Most farmers and small farm owners, acquiring a thoroughbred chicken, assume that it is not necessary to feed it in a special way. Ostensibly the usual compound feed for hens will create and normalize the conditions of feeding. In fact, this is not the case, it is necessary to feed, as the body of the bird requires.
It also happens that in the village someone prefers to breed turkeys, and all the rest - only laying hens. So the owners of turkeys have to use compound feed for chicken. It would seem that there is nothing bad in this, everything is normal, the bird does not die, but there is practically no benefit from such food for turkeys. The thing is that the compound feed for laying hens contains an insufficient number of nutrients for the turkey. Consequently, it does not absorb energy, and hence the decline in productivity.
If we talk about young individuals, this difference in nutrition is still palpable. This is due to the physiology of each bird species. With age, the body's need for nutrients changes: the youngest hens are converted to mixed feed with less nutritional value, but at the same time they increase the amount of calcium and raw fiber in order to prepare the hen for productive later life. The transition to a new feed for chickens helps to stop their early sexual maturation, finally form a skeleton, gain weight. By itself, cellulose promotes the active development of the gastrointestinal tract. Young turkeys grow at a very high rate, which is why their nutritional needs are higher. And buying food separately for chickens and turkeys is expensive. Therefore, you can go only one more or less rational way, where the feed for laying is taken as a basis.
If we compare chickens and ducks, in the diet which has mixed feed, then you can see: the ducks do not have enough exchange energy and raw protein. In the summer they get offspring, their diet can include such feed (as for laying hens). Part of what they lack, they replenish due to root crops and unstable greens. Favorite dainty delicacy is duckweed. The situation is different in the winter time: then it is necessary to add back, peas, meat-and-bone flour to the mixed fodder . Also it is necessary to include in their diet boiled potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, cabbage, steamed hay meal. The reverse is excellent as a dilution of dry food, which, in turn, helps reduce costs for them. If a whole grain goes to the ducks, then it will be better to germinate it. Such feed is given at the beginning of egg production. According to experts, sprouted grain helps to improve the quality of eggs during the incubation period. It is also worth noting that if the bird is kept in a room where a strong change in temperature conditions is observed, then the amount of feed should be increased by 20%.
Sometimes people do not know where to buy mixed fodder for chickens. Many people have the question: "Maybe it's better to make the compound feed yourself?" If the farm is of medium size, you can buy a small grain crusher or make it and independently produce mixed fodder for chicken. To do this, you should study the special literature to know exactly the dosage, so that your living creature is well fed and healthy.