Attention! They Are Stealing Your Benefits Quietly
Publish Time: 2025-05-12
—— Analysis of factors affecting the feeding amount of laying hensIn laying hen production, farms often report high feeding amount due to lack of understanding of their own breeding breeds and technical indicators, and cannot correctly judge and analyze problems. The many factors affecting the feeding amount of laying hens are summarized as follows:1. The feeding amount of different breeds varies greatlyFor the same brown-shelled laying hens, the feeding amount of Hailan Brown, Isa Brown, Roman Brown, and Jinghong No. 1 is also different. In addition, due to the irresponsibility of some egg breeder farms or chicken dealers and the difficulty in identifying breeds, "universal chickens" often appear, that is, they sell whatever breed the customer wants. They clearly buy Jinghong No. 1 with a lower feeding amount, but they don't understand because they actually raise Roman Brown with a higher feeding amount, and even complain to the feed factory.2. Environmental factors① Different seasons, different cold and heat protection conditions in chicken houses, will affect the feed intake of laying hensIn a suitable environment (13-23℃), the temperature decreases, the energy required by chickens increases, and the feed intake increases; otherwise, the feed intake decreases. At 23-34℃, the feed intake decreases by 1-1.5 grams/day/bird for every 1℃ increase in temperature; if the high temperature reaches 32-36℃, the feed intake decreases by 4.2 grams/day/bird for every 1℃ increase in temperature.In winter, the chicken house is large, dark and damp, and the insulation is poor, so the feed intake is bound to be high; while in summer, the open and semi-open chicken houses with poor heat protection and cooling conditions have high temperatures in the house, and the feed intake is bound to be low. The chickens are prone to negative nutritional balance, which is difficult to maintain during the peak period, and even leads to "repaying the debt after autumn".②The microenvironment in the chicken house affects the feed intake of laying hensIn an environment with poor ventilation, excessive carbon dioxide and ammonia, especially in winter when ventilation is neglected for heat preservation, the health level and egg-laying performance of the flock will decline, and the feed intake will also be low. Under the same temperature conditions, the ventilation volume is large (high wind speed), the chickens dissipate heat faster, the body temperature is lower, and the feed intake of the flock is naturally higher.3. Factors such as own weight and production performance① Chickens with large weight must have high feed intakeIn a suitable ambient temperature, the energy needs of laying hens can be estimated according to this formula: kcal/day.Feed intake = W (140-2T) + 2E + 5△W.W is the weight of the laying hen at that time, in kilograms; T is the average ambient temperature, in degrees Celsius; E is the average daily egg production of a single hen (g), which is the egg production rate% × average egg weight (g); △W is the average weight gain (especially chickens before 35 weeks, which consume more energy due to rapid weight gain).According to the above evaluation formula, if we take 32-week-old chickens as an example: the house temperature is 18℃, the egg production rate is 90%, the average egg weight is 60 grams, and the weight gain is 3 grams per day (about 2-3 grams/day), we compare chickens weighing 1.9 kg and 1.5 kg. If both use feed with an energy of 2650 kcal/kg, the feed intake of the larger chicken is 121 grams, which is more than 3 cents more than the 105.3 grams of the smaller chicken.
But don't have the wrong idea that chickens with smaller weight consume less feed and have higher efficiency. In reality, the average weight of the chickens with larger weight will be better than the chickens with smaller weight in terms of egg production rate, egg weight, and health status. Chickens with too small weight not only have poor egg production performance, but also are prone to hair loss, and the weight of the eliminated chickens is small, which is not conducive to generating higher economic benefits.② Chickens with good egg production performance have high feed intakeIf the above conditions are a flock of chickens weighing 2 kg, one has an egg production rate of 95% and an average egg weight of 66 grams; the other has an egg production rate of 90% and an average egg weight of 62 grams. Let's make a comparison (the weight gain of a 2 kg chicken is generally negligible). A flock of chickens with an egg production rate of 95% and an average egg weight of 66 grams requires more energy and feed intake (a difference of 5.2 grams/day/hen).4. Nutritional level factors of feed① Feed metabolizable energy is low, and feed intake will be higherUnder the premise of suitable temperature and balanced feed nutrition, laying hens "feed on energy". Under the same conditions, the amount of high-energy balanced diet consumed by the same chicken every day will be lower than the amount of low-energy diet.② The nutritional balance of feed affects feed intakeLaying hens "feed on energy" refers to balanced nutritional diets under suitable temperature conditions. When the temperature is too high, too low or the nutrition is unbalanced, the lever regulation of chickens feeding on energy will be broken. For example, when the levels of crude protein, lysine and methionine are low, chickens will break the limitation of higher metabolic energy of the formula and meet the minimum amino acid needs through higher feed intake, so it is very important to choose high-quality premixes.③The quality of raw materials and the proportion of addition affect the feed intake of laying hensRaw material quality: The content of various nutrients in the raw materials will affect the feed intake of laying hens. Taking energy feed corn as an example, the metabolic energy of 14% and below water content is about 3240 kcal/kg, but the energy of new corn is greatly reduced when the water content is 16-20%. When the addition ratio remains unchanged, the feed intake will increase. In actual work, the water content of corn is above 14%, and for every 1% increase, about 0.3-0.4% of high-quality vegetable oil needs to be added to balance the energy loss. In addition, the bulk density of corn is positively correlated with the energy of corn. Bright, plump, high bulk density, and naturally dried corn without mildew has a high energy value and is more suitable for use.The actual addition ratio of the large formula: The feed intake of laying hens will change if the raw material ratio of the large formula changes. For example, if the formula is changed from 4% corn to 4% bran, the feed metabolic energy will decrease by 64 kcal/kg, and the theoretical feed intake will also increase from 120.8 g/day/hen to 123.7 g/day/hen. 10,000 chickens will eat at least 60 catties more feed every day.5. Regional factorsmy country has a vast territory and the natural conditions vary greatly. This is affected by the annual temperature, temperature difference, and light time, as well as the differences in raw material quality, breeding habits, management level, and nutritional level. The feed intake of laying hens of the same breed in the same period will also vary greatly. It is necessary to analyze it according to the actual local conditions.The feed intake of laying hens is the result of the combined influence of multiple factors. Although the factors are complex, farm owners only need to: select high-quality raw materials and dimension premixes according to the differences in varieties and nutritional standards, and adhere to the dynamic nutrition principle in combination with seasons and production performance. The dimension technical service team will assist you in timely adjusting the large formula to meet nutritional needs, maximize the production potential of excellent varieties, and create greater value. As for feed intake, it is always a reference value for specific situations.
