Methods and Tips for Adjusting Laying Hen Feed in Summer
Laying hens are very popular in China because the market for eggs in China is huge. Sales volume keeps rising every year, so the scale of laying hen farming keeps expanding. When raising laying hens, we need to adjust the feed reasonably according to the changing seasons to ensure normal growth of the hens. Especially during the high temperatures of summer, how should laying hen feed be adjusted in summer? Let's take a look below!
1. Increase the nutritional ratio
When the summer temperature exceeds 25°C, the feed intake of laying hens drops as a result. So the nutrients in their bodies also become insufficient, causing a decrease in egg production, and egg quality is affected as well. So at this time we should appropriately raise the nutritional ratio in the feed. We can appropriately add some cooked soybean oil to the laying hen feed and reduce some grain-type feed, keeping its ratio at around 50%. This can effectively improve the production performance of laying hens and ensure farming benefits.
2. Increase protein
The high-temperature environment of summer leads to reduced feed intake in laying hens, so the protein content should be appropriately increased to ensure sufficient amino acids, which is the only way to ensure the hens' protein needs. Otherwise, the hens will reduce egg production due to insufficient protein. In summer, the protein content of the feed should be increased by about 2%, keeping the total ratio at 18%. So when feeding laying hens in summer, appropriately increase feeds such as soybean meal, keeping the amount at around 22%. Reduce animal-type feed to improve the palatability of the feed and encourage the hens to eat more.
3. Feed additives
To prevent high temperatures from causing stress reactions in laying hens, we should also add some feed additives to the feed. An appropriate amount of vitamin C, ammonium chloride, etc. can be added to the drinking water to reduce heat stress. An appropriate amount of additives such as zinc bacitracin can be added to the feed, which can promote the reproduction of flora in the gastrointestinal tract, enhance gastrointestinal function, improve feed utilization, and also effectively reduce heat stress reactions in laying hens. But we must pay attention to controlling the dosage to avoid the opposite effect.
4. Reasonably add minerals
In summer we should also reasonably add phosphorus to the feed, which can also effectively reduce heat stress. And the calcium content in laying hen feed should be increased to around 4% to avoid an imbalance between calcium and phosphorus, keeping the ratio at around 4:1. However, we should also pay attention to controlling the addition of calcium, which must not be too much, otherwise it will reduce the palatability of the feed. So we can supplement calcium separately, which can both ensure the feed intake of laying hens and provide them with sufficient calcium.
The above is a brief introduction to adjusting laying hen feed in summer. We can also add some flavoring feed to the feed, which can enhance the appetite of laying hens and increase their feed intake. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you for reading and supporting us.