Chicken Litter - Can Your Choice Improve Your Chickens Egg Yield?
Choosing the right form of chicken litter is important to the overall health and wellbeing of your livestock. One of the main reasons why people decide to keep chickens is the appeal of having fresh, organic eggs, as well as watching chickens roaming round your garden.
Selecting the right form of chicken litter, will make caring for your pets easier and can help to improve your chickens' egg yield. This is because a chicken's egg production is heavily influenced by stress of all kinds, including health, comfort and security.
Here we shall explain how to use chicken bedding to improve the health and comfort of your chickens, and how the buying the right chicken bedding/litter can improve the productivity of your livestock, so you can enjoy the delights of fresh eggs from your own produce.
Chicken Litter - click here to buy our universal bedding from our online shop
1. Keep Nesting Boxes Dry
Nesting boxes need to be warm, dry and comfortable to encourage hens to lay. Brooding hens should also be left to their own devices as much as possible as they get stressed if they are regularly disturbed or moved (i.e. during the cleaning out process).
The best form of chicken bedding is one that is highly absorbent and long lasting, so that the nesting box does not require frequent cleaning. SmartBedz is a highly effective form of chicken litter that swells on contact with moisture, then breaks down to create a soft bed to keep your chicken clean and dry.
By using SmartBedz, nesting boxes can be spot cleaned by taking away the soiled pellets and replacing them with new ones. This causes the least disruption for your chickens as a complete clean out is needed less often.
As SmartBedz is entirely made of straw with the dust extracted it is safe for the chickens to peck at.
2. Keep Coop Floors Odour Free
The coop floor should have sufficient chicken litter to absorb moisture and keep odours at bay. The chicken litter needs to be effective as it will be frequently soiled with chicken droppings, especially in the areas under the perches.
SmartBedz pellets can swell up to four times their size on contact with moisture, so it keeps coop floors dry. It also works as an odour suppressant which creates a better environment for your chickens - and is much more pleasant for owners to clean.
3. Minimise Human Intrusion
Keeping human intervention to a minimum will mean more relaxed chickens and a better egg yield.
To keep your chickens clean and healthy, it is recommended to use 2 cm of SmartBedz on coop floors and in nesting boxes.
In between thorough cleanouts just remove the wet pellets and replenish these with new ones. A scoop with 11 - 12 mm holes is recommended so the dry pellets will fall back through to minimise wastage. Then turn over the remaining litter and perhaps top up with more fresh pellets if needed.
Using SmartBedz in this way cuts down on more thorough cleanouts which is much less disruptive for your livestock.
4. Keep Chickens Disease Free
Chickens can be prone to a range of different diseases and health problems such as lice, worms and red mite infestations. If you are thinking of keeping chickens, there is a need for ongoing monitoring and vaccinations against serious conditions (such as bronchitis, Marek?s disease and fowl box).
SmartBedz helps prevent the introduction of mites and lice which can be found in untreated hay and straw. This is because SmartBedz has been heat treated before it is compressed into pellets. This works to kill mites and bacteria to improve the long term health of your livestock.
5. Other Ways to Minimise Stress and Health Problems
Diet - it is important to give your chicken the correct diet as healthy and happy hens lay better eggs. If you have chicks, these need to start off with 'chick crumbs' until they are 6 - 7 weeks old and can move onto pellets or growers mash. Generally a chicken will lay eggs at 16 - 18 weeks old when they should be fed 'layers pellets'.
You can give your chickens corn and mixed corn - but only as an occasional treat. They also need grit to keep their stomachs healthy. This is a good source of calcium carbonate for egg production. You can provide the grit separately by placing it in feeder bowls, or often it is included in the feed. Grit will improve the size of the eggs and their shells and the chickens will regulate their own intake.
Security - The right chicken coop and run will keep your chickens safe from predators and away from bad weather conditions.
A chicken that feels alarmed or in distress will lay fewer eggs or in some cases can stop laying altogether.
A coop is traditionally made from wood, although it can be made from recycled plastic. It should also give chickens space for exercise and natural behaviours, but they must feel safe and protected in their environment.
You can have either a standalone coop with an outdoor exercise space ideally enclosed by wire mesh pen high enough to prevent attack by foxes. You can also have an integrated design which has an enclosed pen with overhead cover. This outdoor pen can be wire netting in a wooden frame.
If you can, make sure the pen house is a few inches higher than the ground to protect from damp conditions. Make sure the design allows enough space for egg collection and cleanouts with the minimum of disruption.
A well designed coop should have nesting boxes and perches. Also keep your chickens topped up with a good supply of food and fresh water at all times. A good chicken litter will keep them comfortable and secure.
SmartBedz is the perfect chicken litter/bedding as it contributes to the overall health and happiness of your pets by keeping them warm, dry and healthy.
Chicken Litter - click here to buy our universal bedding from our online shop