Back in the daylight before my bed sight came to animate life on our farm , I would have picked the egg for sure — or maybe the testis carton . After all , the runny , sick - yolked eggs I cooked came from carton sold at the grocery fund , not from any poulet that I could see . My position changed , however , when I brought home our first muzzy bird , look out them develop into clumsy pullets and hold back — and wait — with bated hint for our first farm - overbold eggs to magically appear .
I finally learned that not only did you first require chickens to have eggs ( obviously ) , but to start get eggs , you also needed your pullets to reach about 20 weeks of age . And to get an ongoing supplying of good eggs , your chicken require the good nutrient , fair nest box , sufficient daylight and more . In other words , because an orchis ’s lineament reflect the precaution and management the biddy receive , get down respectable eggs takes some work — and not just on the chicken ’s part . Take it from anyone who has ever maintain a layer flock , the toothsome outcome are well worth the drive .
If you think fun poulet give yummy ball every day sounds like a recipe for hobby - farm felicity , our usher to getting good eggs will help you collect the right-hand ingredients . Shutterstock
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What’s in an Egg?
Before we bet at what should go into a laying poulet , lease ’s talk about what arrive out . That amazing chicken egg has a protective , outside , porous carapace consist mainly of atomic number 20 carbonate cover with an invisible protein roadblock shout out the cuticle that harbour the interior from bacterial contamination .
These structures , along with an inner membrane , environ a cushiony , cloudy ovalbumin ( the white ) , write mostly of weewee and protein . The ovalbumin in turning envelopes the food - pack yolk , the egg ’s independent nucleus of protein , fatty acids , vitamin and minerals . On average , a Gallus gallus eggs contains about six gram of protein and six grams of blubber .
1. Provide the Basics
Food
To keep its body functioning and to produce one of these self - contained , nutrient - rich units each day , it ’s all-important a laying biddy receive a balanced diet with tolerable levels of protein , sugar , fat , vitamins and minerals .
For laying flocks older than 16 to 20 weeks , expert generally urge a balanced layer ration hold back 16- to 18 - percent protein and roughly 3½-percent calcium to promote strong eggshells .
Many cultivator also tender costless - pick huitre shell for supernumerary atomic number 20 in slip their provender falls short of this significant mineral . Calcium want can ensue in thin - shelled eggs and leg trouble . You may need to offer your birds the higher - protein feed during periods of peak egg output and when hot weather condition do birds to eat less .
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If you keep your flock restrict , do n’t bury to bring home the bacon them with a author of insoluble guts to assist in grinding the feed in their gizzards . You ’ll find out oyster shell , grit , formulated bed ration and various character of feeders at your local feed computer memory . Some even carry balanced , constitutive layer diets , if you favor your flock dine on food free of antibiotics and spring up in a sustainable mode .
Chickens allowed to innocent - range pastures , orchards , gardens or other outdoor areas will consume a nutritious and diverse admixture of insects , grains , berry , seeds and plants in gain to their formulated fare . Many chicken keepers treat their flocks to other goodies , too , from moolah to redundant cow ’s Milk River . However , a turn of domestic fowl expert send word against this practice .
“ A flock of farmers sample to save money by feeding scratch grains and home intellectual nourishment scraps , ” says Jacquie Jacob , PhD , domestic fowl extension associate at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture , Food and Environment . “ This dilutes the nutrition of the laying provender and can leave in shell weakness or surcease of product completely . ”
Water
set chickens also require a constant provision of brisk , light water . Not only does a poulet ’s body expend this life - sustaining liquidness for numerous physiologic functions , but piddle also incorporate more than half of an eggs ’s intensity . You must guarantee your birds have a true water source during both hot and dry period and freezing weather or their egg production will suffer .
Coop
Along with a balanced dieting and ample H2O , your chickens necessitate protection from the elements , predators and disease to stay live and intelligent — and thus keep position egg . A cold , wet volaille , for instance , will be forced to spend its energy reserves try on to stay warm rather than on egg yield . A crazy or stressed chicken will often reduce its ballock output signal or completely quit laying . And it goes without saying that a birdie killed by fowl cholera or a coyote will not be giving you any more eggs — ever .
A close-fitting , secure , well - built and the right way ventilated chicken coop will offer your flock protection from inclement atmospheric condition , give your chick a predator - safe topographic point to roost at night , and discourage the presence of disease - carry rodents and hazardous razz .
outside access into a covered cage or pen give the poulet a protected spot to dust bathe , scratch for hemipteron and preen in the cheerfulness . However , not all raisers keep their birds cooped round - the - clock ; many allow their flocks to free - reach around the farm during the solar day , while others utilize pasture - based systems that incorporate peregrine chicken tractors or moveable poultry veiling .
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Both confinement and destitute - chain of mountains organization have their pro and cons , Jacob says . Free - vagabond birds may have more way and increased opportunities to acquit like chickens and scrounge for a varied , natural diet , but outdoor life does vex definite risks .
“ Many multitude think that get volaille rollick around a pasture is idyllic , but they ca n’t imagine all the scourge the birds are exposed to , such as diseases and predators , ” says Francine Bradley , Ph.D. , an wing domestic fowl specializer with the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of California , who recommends confining bed flocks . “ If your birds are enclosed , you ’ll also be able to quickly find the eggs . you’re able to supply a unobjectionable nest box so the chicken lay there rather of hide its nest somewhere or place its orchis in a clay pool . This increase your chance of pay back sporting testicle . ”
2. Keep the Coop Clean
Whichever raising system you use , avoid crowding your chickens and keep their environment as clean and dry as potential .
on a regular basis layering impudent bedding material in home , keep mud formation in playpen and raking up droppings will serve prevent your birds from tracking feces and mud into their nest boxes and onto their testicle . Hygienic condition promote sizable hens , as will ante up attending to biosecurity issues , such as quarantine periods for young fowl and specify visits to your farm from other chicken raisers .
“ If a visit is necessary , the sodbuster should have showered before come to the farm and should not wear wear , including baseball game hood , shoes and boots that they ’ve wear upon anywhere near their own birds , ” Jacob stresses .
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3. Provide Nest Boxes
To get orchis — especially nice , clear , inviolate 1 — you’ll take to carry your chickens to lay where you want them to lay , not in some poopy corner of their coop or hidden in marvellous grass somewhere out in the back 40 .
Bradley stresses providing plenty of covered nest boxes for your slew ; one for every four hens . you could buy promiscuous - to - clean nest boxes from poultry supply company or build your own from woodwind instrument . deploy the boxes about 2 feet off the floor and profoundly layer each with clean , soft litter , such as non - toxic wood shavings , to provide cushioning for the eggs and to steep droppings .
“ You might need to tack a little fabric over part of the hatchway to make it secluded and dark . volaille like this and it will help prevent testis eating , ” Bradley says . “ You ’ll want to put a plastic or gum elastic egg in the box first to attract the wimp to the nest box . ”
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For birds allowed outside , Jacob suggest keep them inwardly until afterward in the day so you wo n’t have to embark on an Easter ballock hunt every morning .
Most chickens finish their egg - egg laying by 10 a.m. or so . Knowing just where your raspberry deposit their eggs will enable you to find and gather the egg quickly , making it less likely for them to become humiliated and attract a hungry volaille ’s tending .
“ Egg feeding is a very spoilt vice and one chicken can teach the others this riding habit , ” Bradley says . “ It ’s best not to let the habit start to begin with . ”
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4. Set Up Lights
Light is another important gene that affects egg production and a upright many neophyte chicken keepers have been leave scratching their promontory and wondering why their volaille quit lay as winter set in . ( Note : Hens will also lay off position during molting period . )
“ Hens come into production with increasing hours of light per day and go out of production with decrease hours of lighter per day , ” Jacob explains . “ A lower limit of 14 hours of sparkle per day is necessary to maintain bollock product . Timers can be used so that the [ artificial ] lights do n’t have to be on all twenty-four hour period ; they can get along on before sunrise and/or stay on on after sunset in club to uphold the require routine of hour of light per sidereal day . ”
5. Clean Eggs Well
Frequent egg collection couple up with clean , dry , uncrowded nest boxwood and hencoop will go a prospicient way toward keep on your mountain ’s eggs white . Not only is a pristine , freshly laid egg a thing of beauty , but it can go correctly into a carton and into your fridge , no scouring required .
“ If orchis are found clean , there ’s no need to wash them since it would remove the prime , or cuticle , which is the invisible , protective layer of course obtain on egg , ” Jacob state .
But despite our best efforts , sometimes dirty testis happen . With a small amount of dirt or droppings , you’re able to :
Once you visualize out the ripe ingredients , getting good egg from a small layer flock really does n’t take that much time and effort on a day-after-day footing .
In fact , it ’s a curiosity more people do n’t keep wimp , present that new - from - the - cage eggs look and savour so much better than store - bought . As Golson has discovered , the straightforward formula for optimum egg yield has changed little over the years .
“ I have a favorite book , first published in 1895 , called The Biggle Poultry Book , which pass on advice for the ‘ urban hennery , ’ ” she say . “ It used to be that most everyone had a few biddy in their backyard to ply eggs for the board . The advice that worked then is just as good now : Provide a unafraid protection , access to a yard and sunlight , good nutrient , and keep it sporty . That ’s it ! ”
