The Essentials for maximising your chickens egg production:
Water and environment:
Chickens must always have access to fresh water. Make sure they have access to fresh, clean water in a large enough container so that they can all drink at the same time. Regularly check the waterer to make sure it is clean and debris-free.
The coop needs to be tidy, dry, and draft-free. Give the chickens perches to rest on and nesting boxes filled with clean bedding materials like straw or wood shavings. Make sure the coop has enough room for all the chickens to move around without feeling cramped. This is essential part in keeping hens warm and therefore happy and healthy. Hens who are unhappy in their environment are likely to go off the lay.
Nutrition is important:
Providing a balanced diet isn’t as easy as it looks. Chickens require quality sources of protein and energy to be productive with calcium being the most essential element in egg production. Fortunately, there are plenty of premade chicken feed blends you can purchase at your local fodders store or online. Chicken blends can be a grain or pellet and are an excellent way to fulfil nutritional requirements. Accompanied with your standard chicken feeds, you an give them a mix of commercial food, leftovers from the kitchen, and treats like mealworms or seeds. Chickens may become ill and produce fewer eggs if you feed them spoiled or mouldy food, so it is essential you take note in what food scraps you give them.
Regular egg collection:
To keep your eggs from deteriorating or becoming dirty, collect them at least once a day. Eggs that are dirty or cracked should be thrown away because they are unfit for consumption. In addition, prompt egg collection motivates hens to lay more eggs. If you are struggling to get your hens to lay in a particular location, put fake nesting eggs down in the desired spot. Hens like to lay in with existing clutches and will take to ceramic eggs easily.
Monitor health regularly:
Mites, lice, worms, and illnesses can cause stress and discomfort in chickens, resulting in decreased (or cease of) egg production. These pests can also spread disease and weaken the immune system of chickens. It is essential that chicken owners monitor hens overall wellbeing. Healthy hens have bright red combs, lustrous feathers, smooth legs (not scaly) and an alert behaviour.
