Breeding chickens, how to properly feed chickens and is it possible to give them bread

Despite the fact that the percentage of farming has dropped markedly these days, many bird breeders are involved in raising chickens, especially in rural areas. Thanks to new technologies and the availability of our own incubators, poultry farming has become much easier. Yes, and the business of selling chickens is thriving at the present time. Homemade eggs and natural meat have always been valued above the store product.

What should chickens eat

However, in order for the chickens to have good health and good egg production, they must be properly looked after and, of course, fed. All the necessary mineral and fortified supplements, as well as compound feed and grain, can be purchased in special stores, so there will be no problems with food, but read this article on how to choose the right diet for domestic chickens and whether they can be given bread.

The important constituent elements of each product include percentage protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. It is these trace elements that are important for every healthy organism for good growth and development.

Proteins are the main component of all living organisms, including plants. Protein feeds of plant origin include: meal and cake, which are extracted from soybeans, flax or sunflower. Protein feeds of animal origin are considered very valuable, which include: dairy and sour-milk products, earthworms and earthworms, blood and meat scraps from the fishing industry, as well as bone meal.

Fats are an important element for the chicken body. They constitute the main energy reserve and are involved in the regulation of bird body temperature, being deposited in the subcutaneous layer. Fats enter the bird’s body through the breakdown of products such as oat or corn grains.

Carbohydrates are fiber, sugar and starch. These trace elements are found in foods such as:

• Grains of cereals (barley, millet, oats).
• Vegetable feed (beets, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots).

These products are very useful for poultry, but overfeeding them can lead the chicken to reduce egg production and unwanted obesity.

Vitamins are the source of good bird health. Basically, they are enough in the products included in the mandatory daily menu of chickens.

Minerals are necessary for the normal functioning of every organism. After all, they participate in the formation of the bone skeleton birds and form eggshells.

Usually, if chickens walk outside every day, they can manage to find foods containing minerals on their own. Rummaging in the ground, they peck at sand, chalk, old-slaked lime. But if the chickens are indoors, for example, in winter, then they need to include products such as ash, crushed bones, crushed shells, sand, chalk in the menu. Minerals should be added to the mash and given in the amount of 5% of all constituent products.

What can chickens eat

• Grain and grain mixtures.
• Green juicy food.
• Combined feed.
• Vegetables, fruits and root vegetables.
• Bread products.
• Bean feed.

Oats or wheat are used as the main grain food. In addition, the menu must include additives such as barley, millet, corn, rye. In order for the nutrients to be well absorbed in the body, the grains must be crushed. Small food particles are easy to swallow and digest well. Thanks to this, the chickens will not have problems with digestion.

Compound feed or wet food are made by mixing various ground products. This may include a green or vegetable mixture, kitchen waste, crushed kefir, or something else.

To improve digestion, chickens need to be given fresh green food and carefully chopped. Being outside during the summer periods, they themselves can find the right grass and other greens. If the bird lives indoors, the breeder must prepare the greens himself. Greens include: nettles, dandelion leaves and flowers, clover, vegetable tops, alfalfa and other herbs.

Root crops, fruits and vegetables are presented to the bird in crushed or boiled form. Of course, you do not need to give them oranges, but they will peck at apples, melons or watermelons with pleasure. Moreover, the chicken is not a stupid bird, it will not eat what it does not like. We use carrots, potatoes, beets, cabbage as vegetables and root crops. They should be given boiled or fresh.

A rather contentious issue is the possibility of feeding chickens with bread. Someone claims that it is strictly forbidden. Others believe that “Bread is the head of everything.” It is eaten by all living beings, both people and animals and birds and even fish. Why shouldn’t the chicken eat bread? Everything is very simple bread should be given fresh, without mold and in small quantities. For the chickens to eat it in one go. In most cases, chickens are fed white bread in a cut or soaked state. If it is served in pieces, then be sure to put water nearby so that the bird does not choke.

Good egg production will be provided to the owners by chickens eating legumes. It can be peas, lentils or beans. At the first feeding with such a composition, the food must be boiled or steamed. After some time, the bird will be happy to eat dry food.

What is forbidden to feed chickens

In the first place of prohibited products for feeding chickens is potato tops and green-skinned potatoes. This product can kill a bird, as it contains poison. In second place are green tomatoes and their tops. Salty foods are also undesirable. Otherwise, chickens eat almost everything, with the exception of those foods that are really poisonous in nature.

Diet

Basically all breeders feed chickens twice a day. But some breeds require three or four meals a day. This fact depends on the purpose of keeping the bird. To be sold for meat, chickens are fed more frequently and more to grow. To increase egg production, the diet is selected differently. In the daytime, the bird can be fed vegetable, green food and mash with the addition of water, broth or dairy products. At night, cereal mixtures are served.

And finally, useful advice, it is undesirable for chickens to give a lot of animal food. From excessive consumption of meat in a chicken, the taste of eggs and the fillet itself can deteriorate.