How to grow laying hens at home?

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 amaze 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 large - 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, so 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. A universal chicken - you can keep it for an omelet, and chop it into the 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.

You need to choose the most active and purest 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 will need a cardboard box with holes in the sides and on the lid to ensure good ventilation. Chickens love high temperatures, but oxygen should 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. It is necessary to drink the chicken 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 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, or better - 30x30 cm, while the height of the side should be 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.

The floor in a chicken coop is best made of 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 the 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 in the room.
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 tarpaulin 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 to increase the immunity of layers and eliminate foci of reproduction of harmful bacteria. If it nevertheless 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-old individuals. The main symptoms: 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 popular 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 prevention, 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 fly at all or very rarely. Almost up to 5% have such problems and, as practice shows, they come out with a 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 chicken coop 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.

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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 - dung, 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 daily 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 perch, each chicken should be 20 cm long and they should all be placed on 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 required in the future for incubating 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, you need 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 of chickens rush abundantly, but during molting they can be slaughtered, 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 nose, if it is made of cardboard or foam, they will prick and die. At the bottom, cover the bottom with newspapers, place a drinker and a feeder on them. Put an incandescent lamp on top of a tripod, adjusting the height so that the floor is 30 C. The 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 by 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 fly in winter like in summer.

Chicken diet

Any villager will tell you how to breed chickens at home. But one neighbor sells an excess of eggs all year round, while the other scolds her lazy people. 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.

Fodder 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 in the composition:

• 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 constantly, and sell their 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 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 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 this 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 slope 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); the presence of high-quality fresh feed in the feeders and fresh water in the 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 reserve 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 areas, 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. You can make such an aviary 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, the chicken's 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 borne in mind that in 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 additives, 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 (accumulates fat 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, is it 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 poultry farmer 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 the cost of electricity (in case we do not start the business with the purchase of young animals or adult chicken);
• purchase chickens or young, or an adult laying hen (in case we do not purchase 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, medications;
• 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;
• food;
• 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.

Raising domestic chickens is beneficial. You regularly get fresh and dietary meat, and eggs will be on your table every day. Moreover, you will be 100% sure of their quality and usefulness. How to breed laying hens at home for beginners, we will talk in this article.

Breeding chickens at home for beginners

If you are a beginner farmer and want to be engaged in poultry farming, you, of course, need to know the basic nuances of raising layers. Growing chickens - simple process, you just need to worry about all the points in advance. And your first concern will be the construction of a chicken coop.

What should be the poultry house?

Firstly, the main rule of breeding birds is order and cleanliness. Therefore, before creating it, you should take care of all the nuances, regarding not only its location, but also the convenience of cleaning. Based on this, the first step is to choose the right material. You can choose slate, brick, cinder block, wood. It is good if the chicken coop is insulated, this will allow the hens to maintain their egg production despite the cold winter period.

Please note that chickens natural bedding required... It is best to use straw, sawdust, or sand. Think about the inventory in advance: chickens will need drinkers, nests, ladders, feeders, perches, and you will need cleaning tools. Perhaps, in the future, you will not do without cages for hatching chicks.

When every meter is registered, then cellular breeding of chickens will help you. To do this, you should choose certain breeds that are capable of living in such cramped conditions. There are those who do not lose their high productivity and have adaptive qualities to such a house. Do not forget to provide good ventilation in the chicken coop. This point is very important in terms of your comfort and the health of the chickens.

Selection of laying hens

So, the house is built, now it's time to go for the chickens. Today there are four directions of poultry farming:

• meat,
• egg,
• universal,
• decorative.

You will most likely go for the versatile option. Since these chickens fly well and their meat is tasty and healthy. Which chickens to buy, adults or young? It also depends on your desire. You can raise hens from chickens, or you can buy ready-made ones. In the latter case, it is better choose 5-6 month old chickensthat are not yet rushing. Adults are selected for some external features.The young man has a red crest on his head, beautiful bright earlobes, and the belly is large and soft.

Breeding chickens

If you decide to start breeding laying hens, then you should think about offspring in advance. Naturally, a brood hen is better suited for this, but not all chickens are equally good at coping with the task, especially the maternal instinct is poorly developed in egg breeds. There are two solutions:

1. choose a hen hen from a beef breed and keep it separately,
2. purchase an incubator.

For domestic poultry farming today they produce many small incubators... They differ in different sizes, shapes and capacities. The choice is yours, the main thing is that he does his direct duties well. There must be a rooster in a flock of females, only in this way the eggs will be fertilized. We choose eggs for incubation of the correct shape, clean, which are no more than 10 days.

We save

Today, compound feed and grain are quite expensive, so you can hear complaints from many breeders. However, you can save on feed in the warm season. In the spring, summer and fall, the cultivation of chickens can be shifted to the shoulders of nature. To do this, the bird should be released to feed on its own in the aviary. They are excellent at finding food for themselves, various worms and insects.

You can also feed the chickens with waste from the table: cuttings from vegetables, the remaining cereals. This allows the grain to be held back a little. But mineral supplements cannot be replaced by anything, so they should always be present in the diet.

Winter maintenance

It should be remembered that the winter keeping of chickens is different from the summer one. At any time of the year, the bird should feel comfortable, so you need to pay special attention to the living conditions of the layers, and also take care of changing the diet. By the end of autumn, the chicken coop needs to be insulated. To do this, an additional layer of straw or sawdust should be laid on the floor. To keep it warm it is necessary to pour at least 20 cm... As a rule, they use corn rods, sphagnum peat, dry sand, and sunflower husks. If winters are very freezing in your area, add lamps that give off light and warmth.

Food for birds in winter should be warm. To get a wet mash, it is poured with hot water. The drinker should stand with warm water. So that it does not cool down, you should not keep it for a long time. Warm up the water before each drink.

In winter, as well as in warm weather, birds need to walk. In order for the layers to maintain good egg production, make a fence with a canopy near the hen house, cover the walls with foil. It will look like a greenhouse. Cover the ground with straw, grain and release the birds. Such a warm enclosure will allow you to dig and walk on the mat all day.

At the end of winter, hens should be given prepared nettle leaves or birch brooms... Thanks to these plants, birds strengthen the body and supply vitamins. Nettle is especially useful, which has a positive effect on productivity and also strengthens feathers.

Summer content

In the summer, the main task of the poultry industry is to clean the hen house, as well as the hygiene of the chickens themselves. Since the warm time is ideal for the reproduction and spread of pathogenic microbes, ticks and other parasites. Immediately after the cold weather leaves, we build an open aviary, where we release layers, and we ourselves carry out general cleaning of the premises. The litter must be completely removed, and the walls, perch, inventory, floor should be thoroughly washed with hot water, to which caustic soda has been added. Walls and floors can be additionally treated with slaked lime.

After such a thorough cleaning, it is better that there are no birds in the room for about 1.5 months. In order for the birds to have a place to sleep, they create on the street special summer house... The hen is also treated with antiparasitic drugs before the onset of heat.

Feeding in the summer remains the same, only greens are added to the grain and mash.Do not overfeed your hens in summer to keep productivity high. Because they walk a lot and get their own food.

Life span of chickens

If the hens are well cared for, the hens can live 5 to 10 years. However, practice shows that laying hens rarely live to such old years. As a rule, with a decrease in the egg production rate, layers are sent for meat. Usually this age is close to three years. Experienced farmers suggest that this is the most optimal age for domestic chicken. If it is over 4 years old, then it becomes almost inedible, since the meat is already tasteless and tough.

Diseases

Chickens, like other poultry susceptible to various diseases... Therefore, you need to carefully monitor their health and, at the first signs of the disease, take measures to eliminate it. Below is a list of common diseases and how to treat them:

• Pseudo-plague. This disease is not cured, so the infected individual is immediately killed. If a hen is sick, she has difficulty breathing, she has loose stools and coordination of movements is impaired. The bird often lies on its side and stretches its neck.
• Salmonellosis. They treat with streptomycin, give the chicken 100 mg of the drug, and also use furazolidone, which is diluted in water (1 tablet in three liters). The condition of the chicken is depressed, there is inflammation of the eyes and cloaca, the hen constantly drinks, but does not eat.
• Streptococcosis. They are treated with antibiotics, the dosage will be advised by the veterinarian. Symptoms of the disease are: an increase in body temperature, inflammation of the joints and a decrease in egg production, sometimes convulsions are observed.
• Tuberculosis. This disease is not cured, so the chicken is simply slaughtered. During illness, the laying hen quickly loses its body weight, its crest fades and wrinkles, its wings sag.
• Smallpox. The disease can go away if treatment is started on time. The skin of the bird is covered with spots, the laying hen has difficulty swallowing food. The inflamed areas are treated with furacilin 3%, the chicken is given antibiotics (for one bird ampicillin 0.5 mg, pharmacin 50 - 0.3 ml).

Content tips

All recommendations for growing hens can be reduced to three basic rules:

• Comfortable conditions of detention,
• Cleanliness and hygiene,
• Balanced nutrition.

These points indicate that it is important for layers:

1. Have a warm and dry chicken coop with the necessary equipment,
2. Correct light mode,
3. Balanced menu,
4. Additional additives,
5. Prevention and timely treatment of diseases,
6. Free time outdoors.

Remember that the health and well-being of the poultry yard depends only on the owner. Pay sufficient attention to your hens and they will thank you for good productivity regardless of the season.

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