After the critical brooding stage is completed, your birds will have some changing requirements to their environment, their nutrition, the available feeding and watering space, and even the amount of light provided for them. Layers are genetically programmed to lay a large number of eggs in their lifetime, without becoming too large and requiring lots of feed to maintain big bodies. It is not uncommon among commercial layer varieties to expect between 400 to 500 eggs ‘per hen housed’ through their productive lifetime. The H&N Brown Nick Management Guide is a good source for very detailed information on managing a brown layer flock.

Like broilers, your layers will require close attention to their floor space, feed and water supply. They will also require booster vaccinations on your farm to protect against a couple of disease challenges that can severely impact your birds.

Floor area

Because layers will live in the poultry house for 18 months to as much as 2 years, attention must be paid to many aspects of the house including the floor area. Too many hens in a confined space can result in behavioral issues, however ‘enrichments’ are a good way to keep your hens active, happy and distracted – hay bales, roosts and perches are good additions besides your nesting boxes. The most common layer houses in the Caribbean are conventional houses, some with access to pasture during the day, which increases the available space and the foraging opportunities for your birds.

In our hot Caribbean climate, the recommended stocking density for commercial layers is minimum 2 to 2.5 square feet per layer in open sided conventional pens. More space will contribute to better flock health and egg production.

Feed and Water

Feed and water availability are just as important as quality. Feed should be as fresh as possible and supplied according to guidelines available for the variety. H&N Brown Nick layer daily feed requirements are shown in the table:

Layers should not be forced to grow as fast as possible. The goal is to get to the target body weight at the point of beginning to lay eggs – larger birds will need more feed to support their larger bodies as well as to produce eggs, so a large bird is less profitable for an egg producing farm.

Pay close attention to the recommended feed per bird per day; in small farms with manual feeders, daily totals should be spread out between morning and evening feedings.

General rules for feeding/watering equipment and the number of birds they will comfortably support are;

• Hanging Tube Feeders – 50 hens
• Automatic Feeder Line pans – 25 to 30 hens
• Bell Drinkers – 75 hens
• Nipple Drinkers in drinker lines – 6 to 8 hens

Ventilation

While layers do not produce as much body heat as broilers during their growing stage, they still require good ventilation. Our very hot climate puts a lot of strain on pullets as they fill up the hen house on their path to mature body weights… heat stress can affect growth rates and it will definitely affect their egg laying at maturity. Litter drying is encouraged with good ventilation, reducing the chances of high moisture and the micro-organisms that thrive in wet litter. Good ventilation will also reduce ammonia build up, making the hen house a more pleasant place for your hens and for anyone who has to work inside the house.

Lighting

Lighting programs for optimal growth as well as preparation for laying are described in the layer management guides; usually these describe larger commercial operations with environmentally controlled houses and black-out curtains. The small to medium sized layer farms most common in the Caribbean will usually rely on natural lighting from brooding up to the end of the hen’s productive life, however a layer farmer should always be aware of the impact that lighting has on feeding as well as preparation for egg production – and how egg production can vary depending on lighting.

During the growth stages from brooding to egg production, less light is better. The smaller the period of light each day, the less the birds will be active and the less they will eat – this helps to control growth rates to meet the target weights at egg production rather than long before… the more feed they eat before laying eggs, the more expensive they are to keep with no return from egg sales.

Egg Production

Commercial layers are usually expected to begin egg production at approximately 18 to 25 weeks old. Some hens will have attained body weight and maturity sooner than others and will begin to lay sooner. There are two main factors that affect when a hen will start to lay: body weight and photoperiod.

The target body weight for start of production will vary between different genetic strains, two of the varieties we supply are Tetra Brown (2 kg target) and H&N Brown (1.6 kg target).

Photoperiod, or the number of consecutive hours of daylight in a 24-hour period, should be 14 hours to trigger start of lay for H&N Brown Nick layers. If these birds experience less than 14 hours of consecutive light, even if they are at body weight, egg production will be delayed. In Barbados, available daylight is greatest in June (14 hours) and lowest in December (11.5 hours). Layers respond to these photoperiod cues by reducing their egg production when days are shorter, in response to their genetic programming to ‘conserve energy, prepare for winter’. Egg production can be maintained during the short daylight times by extending the day with bright lighting inside the hen house for a few hours after sunset.

Conclusion

Manage your layer flock to get the best possible results, by keeping an eye out for (and correcting) things such as:

• Weekly weight targets – too fast will cost you money, too slow will delay egg production
• Chickens not eating the expected amount of feed can be a signal of poor health, or a feed quality issue. Scratching the feed out of the feeders (instead of eating) is another sign that they are unhappy with the taste or texture of the feed.
• Birds fighting over feed when feeders are refilled may signal too little feed being available overnight, or not enough feeder space. Clamoring over one another will result in body wounds that can become infected.
• Water consumption being less than expected; chicks that don’t drink, won’t eat.
• Wet litter promotes microbial growth, leading to diseases such as coccidiosis. Wet litter can also cause high ammonia levels, damaging human and chicken eyes and lungs.
• Picking can sometimes be a symptom of overcrowding – provide distractions such as fresh cut green grass, enrichments (hay bales, perches) and give the birds some more space. Quickly isolate picked birds until they have healed, then reintroduce them to the flock
• Delayed start of laying – check body weights and check your photoperiod is correct. Leave the lights on every afternoon to extend their ‘day’.