We are all conscious that our chicks need a different diet, but it is important to be aware of how crucial what you give them in the early stages can impact their future growth, development and laying capacity. For laying pullets, they should have a chick crumb until they are 6 weeks old, with a specially formulated diet comprising of all the essential vitamins and trace minerals.
A hatching chick needs to develop its vital systems – intestine, heart, lungs etc and the skeleton and muscles and then a covering of feathers. Without a healthy intestine, heart and lungs the bird could be compromised for life, so the starting period is key.
The rearing period is equally as important as the starting period, so from approximately 6/7 weeks of age a well-balanced poultry grower should be fed. Optimal levels of amino acids and minerals are required for strong, healthy growth, good skeletal structure and feather development. The chicken has evolved a unique skeletal structure which allows it to make short term withdrawals of calcium from specific bone storage depots for immediate eggshell formation, which are replenished shortly after laying, as part of the daily cycle. These bones develop most rapidly in the mid to late teen weeks of growth and are of vital importance to having a robust a resilient chicken for the years ahead. Investment in rearing nutrition rewards many times over in wellbeing and productivity.
With laying hens, a layer pellet or mash should be fed from up to four weeks before the onset of laying until depletion. Make sure the balance is right between protein and fibre – which is important to keep your hens full and provide good bacteria in the gut.
All our Farmgate layers diets contain the optimum levels of calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D3 that are required for bone strength and good shell quality. In addition to this, other nutrients are balanced to ensure excellent, consistent egg production, egg size and yolk colour. Farmgate’s natural approach to a vibrant colour in our laying diets is from yolk enhancers formulated from natural ingredients using yellow colourant extracted from marigold flowers, onto which we add red pigment extracted from red pepper. As a result, egg yolks will be rich in colour throughout the year.