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If you are into layer farming then probably you spend most of the time calculating the cost and profit of the business. Raising 1000 layers understandably demands more in terms of feed and living expenses. Setting the living expense aside, first, focus on the feed requirements and how it varies through each life stage.
When you are starting the business it is normal to ask how many bags of feed are required for 1000 layers? It will be certainly more than 100 broilers or 500 layers.
It is better to calculate the number of feed bags required to know about feeding costs. Knowing about the layer’s feeding habits beforehand pays off well.
Layers need quality and nutrient-rich diet to increase the production of eggs. You also need to understand the dynamics of layer feed consumption as chicks will have a different diet than adult chickens. The quantity would also vary depending on the age or the life stage.
There is no way to know the exact figure but only some estimates to help you stock feed accordingly and calculate the cost. So, without further ado, here’s the answer to all your questions.
How Many Bags Of Feed For 1000 Layers?
How many bags of feed for 1000 layers? Well, it is not easy to give a definitive answer as layers have different feed requirements through different stages of life.
If you want a rough estimate without going into the deep calculation, they would require about 20000 pounds till the age of 12 weeks. So, the 400 feed bags at 50 pounds per bag would be required to feed 1000 layers to the 12 weeks age.
Starter Stage
The first stage of a layer’s life is the starter stage. In this stage, feed consumption is at its lowest. It lasts between 1 day old to 6 weeks old.
Chicks can not eat much in this early stage of life, so, feed consumption remains low.
The chick requires 45 gms of chick-mash feed per day. For 1000 chickens, it would be 45000 gms or 45 KG each day.
If we multiply 60 days x 45 kg, we would get the feed requirement for the entire starter stage which would equate to 2700 kgs.
Considering each feed bag weighs 25 kgs, a layer farmer would need 108 feed bags.
Breaking the fact How Many Chickens Per Coop?
Grower Stage
The next stage is the grower stage which starts at 7 weeks and ends at 18 weeks. The feed consumption in this stage is higher than in the starter stage.
Here, the chick-mash is replaced by the grower-mash or pullets. Layers will ask for more food as the body enters the growing stage.
Each Layer in the growing stage would need 70 gms of grower-mash per day.
When calculating for 1000 chickens, multiply the feed requirement with several layers which will equal 70000 gms.
As it stands, 1000 gms equates to 1 kg therefore, 70000 gms equals 70 kg. 70 kg is the daily feed consumption of 1000 layers.
Grower mash is fed to the chickens till they get to the point of lay. The 60th day marks the end of the starter stage and feeding chicken-mash.
The grower stage starts onwards and goes up to the 120th day.
So, this stage also lasts 60 days requiring the owner to calculate the feed requirement of the grower stage for this particular time.
First of all, calculate the per kg requirement by multiplying 60 days with 70 kgs. The daily feed requirements of layers during the grower stage is 4200 kg.
Again, considering the feed bag to be 25 kgs, the farmer would need about 168 bags of feed for this stage only.
Breaking the fact How Many Square Feet Per Chicken?
Layer Stage
The layering stage starts from the 19th week and goes up until the 72nd week. It has further two divisions; the early laying stage and the main laying stage.
As the name implies, chicken has just reached the point of lay (POL) in the early laying stage whereas the main laying stage refers to the stage where the chicken is mature.
The feed requirements during these two divisions would be different.
Chickens entering from the Grower Stage to Layer Stage can not just up their requirements in a day. Gradually, the quantity of feed is increased over the days. Here, the detailed feed requirements of this stage are mentioned below.
Early Laying Stage – This stage includes the early weeks, starting from the 19th week and lasting up until the 21st week.
During this stage, each layer would eat up to 90 gms of feed a day. The daily feed requirement of 1000 chickens would be 90000 gms or 90 kg.
This stage lasts for 3 weeks or 21 days, so for this time period, the feed required would be 1890 kgs. The feed bags needed to feed 1000 chickens during the early laying stage would be about 76 bags.
Main Laying Stage – This stage starts from the 22nd week to the 72nd week or menopause. During this stage, the layer consumes the maximum feed.
Each chicken can eat up to 105 gms a day. For 1000, the daily feed needed would be 105,000 gms or 105 kgs. Then, by multiplying the number of days by the quantity, you will get the feed required to feed layers.
This stage has 350 days so, 350 days x 105kg equals 36750 kgs. Therefore, the feed bags required would be about 1470.
If we calculate the average feed bags requirements of the laying stage altogether, it would be 1497.6 bags. It is calculated by taking an average of both stages (90+105)/2=1000 gms.
The everyday feed requirement as per this number would be 97500 gms or 97.5 kg. This layer-mash is given till the 72nd week or for 384 days till the end of the early mash stage.
By multiplying these figures, the total would be 37440kgs. As one feed bag equals 25 kg, so, a layer farmer would need 1497.6 bags of feed.
To sum up, these are estimated or average figures calculated to give a rough idea to the future layer farmers. These figures vary depending on age, breed, and other factors.
