Energy is required for body maintenance, growth and egg production.
Carbohydrates and/or fats are energy sources that are found in cereal grains (for example, wheat, maize and sorghum), and full-fat soybean meal.
Protein is required for the replacement of body cells, growth (including feathers), and egg production.
Meat, soybean meal, peas, lupin and skim milk powder are good sources of protein.
Vitamins, minerals and trace elements for health: only small amounts are needed.
Apart from their main nutrient requirements, poultry also need access to clean, fresh water and plenty of it.
Water should always be available and should be cool, clean and not salty.
Each chicken needs a cup or two (half a liter) of fresh water daily.
If deprived of water they will stop 'laying'.
Food scraps from your kitchen can be fed to your chickens but make sure you never let it become rotten or the chickens could get botulism, which may be fatal.
Never feed tea leaves, coffee grounds, rhubarb leaves, soap, salt or salted products.
Vegetable peelings are not as nutritious, but can provide green feed, especially at times when you do not have any green grass.
Most need to be cooked except leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce and cabbage.
Hens love all kinds of seeds such as capsicum and tomato.
Unless you use organic produce make sure you always wash your fruit and vegetables before you or your hens eat them.
Chickens are small birds and a relatively small amount of poison could kill them.
Green feed is are a very important part of your chickens' diet.
It makes the yolks of their eggs more yellow, as well as providing extra protein, vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, manganese and riboflavin.
A large number of diseases to which hens are prone can be prevented by adequate green feed and sunshine.
Poultry also need a source of insoluble grit with which they refill the grinding stones of the gizzard.
Hard grit is necessary to help the fowl to grind up its feed, especially if it is fed on whole grains and is essential to the digestion process.
Laying hens need lots of calcium for shell building otherwise their eggs will be thin and crack easily.
Shell grit provides calcium for the hens and should be fed once a week to hens not fed on pellets as calcium is included in commercially prepared feeds.
Carbohydrates and/or fats are energy sources that are found in cereal grains (for example, wheat, maize and sorghum), and full-fat soybean meal.
Protein is required for the replacement of body cells, growth (including feathers), and egg production.
Meat, soybean meal, peas, lupin and skim milk powder are good sources of protein.
Vitamins, minerals and trace elements for health: only small amounts are needed.
Apart from their main nutrient requirements, poultry also need access to clean, fresh water and plenty of it.
Water should always be available and should be cool, clean and not salty.
Each chicken needs a cup or two (half a liter) of fresh water daily.
If deprived of water they will stop 'laying'.
Food scraps from your kitchen can be fed to your chickens but make sure you never let it become rotten or the chickens could get botulism, which may be fatal.
Never feed tea leaves, coffee grounds, rhubarb leaves, soap, salt or salted products.
Vegetable peelings are not as nutritious, but can provide green feed, especially at times when you do not have any green grass.
Most need to be cooked except leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce and cabbage.
Hens love all kinds of seeds such as capsicum and tomato.
Unless you use organic produce make sure you always wash your fruit and vegetables before you or your hens eat them.
Chickens are small birds and a relatively small amount of poison could kill them.
Green feed is are a very important part of your chickens' diet.
It makes the yolks of their eggs more yellow, as well as providing extra protein, vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, manganese and riboflavin.
A large number of diseases to which hens are prone can be prevented by adequate green feed and sunshine.
Poultry also need a source of insoluble grit with which they refill the grinding stones of the gizzard.
Hard grit is necessary to help the fowl to grind up its feed, especially if it is fed on whole grains and is essential to the digestion process.
Laying hens need lots of calcium for shell building otherwise their eggs will be thin and crack easily.
Shell grit provides calcium for the hens and should be fed once a week to hens not fed on pellets as calcium is included in commercially prepared feeds.
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