Using Chicken Incubator

Chicken incubators ensure healthy eggs. You can build your own or purchase a commercial product. Whatever method you prefer, the important thing is to know the basic of hatching chicken eggs. Chicken incubator may be the best poultry supplies you will ever invest – only if it is used in the right ways.

1.     The rule of six. It is good to not settle hatching less than six eggs, especially when these eggs are only shipped. Chances are, you will only be hatching one egg – even none. Be sure to increase the chance of hatching a good number of eggs by making sure that you put more than six eggs in the incubator.

2.     Remember 21. All poultry owners know that it takes 21-days before the eggs are hatched. That is, when the eggs are kept in an ideal environment. There are cases wherein the eggs get older as the temperature is set at a lower degree.  This should not impose a problem, just wait for the few days and these eggs will eventually hatch. When controlling temperature, the commercial chicken incubator has the advantage of maintaining a stable heat. It will ensure healthy eggs with high probability of hatching right after 21 days.

3.    Still-Air vs. Turbo-Air. There are two kinds of incubator and each has its own requirements to ensure a healthy egg. The still-air incubator should be maintained at 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit while Forced air should be only up to 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit. The still-air requires higher temperature as the air inside does not circulate. With that, the air is usually cooler at the bottom than at the top.

4.    Turning Constantly Until 18. It is important to turn the eggs at a regular interval to allow the heat to penetrate inside substantially. However, it is ideal to stop turning the eggs after 18 days so that the eggs are allowed for proper hatching. When doing this manually, be sure to use clean hands and tools to avoid any contamination.

5.   Proper humidity. In the first 18 days, be sure to keep the humidity steady so as to increase the chances of achieving healthy chicken embryos. After this, raise to humidity of 70 percent to allow successful hatching. You can use a hygrometer to accurately measure the temperature.

Being able to produce more eggs means having good chances of earning profits. Be sure to know the best poultry supplies needed for successful business at http://poultrysupplies.org/.

Featured Book for Poultry Farming: Storey’s Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds

Chicken farmers and poultry owners need an immediate guide to raising chickens. The astonishing growth of the poultry industry, especially in North America, has significantly contributed a huge growth in the economy. The rising number of chicken farmers now breeds different kinds of poultry. These fowls provide not only meat but eggs as well. Their feathers also are used for clothes, home designs and other accessories. With the promising business of poultry, it is no wonder why many people are convinced that breeding chickens is the best way to earn a living.

This featured book is all about the informing the poultry enthusiasts on how to breed a specific fowl. There are more than 120 kinds of poultry breeds carefully illustrated to raise an awareness of how interesting this business is. It provides comprehensive information on every animal with high-definition images, brief history of the breed and the description. Each breed also is identified through every class, size, physical appearance, special qualities and place of origin. All these are written in an easy-to-appreciate manner by the author, Carol Ekarius.

This is a book that will help poultry owners and farmers to differentiate one breed from the other as the  characteristics differ in every breed. Some are quiet while others are noisy, there are those that are aggressive while a few numbers or gentle kinds. These will further help in cultivating a healthier chicken which will eventually become more profitable. This will also help out in deciding what poultry supplies are needed for each breed.

What People Say About The Book

The book has made favorable reviews as soon as it was launched. The readers appreciate the way the breeds are illustrated. A reviewer from Northern NY said that it is, by far, the complete book of all poultry breeds. This book also is favored for its affordable price. At http://poultrysupplies.org/, the book only sells for $24.99. This is a cheaper price compared to other poultry books.

There is no better way than to have a handy guide immediately available for poultry farming. To know more about this book and other poultry supplies needed, visit http://poultrysupplies.org/.

.

Nutrients Needed For Your Chicken

Chickens need food not just for survival but to lay more eggs too. Providing your chicken with adequate nutrition needed for growth is the best way to ensure a good profit. When your chicken is healthy, you are assured that diseases can be quickly alleviated and the quality of meat is produced. That is why many poultry owners invest on quality poultry supplies no matter how expensive it is. Most of the time, the price comes with quality. The cheaper it is, the lesser nutrients it contains. Be sure to read the labels of your chicken feed and see if it supports your fowl’s nutritional needs.

There are generally eight important nutrients to support the health of the chickens. These are protein, green, calcium, vitamin A and D, grains and lots of water. To appreciate what it does, here are the facts about the nutrients:

Protein

Protein is already known to support muscles and it is especially needed for chickens to lay more eggs. In fact, they needed more proteins to lay more eggs. Most poultry owners add soybeans to the feeds for additional source of proteins.

Grains

Grains are a good source of energy. Chickens feeds contain wheat, corn, oats and other forms of whole grains. Gains provide more than just energy. It also contains phosphorus, B-complex vitamins and other essential nutrients.

Greens

The feeds of the chickens may only contain grains and proteins but it should also be sufficient with green scraps. Green scraps can be easily provided to chickens by letting them roam in the yard. There are also other commercial poultry feeds that contain green scratch. Other sources include avocado skins, potato peels and many more.

Calcium

Oyster shells are commonly added to feeds for calcium source. Calcium is a mineral for eggs and well-being of the fowls. Chicken feeds are generally sufficient in calcium but you can supplement your chicken with raw eggs or egg shells.

Vitamins

Vitamins A &D are essential to keep the birds at its peak health. Vitamins can be bought in poultry stores but there are added ones in chicken feeds.

Salt and water also are essential. Be sure to keep your chickens healthy by giving them the right poultry supplies and chicken feeds. For more information, visit http://poultrysupplies.org/.

Recent Breakthroughs in Poultry Feeds

When maintaining a poultry business, it is good to be up-to-date to the latest trends in the business. Poultry supplies, chicken equipments and all other utilities can be improved with the latest research and technology. The trends of poultry feeds happen continuously as researchers remain determined to keep the poultry industry more lucrative than ever.

Canola Oil Replacing Broiler Diets

All commercial products contain liquid fat as it provides fat-soluble nutrients and energy. However, according to a research done by the Poultry CRC Australia, it was found out that canola oils contribute a significant health effects to broilers. As compared to canola seeds, the performance of the broilers slightly improved when the feeds are added with canola meal and oil. The researchers also found out that the there is a huge savings in terms of feed cost.

This indicates that full canola oil can be a great substitute for other fats and oils. This is according to the results seen in the broilers performance and poultry economy. The project leader, Bob Swick and Dr. Reza Barekatain explained that,  “A proper and innovative use of whole seed canola may lead to significant cost-savings due to lower handling and processing expenses. Canola is an important alternative crop to imported soybean in Australia and it is essential that we have more scientific data on its use available to industry.” The final result of the research will be published in the near future.

Health of Farm Workers Associated With Aerial Dust Concentration

In France, new research shows that there is an alarming concern of the levels of aerial dust in aviary houses for laying hens. The poultry farmers are regularly exposed to airborne contaminants found in organic dusts, bacteria, fungi and many other harmful organisms. These could adversely affect the workers’ respiratory health.

It was found out that the aerial dust concentration in different poultry houses used by poultry owners is scarce. The epidemiology study suggests that the respirable ambient dusts may have a high concentration per cubic meter in different types of housing. Researchers suggest that preventive measures and information should be implemented to avoid and health hazards associated with poultry farm workers.

These news are just as important as buying new poultry supplies for chickens. Always be aware of the recent trends. For more information, visit http://poultrysupplies.org/.

photo from http://m.newhope360.com

How Much Does it Cost To Start Chicken Farming?

If you want to start earning by chicken farming, you need to initially prepare for a budget. Of course, it is impossible to start and endeavor without any financial background. The question is, how much money are you going to raise so you can start your own chicken farming? Will your budget covers the needed poultry supplies, maintenance cost and other contingency expenses? Here are the prices of your initial investment:

Cost of Chickens

Paying a visit to a local farm will give you an idea of how much should a chicken cost. It will also help you out in knowing the type of breed that you want to start with. The chickens are available in every size and age. The young ones will probably cost about $2-$5 each. That, of course, depends on the breed. Now, when investing for young ones, it is good to ask for an assurance from the local farm as you can end up growing more roosters than lay hens. The best time to buy chickens is from March until April. It is good to buy extra chickens in case some die. With that, you may want to earn about $50 to start buying breeds.

Poultry Supplies

The young chickens will need to have a heat source so that can grow in a healthy state. You will need a heat lamp which may cost you about $15-$20. The chicken houses, pens and coops also are needed. You can build one on your own but there are ready-made products that are also cheaper. It may cost you are $100 to $300 depending on the size and quality. Medicines, chicken feeds and other brooding supplies are needed which may cost more than $100. In total, you need have at least $500.

Operational Cost

Once you start growing the chickens, there are other expenses that you need to consider. The cost of electricity, water and other utilities are needed to be covered. An approximate amount of $600 is good to keep a year of supplies and expenses.

All these investments are worth it, of course. Once you harvest the eggs or sold the chicken meat, you will earn more than what you invested. To learn more, visit http://www.poultrysupplies.org/.

New Breed Improves Poultry Farming Industry

Poultry farming is a promising business. Its growth has been substantial to improve the agricultural and economic status of a country. Now, poultry farming can have higher chances of growth with the new indigenous breed of chickens. This breed, called Kenbro, has low maintenance cost so it promises higher profits.

With the low maintenance, the increasing cost of poultry supplies such as the feeds and medicines can be lowered for up to 70 percent.  Kenbro was developed by a Kenchic Ltd., A well-known company in poultry business. Most poultry owners already tried to breed Kenbro and saw amazing results. Here are the advantages of Kenbro over other chicken breeds.

·            Kenbro meat is lean and soft, so it provides high-quality meat for consumers. It also can lay more eggs than the ordinary breed. This makes Kenbro a dual-purpose breed for poultry farmers to take advantage of.

·            This new breed of chicken has a low death rate. This means that the maintenance is not as extensive as the other breeds. These chickens are more resistant to different kinds of diseases so medicines, vitamins and feed expenses are lowered.

·            With proper care, Kenbro breeds can grow up fat. In fact, it was observed that these chickens are capable of laying eggs at 5 months. The laying of eggs will continue with the usual interval of 5-6 weeks during molting.

·            With proper feeding, it can quickly grow to up to 4 kg.

·            The high-quality meet makes it suitable for any kind of cooking. It is now becoming popular in the market. 

With the advantages of owning breeds of Kenbro, there were legal issues were raised by Kenchic Ltd. As some farmers are selling Kenbro without the company’s permission. Since Kenbro is a registered trademark, the company allows reselling just as long as the farmer will obtain a license.

Now that Kenbro has taken the world by storm, the demand of owning one increased over time. Kenchic initially was not able to meet the demands of the consumers but eventually found a way to breed more chickens. Know more about Kenbro and the poultry supplies needed for it at http://poultrysupplies.org/.

Types Breeds For Your Poultry Business

A poultry business entrepreneur can consider the different types of poultry in order to expand the operations in a larger scale. With that, not only chicken eggs are being sold, there will be possible variations as well. If you have been operating a poultry business for awhile and you want higher chances of growth, you can consider growing other fowls too. This will enable you to earn more profits as you go and learn how to grow other breeds and know the right poultry supplies the go with it. 

Chicken

Chicken, of course, is the most common breed where you can sell the meat for food or breed a group for eggs. There are different kinds of chickens. The broiler-fryer ones are 7 weeks old and weighs about 2-3 pounds. The Rock Cornish hens are bred for cooking, either stuffed or roasted. Roasters are older kinds with age of 3-5 months and are usually roasted whole. The capons are male chickens known for their light meat and the stewing or baking hens are great for moist cooking. The roosters are male chickens with coarse skin and are more prepared by longer cooking methods.

Duck

Ducks are in-demand for their flavorful meat. The fryer ducklings are young ducks, aged less than 2 months, with tender meats. Roaster ducklings also have a tender meat but are aged older than the younger breed, which is less than 4 months. Mature ducks are not able to lay eggs so their meat usually is sold for processed foods.

Game Birds

Game birds are also known as the wild ones. These are groups of different species being domesticated for different purposes. The game birds include wild ducks, turkeys, goods, partridges, pheasants, quails, ratites, pigeons and many more.  The game birds are sold for their meats, often to specialty restaurants. Wilde ducks are usually sold in Chinese restaurants to cook Peking duck recipes. Quails are cooked as a whole but their eggs are also sold as an ingredient for many dishes.

These are the other breeds that you may consider aside from chickens. The type of poultry supplies usually is just the same with breeding chickens. Know more about the other opportunities of your poultry business by visiting http://poultrysupplies.org/.

How To Use Egg Incubator For Your Chickens

An egg incubator is one of the needed poultry supplies that you might need. It functions to hasten the hatching of the eggs so that you can increase the population of your chickens in no time. The specific function of egg incubator is to set the right temperature and ventilation for reproducing fertile eggs as produced by a brooding hen. Here are the steps in using egg incubator:

1.       Choosing the Right Equipment

You need to look for a quality egg incubator sold by credible a poultry supplies company. A credible company will offer you a product and service warranty in case the incubator incurs damage. When choosing an incubator, be sure to see the serial number and the manufacturer’s name. It will give you a brief background if the particular brand is made from high-quality materials and if it can last for a long-time.

                                                  

2.       Proper Placement

Once you have your egg incubator, place them in a place with minimal or no temperature changes. Avoid placing the incubator near the air vent as it may experience malfunction. Since this device is dependent on electricity, make sure that it is near an electrical outlet.

3.       Testing and Calibrating The Equipment

Different incubators have different uses. Commonly, you need to add the right amount of warm water to the pan and see if it is calibrated well. Observe a stable temperature within 24 hours before actually using it to hatch an egg. To calibrate, adjust the thermometer to efficiently measure the center of the egg. Usually, the correct range is between 37.2-38.9 degrees Celsius. Incubate a few fertile eggs for testing. This will take about 7 to 10 days.

4.       Actual Incubation

Once the right calibration is set, you can now hatch more eggs to your incubator. The temperature may decrease or increase depending on the volume of your eggs. Be sure to always check the calibration so you can hatch eggs successfully. Further, never forget to do daily maintenance check. It is included in the product guide of your egg incubator.

Egg incubator is truly one of the necessities in poultry supplies. Once you hatch dozens of chickens, you definitely can produce more eggs and more money! Get the most quality egg incubators at http://poultrysupplies.org/.

Better Chicken Eggs With Quality Poultry Supplies

Are you having constant problems with your chicken eggs? It may be due to your nest boxes, chicken feeds or the way you collect the eggs. Every problem has a solution and in the poultry industry, it is usually caused by how you are able to maintain, and use, good quality poultry supplies. Let us review your chickens’ basic supply: food, water and shelter:

1.       Food

To ensure that your chicken will be able to produce healthy eggs, a balanced diet is necessary. There are different commercial chicken feeds on the market and it is essential that you check out the ingredients used. Many raisers include oyster shell for free calcium source as a deficiency of calcium commonly results to thin-shelled eggs. It may be also important to include insoluble grit especially when the chickens are confined in an area. This will help out in supporting the grinding of the feeds to the chicken gizzard.

2.       Water

The chickens also need a constant supply of fresh, clean water in order to be support their physiological function. Added to that, the chicken eggs contain more than 50 percent water in its volume. With that, you need to make sure that they are well-hydrated by constantly filling their water container with potable water. This is especially important during dry, hot and cold seasons. Failure to do this will result to unhealthy eggs.

3.       Shelter

Chickens are susceptible to danger, not just from the harsh changes of the weather but from different predators as well. Be sure that the chickens stay in a secure and well-ventilated area so that they can protect themselves from harm. A covered chicken coop may be ideal to avoid any problems caused by bugs, dusts or harmful rays from the sun. You do not want to have a cold, wet chicken in your shelter. A sickly chicken will spend time conserving energy to stay warm rather than producing eggs.

Food, water and shelter are the three most important factors in achieving healthy chicken eggs. Never experience any chicken egg production problems by making sure you have good quality poultry supplies. To ensure that, go to http://www.poultrysupplies.org/. 

Choosing The Right Chicken Feeds

Providing enough nutrients for your chicken is not just about throwing them corns, even if you see them a lot in the movies. You also need to study the nutritional needs of your chicken, and find the best feed that has the combination of necessary nutrients. There are many poultry supplies out there and it is really hard to determine which one will be the right for your chicken. Here are some tips:

For Starter Rations

You may have two kinds of starts rations, the layer-breed or the broiler-starter. The layer-breeds are those that lay eggs while the latter are those that are sold for their meat. Now, each breed has different nutritional requirements as they do have different purposes. Since the broiler-starters are grown for their meat, their protein requirement is usually from 22 to 24 percent. This breed grows faster than the broiler-starter and so they need a higher dose of protein. The layer-breed requires about 20 percent of protein.

                                     

Grower Rations For Pullets

You may also be growing some pullets. Pullets are female chickens that have not yet matured to develop eggs. They will eventually become layers so you want to take care of their bones and normal body weight. With that, a lower dose of protein is recommended for these grower rations, recommended at 18 percent protein.

Developer Rations For Pullets

For pullets that are about 15-weeks old, experts advise that you lower their protein content to 16 percent. This is due to the fact that that will begin to lay eggs. It is good to lower the protein so that they will avoid developing too much fat. Protein is converted to fat when not used as energy.

Adult Rations for Layers

It is inevitable for pullets to become layers and so they will become mature when they reach 22 weeks. At this point, you will need to increase the amount of their calcium and mineral supply. It is good to remember not to feed a high-calcium and high-mineral food for other types of chicken as this may cause problems in the kidneys.

These are the right formulation for your chicken feeds, according to their type and age. Remember that not all poultry supplies are made equal. You need to understand what really is best for the health of your chicken. Visit http://poultrysupplies.org/ for more details.

Poultry Supplies Needed For Start-Up Business

Starting a poultry business may sound difficult but it is easy once you know the poultry supplies needed. Of course, you should also learn how to take care of the chicken until they are matured enough to be sold or lay eggs. Here are the poultry supplies you need:

1.       Chicken Houses

Chickens need to have a shelter where they can rest and lay eggs. A chicken coop may be an ideal resting place but you can use your own barn as well. The important thing is that the chickens should need a space where they can roost at night and hide from the rain. Baby chickens need a warm environment so you may to have a heat source for them. The environment needed for baby chickens is different from the adults so it is good to have a separate space for each.

2.       Poultry Supplies

In order to maintain the health of your chicken, you need to have sufficient poultry supplies. These include chick brooder, nesting cartons, medicines and many more. These can be bought brand new or you can be resourceful in creating your own. For example, you can make a nesting box out of wood shavings or straw.

3.       Chicken Feeds

Chickens do have different nutritional needs from young to adults. With that, remember to know the age of the chicken and see the different feeds that will suit their needs. What you need to do here is perform some research and compare the ingredients from one product to another. Basically, these are the ingredients of the chicken feeds:

 ·  Corn – staple food for chickens, source of energy

 ·  Field Peas – source of protein

 ·  Alfalfa meal – good during cold season, also a good source of protein

 ·  Oats or Barley – usually added in small amounts to complete at least 15% of the total diet of chickens

 ·  Other ingredients – there are some ingredients that your chickens may need. These include grit, salt, probiotics, flaxseed, kelp, feeding limestone, oyster shell and many more.

These are the basics of starting a new poultry business. It is a great opportunity to earn limited amounts of money as chickens are being sold worldwide. Try this cost-effective business and you will eventually experience a new kind of financial freedom. For more information, visit http://www.poultrysupplies.org/ today.

Looking At Poultry Breeding Pens

Breeding pens are specialized coops that helps chicken owners breed poultry correctly. During the breeding season, poultry of breeding age are picked and cooped together in the breeding pen to facilitate the correct combination of chickens that will breed strong, healthy eggs and chicks. Just like any other coop, breeding pens should be made of sturdy materials that will prevent predators from wreaking havoc with your chicken, as well as disrupt the breeding process.

When breeding there are basic rules you have to adhere to if you want to produce a good, healthy brood.  The birds should not be closely related, boost up their nutrition and separate them from the other chickens in a separate breeding pen.  When breeding, you actually have two options to help you get a good set of broods.

Best to Best

Depending on the results you want to achieve you can breed the best rooster with the best hens and heighten the odds of those traits getting passed on to the next generation. When you are selecting chickens to breed, you look at their physical traits to make a decision.  Egg laying poultry often have thin skeleton and smaller frame, they are boxier in shape and has a deep and soft tummy.  Meat types on the other hand would have thicker frames, this is so they can support thicker musculature, they will be more round in terms of shape and would have a tight tummy.  In selecting breed conformation, you will need to closely look at the physical traits of each poultry like body shape, skin color, color and pattern of the plumage as well as the shape of the comb.

Offsetting Faults

Another way to choose breeding structures is by offsetting faults, this helps in improving the breed. Remember, it is rare to have a perfect specimen, especially at the beginning but it is not ideal to have imperfections and faults to imbue the entire line. So breed those with faults to those without any, this way you can offset the fault and you will have a better chance at having chicks that doesn’t have the same fault.

Breeding season is just around the corner, make sure you get your breeding pens ready for your chickens. Get your readymade breeding pens or get your premium supplies at your friendly poultry supplies store now.

Cleaning Out Your Chicken Coop

Cleaning your chicken coop can be a major ordeal, especially if you already have a good number of chickens but a few ‘tricks’ can make the work a lot easier.  Here are a few that might help you with your coop cleaning chores. 

Droppings Board

These boards are generally designed to gather the poop your chicken deposited overnight, most barnyard chickens are allowed to run freely during the day, so the poop on the board will usually be from the nighttime when the chickens are on their roosts.  Having a droppings board help keep the coop generally droppings free by allowing you to collect the poop directly from the board and not all over bedding cleaner that leads to less litter changes and some savings in term of expenses. 

Removable Roosts

Removable roosts allow for easier cleaning outside of the coop, you can easily scrub the roost thoroughly if they are outside the coop rather than scrubbing inside the coop.  It is also easier to scrub the inner wall of the coop without the roosts there. There may be some coop that are available with removable roosts but if not, you can easily install removable roosts in your coop. this will be easier if you will custom build your coop and ensure that the roosts are removable.  

Sand In Your Beddings

Instead of pine shavings or straw, you can use sand in your beddings instead.  You just need to sift the sand once a day to remove any droppings. It’s really a very easy way to clean out your chicken coop, plus, it is really quite cheap as well.

Dust Your Coop

You will realize that as you take care of your chicken coop, that they are dusty. Regardless of the type of litter you choose, they will generate a lot of dust, so dusting every now and then will help save you a ton of time when you do general cleaning of your chicken coop.  

Taking care of your chickens and ensuring their coop is clean is a task that you shouldn’t handle lightly.  Ensuring cleanliness within the coop also helps ensure that your chickens are healthy.  If you need poultry supplies for you chickens, then you can easily order online through your favorite online poultry supplies store, visit their website now to see their latest offerings.

Some Trials in Starting a Poultry Business

Poultry farming or raising chickens is one of the most lucrative businesses anyone can ever enter into, since chicken is one of the most common livestock eaten by everybody worldwide. But just like any business, risks and challenges arise every now and then.  Here are a few of those challenges and some tips on how to overcome each one.

High Capital and Long ROI

As a business, raising chickens can be quite expensive, especially if you want to become a good supplier for chickens and eggs, you do need to invest in the business in order for it to flourish. Ensuring that your farm is stocked with complete poultry supplies, so your chicken doesn’t lack is a challenge that many poultry farmers face. So when you start the business, ensure that you have enough capital to keep your business afloat for at least 6 months while you wait for your chickens to grow, lay eggs and be profitable.  If you are just starting out your business, you need to ensure you have enough chickens, so you can’t just go off killing and selling them off, you will need to ensure that you have enough chickens to grow again before killing each of them off.

Diseases and Illnesses

With this thought comes the labor intensive part of poultry farming, because disease outbreaks are usually caused by a dirty and unsanitary environment for the chicken, so you need to insure that the chicken coop and all the places chickens go to are clean and free from any disease causing germs.  Chickens are quite sensitive to changes in their environment and can be prone to diseases when their environment changes suddenly and the thing with chickens is that they also easily get infected, so if one gets the flu, you can be sure that the whole batch will become infected as well. Making sure that this doesn’t happen is also a challenge for poultry farmers.

Poultry Food Costs

If you have a number of chickens, then you should realize that they will need a lot of poultry food as well, so it is important that you find good alternatives to commercial poultry food you can get from poultry supplies store in order to cut down on expenses. Contamination of poultry foods comes also as a challenge to many poultry farmers, especially small time farmers that may not have enough resources to fix such concerns.

In the end, these posted challenges are just that, challenges that you can easily overcome if you are determined and prepared for them.  If raising chickens indeed is something that you desire to pursue, then ensure that you are prepared.  Ensure your chicken coop is clean and disinfected, find good people to help you flourish your business and lastly, find a good poultry supplies shop to supply all your poultry needs, and you are well on your way to a successful poultry business. 

Alternative Chicken Feeds

Yes, if you are raising chickens, then poultry supplies shops will have a variety of feeds that you can easily purchase yet they can heighten your budget for raising chickens as well as having to deal with the lack of calcium in your chickens’ diet. 

There is actually an alternative solution for this, you can feed your chickens crushed eggs shells.  You wouldn’t think that this is possible but indeed it is, chickens generally eat anything and they will surely eat the crushed shells, you can supplement your chickens’ diet with calcium, solving the problem of weak shelled eggs that break easily while saving up a few bucks.

You will need to make sure that you egg shells are clean by rinsing them thoroughly, ensure that any leftover egg is removed and cleaned off from the egg shells.  Once you have rinsed them, put them in a drying dish and let dry for a few hours.  When they are totally dry, you can crush them into bite size pieces, perhaps the size of your grain feed and mix them with the grain you feed your chickens.  The crushed shells will provide your chicken with the necessary calcium they need to provide you with strong shells.  You can easily ‘recycle’ the shells if you eat the eggs your chickens lay, then use that to re-feed them. 

A lot of people are worried that feeding egg shells to their chickens will cause the chickens to start eating their eggs, but this is not the case, if your chickens are provided with enough food and nutrition, they will not become egg eaters.  Actually, this can help solve that particular problem since chickens who lack calcium are the ones who become egg eaters as they will find a source for whatever nutrient they lack. 

 

You should also take into consideration that chickens are naturally protective of their eggs. They will generally try to protect the eggs as much as they can and they will tend to eat damaged or cracked eggs to protect the other eggs from various predators as damaged eggs are more easily detected by predators, perhaps they can smell the egg yolk or sac when the egg is cracked, resulting in the loss of all eggs. It may be a good practice to pick your eggs regularly so you can easily remove any weak eggs in the process and protect not only your eggs but your chicken from predators as well. 

In the end, raising chickens need not be expensive nor hard, all you need is a little ingenuity to get you a long way.  Make sure you pick a good poultry shop to get all your poultry needs once you decide to raise your own chickens. Check out http://www.poultrysupplies.org for the best poultry supplies in your area.