When you are trying to raise some laying hens, you must ensure the best possible diet. You will need the best laying mesh so the chickens can produce healthy eggs all the time.
But what is laying Mash for chickens? And what makes this feed so unique? If you are feeling a little overwhelmed, don’t worry, we have got your back.
In this article, we will discuss everything about this specially formulated feed. By the time you finish reading it, you will become an expert without any doubt!
So without wasting much time, let’s get started!
What is laying mash for chickens?
Laying Mash is a diet that is made for promoting egg production to a great extent. When you use this feed for your laying hens, the eggshells will be more robust, and the yolks will be richer than usual. Moreover, your hens will always be in their prime condition, which is good news!
What are the ingredients of laying mash?
Just like the scratch feed, the laying mashes are also grain-based. However, it contains ingredients such as bone, meat scrap, and limestone.
These components are full of calcium and protein, and these nutrients are essential for hens to stay healthy while laying eggs.
Moreover, this diet also boosts the rate o egg production and enhances their quality. Therefore, feeding this meal to your coup will be a wise choice for nurturing the laying hens.
What are the benefits of laying mash?
Well, many of you may ask, is laying mash good for chickens? The answer is positive; this feed offers tons of benefits for your birds.
To keep the laying hens healthy is not the only goal of this feed. There are some excellent benefits you will get if you choose this diet for your egg-producing chicken.
Let’s take a look at the advantages this feed has to offer. What is laying mash for chickens?
• Increased egg production
When you are satisfied with egg production or your birds, you can start feeding them laying mash. It doesn’t matter if you are serving the homemade or store-bought ones; as long as they live on this specifically formulated diet, you will enjoy an optimal amount of production.
However, your birds will still produce eggs, but the amount won’t be promising. Therefore, if you want some radical changes, you can try this feed for a better experience.
• Make the eggshell strong
One of the significant benefits of using laying Mash is that this diet will make the eggshell stronger than ever. In this way, there will be minimum shell breakage which is pretty impressive!
When the shell is sturdy, you can easily gather them. Consequently, you can assemble a large number of eggs in one place without causing damages.
Furthermore, the eggs need to be strong enough to go through the setting period. So if you want to have a healthy hatching process, you should invest in laying Mash.
• You can feed the roosters too.
Keeping the chickens in different pens can cause some behavioral issues. But when the roosters and laying hens are on the same pen, feeding them separately will be impossible.
However, you can serve to lay mash to roosters without any trouble. They will have more incredible health benefits too; there is no doubt about that! So if you want to complete the feeding process effortlessly, you can try this method.
How can I make laying mash at home?
You can purchase pre-made laying feed from reputed brands. In this way, you can save time and energy! However, if you want to save some money, you can make this meal at home!
Here is what you need for every 250lbs of laying mash.
- Thirty pounds of Soybean Meal
- Thirty pounds of Alfalfa leaf meal
- One hundred and fifty pounds of mixed grain meal
- Thirty pounds of meat scraps or fish meal
- Three and a half pounds of dicalcium phosphate
- Six pounds of ground limestone
- One and a fourth pounds of salt
While mixing the grains, you need to take ingredients such as corn, rye, and barley. Additionally, you should always mix different types of components to fulfill the carbohydrate and mineral needs!
The fish meal or meat scrap will add the protein boost to the laying mash, and the limestone will make sure that the hens are getting enough minerals. By mixing all these ingredients, you will make some delicious feed for your precious birds.
How to store laying mash?
You may already know that the chickens are picky eaters! Hence, if any meal goes bad, they will never try to eat it!
To prevent this situation, you have to store the feed in an airtight container. You can use a large trash can and tightly seal it after keeping the feed inside it. When you ensure that the container is moisture-free, you won’t have to worry about spoiling the meal.
Moreover, you need to make sure that the storage space is entirely rat-free! In this way, you can keep your hens healthy from contaminated rat diseases.
Is laying mash suitable for Chicks?
What is laying mash for chickens? As laying chickens need more calcium for egg formation, these feeds are enriched with this component. It contains 2.5-3.5 percent of calcium than regular meals. On the other hand, the growing chicks will only require 1.2% calcium in their food.
So if you feed your chicks an excessive amount of calcium, they will suffer from kidney damages. Therefore, you have to feed your birds according to their age to maintain their optimal health condition.
Can we feed layer pellets instead of laying mash?
Yes, you can feed layer pellets as an alternative to laying mash. If the feed comes with 16% of protein of the total amount, this can e fed to the laying hens.
However, the pellets are more expensive than the Mash. So if you can afford it, you can use it to feed your coup.
The Bottom Line
So did you learn what is laying mash for chickens? Well, we know you did because we have covered all the detail about this excellent chicken feed so you can have a better understanding!
Hopefully, after reading this article, you will never have any trouble making the right decisions about your laying hens. And that was our goal.