Feeding and Nutrition

Components of Feed for Chickens

The principal components of the ration for chickens comprise: Energy, Protein, Vitamins and minerals, and Water.

Energy Rich Feeds

Energy feeds are the most important feeds to maintain body temperature and exercise levels of the birds. Cereals, grain, roots, and tubers are the most important energy feeds. Examples of energy feeds are cereals like maize and its by-products (maize bran, madeya), rice and its by-products (bran, polishing, but not the husks), cassava, millet, cooked sweet potato, plantain and bananas. Roots and tubers like cassava should be soaked in water for 60 minutes or cooked before drying to remove harmful substances, and the proportion in the diet in general kept below 10%. Fat is also a good source of energy. However, fat should only be given in small amounts, i.e. less than 10% of the total diet.

Protein Rich Feeds

Protein is needed for growth and keeping up a good health status. Protein may come from either animal sources or plants. Examples of protein-rich local feeds are: Beans and peas such as cowpea, pigeon pea, chickpea, mung bean, garden pea, groundnut, soy bean and sunflower.

Fish meal, fish scraps (low quality usipa etc), meat meal, bone meal, and blood meal are also excellent sources of protein. All except blood meal are valuable sources of calcium and phosphorus. Other protein rich feeds which are available to free-range chickens include maggots, termites and termite eggs, insects, worms, and meat scraps.

Minerals

Minerals are important for bone formation, egg-shell formation and a good health status. The most important minerals are calcium and phosphorus. To produce strong shells for their eggs, laying hens need access to calcium (limestone or crushed shells), and adult birds are usually able to balance their intake according to needs.

Examples of sources for minerals are: MCP (mono-calcium phosphate), DCP (di-calcium phosphate), bone meal, crushed shells, snail shells, and roasted egg-shells.

Using bone meal or crushed egg-shells is a good way of balancing the calcium and phosphorus levels. Egg-shells should always be scorched or cooked before use in diets to kill any disease germs and to remove the smell of eggs.

 Vitamins

Poultry need a good source of vitamins, particularly vitamins A and D. Lack of these vitamins leads to egg deformities and poor growth. Fish oil is one source of these vitamins. Sprouting grains and many green plants are a source of vitamin A. Scavenging chickens usually get enough vitamins from their surroundings, especially during the wet season and where there is ample green growth around.

Premixes

A 'premix' is the term given to a commercially manufactured mixture of vitamins, salts and minerals which is added to the diet in small amounts (about 0.3% of the ration). It is common to provide a premix to the ration of chickens which are enclosed full-time. The cost of premix is high but the quantity added is low.

For scavenging chickens, premixes are not usually necessary because they get sufficient quantities of these vitamins, salts and minerals from their surroundings.

Avoid sudden changes in diet. When necessary, make a gradual change from one diet to another over 4-5 days.

Care of Young Chicks

After 21 days of incubation fertile eggs will hatch. Many free-range poultry keepers let young chicks follow the mother hen out in the open immediately after hatching. The result is very high chick mortality during the first weeks of age, mainly due to predation by eagles and snakes, drowning, from road accidents or general chick exhaustion. Although village chickens are much better than commercial breeds at mothering, newly hatched chicks need special care during their first 4-6 weeks of life.

If possible, hens with young chicks should be housed separately from the flock, especially where raised houses prevent chicks from entering. The mother hen should be with the chicks full-time for the first week of their lives. Young chicks have limited scavenging ability. They should be given supplementary feed separately from other chickens.

The illustration above shows a temporary house where the chicks but not the mother can enter. If the mother hen is separated from the chicks l, there is more opportunity for her to mate and start the process of reproduction sooner. There is obvious advantage in minimising the time between clutches of eggs and thereby maximising the number of clutches hatched per year.

The feed for chicks should be of a soft or coarsely ground consistency. Maize, rice and other grains should be crushed or pounded and/or soaked for an hour or so in water before being offered to young chicks, to enhance their digestibility.

Feeders and Waterers

Young chicks should be given access to clean water at all times. Water should be placed in a container of a height and depth suitable for their size since they can easily drown in drinking water. Placing small stones in the drinking water is sometimes used to prevent accidental drowning.

There are commercially available feeders and waterers, usually made of plastic. A home-made wooden feed trough can also be used. The total amount of feeder space should be such that most (75%) of the birds in the flock can feed at the one time.

• Avoid excess spillage of feed. Do not overfill the feeder - usually about half full is sufficient.
• Give chickens access to clean water at all times.
• An old tyre split into two makes a good waterer with good accessibility. Otherwise a solid, heavy shallow container should be used. At least half of the birds in the flock should be able to drink at the one time.

Nesting Boxes

Provision of clean nests in the right places assists in ensuring quality eggs and makes them easier to find. It is advisable to provide sufficient nests for all hens in a flock, to avoid hens choosing places for nesting where the eggs cannot be found, are exposed to bad weather, or are easily accessible to predators.

Locally available items such as baskets, boxes, buckets or similar containers can be used for nests. Pad the containers with clean, dry nesting material (e.g. leaves, straw, old cloth or even sand) to help to keep the eggs warm and minimise the risk of breakage or contamination.