What should I Feed my backyard hens?
- Dairy products – poultry lacks the enzyme that allows them to digest milk on a large scale, but a small amount can prove beneficial to your flock. ...
- Sweet Potatoes & Potatoes – Make sure they are cooked (we don’t eat raw potatoes and neither should your flock. ...
- Corn – This is another what that is greatly debated in the world of chicken keeping. ...
What is the best chicken food for laying hens?
What to Feed Laying Hens
- Chicken Feed. There are various types of formulated feeds available in the market for chickens according to their age and types of hens.
- Greens. Chickens enjoy all kinds of greens including grasses, leaves, plants etc. ...
- Scratch Mix. ...
- Supplemental Calcium & Vitamins. ...
- Water. ...
What is the best thing to feed chickens?
Here’s a list of common things they’ll consume in the wild:
- Water plants
- Leaves
- Roots
- Grass
- Berries
- Seeds
- Snails
- Fish eggs
- Small fish
- Earthworms
What can you feed chickens to make them lay eggs?
What nutrients do I need to feed my chickens to make them lay eggs?
- Protein: Helps to maintain the energy levels. The feed should contain 16-20% of protein.
- Omega-3s: Very vital for more nutritious eggs.
- Prebiotics: Boost immune system.
- Probiotics: Boosts digestive health.
- Calcium: for strong shells and bones.
- Magnesium: for strong shells and bones.
What do you feed chickens for better eggs?
FEEDING CHICKENS FOR EGG PRODUCTION IN SMALL AND BACKYARD FLOCKSProviding vitamin and electrolyte supplements for more than 10 days.Supplementing complete feeds with cracked corn, oats, or other grains.Regularly adding green chops, lettuce, or other low nutrition ingredients to the diet.More items...
What to feed chickens for the most nutritious eggs?
Have a crack at these tasty chicken treats to boost your backyard chicken eggs' nutritional value and keep those cheeky chooks flappin' happy in their coop or run. Vibrant leafy green vegetables like spinach, pak choi, silverbeet, kale or millet are a great treat for your laying hens.
How do you make chicken eggs richer?
What to Feed your Chickens for Better Tasting EggsStep 1: A high protein diet. The foundation of that diet is the wheat grass fodder I grow. ... Step 2: Fiber and Herbs. Along with the wheat grass, I add oatmeal, alfalfa, garlic (fresh or powdered), and dried oregano to my chicken's feed. ... Step 3: Fresh foods. ... 61 Comments.
How can you produce high quality eggs?
7 Tips to Improve Egg QualityStay Away from Cigarettes. Smoking permanently speeds up egg loss in the ovaries. ... Manage Stress. ... Eat Healthy. ... Achieve a Normal BMI (body mass index). ... Boost Blood Flow. ... Invest in Supplements. ... Freeze Your Eggs.
How do you improve egg shell quality?
Shell quality can be improved by providing the nutrients needed for the hen to build her bone reserves of calcium and make good shells: Feed a third to half of the calcium as large particles that are approximately ½ cm in size.
1. Hydration
Besides having a generous supplementary feed, chickens need the perfect mix of carbohydrates, fiber, proteins, and fats. However, to break it all down while keeping the chickens in tip-top shape, you will need to supply them with a lot of water.
2. Fresh Food
Just sprinkling some fresh foods on their main meal should be enough. Chicken pet owners can also incorporate fresh vegetables such as tomatoes or cabbage into the chickens’ diet.
3. Herbs And Fibers
You can add garlic, alfalfa, dried oregano, and oatmeal to your chickens’ diet. Moreover, for nesting chickens, ingredients such as calendula, cornflower, lavender, roses, and chamomile can do wonders for the best smelling and tasting eggs.
4. Protein
Wheatgrass can be the foundation of a long, high-protein dietary list for your chickens. Wheatgrass consists of high protein contents and is vital for making chickens stronger, healthier, and, of course – eggs that taste like heaven drops.
5. Free Range
Do you believe in setting nature free? You should. If you’re a proud owner of a giant or mid-ranged backyard, let your chicken forage through it to find some joy and hidden treasures. This sets a stress-free environment for them, and sometimes that can play a more significant role than generic dietary regulations.
6. Calcium
Focusing on better-tasting eggs alone is never enough. A healthy egg overall must have the most rigid exterior shell too. Calcium is an all-time essential ingredient that promotes the production of sturdy, tasty, and appealing eggs.
Feeding Your Layers For Egg Production
The simplest and most effective way of feeding your flock of hens for egg production is to buy a complete feed intended for this purpose. Complete chicken feeds are processed to provide all essential nutrients needed by your egg-layers for better production.
Top 5 Chicken Feeds for Laying Eggs
Here comes Hiland-Naturals Non-GMO Chicken Grower feed for your hens. This brand offers different types of chicken feed, especially for layers. Also, you can provide it to your growers and starters if you want to.
Things To Know
How you feed your chickens is obviously one of the more important tasks you can have when taking care of them since, you know, nobody can survive without food. This is not as easy as it looks though since getting it wrong can lead to reduced egg production, feather picking, and even deformed eggs which are of no use to anyone.
How To Feed Them?
If you have a small flock, the simplest way to provide for them is to buy a complete feed from a feed store. This way, you can make sure that all their nutritional needs are covered and they get a balanced diet.
How To Choose The Feed
If you want to go ahead with buying a feed, we recommend to always scour the market first and see exactly what products are available as well as the reviews on them. One bad feeding may not hurt your birds but you may not realize the feed is not what it should be after just one meal and you’ll never get back the time and money you spent buying it.
The Manner Of Feeding
Now that you know a little about what things your chickens should eat, what about the proper space required for their feeding? Some people like to throw the pellets straight onto the floor and let the birds peck at it, further encouraging this already natural behavior from them.
How Much To Feed Them?
Generally speaking, free-range chickens are different from their cousins that are being raised for industrial egg production. They won’t really overeat so whatever you feed them that is extra will simply remain untouched. You should remember though that any food left out overnight can attract mice that could potentially be dangerous for your birds.
Check the Label
Bags of chicken feed will have labels attached that list the ingredients and the nutritional makeup. Check to make sure that the above list of nutrients are supplied in proper amounts. Too much or too little can have an adverse effect on the health and production of your flock.
Keep it Fresh
Don’t stock up on more ground, pellet, or crumble chicken feed than you can use up in one month or the nutrients may break down and the fats can go rancid. This may lead to deficiencies and illness in your flock.
Too Many Treats?
We all like to spoil our animals, but it can cause serious issues with their health. Too many scratch grains, treats, and fatty foods will create problems for your flock. Because the hens like these foods best, they will consume as much of them as they can, leaving their layer rations in the feed dish.
Fresh Water for Egg Production
Always keep fresh, clean water available for your flock. A lack of water will reduce production due to dehydration. Remember, the hen needs to maintain her own health first and egg production suffers if she doesn’t have enough water in her system.
Supplemental Calcium for Egg Production
Keep crushed oyster shell available free choice so that your hens may consume extra calcium if they are not getting enough from their feed. If they have oyster shell, plenty of layer feed, and they are laying thin shelled eggs, or very few eggs, try adding more vitamin D3 to their diet. This vitamin is necessary for proper absorption of calcium.
5 Essential Dietary Ingredients
The chicken’s diet is largely related to superior tasting eggs. During my years as a backyard chicken farmer, I’ve explored many choices and have narrowed it down to six items I consider the best for egg layers.
Feeding Your Hens Eggshells
Because your hens use a lot of calcium laying eggs, it’s important to add calcium to their diet. Most local and online feed stores carry oyster shell as a calcium supplement. But, if you’re like me, you prefer sustainable living which includes caring for your chickens naturally. This is why I use egg shells instead of buying calcium supplements.
Importance of Quality Feed
Providing good quality feed is essential for both chicken health and maximum egg yield. I never use cheap feed; only feed containing all the nutrition my girls need.
Treats are Nice
As with any pet, chickens love treats. I keep a bag of mixed corn on hand for this purpose. The chickens love it. Scatter a couple handfuls around the chicken yard. The chickens love scratching the ground and digging out those golden kernels. It’s also great for getting your chickens to go to bed.
Chicken Feed
There are various types of formulated feeds available in the market for chickens according to their age and types of hens. You will find feeds for your chicks, growing chicks and mature one.
Greens
Chickens enjoy all kinds of greens including grasses, leaves, plants etc. Fresh greens, tender grass clippings, table scraps, vegetables etc. are effective greens for your laying hens.
Scratch Mix
Naturally chickens love to scratch up the soil and eat bugs, insects, grit and greens. You can provide your hens scratch mix that is an assortment of grains and seeds like barley, corn, oats or wheat.
Supplemental Calcium & Vitamins
Supplement the feed of your laying hens with extra vitamins and calcium whether they eat commercially prepared feed or feed free range. Calcium helps to make the eggshells strong.
Water
Along with feeding high quality and nutritious feeds, your laying hens also need a consistent water source. Normally, chickens drink double or triple than the total amount of feed they consume each day.
Mealworms
Perhaps the most loved of all treats, mealworms- they contain over 50% protein!
Greens
Dandelion leaves, chickweed, kale, cabbage are all high in vitamins and minerals that the hen needs to maintain good overall health.
Japanese Beetles
Are you tired of these pesky bugs eating your roses and everything else in the garden?
Sunflower Seeds
For your hens to get the most out of sunflower seeds, they should be hulled. The outer coat is thick and tough so most of the protein and fats remain locked inside the shell.
Scratch Grains
Scratch grains are exactly what they say- grains that can be scattered to encourage the girls to scratch and dig.
Cracked Corn
Also known as ‘Chicken Crack’, cracked corn is by far one of our chickens’ favorite snacks.
Scrambled Eggs
Ok, this one may be a little creepy for some chicken lovers. But scrambled eggs have tons of protein!