Feeding chicken

-Feeding chicken isn’t just throwing some corn outside the coop. To find the commercial feed that’s best suited to your chickens, you need to understand the purpose of different types of feed, the forms in which feed is available, and the info you can expect to find on package labels.

Yellow maize

-Some brand-name feeds may be made by different mills and contain different ingredients in different areas of the country. So it pays to look at the ingredients and the guaranteed protein and other nutrient levels rather than purchasing feed by cost or by brand name.

1.Starter rations for chicks - The ration for layer-breed chicks, usually called “starter rations,” should be 20 percent protein.

 -From the time they start eating, meat chicks need a high protein feed of about 22 to 24 percent protein for the first six weeks.

-It’s called “meat bird starter” or “broiler starter.

-”Most people use a medicated feed for the first few weeks of a chicken’s life. You should stop using medicated feeds at 18 weeks for layers and about 2 weeks before you intend to butcher meat birds — even if you haven’t finished the medicated feed.

-If you have different types of birds in a brooder, it’s better to feed the higher-protein meat bird feed to all the chicks rather than use a lower-protein feed.

-However, separating your future layers from meat birds when they leave the brooder is strongly recommended.

-Meat birds should have a protein level of about 20 percent until they are butchered, which is too high for layers.

2.Grower pullet rations - If you’re raising young pullets to become layers, you want them to grow slowly enough to develop good strong bones and to reach a normal body weight before they begin producing eggs.

-High-protein diets tend to hurry the birds into production before their bodies are quite ready.

-Therefore, the ration for growing pullets, from leaving the brooder at 6 weeks to about 14 weeks, should be about 18 percent protein.

Chicken feeding

3.“Developer or finishing” pullet rations - At 15 weeks, it’s ideal to lower the ration to 16 percent protein. From 15 weeks to 22 weeks old or until they begin laying eggs, which ever is first, protein levels should be about 16 percent.

-The object is to get them well grown without too much fat. Your feed should have normal levels of calcium and other vitamins until the birds start laying.

-If you feed a diet high in calcium and phosphorus to very young birds, it can damage their kidneys, so don’t begin feeding layer feed until pullets are at least 18 weeks old.

-Adult layer rations - After the hens reach the age of 22 weeks or begin laying, and throughout their laying careers, they need a protein level of 16 to 18 percent.

-The calcium and minerals should be formulated for laying hens.

-Don’t feed adult layer rations to other types of chickens, because the higher mineral content may damage the kidneys of birds that aren’t laying.

-The exception would be for a rooster housed with a laying flock; he’ll be fine consuming laying rations.

-Also, don’t force extra calcium and minerals on hens by adding things to a properly formulated feed.

-Too much calcium can cause kidney failure. If you’re getting a lot of thin eggshells or soft-shelled eggs, give your hens some calcium in the form of crushed oyster shells in a feeder where they can choose the amount.

4.Broiler rations for broiler hybrids - Broiler hybrids grow extremely quickly and require precise diets. After the first six weeks, the protein percentage for these birds can be lowered to 18 to 20 percent until they’re butchered. “Meat bird” or “broiler grower-finisher” is generally a label aimed at meat birds in their last weeks.

5.Grower and finisher rations shouldn’t contain antibiotics because these can be carried into the meat.

6.Broiler rations for heritage and free-range meat birds - These types of meat birds grow more slowly and add less muscle meat than the broiler hybrids. They take longer to reach a satisfactory butchering rate.

-After the first six weeks, you can lower the protein to 18 to 20 percent for the next 6 weeks, and after that, protein content can be 16 percent.

7.All stock or sweet feed - In some areas a pellet and whole-grain mix is sold, usually under the name of “all stock” or “sweet feed.”

-It’s covered with molasses or another sweetener to hold it all together. While these rations sometimes list poultry on them (or more often, include a picture of a chicken), they really aren’t formulated for poultry.

-You can use these feeds on your other farm animals, and you don’t need to worry if the chickens steal a bite. But definitely don’t use them as your sole chicken feed.

Feeding chicken on cabbage

Forms of feed 

Feed comes in three forms: crumbles, pellets, and mash. Research has shown that chickens grow and lay better on crumbles (commonly used for finisher rations and some adult feeds).

-Pellets (usually used for adult birds) are the second-best, whereas mash is the least-preferred although the most common for starter rations.

-If mash is the only type of feed available to you, you can add a little warm water to the feed just before serving it, which gives it the consistency of thick oatmeal.

-Chickens generally gobble this down. Water from cooking potatoes or other vegetables or milk also can be used. This is a good way to use up the fine pieces of crumbles or pellets left in the bottom of a bag or the feed dish.

-However, don’t let this wet mixture sit too long; it will spoil and become moldy, which could harm the chickens.

8.Grit - Grit, a mixture of crushed limestone and granite, helps chickens digest food. In nature chickens pick up small rocks, pieces of bone, and shells.

-If you’re feeding any kind of home made diet, whole grains, or have your birds on pasture, you need to supply them with some kind of grit.

-If you’re feeding only a commercial mash, crumble, or pellet, your chickens won’t require additional grit. If you have just a few chickens, you can purchase canary or parakeet grit in pet stores. It’s finely ground, but is fine for chicks or, in a pinch, for older birds.

9.Home-mixed Rations - Some producers decide to mix their own rations in order to be assured that only "natural" ingredients are used.

-Poultry feed ingredients include energy concentrates such as corn, oats, wheat, barley, sorghum, and milling by-products.

-Protein concentrates include soybean meal and other oilseed meals (peanut, sesame, safflower, sunflower, etc.), cottonseed meal, animal protein sources (meat and bone meal, dried whey, fish meal, etc.), grain legumes such as dry beans and field peas, and alfalfa.

-Grains are usually ground to improve digestibility. Soybeans need to be heated-usually by extruding or roasting-before feeding in order to deactivate a protein inhibitor.

-Soybeans are usually fed in the form of soybean meal, not in "full-fat" form, because the valuable oil is extracted first.

-Whole, roasted soybeans are high in fat which provides energy to the birds. Chicken feed usually contains soybean meal which is a by-product of the oilseed industry.

-In the industry, soybeans are dehulled and cut into thin pieces (flaked) to improve the action of the solvent (usually hexane) which is passed through the soybean to extract the valuable oil.

-Vegetable oils such as soybean oil are used for edible and industrial purposes. The soybean is then toasted as a method of heat treatment to deactivate an inhibitor which would otherwise interfere with protein digestion in the animal.

-However, chickens can also be fed unextracted (full-fat) soybeans. An advantage of feeding unextracted soybeans is that they still contain the oil which provides high energy fat to the bird.

-Unextracted soybeans need to be heat-treated-roasted with dry heatand then ground, rolled, or flaked before mixing into a diet. Another method of heat treatment is extruding.

-Extrusion involves forcing the beans through die holes in an expander-extruder which creates friction which heats the beans sufficiently (sometimes steam is also applied).

-The result is a powdery material which does not require further grinding. Roasted and extruded soybeans should not be stored for long periods of time,especially in hot weather, because the oil turns rancid.

-Since protein is generally one of the most expensive feed ingredients, the industry uses targeted rations and reduce the amount of protein in the diet as the birds grow (chickens require less and less protein as they age); however, it may not be cost-effective for small-scale producers to have different diets for starters, growers, and finishers.

-Vitamin pre-mix is usually added but may be reduced by using vitamin-rich plant sources such as alfalfa. Other plants also provide vitamins in their leaves, hulls, and brans. Fish oil can provide vitamins A and D.

-Yeast provides some of the B vitamins.

-Sunlight is a good source of vitamin D for ranging chickens (converting a precursor to vitamin D).

-Poultry in cattle pastures may obtain vitamin B12 when picking through dung pats for insect larva. Sprouting grains, although a labor-intensive process, is used by some producers for vitamins when access to range is not possible.

-Sprouting can increase the amounts of carotene (vitamin A precursor) in the grain and as a source of year-round forage, could be an advantage for certified organic poultry production to reduce the amount of synthetic vitamins required in the diet.

-Eating plants may provide a yellow color to the skin of slaughtered chickens and a deeper yellow color to egg yolks. Trace mineralized salt is usually added to poultry diets, but other sources can provide minerals.

-Minerals, although not present in high levels in plants, are provided in fish meal and kelp (seaweed). Meat and bone meal is an excellent source of minerals, particularly calcium and phosphorus, as well as being a good protein source.

-However, if a producer does not want to use meat and bone meal, then dicalcium phosphate can be substituted. Access to pasture can reduce the  vitamins and minerals needed in the diet since the birds get vitamins from plants and both vitamins and minerals from insects.

-An example of an all-grain diet is enclosed. Probiotics are sometimes provided to chicks during placement and before shipping.

-However, preparing a balanced diet can be a complex, possibly costly process, especially for producers with little background in nutrition.

-Specialized knowledge is required about the nutrient requirements of chickens and the nutrients contained in feedstuffs. Feed ingredients need to be sourced, milled, mixed together according to a formulation, and the mix is usually pelleted.

-Ration-balancing of home-made diets is important, especially on a commercial scale, to achieve the right amounts of nutrients.

-If diets are not properly balanced, then birds will suffer from nutritional diseases. The National Research Council's Nutrient Requirements for Poultry specifies the amounts of protein, energy (carbohydrates and fats), minerals, and vitamins.

-The quality of the protein is important since it is made up of individual amino acids, some amino acids being essential to bird health.

-The proper amount of these nutrients needed in diets depend on breed, age, and type of production. 

Use sunflower seed cakes for kienyeji chicken (courtesy of Kenya Agricultural research Institute , KARI)

-Introduction:Sunflowers seed cake is a rich source of protein and can be used to formulate livestock feeds at farm level thereby reducing dependency on commercial feeds.

-The cake can be used as a protein supplement in chicken feed.

-Chicken Starter - Mix 22kg of sunflower cake with 100kg of maize.

-Growers' mash - Mix 20kg of sunflower cake with 100kg of maize.

-Layers' mash - Mix 18 kg of sunflower cake with 100kg of maize. The layer ration should include oyster shell at 2-3 kg for every 100kg prepared.

Egg Production
-Each egg consists of approximately 75% water and hence without access to a regular, clean supply of water, a hen will be physically unable to produce eggs.

-Required Amounts of Water - Water and food go hand in hand and so reduced water consumption by the chicken will also lead to reduce feed intake.

-Other factors affect water intake like the dryness of the feeds and changes in temperature.

Chicken feeders

-Chickens drink between 30-50% more water when the environmental temperature is above 32 °C compared with when it is 21 °C. Water intake is also affected by the type of drinkers used.

Source: Dummies dictionary, KARI

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