In a household, chickens are bred and kept mainly for two purposes: obtaining dietary meat and eggs. The latter are the concentration of vitamins, minerals, nutrients. Egg production in chickens appears at 4.5 - 5 months of age, and productivity decreases with the achievement of poultry 2.5 - 3 years of age .If it falls, there are reasons for this, having understood that it is possible to rectify the situation, why chickens stop rushing, see below. However, not everything depends on the person, but it is quite possible to minimize negative processes.
Contents
- factors affecting egg production chickens
- Lighting
- Power
- diet
- Frequency
- Diseases
- temperature
- Molting
- Stress
- Age
- Breed
- season: spring, summer, autumn, winter
factors affecting egg production chickens
During detentionbirds in captivity in humans gain invaluable experience that helps to identify and systematize the main causes of the decline( cessation) of egg production. We offer the following systematization of the causes:
Depending on the conditions of detention:
- lighting;
- food;
- ambient temperature;
- stress;
- disease( conditionally attributed to this category, since the conditions of detention largely determine the presence or absence of the disease).
Physiological:
- breed;
- age;
- shedding( conventionally assigned to this category)
Natural:
- seasonality;
- influence of solar and lunar cycles;
- geomagnetic storms and other natural phenomena.
Let us consider in more detail each cause separately.
Lighting
For , the normal productivity of laying hens requires a light day in the region of 12-15 hours. The effect of light on the bird organism is associated with its effect on the optic nerve, hypothalamus, the release of certain substances that stimulate hormones. They, in turn, affect the work of the ovaries. We will not delve into the anatomical subtleties of this process. Suffice it to say that the relationship between the length of daylight and egg production definitely exists.
hen house It is advisable that be gradually increased by daylight associated with the beginning of the laying: is first set at 10-12 hours, gradually raised to 14-15.A sharp increase in daylight hours will not give good positive results. If the bird is in a room with small windows or without them at all( with a walking type of content), it is better to take part of the backyard or summer cottage for walking outside, not indoors. The goal is more room for movement, an increase in daylight. If the content of hens is cellular , it is advisable to install fluorescent lamps rather than incandescent lamps. It is important that the nests themselves do not have solid gloom or bright light. Light shading is enough.
Nutrition
Properly composed diet and the period of nutrition - the key to success. Often, poultry farmers face two related problems that are directly dependent on nutrition. This is the absence or reduction of egg production and the problem associated with the fact that birds peck eggs. Both in the first and in the second case, the root is one - lack of necessary vitamins and trace elements in the feed. In addition, oversupply leads to obesity, which negatively affects the production of a normal number of eggs throughout the year.
Diet
There should be a sufficient amount of protein, fat, carbohydrates, mineral salts, vitamins in the feed. Whole grains form the basis of the ration of layers: wheat, corn, barley, triticale, oats, rye - all this can be given as feed. It is recommended to alternate in the diet of grain of different cultures. It is not necessary to mix 5-6 types of grain in one feeding. Otherwise, they choose what they like. The rest is trampled or scraped.
The lack of vitamins and microelements pushes the hen to compensate for the lack of them by pecking the eggs. In this regard, it is necessary to take a series of measures:
- to remove eggs from the nests of in due time, since the chicken can crush them accidentally and peck at it. This quickly becomes a habit, and it is very difficult to wean poultry from such actions;
- make nests spacious and in sufficient quantity so that the hen can occupy the free nest;
- diet done in such a way that it contains enough trace elements and vitamins. One of the ways to replenish these substances is to add grated shells and ground eggs to the feed;
- when adding to the feed, it is important to ensure that it is well dried and finely worn. Just separated and crushed shells are not suitable for feeding. Otherwise, all this provokes chickens to get used to the pecking of eggs laid.
Sample diet for laying hens( Gramov per head per day)
food | ||
22-47 | Age 47 and older | |
Corn | 40 | - |
20 | 40 | |
Wheat Barley | - | 30 |
Potatoes cooked meal Sunflower | 50 | 50 |
11 | 14 | |
Yeast baking | 1 | 14 |
Fishmeal | 4 | - |
Meat or fish waste | 5 | 10 |
Carrots | 10 | p_pcesushek "how to be slaughtered."This means that 3 meals a day - the optimum mode is .Constantly in the trough should not be grain. The diet is compiled in such a way that feeds for the first time as early as possible in the morning, but after dawn. If it is winter, then artificially prolong daylight hours. In this case, give food after turning on the lighting. The second time to feed in the afternoon( 13: 00-14: 00).Evening feeding is recommended an hour before the bird sits down for the night. In the evening, it is recommended to feed with grain, and in the afternoon to diversify the nutrition with a mash, a clean green mass. Excess food, as well as deficiency, adversely affects egg production in chickens. Diseasesis the greatest danger for egg production: viral diseases:
To prevent or minimize the consequences of the action of the disease, conducts a number of preventive measures: laying hens are kept separate from the rest of the bird, only high-quality and fresh food is given, one or two people take care of the layers( because many diseases are caused by people, their access should be restricted)to poultry).In addition, it helps the separation of sick birds from healthy and directly vaccination. temperature The optimum temperature for layers is between 17 and 22 degrees. If it is lower, the bird spends its energy to heat the body. The increased ambient temperature forces it to drink more moisture, to look for places with a temperature lower than in a cozy nest with soft straws. Both the first and second negatively affect the total number of eggs laid. To maintain the optimum temperature in the chicken coop, it is necessary to warm it and heat it in winter. In the summer, they provide a room with good ventilation without drafts and the possibility of walking in the morning and evening, and in the daytime - hiding in the room from the scorching sun. SheddingShedding is the process of naturally changing feathers in a bird. It usually occurs in the fall, before the onset of winter. The molting period itself runs from a month to three. The less this period, the better the chicken is carried. Another feature: if the chicken starts to moult in October-November, then it carries more eggs. Accordingly, the longer the molting period and the earlier it occurs, the lower the egg production. The molting in chickens is influenced by many factors:
To reduce the time for molt, a forced change of bird feather is performed. The meaning of this operation is to save food, to enter into the molting stage together and also to withdraw chickens from it. This reduces the total period of molting to one and a half months. This is achieved by changing the diet, the duration of daylight hours, the temperature mode( temperature increase), artificial starvation, etc. StressStressful situations always adversely affect the number of eggs laid. This is a shy bird. She is frightened by harsh sounds, knocks, a sharp drop in illumination, the sudden appearance of a person in a hen house. Even the sound of rain on glass or metal roof adversely affects the process of egg production. All new chicken perceives with caution, gradually getting used to the changed conditions. Therefore, any move for her is a huge stress. To avoid stressful situations of , minimize the above factors or remove them altogether. Often the poultry farmer is faced with a situation where, when buying an adult hen on the market, it stops rolling. In our opinion, the main reason for is the resulting stress after moving to and an absolute change of environment. AgeWhen buying an adult bird at a poultry farm, should be remembered:
If you have decided to buy chickens at a poultry farm, you should opt for young plants that have not started laying eggs. BreedTo obtain a large number of eggs from one layer, you need to raise or acquire chickens of egg breeds. The is considered to be the leggorn itself. However, this is not the case in all cases. In addition, genetics does not stand still. Therefore, you can buy a new breed, which will be more adapted to specific living conditions, and will show the best result. Seasonality: spring, summer, autumn, winterAs a rule, spring and autumn are the seasons in which the chickens' production rate drops to .What is the reason for this phenomenon? In our opinion, this is due to climatic conditions. Winter is always colder. To heat itself a chicken spends a certain amount of energy that no longer goes to laying eggs. This can be avoided by installing additional heating in the hen house. Then in winter, spring and autumn the air temperature in the coop will remain approximately the same, there will be no abrupt transition of temperature from winter to spring. In the fall, besides changing the temperature, molting begins, which also affects egg production. The factors that accompany her and her influence on the layer are described above. In the summer, the decline in the number of eggs laid due to the hot weather .At temperatures above 25 degrees, the chicken rushes reluctantly, flies on the perch, swinging open, spreading its wings to the side, thereby trying to somehow reduce the temperature of its body. During this period, she drinks a lot, which also lowers egg production. A well-designed ventilation system, airing the room partially eliminates the problem of high ambient temperature. When airing the house, make sure there are no drafts in it. In addition to all the factors listed above, on the egg production of chickens is influenced in a certain way by the roosters, or rather, their proportional relationship to the number of chickens. Many believe that there should be only one rooster in one pen. Then the number of chickens is limited to ten. Some half of a hundred livestock of chickens in one corral are holding four or five roosters. But if the third part of the total population turns out to be roosters, this will lead to a periodic struggle for supremacy. The effect of solar and lunar cycles, as well as geomagnetic storms of and other natural phenomena has not been studied. But there is no doubt that they also affect the number of eggs laid. By the way, folk methods of raising egg production are based on rituals associated with the lunar cycles. In any case, good care, hard work and proper attitude to the poultry will play a role, and the laying hens will thank you. |