylight hours are reduced from 17 hours to 8.

Food and drink should always be available. Remove the pellet newspaper 2 times a day. If the chickens do "heap-small", they are cold, the lower ones can be crushed. If you are flattened away from the light, it is hot. From the fifth day, the temperature is reduced to 26 degrees and every week 3 degrees more, so to 18. From the box, the chickens are transferred to the litter, gradually increasing the area.

By the age of 4 months, the chicks are slightly smaller than an adult chicken in size, at 5 months they begin to rush.

Keeping chickens

While the chickens were growing up in a cramped but warm room for the first two months, a chicken coop was built for them. A house for chickens can become a decoration of the estate. The main thing is that it should be without cracks so that there is no draft. The floor is covered with a thick layer of sawdust or straw. Feeders with three compartments are arranged:

• dry food;
• mineral supplements;
• mash.

The feeder should be separated by bar grates so that the bird can peck rather than trample on the feed. Drinking bowl is installed separately. It is necessary to arrange an ash-sand bath in an old trough. By the time the hens ripen, nests should be prepared - deep boxes lined with dry grass with a depression. Install them in a secluded place at the rate of a nest for 3 hens.

For summer maintenance, the house can be built of plywood with a walk, fenced with a chain-link netting. For winter, you need an insulated, ventilated, heated room with electric lighting and a walking area. With good care, chickens rush in winter like in summer.

Chicken diet

Any villager will tell you how to breed chickens at home. Only one neighbor sells an excess of eggs all year round, while the other scolds her lazy women. Good care and balanced feeding from birth is required to recoup the cost of keeping the livestock.

Chicks need water twice as much as feed. Therefore, there must be fresh water in the drinker. For the first time, diaries need to be given a 5% glucose solution to drink.

The food is poured on cardboard sheets until the age of seven days, then feeders are installed, preferably suspended. the first feeding of chicks consists of:

• fine grains crushed;
• hard boiled egg;
• dry fat-free cottage cheese.

Later, the egg is no longer given, the cottage cheese contains calcium, promotes plumage. From the second day, the addition of finely chopped greens to the feed is encouraged. In winter, when there is no clover, you can germinate cereals and add greens to the feed.

From day 3, the mash can be cooked in yogurt, meat broth. They feed only with a fresh mash, after an hour the leftovers are thrown away, the feeder is washed and rinsed with potassium permanganate. A weak pinkish solution of potassium permanganate should be fed to chickens in the morning twice a week. Five day old chicks are already resilient. They gradually increase the amount of feed, add vitamins, fish oil, from the first day they need fine gravel, eggshells, coarse sand. Until two months of age, only crushed cereals are used from cereals.

Compound feed for adult chicken is required as part of:

• corn - 40%;
• wheat bran - 8%;
• barley flour - 20%;
• sunflower cake - 10%;
• fish meal, meat and bone meal 1: 1 - 10%;
• feed yeast - 3%;
• mineral additives, table salt - 5%.

Such a mixture in pure form and a mash is given 2-3 times a day. For good work of the stomach, be sure to feed the chickens with dry grain, it is better if the film on oats and rye is less.

A homemade egg always tastes different from a factory egg due to a variety of feed. The presence of carotene contributes to the orange color, this is due to the large amount of vitamin greens in the diet of layers.

It is impossible to overfeed the laying hen, it will be difficult for her to carry, the insides will become fat. The eggs will begin to cover with a thin film instead of the shell, pour out, contaminating the nest. This circumstance will allow the birds to learn the taste of the product, and biting will begin in the future.

You need to feed the hen:

• mash - 65-75 g;
• dry grain mixture - 30-45 g;
• sprouted cereals - 10-12 g;
• root vegetables - 20-25 g;
• fish oil, yeast, gravel, shell 1-2 g each.

You can add leftovers from the table to the feed, diversify the menu. The more ingredients in the feed, the tastier the egg. The menu depends on the season. However, if you visit the base, then chickens can eat vitamins all year round - often withered greens and fruits are thrown into waste containers. Chickens especially like mangoes and oranges.

The golden age of the laying hen is up to 15 months, later it rushes less often, the meat coarsens. By this time, a new brood of chickens will be ready - this is how chickens are bred in a courtyard. Usually the first eggs of pullets are brought at the age of 110-120 days.

Signs of disease

It is necessary to warn, for beginners, breeding chickens at home to know the main signs of disease. Despite good hygienic conditions, pigeons, stealing food, and rodents can bring the disease. Sick birds can be seen immediately. They are lethargic, do not go to the trough, do not stand up, convulsions are observed. A sick bird must be immediately separated from the flock.

Lethargy, lack of appetite is considered a sign of vitamin deficiency. Feed greens, irradiate with ultraviolet lamps, give fish oil and everything will work out. It is more terrible to cope with the cannibalism of chickens. If a wound appears on the bird's body, it will attract the attention of the merchants. Therefore, the light in the hen house should not be bright, the muted and reddish color hides fresh wounds. You need to be on the alert, expect pecking and understand the reasons for this ailment:

• chickens bite their fingers in the blood - it is hungry:
• pecking out the head - the establishment of a hierarchy is in progress;
• pecking of the cloaca - when it is inflamed from improper feeding;
• when the cloaca is inflamed and falls out from the socks of very large eggs;
• pluck feathers - there are few minerals in the feed;
• the presence of insects - feather eaters, lice, ticks.

How to keep chickens and have a productive flock is a multifaceted question.

Video about breeding chickens at home

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 sell the surplus, then you need to breed egg-type chickens.

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

In order to have chicken in your household, there are several ways:

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

How to choose young animals?

First, the young for the production of eggs are selected 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 laying hens

You can choose young animals from the following breeds: Russian white, Andalusian, Leghorn, Czech golden, May Day, Italian partridge, Minorki, Carpathian greenlegs, Hamburg, Loman Brown, Hisex, Kuchin jubilee others. As a result of selection, new cross-chickens are bred: Borki-1,2, Irtysh, Zaslavsky-1,2,3, Zarya-17, Gibro-6 and many others.

If you have already decided on the breed or cross, when choosing young animals, you need to pay attention to their external signs and habits: the breast is even, the paws are strong, the eyes are bulging, they do not water, the feathers are shiny and clean, the scallop (if it is a grown young) is bright. A young hen should be mobile, without obvious signs of illness, she should not sit on the floor.

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

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

Home care and maintenance

Chickens in a cage

If you have made the right choice of young stock, good care and proper maintenance will ensure excellent results. There are two ways to care for and keep chickens: in cages and in a walk.

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

Breeding hens without range

This method assumes their constant presence in the process of vital activity in special cells.

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

It is not difficult to construct such cells, but it requires a serious investment (in comparison with the second method of maintenance, which will be discussed below).

Making a cage - tips for beginners

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

First, to the frame at a distance of 20 cm from the bottom point of the structure, we attach a welded mesh at a slight slope so that the eggs can roll into the egg collector, and then we attach a pallet made of plywood, flat slate, other material, for example, polycarbonate, and other material to the bottom of the frame.

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

To increase egg production, it is advisable to carry additional lighting in each cage. And so that she rushes better, you need to either place the cage in the shed closer to the window, or make additional lighting... We choose any type of drinker - vacuum or nipple. In this case, the nipple type is selected.

Scheme and structure of the perch

We fix the bottom in the cage at a slight incline to the egg collector so that the eggs can roll into it themselves.

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

Feeding: what the diet should contain

When feeding chickens, it is important to take into account that the feed contains the required amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins.

• Protein - the main building material for the cells of the body and the main constituent of the egg. They are found in large quantities in legumes, oilcake, bone meal.
• Fats - energy supply of layers. Contained in corn, oats.
• Carbohydrates - the necessary work of all internal organs. It is found in large quantities in juicy feed. There is a lot of fiber in whole unrefined grains.

The most essential vitamins for laying hens are A, B, D.

Bird feeding

Minerals are essential for the formation of egg shells. There is a lot of it in bone meal, chalk, wood ash.

Feeding for chickens can be provided in two ways:

• buy ready-made feed... Advantages: in such compound feeds, the proportional ratio of nutrients is observed. Disadvantage: their high cost;
• we prepare the mixtures ourselves... Disadvantage: some experience is required + additional time spent for cooking. Benefits: The total cost of the feed is reduced.

The following daily composition of feed is possible: grain - 50 g, bone meal - 2 g, juicy feed - 30 g, flour mixture - 40 g, mineral and vitamin supplements - 15 g. In addition, we add protein feed, mash, etc. in small quantities ...

With cellular content, it is better to feed 4 times a day, at least 3. We give more grain in the morning and in the evening, in the afternoon - mineral supplements, vitamins, green and juicy food.

Raising chickens with a walk

This type of maintenance is significantly different from the cell, and has almost no differences in feeding. The main difference is the division of the territory into walking, where the chickens walk freely, and the chicken coop, where they rush, spend the night (if the chicken coop is built on the street). For laying hens, this option is preferable, since she feels more free.

A hen house with a walk can be made indoors, then the chickens will sleep where it is convenient for them - both in the walk and in the hen house.

Walking hens

Let's consider in more detail the option of a chicken coop with walking on the street.

The size of the aviary depends on the number of livestock. The section for walking can be 2 - 3 times larger in the area of ​​the chicken coop. Such an aviary can be made both collapsible and stationary.... We cover the welded structure made of a shaped pipe or a wooden bar with a netting-netting or a galvanized welded mesh with a cell up to 50 mm.

We do this in the poultry walking section. Pull a protective shading mesh on top. The second part - a chicken coop, we build from plywood or chipboard boards. In the same part we make perches, sections for nests, a ladder or a gangway.

About the chicken coop

In the hen house (meaning that part of the aviary where the chickens are rushing) should be:

• feeder;
• drinker;
• perch;
• ladder (ladder) - if necessary;
• nests.

The chicken coop itself should be well insulated on all sides by walls and an entrance door, and there should be a roof on top. You can design a chicken coop without an entrance door. Then this part looks like a canopy.

The number of nests is in direct proportion to the number of layers, i.e. the more there are, the more nests. Put finely chopped straw inside the nests. Extremely it is advisable to install a board with a width in front of the nests 15-20 cm so that the hen can easily get from the roost to the nest.

Feeders - bunkers in the hen house (recall that we are considering an open-air cage option for keeping chickens) are conveniently located outside. Then you just need to open it and fill the food inside. The bird will feed through the feed chute.

The device of the chicken coop feeders

Chicken roost in the household

There are many types of chicken roosts. Their main function is that they serve for the bird to sit on them. From here follow the necessary design features.

The material is usually wood. Firstly, it is available and relatively cheap, and secondly, chicken paws will not freeze on them, which cannot be said about metal poles. You can use ordinary dry strong wood sticks. They should be relatively straight.

It is advisable to choose a bar of such a diameter that it is convenient for the chicken to clasp it with its paws. Neither thick nor thin will do (it will be difficult for her to keep balance).

Chicken roost

We immediately make a removable perch. This will simplify the cleaning process.... But in this case, you need to fix it very well so that it does not rotate around its axis. We set the roost 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.

They should be positioned relative to each other at such a distance that the droppings of the chicken that sits above do not fall on the bird that sits below. The total length of the perch should be sufficient to accommodate all livestock.

It should be taken into account that in the summer, chickens sit at a distance of several centimeters from each other due to hot weather, while in winter they nestle against each other for additional heating.

You need to install the roost at such a height that the chicken can easily take off on it. A low position does not train their muscles, a high position creates the likelihood that the bird will not climb on it. Ideal - from 50 to 70 cm from the floor.

Another roost option

How to care for a bird

The requirements for the conditions of keeping hens in a walking hen house are the same as for keeping them in cages: the cages inside must be clean; optimal containment area (unimpeded food); availability of high-quality fresh feed in feeders and fresh water in drinkers; increased daylight hours; lack of drafts and dampness.

The food is the same as for cage keeping. We add protein feed, mash, etc. 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.

When walking in spring, summer and autumn, there is enough fresh greenery, but if necessary, you can throw juicy grass, watermelon peel, and other food residues. You can limit yourself to two meals of grain - in the morning and in the evening, and once - with a mash, mineral supplements, herbs.

Bird feeding

Diseases of chickens and their treatment

Chickens are susceptible to many diseases. To protect them from undesirable consequences, up to death, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures (disinfection of the premises before settling in chickens and after observing safety measures), feed them with high-quality and fresh products, and give vitamins and minerals.

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

• heterocydosis (intestinal worms). It is treated with piperazine. Prevention: thoroughly wash the room;
• salmonellosis (stomach upset). Treated with tetracycline or dithrevite;
• ascites (fat accumulates in the abdomen). Prevention: it is necessary to give greens;
• arthritis (joint disease). It is treated with ampicillin. Prevention: give only high-quality food, the bedding must be dry;
• Newcastle disease (poultry infection through eggshells). Prevention: setting patients off and disinfection of the premises;
• poisoning... Prevention: you need to make sure that the feed is fresh and of high quality;
• typhus (stomach is damaged). It is treated with antibiotics such as ampicillin. Prevention: isolation of sick chickens, disinfection of the poultry house;
• streptococcosis (internal organs are affected). It is treated with an antibiotic. Prevention: Isolation of sick chicken;
• tuberculosis (affects chicken lungs). No cure is possible. Prevention: Maintaining hygiene in the house.

Business plan from scratch: costs and profits

The first question that beginners ask themselves before taking on the maintenance of laying hens in order to sell eggs is whether this business is profitable?

Breeding chickens on an industrial scale

It is possible to draw up 100 business plans in theory, but take into account all the risks and what will be impossible in practice. When calculating a profitable business plan from scratch, it is assumed that chickens will not die or take a small percentage of it when calculating.

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

In addition, the profitability of production depends on the conditions of keeping, the number of livestock (the more, the more profitable the production), seasonal weather conditions, chicken breed, feed, and other factors.In the end, it depends on the experience of the breeder himself.

Is it profitable to breed and raise chickens?

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

Home farm with chickens

Expenditure part (what you need to spend money on):

• purchase of eggs for the incubator and electricity costs (in case we do not start the business with the purchase of young or adult chicken);
• purchase chickens or young, or an adult laying hen (in case we do not buy eggs for the incubator);
• Construction Materials for poultry house equipment (profile pipe, plywood, polycarbonate, flat slate, welded mesh, mesh-netting, other drinkers);
• power consumption for supplementary lighting, heating in winter (increased daylight hours);
• purchase compound feed or grain, vitamins, mineral supplements, medicines;
• Unexpected expenses (and they will definitely be!).

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

Income part (for which you can get money):

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

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

Conclusion

Chickens

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

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

Remember! The less stress the laying hen is, the higher the egg production.

Foreword

Growing laying hens at home is quite different from the process of breeding broilers for meat, since the main thing here is to ensure the maximum egg production of the bird, to create comfortable conditions for it. It is especially important to pay attention to the prevention of diseases, the creation of the correct nests and their placement, chicken nutrition, vitaminization and saturation of the body with calcium. How to equip a chicken coop, what, when and how much to feed hens, how to make nests and much more, you can find out later in the article!

Choosing the best egg breeds

If you want to get a lot of eggs and make an extremely profitable production, then you need to choose the right chicken breed. It is not always worth choosing only from foreign options, since domestic poultry farmers also grow decent breeds of chickens, which in egg production are in no way inferior to the best "Europeans". Let's consider the most acceptable options for our climatic zone:

1. Layers Loman Brown. One of the most popular breeds in Russia and neighboring countries. They have not given the top positions in the rating for decades and surprise every poultry farmer with their egg production - about 315 eggs per year. Sexual maturity of an individual arrives in 4-5 months, after which the chicken is productive for 2-3 years, and with each month the number of laid eggs will increase. They are resistant to diseases and have a very high vitality - almost all chickens survive (98% safety of young animals). The egg is distinguished by its large size - up to 80 grams, moreover, one chicken consumes no more than 130 grams / day.
2. Dutch laying hens Hisex - small individuals weighing only up to 1.5-2 kg, come to puberty after 120-130 days, after which they rapidly increase egg production for 1 year. Egg production of white hens - 290 eggs per year, gray and brown - 320 eggs. This difference is due to the fact that the former have a large expenditure of energy for heating the body in a cold season, therefore they rush a little worse.The testicle is relatively large - up to 65-80 grams, has a hard shell, which significantly increases its transportability.
3. Motley Pushkin. One of the "brightest" hens, which not only rushes remarkably, but also pleases the eye of the owner. Many of them are kept only for decoration and variety of the household yard (especially since such decoration still brings good profit). The egg production of this species is 315 eggs per year, the weight of one egg is 75 grams. Chickens have a Nordic, restrained character - they are strong, stand firmly on their feet, walk importantly around the yard and do not fuss at the slightest noise. Survival of young animals - 99%, adults - 95%. It is not recommended to combine this breed with another in the same area - the bird is proud, does not like companies and can conflict.
4. Kuchinskaya Jubilee. Universal chicken - you can keep it for an omelet, and chop it into soup if necessary. One of the best meat-eating chicken, which lays up to 240 eggs per year and is rapidly gaining live weight. The chicken already begins to delight the owner with eggs at the age of 5-6 months (or immediately turns into a beef breed), begins to carry small ones - weighing 60 grams. With proper nutrition and care, the survival of young animals is 99%, the variety is well acclimatized, it feels great in any conditions of detention.

You must immediately decide for what purposes you will keep the chicken coop, since the difference between egg-bearing breeds and meat breeds is very large (up to 100 eggs per year). If it is important for you to obtain only a secondary product, then it is better to give preference to foreign breeds. If you still prefer to consume or sell chicken meat, then it would be better to give preference to meat-and-meat breeds, which have an optimal ratio of weight and egg production.

Caring for chicks up to 1 month old

Caring for chickens is quite difficult, but buying a mature, rushing individual is very expensive and will cost you about 400-500 rubles for 1 piece. That is why it is much more profitable and easier to take chickens from the incubator and feed them 3-4 months until adulthood. Moreover, if the chicks grow constantly in the same environment and become accustomed to the chicken coop, they will begin to rush much faster than if they were placed in a new habitat.

It is necessary to choose the most active and clean individuals - then your chances of buying healthy chickens will greatly increase. Each chick should be noisy, active, react to any sound and move towards it. If you knock on the box, Chickens should quickly run up to you and show extreme interest. The buttocks must be dry, and the down on the tummy must be light and fluffy.

The first step is to bring the bird home. To do this, you need a cardboard box with holes in the sides and on the lid to ensure good ventilation. Chickens love high temperatures, but oxygen must be maximized, otherwise they may suffocate. During transportation, you will need to make a stop every 15-20 minutes, open the box in the fresh air and let the chicks breathe a little (5-10 minutes).

From the first days of growing chickens, it is necessary to provide maximum comfort and favorable conditions for growth and development, namely:

1. For the first 15 days, set the temperature to + 28 ° C, while monitoring the behavior of the chickens in the box, room or other room where you put them. If the bird strays into large groups and gathers all in one place - it is cold, it is necessary to slightly increase the temperature. If the kids are sitting separately, have a lethargic appearance and are inactive - they are hot, lower the temperature. They must be active, running and squeaking.
2. It is best to feed the first few days with egg yolk, then switch to millet, and when the chicks grow up a little - with cereals or grain waste. It is best to add corn grits to the diet, which is healthy and contains all the vitamins necessary for the normal development of the chicken.
3. A hedge, large box, room or box (depending on where you keep it) should be draft-free and with a warm bottom. Babies can catch a cold if they sit on a cold one or are in a draft - watch out for the absence of cold and prevent hypothermia of young individuals.

It is necessary to control that the room is dry, the chickens are always full (the easiest way is to put a feeder) and have constant access to water - they often want to drink at first and cannot be denied such pleasure.

Choosing the right diet for adults

After the chickens have lived with you for 3-4 months, they will begin to mature and lay. Gradually, all chickens will become layers, and they require a special diet. Unlike broilers, which are raised for meat, layers require a balanced feed that contains not only nutrients, but also macronutrients necessary for the proper development of the chicken. The eggshell consists almost entirely of calcium, which is taken from the chicken's body - it must be constantly replenished and the bird must be given a lot of vitamins.

If the shell becomes soft, this is the first of the reasons indicating a lack of vitamins, more precisely, calcium. We need to get the chicken drunk with Rotstar or Foros. The traditional diet of each layer is quite diverse, it should contain: fishmeal, phosphates, sunflower cake, rapeseed and soybean meal, a grain mixture of barley, wheat and rye. It is best if you also add 200-300 grams per month of feed chalk - this is one of the most beneficial minerals for the formation of eggshells.

You can also buy nutritional mixtures that have already been developed specifically for layers - they contain the optimal amount of the most essential feed. Such food is just ideal for them, but it is quite expensive - 450-500 rubles per 50 kg bag. When buying a large batch (from 1 ton), you can save up to 50% money. If you make simple arithmetic calculations, you can determine that, on average, 3 rubles a day will go to the maintenance of 1 chicken per year. Whether it is worth using full-fledged combined feeds or trying to feed them with cheaper mixtures that can be assembled on their own - every poultry breeder decides for himself. But, in any case, just feeding with grain will not work - the addition of bone meal, fish, chalk, minerals is necessary, otherwise the chicken will lay much less, and the size of the egg will be smaller than expected.

Features of the design of the chicken coop and nests

You can make absolutely any nests with respect to the shape and place them in a place convenient for you, the main thing is to always follow the following placement rules:

1. Never place nests in a draft - chickens will not lay until the discomfort is eliminated. The chicken should feel warmth and comfort, then it will delight you with a good "harvest".
2. Install each nest separately, it will be better if it is fenced from the room on all sides. In this case, the bird will fly more often and more.
3. Place the chicken coop away from noise, provide an acceptable temperature for laying eggs at + 23-25 ​​0С. The coop should be compact.
4. The roost should be no more than 40x40 centimeters, and better - 30x30 cm, while the height of the side is at least 6 cm so that the eggs do not roll out when the chicken climbs and crawls out.

It is important to understand that the bird instinctively rushes to get new offspring, so it will only be productive when it feels the maximum safety, comfort and safety of future chickens.

It is best to make the floor in a chicken coop with clay, as concrete and other similar materials will be very cold in winter. You can make a wooden floor, pour up to 5-6 centimeters of wood shavings on top of it, so that the chickens have a place to dig and spend "active" rest.To create a "friendly" team in a hen house, you need to organize the nests correctly - they must all be at the same height, otherwise your chickens will begin to divide themselves into different "classes". The higher the chicken is, the more important it feels. They will fight for a place higher, throw out the eggs of their predecessors from the nest.

The chicken coop must contain:

1. Several small windows through which light will come in during the daytime. The bird is much more comfortable if there is a bright area in the room nearby, and its nest is in the shade.
2. Feeder so that you can eat in the chicken coop during bad weather.
3. Heater. It is especially relevant in the cold season - it will significantly increase egg production if it provides a temperature of at least + 15 ° C indoors.
4. A door for hens through which they will go outside. It should be small (25 cm high will be enough) to keep the room as warm as possible. You can hang a tarp or other material on it, which the chicken can move and crawl through - this design protects the room from wind and cold.
5. Drinking bowl. Liters for 5, no more, so that you can constantly fill in fresh water for chickens, especially on a summer day, when they can come to the watering hole 10-12 times.

If you do everything right and take into account the interests of chickens, they will certainly delight you with their productivity.

Disease Prevention and How They Can Affect Poultry Egg Production

On the way to an effective business, you can face big problems - chicken diseases. Unfortunately, no one is immune from this, since viruses are everywhere and the only thing you can do is increase the immunity of layers and eliminate foci of reproduction of harmful bacteria. If, nevertheless, it happened that the bird fell ill, it must be cured as soon as possible and the spread of the virus must be prevented. The main diseases of laying hens:

• Coccidiosis. A very common disease, especially in chickens up to 20 days old, but often occurs even in two-month-olds. The main symptoms are: an absolute lack of appetite (even your favorite food does not eat), lethargy, wings drop to the ground and fall off your feet. Diarrhea is one of the main symptoms. For prophylaxis, furazolidol or norsulfazole is added to the feed. If the bird is already sick and does not want to eat, dilute 5-10 grams of the drug per 100 grams of water and pour it into its mouth. Yes, just fill it - open the beak with tweezers or improvised materials and pour the drug from a pipette or pear. The chick will "heal" in a couple of days, if not even from the medicine, then from the fear of such a procedure.
• Pasteurellosis. A very common disease in adult chickens. Chickens survive it well, and the mortality rate is only 30-40%, almost all adults die. Signs: chickens do not walk, sit alone in different places, lethargic, do not eat, often foam appears from the beak. It is treated with the introduction of intramuscular antibiotics and drugs by a veterinarian. The folk method is to pour 20-30 grams of vodka into the bird's beak for disinfection, do this as in the case of coccidiosis. Heal is 50%.
• Helminthiasis. Helminths occur not only in animals and fish, but also in chickens. They parasitize in the intestines and organs of the bird. Sick individuals do not eat well, egg production and activity are significantly reduced. For prophylaxis, you can drink Drontal or Junior.
• A single decrease in productivity. It often happens that the chicken is active, healthy, does not show any signs of concern, but does not rush at all or very rarely. Almost up to 5% have such problems and, as practice shows, they come out with very tasty soup, jellied meat, hot and cold, because you will not wait for eggs from them anyway.

However, if you always feed chickens with fortified supplements (ready-made mixtures are sold), add greens to their diet, and also monitor dryness and good ventilation in the chicken coop, chickens almost never get sick.

The main "commandments" of the poultry farmer

In order for the business to be profitable, you received a lot of eggs throughout the year, you need to remember the basic rules of a successful poultry breeder:

• You can't overfeed your chickens. Well-fed "balls" will not please you with good egg production, on the contrary - they will often get sick, walk sluggish and lazy. Who actually benefited from obesity?
• Provide a "quiet hour" for chickens from 8 am to 4 pm and do not bother them unnecessarily - they are busy with important business. If you make a lot of noise and disturb the intimate atmosphere, the chicken will not lay an egg that day.
• Provide a favorable temperature in the hen house of + 20-25 0С. If it is very hot, the bird does not feel well, it will constantly run to drink water and try to escape into the street. If it is very cold, it will wait until an acceptable temperature for laying is reached.

In fact, 80% of the egg production of chickens depends on the conditions that you create for them, and not on a particular breed or other, less important factors. Dutch farmers very often turn on music in their chicken coops, mainly by Mozart, and in practice have proven that individuals give 11-14% more eggs than those who just sit in a soundproof shed under the same conditions of stay. On the territory of the Russian Federation, such methods of increasing egg production are not yet practiced by factories, but the connection between the comfort of a bird and its productivity has long been proven.

Laying hens are the most popular poultry in the backyard. It is bred mainly to obtain a large number of eggs. Laying hen alone can carry them up to 200-300 pieces. in year. The undoubted advantage of these chickens, in comparison with broilers, is their unpretentiousness and resistance to diseases. But, of course, raising laying hens at home is a procedure that requires adherence to certain technologies.

Where to begin?

Chicks are usually purchased from a poultry farm or hatched using an incubator. Of course, raising laying hens for eggs is impossible without a well-equipped barn. You can build this structure from any materials. However, when using concrete, you should additionally take care of insulation. Most breeds are not afraid of the cold. But in a warmed barn in winter, the bird will feel more comfortable. In addition, chickens rush well only at a temperature of at least 15 grams.

A barn is usually built away from a residential building. The smell of a chicken coop, even with regular cleaning, may not be very pleasant. The size of the barn is chosen based on the fact that 10-20 hens should have at least 2x3 m of area. Usually, a barn is erected with a frame-panel board on concrete or wooden pillars. Inside, at least one window must be arranged. Otherwise, the chickens will not lay well.

Barn arrangement

Of course, raising laying hens at home will only be successful if the house is properly equipped. First of all, you need to put feeders in the barn. Their design should be such that the chickens can eat everything at the same time, without crushing. Usually, home owners simply knock down two narrow boards at an angle and attach legs to the bottom. On top of such a feeder, a pole is installed that rotates around its axis. Without this element, chickens will climb inside the resulting "trough" and scatter feed. They will also not be able to sit on the perch and leave the droppings in the feeder, since it rotates.

As drinkers in a chicken coop, they usually install just old pots or large cups. Of course, you need to equip perches in the barn.It is most rational to place the poles in the form of a ladder, at a distance of about 35-40 cm from each other. The bottom roost should be approximately 80 cm high. The nests can be placed on the floor, but it is best to nail them to the wall next to the roost. Their dimensions should be such that the chicken fits freely inside. Please note that nests and perches cannot be placed under a window. Even unpretentious layers are afraid of drafts.

If the floor in the barn is concrete, it must be covered with straw or covered with sawdust in a layer of 10-20 cm. The same can be done with a wooden covering. But in this case it is not necessary. Straw is usually laid on the wooden floor only for the winter.

Walking

Unlike broilers, laying hens, the breeding of which is not too difficult, must spend part of the day outdoors. Therefore, a walk should be arranged next to the barn. It is usually fenced off with a netting. For one chicken in the walk, there should be about 2 m2 of area. Drinking bowls and feeders are installed inside the fenced area. In addition, care should be taken to ensure that chickens have the opportunity to hide in the shade in the summer.

The entrance to the walk is done right in the wall of the barn below. Laz must be equipped with a door. Otherwise, unwanted animals, domestic or wild, may enter the chicken coop at night.

Chicken care

Laying hens can be just the perfect choice for the novice grower. This bird is very unpretentious, but, of course, raising laying hens for eggs - as a business or simply "for yourself" - will be successful only if they are properly cared for.

First, as already mentioned, the barn should be light enough. It is imperative to hang bulbs here. At night, the light in the chicken coop is turned off. Determining when to do this is easy. Chickens sit on the perches at the same time each time. You can hang an additional, not too bright red lamp in the barn and leave it on overnight.

In the summertime, during the day, the access to the aviary should be open. The bird decides for itself how much time it spends in the barn, and how much outside. Home breeding of laying hens in winter has its own characteristics. At this time, the bird is also allowed to walk, but for no more than a couple of hours and only if it is not too cold outside (not lower than -14 gr.). As for feed, the amount of root crops in the diet in winter is slightly reduced, while grains, on the contrary, are increased.

Eggs from the nests should be collected on time. The barn is cleaned at least twice a year (but not in winter). It is also advisable to arrange for simple ventilation. To do this, they usually just make holes in opposite walls (one at the top, the other at the bottom).

Features of feeding hens

Keeping this bird is always a good home business. Breeding laying hens is not a very expensive procedure. This bird eats much less broilers and is unpretentious in terms of feed. And although such chickens are not grown for meat, they still need to get enough protein. Laying hens must be fed wheat, compound feed, fish or meat and bone meal. It is also very beneficial to give yeast.

Of course, these chickens should be fed foods high in calcium. Otherwise, the eggshell will be very thin. This can be, for example, chalk or crushed shells. Sometimes they also give grated shells.

Root vegetables and grasses are also important ingredients in the chicken diet. In the mash, you can add chopped carrots and beets, cabbage, potatoes, zucchini, etc. In the fall, mix grated apples and pears. Nettle, carrot and beet tops, quinoa will be an excellent addition for the mash. For better digestibility of food in the barn, you should install a small container with small pebbles. Feeders and drinkers should be rinsed periodically at least once a week.

Breeding and keeping laying hens: feeding regimen

These hens are usually given food three times a day.Protein feed is poured in the morning. This can be, for example, a grain of wheat mixed with bran. At lunch, chickens should be fed a mash. It is placed in the feeder in such an amount that everything is completely eaten within half an hour. In the evening, the bird is given grain again. Chickens should always be fed at the same time. Otherwise, their egg production will decrease.

Laying hens: breeding at home

Chickens from chickens of this variety are easy to get. There should be 5-10 chickens for one cockerel. To hatch chicks, you just need to wait for some laying hen to sit on the eggs. This happens quite often. You can put new eggs under the chicken for the next five days.

If none of the hens wants to become a quail, you will have to use an incubator. Eggs for setting are also taken within five days. Of course, they must be whole and large. The incubator should be selected with an automatic rotation mode. Chicks are hatched in such units on days 28-29 after laying.

Caring for chicks

This idea, of course, is not bad - raising laying hens as a business. Reviews of poultry in this area of ​​productivity from farmers are good, which is also due to the endurance of the chickens. There is practically no lunge between chicks. However, there are no problems with this, of course, only under the condition of proper care of the young. The hatched chicks are traditionally placed in a box with a newspaper-covered bottom. For heating, either an incandescent light bulb or a hot water bottle wrapped in a thick cloth is placed inside. The newspaper is subsequently changed periodically.

The diet of chickens at first should consist of chopped eggs, cottage cheese and millet. You can also purchase food "Start" for layers. Also, you must put a drinker in the box. It might just be a saucer with an upside-down jar on top of it. At first, a little potassium permanganate (until light pink) should be added to the water for chickens to disinfect the stomach.

The air temperature in the box in the first days should not be lower than 30-32 grams. Then it is gradually reduced to 20-24 grams. Chickens can be transferred to the barn at three weeks of age. At the same time, they usually begin to be released for walking. But, of course, only if it's warm enough outside.

Grown chicks are fed with grated carrots, chopped nettles, bran, fine crushed, millet, etc. You can also add tops. Be sure to give chalk or grated shells. Finally, young layers can be transferred to an adult diet at the age of two months.

What you need to know

Laying hens, the breeding of which is not a very troublesome procedure, usually show high productivity only for the first two years. Further, the number of laid eggs decreases sharply. At this time, chickens are usually slaughtered, since it becomes impractical to keep them further.

Layer breeds

Breeding laying hens for eggs as a business can be very successful. But, of course, only on condition of the correct choice of the breed. The most popular in our country are layers:

• Lohman Brown. These are very unpretentious chickens, capable of laying 300-320 eggs per year.

• Kuchinskaya jubilee. Domestic breed, characterized by excellent egg production.

• Leghorn. These are also laying hens, the breeding of which in the backyard can be quite profitable. The productivity of Leghorns reaches 300 eggs per year. However, in the second year, unfortunately, it greatly decreases.

Also quite common and promising breeds are Highsex Brown, Moscow Black and Russian White.