Southern CHICKENS

Medicated Feeds

Medicated poultry feeds, which typically contain a coccidiostat and/or an antibiotic, are available. Coccidiosis can be hard to control through sanitation practices alone. Chickens benefit from being fed a coccidiostat at low levels. Mature chickens develop a resistance to coccidiosis if allowed to contract a mild infection of the disease. Chickens raised for replacement can be fed a coccidiostat-containing feed for the first 16 weeks of life. The medicated feed should then be switched to a nonmedicated feed.

Medicated feeds are not typically fed to laying hens. Examples of coccidiostats added to poultry diets include monensin, lasalocid, amprolium, and salinomycin. Examples of antibiotics added to feed include bacitracin, chlortetracycline, and oxytetracycline. Be sure to check the feed label for any warnings concerning the medication used in the feeds. Monensin, for example, can be toxic to horses.

Feeding and Storage

The way the chickens are fed is as important as the feed itself. Supply enough feeder space for all the chickens to eat at one time. With limited feeder space, some chickens do not get enough to eat. Place the feeders so that the trough is at the level of the chickens' backs. This will reduce feed spillage. If bantams and large fowl are being fed from the same feeder, adjust the feeder to the height of the bantams.

Feed should not be stored for more than two months. It is also important to keep it in dry, cool place. Old feed can lose its nutritional value and is susceptible to mold.

Replacement Pullets

The manner in which a pullet is raised to sexual maturity will have a lasting effect on the productive life of the hen. Pullets are grown to reach a certain body weight at a specific age. Many of the problems that occur in a laying flock can be traced back to insufficient body weight during the growing period.

Commercially raised pullets receive three diets during the growing phase: starter, grower, and developer. Most feed stores sell only one or two types of feeds for raising replacement pullets.

FEEDPROTEIN LEVEL (%)AGE OF BIRDSFEED INTAKE/10 BIRDS/ AGE PERIOD

Chick starter20-220-6 weeks20-29 lbs

Pullet grower14-166-20 weeks120-130 lbs

Layer15-1820 weeks on18-24 lbs/week

All purpose*16All ages 

* Feed if only a single feed is available, and use during the entire growing period.

Laying Hens

Once your chickens start laying eggs (around 20 weeks of age) they should be switched to a layer feed. Layer feeds are formulated for chickens laying table eggs (those used for human consumption). Broiler feeds are formulated for those chickens producing hatching eggs (breeders). The diets are basically the same, but the breeder diets typically have slightly more protein and are fortified with extra vitamins for proper embryo development.

Laying hens require large amounts of calcium for eggshells. Laying mashes typically contain 2.5% to 3.5% calcium. Growing chickens require only 1.2% calcium in their feed. If you feed high-calcium diets to growing chickens, kidney damage can result. It may also be necessary to supplement the diet of laying hens with ground oyster shell on a free-choice basis. Some high-producing laying hens may require the extra calcium that the oyster shell provides. Monitor the quality of eggshells to determine whether or not you need supplemental oyster shell. If hens produce eggs with thin shells or shells that are easily cracked, oyster shell supplementation might help.

Layer diets should contain at least 14% protein to ensure continued egg production. Layer diets that contain 16% protein are more common.

Molting

Each year chickens molt (lose older feathers) and grow new ones. Hens typically stop egg production until after the molt is completed. There is considerable variability in the timing and duration of a molt. "Late molters" lay for 12 to 14 months before molting, whereas "early molters" can begin to molt after only a few months in production. Early molters drop only a few feathers at a time and can take up to six months to complete the molt. Late molters shed feathers more quickly, over two to three months. With late molters, the loss of feathers and their replacement take place at the same time. This enables hens to return to full production sooner.

There are many physiological changes in a chicken during the nonproductive molting period. There is a significant loss of body weight, 25% of which is due to the regression of the reproductive tract to the pullet state. The remainder of the weight loss is attributed to loss of body fat, feathers, liver tissues, musculature, and skeleton. The regression of the reproductive tract plays a significant role in the improvement of egg quality in the second production cycle:  egg production levels, shell thickness, and egg quality improve after a molt.

In past practices, a producer would induce a molt in a flock by removing feed. Some refer to this practice as fasting, but because of the perception that feed removal is equivalent to starving the chickens, many countries now prohibit fasting as a means of initiating a molt. In the 1960s, researchers studied "low nutrient" molt diets. The diets were meant to be full-fed, but the reduction of dietary protein, calcium, or other critical nutrients reduced egg production to less than 5% and induced a molt. After the molt, the improvements to egg production appeared to be comparable to those of chickens induced to molt through fasting.

Possible methods for inducing a rest without withholding feed include feeding wheat middlings, a diet that combines wheat middlings and corn, a corn-gluten feed, soy hulls, or alfalfa. The postmolt production levels achieved when using these alternative feeds is lower than those achieved after inducing a molt through feed withdrawal, but the are nonetheless acceptable. Any molting procedure should cause the entire flock to rapidly go out of production, keep the flock out of production until it has had an adequate rest period, and rapidly bring the flock back into production after the rest.