Knowing when to move your pullets from grower feed to layer feed is key to lifelong health and strong egg production. This guide explains the right timing, how to make a smooth transition.
Fresh eggs every day are one of the joys of keeping hens. But to keep your flock healthy, productive and looking their best, they need carefully balanced nutrition - not just scraps or generic feed. Complete Feeds Fiskens Layer Mash and Layer Pellets are complete feeds, specially formulated for laying hens with a minimum of 18% protein, balanced energy, vitamins, minerals and cold-pressed canola oil. Here’s why that matters. Protein: The Foundation of Egg Production Protein is the main building block of eggs, feathers, muscles, blood, hormones and enzymes. It’s made up of 22 amino acids, and hens can only produce half of them - the rest must come from their feed. One of the most important is Methionine, which...
Fiskens calf feeds are tasty, digestible and contain the proper balance of nutrients along with minerals, vitamins and an anti-coccidial, Bovatec® which works to combat coccidiosis and encourages the growth of beneficial bacteria in the rumen so calves derive more benefit from their feed.
A calf has a small rumen – a capacity of just 1-2 litres in a newborn, as opposed to 25-30 at 3 months of age – that needs quality feed in order to develop effectively. Because of the size of the rumen the feed has to provide a high concentration of essential nutrients. The best calf feeds are concentrated and high in dry matter. Feed can vary widely when it comes to dry matter content – for example, silage-based feeds may contain only 50% dry matter as compared with 85% in the better concentrates. You will certainly pay less for feed with a higher moisture content but it’s a false saving. You are essentially paying for water and your calf...
Mature cattle belong to a class of mammals known as ruminants – even-toed cud-chewers with four stomachs. In the adult cow the rumen is the first and largest stomach, comprising approximately 80% of the digestive tract. The feed that passes into the rumen ferments, assisted by billions of bacteria, fungi and protozoa (microorganisms) in conjunction with periodic cud-chewing. As the feed is broken down the cow absorbs some through the wall of the rumen while some (along with a portion of the microorganisms) moves into the other stomachs to be further digested. Newly born calves are pre-ruminants. They have the same four stomachs as an adult bovine but the rumen is significantly smaller. In the calf, the largest part of...
