Layer feed for steady egg production

انڈے والی مرغی کی خوراک: چوزوں کی اسٹارٹر فیڈ سے لیئر راشن تک، عارف والا مل سے۔

A layer is a long-term investment

A broiler is finished in weeks. A laying hen has to perform for more than a year, which means the feeding programme is judged over months, not days. The rearing phase — long before the first egg — decides how well she will lay later. If you are buying feed for laying hens, match it to age: chick starter first, then grower, then layer feed from the first eggs.

Chick starter and grower

The job in rearing is body weight and uniformity, not speed. A flock that reaches point of lay underweight or uneven will never produce to its potential, regardless of how good the layer ration is afterwards. Weigh a sample of birds regularly and compare against the breed target.

Layer ration

Once in lay, the two things that matter most are calcium and steady intake. A hen puts roughly two grams of calcium into every eggshell, every day. If the ration cannot supply it, she draws it from her own bones — shells thin, breakages rise and the hen weakens.

Practical points that protect shell quality

• Feed the afternoon. Shell formation happens largely overnight, so calcium eaten late in the day is used directly rather than pulled from bone.
• Do not let feeders run empty for long. Hens eat in bouts; an empty feeder in the afternoon costs shell strength.
• Keep particle size. Very fine feed lowers intake. Coarse limestone particles stay in the gizzard longer and release calcium slowly.
• Watch heat. In summer, intake falls first and egg size follows. See our guide on summer feeding.

Layer feed through the Pakistani year

Layer feed in Pakistan has to work through two hard seasons: summer heat, when hens eat less, and short winter days, when lay can drop. Hens eat to meet their energy needs, so intake moves with the weather. In the hot months intake drops, and the same ration delivers less calcium and protein per hen per day. In winter intake rises and birds can over-consume energy. Weigh the feed that goes in each day and compare it with egg numbers and egg size; a fall in intake usually shows up in egg size a few days later.

Signs the layer ration needs attention

• Thin or soft shells, or more cracked eggs at collection.
• A drop in egg size or numbers without a disease or heat explanation.
• Pullets under target weight or uneven at point of lay.
• Feather pecking, which can follow a ration change or crowding.
• Feed left in the trough as dust while the coarse part has been picked out.

Before blaming the feed, check water flow, light hours and shed temperature. If those are right, send the batch code from the bag to the mill and we will look at that production batch with you. For a full week-by-week plan, see the layer feeding schedule.

Exact nutrient specifications for each Vital Feeds product are shared with customers and dealers on request — message us on WhatsApp for the current specification sheet and dealer price.

Vital Feeds supplies farmers and dealers across central Punjab from our mill on 4 K.M. Pakpattan Road, Arifwala. Send your area, the product you need and a rough monthly quantity, and the mill will reply with today’s rate, the current specification sheet and delivery options.

• WhatsApp or UAN: 0311 1555136 or call the mill
• Want to stock Vital Feeds in your area? See how to become a dealer.
• Hours: Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM.