What breeds of broilers lay eggs at home?

For the sake of tasty meat, many owners raise chickens in their gardens. Do broilers lay eggs, is it possible to breed chickens at home - questions that are often asked to experts.

The high demand for dietary chicken meat and the increase in its production on an industrial scale have intensified breeding and genetic work. Its goal is to breed breeds that accumulate only one valuable quality - rapid weight gain, the number of eggs laid, and rapid achievement of maturity.

What is the weight gain of broilers?

In most cases, barely hatched broiler chicks weigh about 40 g. Over the next 10 days, the bird gains about 250 g in weight. Already by the 21st day of life, the body weight of the chickens increases by more than 20 times compared to the original.

Interesting materials:

How much does it cost to prepare and paint the walls? How much does it cost to paint 1 square meter of floor? How much does it cost to paint a balcony? How much does it cost to paint a kitchen façade? How much does it cost to paint walls? How can you feed tomato seedlings after planting in open ground? How can you cover the floor on an open balcony? How to cover an open balcony from the inside? How to open PPTX for free? What to store on open shelves?

Features of crosses

To breed broilers, meat breeds (Cornish, roosters) and universal breeds (Plymouth rock, chickens) were used. The resulting individuals differ in physiological characteristics:

• later puberty (they start laying eggs later);
• rapid weight gain;
• very large eggs;
• two yolks;
• The most delicious meat comes from birds that have not reached the age of maturity.

The goal of broiler breeding is to obtain the maximum amount of meat. This is achieved by a properly structured diet for birds - appropriate feeding allows them to reach a weight of up to 2000 g already on the 45th day of life. Broilers can be slaughtered at two months of age; the weight of the chicken at this time can exceed 4 kilograms.

The recommendations of experts are clear - a broiler is not suitable for keeping for the purpose of obtaining eggs, although birds can lay eggs; for this, you can select a specialized breed.

Domestic specialists are working on breeding universal meat and egg crosses for breeding at home.

American researchers analyzed the beneficial elements contained in broiler eggs. The results showed that the differences relate only to the size and number of yolks; the content of microelements is identical to that of a regular chicken egg.

First days of life

Day-old chicks hatched in an incubator or purchased are placed in a clean box. For heating, a plastic bottle wrapped in thick cloth is placed in it. The optimal air temperature for such small chicks is 30 degrees. or a little more. The chickens are also provided with 24-hour lighting. If an incandescent light bulb is used for this purpose, the bottle does not need to be placed in the box. The heat from the lamp will be quite enough.

From the second week of the chicks' life, the air temperature can begin to be reduced. This should be done gradually. It will be enough to reduce the temperature by 3 degrees. per week until it reaches 20 grams. During this same period, lighting begins to be reduced. At first, the daylight hours for chickens should decrease by 15 minutes weekly, and starting from the age of 1.5 months. - for 30 minutes. At one and a half weeks of age, chickens can be moved to a barn (heated).

Review of the best egg breeds

Both egg and meat-egg breeds, as well as industrial crosses, generally show good results.

Leghorns

These breeds are light and highly productive and are bred and kept commercially. The Leghorn is by far the most productive and can lay up to three hundred and thirty eggs per year. Their efficiency increases quite quickly after a year and a half, after which they need to be updated.

Minorcans

This breed also does not require a large amount of feed and special maintenance methods (however, it is sensitive to temperature changes). They are capable of laying up to two hundred eggs per year when they reach sexual maturity at around twenty weeks of age.

The dwarf subspecies is very profitable in egg production, while the regular variety produces eggs and meat.

Tetra

Industrial Tetra hybrids are not capable of producing purebred offspring, so the stock can only be updated by purchasing young animals. However, they have a good yield (up to two hundred and fifty eggs per year) and can be bred for tasty meat.

Laying begins at twenty weeks of age. An adequate feeding system is important for good egg laying.

Loman Brown

It is also an industrial cross, but has the highest egg production rates - up to three hundred and twenty eggs per year. They can also be bred for meat. Moreover, after one to one and a half years, the birds are usually slaughtered due to decreased productivity.

Dominan

Chickens begin to lay eggs early, and their number per year reaches three hundred and ten. The dominant breed has good vitality and strong immunity, resistant to disease. They are unpretentious in housing and care, but require high-quality, balanced nutrition.

Araucana

The Araucana breed is distinguished by high masonry and is unpretentious in handling. Like the Dominican Republic, they are disease resistant and lively, and their nutrition does not require special additives.

At what age do chickens start laying eggs?

The most important factor in determining the age at which eggs begin to lay is the choice of crossbreed or breed. The earliest representatives in this regard begin to lay eggs at the age of seventeen to twenty weeks. However, most often it takes about six months to ripen.

It's not all about race. It is important to provide the bird with good housing and care, as well as balanced food.

There are special drugs that can accelerate the maturation of layering. Thanks to them, puberty occurs earlier than expected, but the laying hen in this case is short-lived. In addition, their use may affect the quality of the product and the health of the poultry, so the use of such products is not recommended.

How does a rooster affect egg laying?

You can get good, tasty and healthy eggs without a rooster. The fact is that its presence or absence does not in any way affect the egg production of chickens. However, if there is a need for raising and reproducing young animals, it is important that there is at least one male in the poultry house (the number depends on the number of chickens in the flock).

In addition, roosters also perform a necessary social role. They “discipline” the layers, making them calmer and more obedient. The role of the rooster is especially important when breeding more aggressive breeds of birds. You can read more about the role of roosters in a chicken coop here.

Having at least one rooster in the flock is beneficial, as rejuvenating the flock with young can affect productivity. Without a man, natural recruitment is impossible.

Increasing egg production at home

First of all, you need to determine the cause of the problem in order to fix it. In general, the following measures are effective in increasing efficiency:

1. Place the coop on a high ground. This is necessary to avoid flooding with water.
2. There should be no more than five chickens per square meter.
3. It is important to provide an artificial light source. An ordinary electric lamp is suitable for this. The minimum day length should be about fourteen hours (lights should be turned off at night so that the bird can rest well).
4. The bird's diet should be enriched with vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates and animal protein. If any of the ingredients is missing, it should be supplemented.
5. Outdoor exercise in mesh aviaries can improve the birds' condition and increase the number of eggs they lay.
6. It is important to have a sufficient number of pullets in the barn and replace them as necessary.
7. Three to four chickens should have one nest, which must be periodically cleaned and the litter replaced. To reduce the number of broken eggs, it is recommended to install nests with a container for collecting eggs.
8. To increase egg production, you can use special premixes. Some of them allow you to receive the product even after laying hens have reached the age of two or three years.

It is important that laying hens are clean and calm, which is especially useful when they are actively laying eggs. Stress and anxiety can seriously affect the frequency of egg laying, and in some cases can stop egg laying altogether.

What influences the causes of decreased productivity

Performance can depend on many factors. Most often, chicks stop breeding due to a mistake by the breeder, but there are also physiological reasons.

• age. The level of egg production decreases significantly with age. It is usually highest in the first and second years of life and then declines;
• An increase or decrease in performance is often associated with the choice of breed. Chicks that lay one egg every two or three days are thought to have a longer active laying period than those that lay daily. In this case, they get little rest, and this affects the clutch;
• living conditions. If your poultry house is poorly equipped and lacks artificial lighting, which is especially necessary in winter when there is little daylight, this can lead to poor performance. Too close a space and increased likelihood of stress will also reduce the number of eggs laid.
• Feeding. Lack of nutrients, vitamins and minerals (especially calcium) significantly reduces egg production in any breed. Without nutrients, chickens go bald. This is also affected by the amount of food and water served. In this case, both deficiency and excess can have negative consequences. It should be remembered that improper nutrition can not only cause a decrease in egg production, but also force the hen to eat her eggs;
• Disease. Health status is an important aspect of chick performance. To prevent them from being susceptible to common diseases, it is necessary to vaccinate in a timely manner, isolate sick people and receive appropriate treatment.

Chicken keeping

To preserve the livestock and ensure the health of chickens, the necessary living conditions should be created for them. For the smallest chickens, especially comfortable “greenhouse” conditions are created with temperatures up to 30 degrees Celsius. The room must be isolated - a minimal draft can cause the death of babies.

A special requirement is lighting. For active growth of young animals, the light must be turned off every 3 hours, forcing the birds to rest. The day-night mode alternates every three hours.

In connection with. Due to the physiological characteristics of the breed, chickens forced into this mode eat better and absorb food more fully, and gain weight well.

Particular attention should be paid to ensuring the liquid needs of growing broilers:

• clean water must be in sufficient quantity;
• it is allowed to cancel feeding, but violation of the drinking regime can provoke the death of chickens;
• To improve digestion, you can replace clean water with decoctions of chamomile or rose hips.

Grown-up chickens are moved to long cages or ordinary poultry houses, where they must arrange bedding and remove the perches. To gain weight faster, birds need to be limited in their movement - the meat becomes less tasty, and the broilers' joints are easily injured.

Owners should worry about vaccinations for birds - for this they need to invite a veterinarian who will select the drug the chickens need.

Feeding growing birds

The growth and maintenance of the growing broiler population depends on the quality of the diet. Experts recommend buying ready-made, balanced industrial food. It contains the optimal amount of essential nutrients, microelements and vitamins.

The following types of feed are available for sale:

• initial - for chickens aged from 24 to 110 hours;
• starter - begins to be used for feeding chickens on the 5th day, used until the age of 30 days;
• regular – suitable for feeding broilers from 31 days of age.

Balanced feed intended for chickens during the first days of life contains all the substances necessary for rapid growth. Particular attention should be paid to the calcium content - young animals require a particularly large amount of this element due to the peculiarity of the structure of the joints.

Feed intended for birds from a week of age is enriched with biologically active substances. If there is no opportunity to buy food, and the diet is compiled independently, then it must include:

• dry yeast;
• a lot of green chopped grass;
• fat;
• meat and mineral component (bone meal);
• vitamin supplements;
• milk processing products.

At one month of age, broiler chickens reach a weight of 2 to 3 kilograms; many owners allow chickens to be slaughtered at this age. If a decision is made to keep chickens further, the diet is changed.

To feed birds use:

• crushed chalk;
• special feed yeast;
• chopped greens;
• fat;
• feed bone meal;
• mixture of grains - corn, barley and wheat;
• soybean pulp.

If the composition of the feed is maintained, the weight of the broilers rapidly increases. To maintain the taste properties of meat, birds are fed with chopped greens and grass in unlimited quantities.

A prerequisite for the survival of the livestock must be the presence of a large amount of calcium in the feed. It is optimal to give mineral supplements to the feed from time to time. The maintenance regime should include 8 feedings and a sleep break of 6–7 hours.