What condition is important to provide to chickens so that they are resistant to disease and highly productive? This is a balanced diet consisting of organic compounds, minerals and vitamins. What about fish? In this article we talk about the intake of salted, boiled and raw fish, as well as the dosages of each.
Organic compounds are presented in the form of proteins. Most of them are found in animal feed and fish. With the help of such feed and fish, the diet of chickens is enriched: iodine, calcium and phosphorus appear.
Is it possible to give chickens salted sprat?
The bird can be given any edible fish - sea, lake or river, either purchased in stores or caught independently. Chickens can eat it in any form - raw, boiled, salted.
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What kind of fish can be fed to birds?
You can feed chickens both sea and river fish. The bird is omnivorous and happily pecks crucian carp, ratan, roach, perch, pike, herring, capelin, sprat and other species.
Adult chickens are allowed to feed the product whole, with bones, scales and entrails. Some poultry farmers prefer to separate the meat from the skeleton, arguing that the bird may choke.
For chickens, be sure to boil the fish for 15 minutes and grind it together with the bones.
Poultry farmers often give laying hens fish scales, heads and entrails, which also contain useful substances. Before giving, it is recommended to freeze or boil the waste for 5-10 minutes.
Salted fish can be introduced into the diet of birds from time to time, but in limited quantities.
Methods for preparing feed for feeding chickens at home
Unprepared food is less easily eaten and digested. Leftover food that has not undergone preliminary preparation worsens the sanitary condition of the poultry house and walking area.
Methods for preparing feed:
- Mechanical;
- chemical.
Any of these methods has a positive effect on the efficiency of feed use.
Chemical methods
Feeds with poor taste and food with insufficient palatability are subjected to malting. This method is based on scalding ground grain. Water temperature – 60 degrees. Then stir and keep covered for three to four hours.
Grain sprouting is used when it is necessary to enrich the vitamin content of the feed. In winter, sprouted grains should account for at least 30% of the diet.
During the germination process, starch is partially broken down. For example, for simpler sugars. The ratio of amino acids in the grain changes, the feed is enriched with B vitamins.
Sprouted grain can be fed to all domestic birds. It is primarily recommended for young animals.
Germination technology includes the following stages:
- 11-12 hour soaking of grain in 15-degree water;
- pouring grain into a tray with periodic moistening.
Yeasting of chicken feed
Feeding chickens at home using yeast feed. Yeasting is a way to increase the nutritional value and palatability of feed, and increase the amount of B vitamins.
Yeast options:
- Sponge;
- unpaired.
In the second case, prepare the following feed mixture. For example, 40-degree water (2 l) + baker's yeast diluted in water (10 g) + flour (1 kg). The whole thing is mixed every half hour. You can feed it after 7-8 hours of exposure.
According to experts, yeast is an excellent method for private owners.
And now about the sponge method.
Preparing the dough.
Warm water (1 l) + pressed yeast (20 g) + concentrates, for example flour (0.4 kg).
Everything is mixed at 30-minute intervals for up to six hours. Water (3 l) and food (1.5 kg) are added to the finished mixture.
This is a more labor-intensive version of yeast. It takes at least seven hours. At the same time, it is quite applicable at home.
Ensilage
The next chemical method of preparing feed for feeding chickens at home is silage. The raw material for such preparation is young greens. Silage can be fed instead of red carrots, grass meal and other valuable feeds. 100 g of silage contains about 2 g of protein and 5 mg of carotene.
Silage contains such important substances as fiber (5%), lactic acid (1.6-1.7%). If butyric acid is present in the feed, it means that the silage technology has been violated.
The best poultry silage is obtained from alfalfa, nettle, clover, peas, and carrot tops. Edible root crops, such as carrots, beets, etc., would be useful in the silage.
Legumes are ensiled during budding. Cereals - at heading. Experienced poultry farmers recommend including non-marketable watermelons in silage. A good solution would be to add molasses to the silage.
The poultry is fed both regular silage, consisting of only greens, and combined. The second food is preferable, as it is more nutritious.
The moisture content of the silage is reduced by adding hay meal. Can be replaced with pea chaff. The maximum permissible amount of moisture “regulator” is 15% of the total weight of the feed.
Potatoes must be steamed before ensiling. Chickens are more willing to eat silage in the form of pulp. In addition, such food is stored longer.
How is a silo made? The first step is to dig a hole (trench). Then its walls are lined. Brick can be used as a material. If the construction is planned for many years, the bottom is filled with cement.
The silage process is quite simple. The raw materials are laid layer by layer. Each layer is carefully compacted (the denser the better). The top of the mass is covered with a layer of straw, then with film and earth.
Silage is fed in its pure form or with grain and flour.
Mechanical methods
Feed used in poultry farming is ground, crushed and mixed. All of these methods make nutrients more available to the body.
There are fine (up to 1 mm), medium (1-1.8 mm) and coarse (1.8-2.6 mm) grains. Medium grind food is preferable, since flour from smaller fractions passes through the gastrointestinal tract very quickly, and therefore the substances do not have time to be absorbed.
In private household plots, green feed and vegetables are usually chopped. First they are washed, boiled and mixed with flour.
Fishmeal as an alternative to fresh product
Experienced poultry farmers advise including dry animal feed - fishmeal - in the poultry diet. This product is obtained industrially by processing fish waste.
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Based on fat content, fishmeal is divided into fatty (20%) and low-fat (2-3%). Low-fat flour has a longer shelf life and is therefore more valuable.
Fishmeal contains up to 60% protein and a large amount of amino acids and minerals, therefore it is considered a valuable product for poultry nutrition.
ADVICE. It is recommended to include fresh fishmeal in the diet of chickens, in an amount from 3 to 12% of the total weight of the bird.
The product is added to the mash at the rate of 1 teaspoon per head of an adult chicken.
How often and in what quantity to feed
You can give chickens fish no more than 3 times a week. The norm for 1 head is 10-15 g. For a flock of 10 birds, 100-150 g of protein feed is enough.
Frequent feeding and large quantities of the product can provoke the development of gout and liver disease in chickens. Poultry farmers also note that an excess of fish in the diet leads to chicken eggs and meat acquiring a specific smell and taste.
You can give salted herring to laying hens no more than once a week, as it contains a lot of salt. It is not recommended to feed the smoked product, but feeding it once even in a small amount will not cause harm.
Feeding technique
Knowing what to feed laying hens is not enough to get eggs regularly. Food changes depending on the time of year. How to feed laying hens? If the basic requirements are not met, the bird becomes weaker and produces fewer eggs. Knowing how to feed laying hens can maximize farm productivity.
Summer period
So, how to feed laying hens with the onset of warm days. During the summer season they produce more eggs. The advantage of this time of year is the active growth of green food. It is recommended to give dry food - 20-30%, and the rest of the diet should be greens. Grass can be fed all season long. The summer diet should contain a lot of protein, vitamins, and amino acids. Approximate bird nutrition in spring and summer:
- greens, root vegetables (fresh);
- bran, oatmeal;
- cereals;
- cottage cheese, yogurt;
- bone meal;
- corn, peas.
Ground chalk and table salt are added to the portions.
Winter period
What to feed laying hens in winter is a popular question among novice breeders. In winter, there is not enough fresh greenery, and a deficiency of many minerals begins. The diet should include vegetables, fruits, sprouted wheat, and greenhouse greens.
Dry food should account for 70-80% of the winter diet. It is necessary to mix rich foods so that the chickens receive vitamins, minerals and nutritional components. Proper feeding of laying hens at home in winter is carried out in the presence of a greenhouse.
It is recommended to feed laying hens in winter taking into account BZHU. Proteins should occupy 3 parts, fats - 2, and carbohydrates - 5
It is also important to take into account the peculiarities of keeping laying hens in winter. The temperature in the chicken coop is maintained at the same level
It must have windows. In the evenings it is necessary to turn on the lamps. The conditions are similar to raising rabbits.
Products for feeding in winter:
- meat waste;
- bone meal;
- boiled potato tubers;
- cereals;
- curdled milk.
Add ground chalk, shells, and salt to the main food.
Spring period
In spring, greenery is just beginning to appear, and insects are crawling out of the ground. Young plant shoots will not be enough for adequate nutrition. Because of this, you need to focus on feeding dry chickens. Additionally, you can add foods high in vitamins to them:
- cereals (45 g);
- floury ingredients (20 g);
- legumes (5 g);
- greens, potatoes, vegetables (55 g);
- meat components or bone meal (5 g);
- protein supplements (7 g);
- fermented milk products (10 g);
- shells, crushed chalk (3 g);
- salt (0.5 g).
Young grass, insects and worms will help replenish vitamin reserves. Therefore, it is recommended to organize free-range poultry.
Autumn period
Feeding laying hens at home in the fall is easier than in winter or spring. Greenery fades into the background. Most of the diet consists of dry food and root vegetables. During this period, molting begins. The process can last up to 2 months. Experienced farmers recommend:
- saturate your diet with proteins;
- increase the share of processed meat products, insects, larvae;
- add more vitamins;
- be sure to increase the amount of juicy components by adding more tops, root vegetables, vegetables and herbs to the diet.
Nutrition for laying hens and broilers:
- ground part of leguminous plants;
- eggshell;
- skim milk, cottage cheese;
- cabbage and beet greens;
- vegetables: carrots, boiled potato tubers, pumpkin;
- melon seeds.
It is not recommended to increase the volume of grains in the diet and reduce the volume of juicy foods. Laying hens will begin to get fat, which will negatively affect egg production.
Chicken eggs have thin or soft shells: what should you do, what should you feed your chickens?
A thin shell of a chicken egg, especially in the spring, is one of the first signs of a lack of vitamins and minerals necessary for the bird. Of particular importance for chickens are elements such as phosphorus and calcium, as well as vitamin D, or the “sunshine” vitamin, as it is also commonly called. The presence of the first two substances in the correct ratio is responsible for the normal formation of bones in young animals and shells in laying hens. For example, the rate of calcium and phosphorus for chickens is 0.7-0.9% of the total daily feed volume.
Also signs of calcium deficiency are decreased appetite, delays in growth, development, and light bones.
Vitamin D has a significant effect on the absorption of both elements. With its deficiency, they are not absorbed by the body, resulting in rickets, deterioration of the bone tissue of the extremities (lameness appears in chickens, weakness of the legs). Chickens lay eggs either without a shell or with a film coating. Vitamin D deficiency can be further aggravated by a lack of essential minerals for chicken. You can compensate for its deficiency by giving chickens Tetravit, Trivitamin, which can be bought by going to a specialized store.
In order to strengthen the shells of eggs and to prevent a lack of vitamins and minerals, chickens should be given supplements containing phosphorus and calcium: shell rock, chalk, meat and bone meal, fish oil, slaked lime, etc. You can treat birds with ash, cottage cheese, or their own crushed shells, which must be boiled, dried and crushed into powder.
It takes about 2.1-2.3 g of calcium to form the egg shells of a chicken, which means that she needs to receive about 4.5 g of this element per day. At the same time, the bird should eat at least 50% of calcium-containing supplements after lunch (at about 2-3 p.m.) - this option will allow the chicken’s body to receive calcium in accordance with its physiological needs for shell formation. This way it will be stronger and better quality. It is better to give limestone in the morning, and crushed shells in the afternoon, since it will linger in the digestive system longer than the first feeding option. Also, the chicken must have the opportunity to walk in the sun.
The correct calcium-phosphorus ratio is also very important for chickens. Optimal for laying hens is 3-5:1. Disruption of this balance can also cause shell fragility.
A lack of manganese and zinc can also reduce the strength of egg integument. An excellent source of the first element is bran, root vegetables, and grass.
It should be remembered that the quality of the shell is greatly influenced by the calm, measured life of the bird. Under stress, as well as during illness, the chicken will not be able to lay good eggs. The quality of the product is greatly affected by bird flu, bronchitis, and encephalomyelitis.
