Switch laying hens to a complete chicken layer feed when they start laying eggs around 18 weeks of age. Choose a complete layer feed that includes all the essential nutrients laying hens need to lay strong and stay strong. Then make the transition gradually over one week.
When you turn 18, you can do a lot of new things. You can vote, buy fireworks and even try your luck with the lottery. The magical number means welcome to adulthood.
For backyard chickens, the number 18 means the same thing. Eighteen weeks is the age when laying hens are considered adults. Most excitingly, it’s the time when many chicken breeds will start laying eggs. At this key milestone, switch your hens to a complete layer feed.
This feed switch is an essential step down the road to farm fresh eggs because hens require different nutrients to produce eggs as compared to when they are growing.
To produce an egg each day, hens need high levels of calcium, vitamins and minerals. Hens transfer many of these nutrients directly into their eggs, so the nutrients in layer feed play an essential role in egg production.
How to transition from layer grower feed to layer feed?
When birds reach 18 weeks old or when the first egg arrives, gradually switch your laying hens to a complete layer feed. It’s important to make the transition over time to prevent digestive upset.
It’s best to make chicken feed transitions over time rather than all at once. We mix the starter-grower feed and layer feed evenly for four or five days. If birds are used to crumbles, start with a crumble layer feed. The same goes with pellets. The more similar the two chicken feeds are, the more smoothly the transition will go.
Many hens will eat the mixed feed without noticing a difference. When laying hens are eating both feeds, you can stop feeding the starter-grower feed and make the complete switch to all layer feed. It is important to give your birds enough time to adjust to the new diet. Most birds will adjust within a couple days but some can take a couple weeks to fully transition to their new diet.
Once the transition to layer feed is complete, it’s best to maintain a routine.
We recommend providing free choice layer feed to hens and switching out the feed each morning and evening. Laying hens eat approximately 0.25 pounds of complete feed each day, equaling about one-half cup.
If birds are free-ranging, offer complete layer feed before they go out in the morning. This will help them consume the essential nutrients before filling up on less nutritionally balanced insects and plants.
It’s important for the complete feed to make up at least 90 percent of the hen’s diet. We feed complete layer feeds on our farm because they are formulated to provide all the nutrients hens require at the correct levels. It’s reassuring to know that each bite of feed is balanced to keep our hens healthy and producing quality eggs.
How to make 100 kg LAYER FEED FORMULA INGREDIENTS AND THEIR CORRECT PROPORTIONS
Maize 46
Soya bean meal 10
Maize offal 20
Groundnut Cake 12.9
Bone meal 2.75
Limestone 7.5
Lysine 0.15
Methionine 0.15
Premix 0.25
Salt 0.3
TOTAL OF 100 KG
Calculated Nutritional Composition OF THE ABOVE FORMULA
Metabolizable Energy = 2631.56 Kcal/Kg
Crude Protein = 16.5%
Crude Fiber = 5.08%
Fat = 3.62%
Ash = 1.91%
Phosphorus, available = 0.64%
Calcium = 3.64%
Tryptophan = 0.17%
Lysine = 0.77%
Methionine = 0.37%
Cystine = 0.27%
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