As a farmer, maintaining the health of your flock should always be a top priority. However, with so many animals to tend for, it’s easy to simply want to avoid looking to deeply into the specifics regarding chicken health. Unfortunately, though, an unhealthy flock can quickly lead to a loss in profits, whether that be for meat or eggs, or a general loss of life in the quality of your flock. To avoid this, learn everything there is to know about the importance of a healthy diet for your chickens and how to maintain one.
Do You Need to Customize Your Chicken Flock’s Diet?
Put simply, all farmers or chicken owners will need to customize the diet that their flock receives on a regular basis. While this basis will not be day-by-day, every couple of months you may be required to change up the nutrition levels that your flock is receiving. This is due to the fact that there are a number of factors that can change depending on the chickens you own, the age of those chickens, and more which will determine the level of nutrients they need.
What Are the Primary Nutrients Chickens Require?
While the specific level of nutrients your chickens require will vary, there is a set grouping of nutrients that all chickens will need, including:
- Carbohydrates
- Fats
- Protein
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- Vitamin C
- Minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, and magnesium along with zinc, manganese, iron, iodie, and more
- Methionine
- Lysine
- Fibers
- Water
While the specific amounts of each of the above that your birds are receiving will vary, the minerals and nutrients themselves will be constant.
Changing the Feed Your Flock Receives By Age: Everything You Need to Know
When considering the best bulk chicken feed for your flock, you will need to change what you use depending on the age of the chickens in your flock along with their purpose. As an example, a broiler bird (meat bird) and a young hen which will be used for egg-laying will require different levels of the aforementioned nutrients.
To understand how you need to feed your flock in order to ensure each individual chicken’s longevity, let’s break down the nutrient requirements based on chicken type:
Meat Bird
For chickens in your flock whose purpose is to be used as meat, you will want to start them on a protein heavy diet during the first few weeks of their lives. Specifically, a diet of roughly 22% protein is recommended for starter birds aged one to three weeks in age. Additionally, 0.5% methionine and 1.3% lysine are also recommended. As for additional minerals at this age, a ratio of 0.95% calcium and 0.45% phosphorous will be best for the chicken. This should be combined with 5% fats and 2.5% fibers for the best effect.
As the chickens begin to age between four to six weeks old, you will cut back slightly on everything except for the fats. Protein should be reduced to near 20%, methionine should be brought back to 0.45%, lysine should be reduced to 1.15%, calcium should be reduced to 0.90%, and phosphorous should be reduced to 0.40%. Fiber will remain constant, but fat will be increased to 5.5% of the flock’s daily intake.
For the finisher, when your flock reaches above seven weeks old, everything except for fats and methionine will be cut down further. It’s recommended to reduce protein to 18%, lysine to 0.95%, calcium to 0.85%, and phosphorous to 0.35%. Fiber will remain constant, but fats and methionine will increase to 6% and 0.5% respectively.
Young Hen
For a bird that is growing up to lay eggs, the nutrient intake will vary drastically compared to the above. Specifically, starter hens aged one to six weeks old should received 20% protein in their diet, 0.45% methionine, 1.10% lysine, 0.45% phosphorous, 1% calcium, 4% fats, and 3% fibers.
Following this, once the hen becomes a grower that is aged between seven to eighteen weeks old, everything will be reduced. Protein will be cut back to 17%, methionine to 0.35%, lysine to 0.80%, calcium to 0.95%, and phosphorous to 0.40%. Both fats and fibers will remain constant at 4% and 3%, respectively. This will then lead the hens into their egg laying years.
Hen Currently Laying Eggs
As the hens above begin to lay eggs at nineteen weeks or beyond, their nutritional needs will vary again. It is recommended that egg laying hens receive a minimum of 16% protein but no more than 18%. Methionine amounts can vary based on the starter and grower age. Lysine will be cut back heavily to a maximum of 0.85%, whereas calcium will be increased heavily to 4.5% as a maximum. Phosphorous, fats, and fibers will all stay historically constant.
As evident by the above, the needs for your flock will vary drastically depending on a variety of factors. Beyond all of the above nutritional tips, it can be beneficial to learn a number of general tips for how to manage the health of your flock.
Tips for Managing the Health of Your Flock
To keep your chickens safe and healthy, use some of the following tips:
- Ensure that you research nutritional and care requirements for the specific types of chickens in your care
- Connect with experts in the field who can guide you on caring for your chickens
- Set a budget for the expenditure on chicken feed
- Try different types of feed if your chickens reject a certain type
Grow a healthy flock of chickens
No farmer should neglect the health of their flock in order to ensure that the product or quality of life in regard to their chickens is top-notch. Even if you just own chickens as pets, it’s important to understand how they need to be fed as they grow in order to give them the best chance at survival and healthy growth. Never neglect your flock as they start to grow and always be sure to provide them with the most nutrition possible.
