If you raise free range or pasture-raised chickens, their diet largely consists of forage such as bugs and grass. Depending on your flock’s requirements, however, you may supplement their food with feed too.
Commercial rations are designed to offer an optimal balanced feed, with ingredients proportioned for each stage of a bird’s lifecycle. Common ingredients include corn for energy, soybean meal for protein and vitamins and minerals.
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Backyard Rearing
Backyard rearing is the practice of raising animals such as chickens and pigs in one’s backyard. This practice has become more prevalent due to heightened consumer interest in where their food comes from and desire for high-quality produce.
Backyard rearing offers many rewards, such as a sense of accomplishment, nutritious eggs for your family and the potential to sell any extras at local markets. But it is essential that you follow best management practices and biosecurity guidelines in order to protect bird health and egg production.
In India, traditional and indigenous chicken breeds such as RIR (Rhode Island Red), Chabro, Punjab Red and Partapdhan are popular among rural populations. Not only do these provide employment to small-scale and marginal farmers but they produce more eggs than other breeds too! Furthermore, RIR contributes to soil fertility by producing 1-1.2 kg of manure/day and makes great companion animals too!
Fish Feeding
Fish feeding is the process of providing essential nutrition to fishes for growth, maintenance and normal metabolic functions. Different fish have different requirements in terms of quantity and quality depending on their size, reproductive state, feeding habits and digestive anatomy.
Supplementary feeds are used to improve the nutritional quality of natural food, providing fish with extra proteins and beneficial carbohydrates (starches, sugars and cellulose). They can be made from various materials like bran, hulls, coffee pulp, sugar cane bagasse, whole cottonseeds and molasses.
Supplementary feeds need to be stored under special conditions and handled carefully in order to prevent losses due to degradation due to environmental elements like moisture, temperature or oxygen. They should also be regularly distributed as part of the regular feeding program to maintain their quality and supply needs. Moreover, these feeds contribute towards increasing biodiversity within a pond by providing essential building blocks for aquatic ecosystems.
Layer Feeding
Layer feeding is an ingenious combination of protein, calcium and other essential vitamins and minerals designed to help your hens lay the best eggs. It contains the same levels of protein as grower feed but also adds extra calcium for crisp eggshells.
Chickens begin their diet at six weeks of age and continue on this formula until they reach laying age, usually around 20 weeks. There are various complete layer feeds available to meet your specific requirements, both vegetarian and nonvegetarian options being available.
Depending on the layer diet you select, it may come as crumbles or pellets. Crumbles are designed to encourage chicks to eat quickly while pellets offer greater consistency throughout their entire meal.
When selecting a layer feed, it’s essential to make sure it contains high levels of calcium, vitamins and minerals. Hens use these nutrients directly on their eggs, so making sure they get enough is key for successful egg production.
Hatching Feeding
Hatching feeding is when a hatchery provides chicks with food to start the growing process. While this practice is common in commercial hatcheries, it’s not necessary for backyard flocks.
Post-hatch period is essential for intestinal morphological development and digestion of nutrients, while also aiding in protecting the chick’s immune system from illness.
Early feeding has several advantages, such as increased intestinal growth, improved nutrient absorption and better breast meat production. Furthermore, it reduces stress and the risk of infection.
Unfortunately, research has demonstrated that a prolonged post-hatch holding period may result in reduced gut health and function. Therefore, it’s essential to provide water and food as soon as possible after hatching.
This study revealed that early hatching chicks accessed their food at an average BA of 35 hours, while late and mid-term hatching chicks accessed it at 25.4 h on average. It is possible these chicks did not benefit from having access to feed and water immediately after hatching.
