Laying chickens can be made for personal purposes or as a business - the costs quickly pay off. It is important to choose the right bird in order to get the required amount of produce. Productivity also depends on the proper organization of keeping and feeding chickens, timely prevention and treatment of various diseases.
The best breeds of laying hens
To ensure productivity, you should choose the right laying hens. One of the most important criteria is the breed. It is better to choose one of the following options:
- Leghorn. Productivity is up to 250 eggs per year weighing up to 62 g each.
- Highsex Brown and White. Bring up to 300 eggs per year weighing up to 65 g.
- Broken brown. Up to 320 eggs each 63 g.
- Rhode Island. Up to 200 eggs each 58 g.
- Zagorsk salmon. Up to 260 eggs of 60 g.
- Russian white. Productivity up to 200 eggs each 58 g.
- Adler silver. Up to 180 eggs each 58 g.
- Kotlyarevskaya. Up to 240 eggs for 60-63 g.
- Pushkinskaya striped and motley. Up to 270 eggs for 58-60 g.
- Kuchinsky anniversary. Up to 180 eggs of 60 g.
- Dominant Up to 320 eggs in 60-70 g weight.
Criteria for the selection of young animals
To get enough eggs, you need to choose the right young. To do this, consider the following criteria:
- For the acquisition of young chickens (5 months), spring is more suitable, since the bird will begin to trot in a month, and summer is the most productive season.
- The optimal age of the acquired individual is 20-25 weeks. It is to this period that the onset of puberty is characteristic.
- The weight of the layer by 20-22 weeks should be 1.5 kg.
- Hens should look clean and well-groomed, with a smooth, even and shiny plumage. Scaffolds, bald patches and growths are unacceptable.
- It is important to examine the skin under the feathers. It should be elastic and pale pink. Yellowness indicates problems with the liver.
- Better and longer are chickens with late molting.
- If the feathers around the cloaca are dirty and sticky, then it suffers from intestinal infection.
- The scallop of chickens is important. It should be flat, red and medium in size. The correct development of the earlobes and earrings is important.
- The eyes of healthy chickens should be shiny and convex, the look alive.
- It is important to check the nose and beak for dryness and absence of growths.
- It is necessary to examine the abdominal cavity. It should be well defined, elastic, but soft to the touch. A sign of health is the evenness of the keel and the width of the chest. Important is a flat, wide and long back, strong legs. They should be straight and widely spaced.
- The behavior of the layer is important. She must be alert and agile.
- You need to find out if the chickens are vaccinated.
There are individuals with signs of both sexes. The so-called intersex as a layer is not suitable.
How not to make a mistake in choosing laying hens is described in this video:
Maintenance and care of laying hens
You should not only choose the right layer, but also competently organize its content. When arranging a house, the following rules are important:
- The area of the premises should correspond to the number of chickens. Every 5 individuals need 1 square. m of space.
- Provide lighting (natural and artificial) and ventilation. Windows for natural lighting should make up 10% of the area of the room. When daylight hours are reduced, it is necessary to provide artificial lighting. For ventilation, you can use vents, but it is better to equip hoods with plugs.
- Arrange a drinking bowl, separate feeders for dry and green feeds and top dressing. Narrow drawers made of wood or metal are used as feeders. The length should be calculated by the number of individuals - each bird needs 15 cm of space. The volume of the drinker should be 5 liters.
- Provide a walking yard fenced with a wooden fence or net.
- There should be an additional hole from the chicken coop to the walking yard. It is enough to make it with a side of 35 cm in order to exclude large heat losses.
- The height of the house should be no more than 1.8 m to make it easier to maintain the optimum temperature for chickens at 23-25 degrees (in winter from 15 degrees).
- The floor can be bulk, wooden, adobe. It is important to provide dry litter (straw, hay, sawdust, dry leaves).
- Mandatory presence of perches in the chicken coop. To do this, use poles or wooden blocks with a diameter of 5 cm. They should be located opposite the window at a meter height. A distance of 40-50 cm is left between the crossbars. One individual requires approximately 0.2 m of pole.
- There are nests in the chicken coop. For this, shaded areas are selected. You need one nest for 5-6 individuals. You can use wooden boxes with a side of 30-35 cm. They must be filled with hay, straw and wood shavings and raised above the floor.
- An important condition for keeping chickens is the periodic disinfection of the premises. This rule also applies to the care of feeders and drinkers. To prevent certain parasites, ash trays are arranged.
Read more about how to build your own chicken coop in this article.
Feeding
The proper organization of feeding is one of the most important factors affecting the productivity of laying hens. Although these birds are picky, they need a proper diet.
About 60% of the diet should be various types of grain. Additionally, the bird needs to provide vegetable and animal fats. Ready-made feeds can be used where all ingredients are balanced. Additionally, the diet can be varied with flaxseed and sunflower seeds, legumes, meal and cake with a high content of protein and fiber.
Berries, fruits, herbs, insects are also included in the diet of a bird. Chickens need mineral supplements:
- mele;
- ashes;
- crushed shells;
- salt;
- shallow gravel.
If the feed is concentrated, then 20% of the diet should be green. Chickens can be fed meadow grass, clover, dill, lettuce, dioecious nettle.
From the number of root crops, the bird can eat carrots, beets, turnips, radish of summer varieties. Such food should be grinded. You can give chickens gourds, boiled potatoes.
Symptoms of common diseases, their treatment and prevention
Laying hens can be exposed to various diseases. They can be divided into non-infectious (non-infectious), infectious and parasitic.
Noncommunicable diseases
This group of diseases is notable for the fact that it is not transmitted from one individual to another. The cause of the disease is disorders in the body, which often occur due to improper feeding or keeping a bird.
The following noncommunicable diseases are more common:
- Atonia goiter. It is expressed by its hardening and sagging. For treatment with a probe, a few drops of vegetable oil are injected into the goiter and massage is done. After the chicken, turn over and remove the contents of the goiter. Prevention is high-quality feed and compliance with feeding rules.
- Gastroenteritis. Manifested by lethargy, diarrhea, lack of appetite. Treatment and prevention are the normalization of poultry nutrition.
- Cloacite. This is called inflammation of the cesspool. The hens become lethargic, the anus reddens and swells. For treatment, special ointments are rubbed into the affected area, greens and fresh vegetables are added to the diet. Prevention lies in proper nutrition and hygiene.
- Avitaminosis. Manifested by weakness, feather loss. Treatment and prevention include the inclusion in the diet of vegetables, herbs, vitamins and minerals. This is especially important in the autumn-winter period.
Infectious diseases
Infectious diseases are dangerous because they are contagious. Various pathogens cause them. The following diseases of laying hens are more often observed:
- Colibacillosis. It is manifested by lethargy, fever, increased thirst, wheezing, aggravated by movement. They treat the disease with penicillin. Prevention is the correct feeding and maintenance, protection of the room from rodents.
- Pasteurellosis. It is expressed by fever, lethargy, thirst, ruffled feathers, darkening of the crest and earrings, diarrhea, mucus from the nostrils. The disease can be cured only at an early stage with an aqueous tetracycline solution or norsulfazole solution. For prophylaxis of the carrier, the infections are neutralized, quarantined, vaccinated, disinfected and insolated.
- Salmonellosis. It is characterized by conjunctivitis, lacrimation, lameness, breathing problems. It is treated with sulfonamides and chloramphenicol. For prevention, use a vaccine.
- Newcastle disease. It is characterized by a rapid course, accompanied by lethargy, refusal to feed, breathing problems, mucus from the beak. There is no cure, the bird inevitably dies. In this case, it is necessary to destroy all individuals in contact with it. For prophylaxis, they use a vaccine, competently complete the herd, periodically carry out disinfection, exclude contact with wild birds.
- Tuberculosis. It usually begins due to unsanitary conditions. It is manifested by lethargy, rapid weight loss, pallor of the comb and earrings. There is no treatment, all livestock are destroyed, disinfection is carried out. Prevention is the regular replacement of layers by young animals, cleaning and disinfection of premises.
Find out more about chicken diseases here.
Parasitic diseases
Parasites are internal and external. Symptoms and treatment of each group are similar.
Internal parasites are called protozoa and helminths. Infection with them may be accompanied by the following symptoms:
- weight loss;
- lethargy;
- loss of appetite;
- violation of the chair.
To determine the method of treatment, the causative agent of the disease is identified by examining the blood and feces. Antiparasitic drugs are given not only to sick individuals, but also to all chickens in contact with them.
Many helminths can be transmitted to humans, so preventive measures and timely treatment are especially important. The recommended terms for deworming cannot be ignored.
Among external parasites, the bird usually suffers from fleas, lice, skin parasites, and lice-eaters. Their presence is manifested by anxiety of chickens and feather loss. You can detect parasites during an external examination of the bird.
For treatment, the entire livestock is treated, the premises are disinfected. One of the preventive measures is the use of wood ash, in which chickens bathe.
Specialist should prescribe treatment after examining the bird and carrying out some tests if necessary. Many diseases have similar symptoms, so self-treatment should be excluded.
Profitability of laying hen breeding business
For accurate calculation of costs and profits, it is necessary to correctly prepare a detailed business plan. It is also important to consider the official side of the business - if you register it, you will need to deduct tax.
A two-week-old chicken costs about 100 rubles. If you provide mixed feeding, then about 40 kg of feed, which costs an average of 10 rubles, will be consumed per year. If you take into account the cost of vitamins, then one individual requires about 500 rubles. Thus, the cost per year is 600 rubles.
If you properly care for the bird, feed it correctly and balanced, then in a year it can bring up to 250-300 eggs. If you take into account that a dozen domestic eggs cost from 60 rubles, then for a year the profit will be at least 1,500 rubles.
Thus, net income will be from 900 rubles per year. The amount is small, but dozens or even hundreds of chickens are planted, so in the aggregate the profit will be decent. It should be borne in mind that income can also be obtained from the sale of manure.
Hens begin to hike from six months. It is advisable to keep such an individual for 2-3 years, since the meat becomes tougher every year, and the number of eggs brought is reduced.
For 2 years, the cost of a layer will be 1100 rubles, and the profit will be at least 3000 rubles.
When instituting laying hens, it is necessary to start with the correct arrangement of the chicken coop and the competent choice of breed. The bird must be kept and fed in a certain way in order to ensure the productivity inherent in a particular breed. Under all conditions, you can organize a profitable business.