Laying Hens

A healthy diet for your hens means healthy eggs for you and your customers. Deep golden yolks. Firm egg whites. Great flavour. Free-range hens fed organic layer mash tend to be healthy birds and lay colourful, tasty eggs. The vitamins and minerals in the feed lead to nutritious eggs. Chicken starter, chicken grower and layer mash are formulated to meet the nutritional needs of chicks and hens, and to maintain high levels of egg production. Inadequate nutrition at any stage of life can reduce the lifetime egg output of a hen.

Choosing the breed

Although the White Leghorn is often considered the most efficient and economical egg producer, many organic farmers prefer other types of chickens, often dual-purpose breeds such as Barred Rocks, Australorps or Rhode Island Reds. These breeds lay brown eggs and are heavier and slightly less productive than Leghorns. The dual-purpose breeds eat more than Leghorns, and it is possible for them to become overweight if allowed to eat feed free choice and not be permitted to range. If allowed to free-range however, these breeds are good foragers. They will supplement their diet with plants and insects, leading to lower feed intake, and they will get sufficient exercise to avoid obesity.

Establishing a feeding plan

Feed requirements vary depending on the breed. The following table provides general recommendations for brown-egg laying hens of a dual-purpose breed. White Leghorn hens require approximately 10% less feed.

Chicken starter is fed for the first six weeks of life. After that, the feeding program is fairly flexible. Either chicken grower or finisher can be fed from 6 weeks until the birds start laying (e.g. 20 weeks), or chicken grower can be fed for the stage of 6-14 weeks and chicken finisher from 14 weeks to maturity. If the layers are being raised together with the broilers, then they can follow the same feeding program as the broilers to simplify feeding. Start the layer mash when the hens first start laying, or at 20 weeks of age (whichever is first).

Feeding program for laying birds from chicks to hens

Based on data from Nutrient Requirements of Poultry. 9^th Ed. USA National Academy of Sciences. 1994. Note that free-ranging organically fed birds will have both lower rates of feed consumption and slower rates of growth.

*Feed is provided free choice at all stages of life.

Give the chicks and hens as much feed as they want. Provide small amounts of feed at least 3-4 times a day. Wait until the feed is finished before giving new feed. The amount they consume may vary with the seasons, but they should always be provided with ample amounts of feed. In the winter, feed requirements may increase due to cold weather and lack of foraging. When the birds moult, it is particularly important not to cut back feed. They may not be laying eggs at this time, but they need the nutrients to produce more feathers and to stay in good health.

Protein levels

The protein needs of the birds vary during their lives. Newly hatched chicks need high levels of protein to achieve fast growth; they are fed chicken starter with 19-20% protein. Older chicks are fed chicken grower with 17-18% protein and later, they are sometimes fed chicken finisher with 15-16% protein. Laying hens will perform well on a layer mash with 16% protein. Some farmers may choose an 18% layer mash for pullets (20-35 weeks of age) when the birds are putting nutrients into both eggs and growth. In the second half of their first laying year, the farmers will reduce the protein level to 16% and they will be fed the 16% layer mash for the rest of their lives.