08/02/2021
How to Increase Egg Production of Your Poultry:
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If you are thinking of starting a livestock farm to raise chicken for eggs production, you have to keep in mind something. You need to have a clear knowledge about the production capabilities of your flocks.
You must be aware of how to gauge the number of eggs that your flocks can produce and obviously the factors that are affecting the egg production rate. You have to identify the hens, which are laying and the hens, which are not laying eggs. When you have all knowledge be sure that you are prepared for starting a successful livestock business.
Egg Production Expectation
A hen lays only one egg in a day, and in some days it may not lay any egg at all. It totally depends on the hen’s reproductive system. A hen body start to form a new egg after it has laid the previous egg. It takes about 26 hours to form an egg fully, so mathematically a hen will lay its next egg two hours late each day, the reproductive system of a hen also sensitive to light exposure.
So if a hen lays egg too late in a day it will skip the next day.
A flock of hens do not start laying on the same day. They also do not lay eggs for the same period of time. The time period that a hen will produce eggs varies from hen to hen. The egg level of egg production decreases each year and the size of the eggs increases.
The number of eggs that a hen produces each year and the number of years that a hen produces eggs depends on some factors:
Management of pullets prior to lay
Breed
Light management
Space allowances
Nutrition
Factors that Affect Egg Production of Poultry:
There are many factors that directly or in directly affects the egg production rate. To know these factors we need to do a research on the history of hens. The factors like aging, feed consumption, water, intensity and duration of light, diseases etc affects the production of eggs.
Aging hens:
Aging is a big problem in egg production. A hen can live many years and it lays eggs continuously for these years. But after a sudden period of time like 2 or 3 years it’s egg production rate significantly reduces.
It actually depends on the quality of hens that you are raising. Good layers lay eggs continuously for about 50 to 60 weeks then it takes a break. This time period is called molt. Poor and older layers more often molt and lay eggs less continuously.
Improper Nutrition:
Chickens need a balanced diet with enough level of protein and calcium to continue the maximum egg production over a certain period of time. Improper nutrition can make the hens to stop laying eggs. Imbalanced level of protein, energy and calcium can drop the egg production. That’s why it is so important to supply a continuous balanced food to get a continuous supply of eggs.
Imbalanced food can cause many problems like oviductal prolapse. It mainly occurs when the birds are too fat or the egg size is too large. Prolapse can cause permanent damage to the hens.
Rejecting important feed ingredients:
Another important factor that makes you hens to lay eggs occasionally is the subtraction of important food ingredients.
Salt: Every animal needs salt. If you subtract salt from the food list it will reduce the egg production rate. Most of the animal’s food contains salt in the form of sodium chloride. It doesn’t contain any iodine.
Sodium is an important nutrient which plays an important role in maintaining the body fluid volume, proper osmotic relation and blood ph. Chlorine is also an important ingredient. HCl which release from stomach helps to digest food. Chlorine also maintains the osmotic balance in body fluid.
Calcium:
The egg shell of hens is mainly composed of calcium carbonate. New hens need relatively a low amount of calcium at their growing period but when it start to lay eggs, it needs more calcium about four times relative to previous days. Inadequate calcium supply will lead to reduce egg production rate.
Calcium can be supplied with the food. Limestone is a great source of calcium. You can mix it with the food you supply to your hens.
Vitamin D:
Vitamin D is needed for the absorption of calcium. If improper vitamin D is supplied with the food ingredient it will result in decreased egg production. Feed contains vitamin D in two forms D3 and D2. In birds D3 is more active than D2. So you have to supply vitamin D only in the form of D3.
Protein: The requirement of protein is actually the requirement of amino acid which constitute the protein.
There are about 22 types of amino acid in body protein and all of them are essential. Hens can’t produce all of them and also can’t produce enough to meet their requirement. So poultry farmers need to supply extra protein with the supplied food. The requirement of amino acid depends on the age, type and strain.
Management mistakes:
Improper management system can also reduce egg production. Some mistakes that the farmers often does are:
Out of food is one of them. If you keep your hens out of food it will reduce its egg production. The reduction of egg production depends on the time without food. Make sure that your birds have enough supply of foods.
Water is also an essential element.
Water represents about 70% of body weight. Inadequate water supply can also reduce egg production. Birds are more sensitive to water than food.
Daylight is also a great factor which controls the production of eggs. Hens need at least 14 hours of daylight. The intensity of light must be sufficient to increase egg production.
