Raising Laying Hens – The Best Breeds
When raising laying hens, you should research on the right type of hens for you, based on your requirements. The choice of the hens you keep should depend on the climatic conditions, the purpose of keeping the egg layers, what the market wants and what it takes to maintain each breed among other considerations. All hens lay eggs, but some breeds are better than others. This is due to some breeds laying more frequently than others, some laying as little as 200 eggs per year and others as much as 300, some hens produce bigger eggs than others, different hens produce different color eggs, and some consume more feed than others, etc.
Sussex hens are some of the best egg layers. Although they only produce about an average of 260 eggs per year, the eggs are large and each hen weighs about 7 pounds. Other advantages of the Sussex breed are that the hens can adapt to different living conditions, the hens are also good meat producers and they can live in cages or in the open. The Rhode Island Red is another impressive egg layer. The breed can lay as much as 300 eggs every year and the average hen weighs about six and a half pounds. However, the breed is known for being aggressive.
The Single Comb White Leghorn is also a prolific egg layer that produces around 280 white eggs each year. However, the hens lay very small eggs and each hen weighs approximately 3 pounds. Single Comb White Leghorns are very nervous around people.
Golden Comets are hybrids and they are engineered for egg laying purposes only. Golden Comets are bred from good egg layers such as Rhode Island Red and Leghorn. They are designed to have big eggs and the average hen averages seven and a half pounds. Golden Comets are designed to lay eggs frequently and to eat as little as possible. Finally, the Barred Rock breed, which is also known as the Plymouth Rock breed, is a good egg layer that weighs around 8 pounds. The breed averages 200 light brown eggs every year.
The main reason why people are raising laying hens is the health benefits of eggs. However, there are other benefits too. The greatest advantage of eggs is that they are nutritious whole foods, meaning they have carbohydrates, vitamins, proteins, essential fats and beneficial micronutrients. The white part of the egg is rich in vitamin B. The yellow part or the yolk is rich in vitamin B12, vitamin A, and Vitamin D and in choline and riboflavin.
The egg is also rich in minerals that are important for good health such as selenium and phosphorus among others. Omega-3 fats are important for good health and for prevention of diseases and eggs from hens that are fed with greens and flax seeds are rich in these fats. Eggs are good for preventing cardiovascular problems and many doctors recommend them, especially to the elderly.
Eating eggs protect you from diseases and heart conditions such as heart attacks, blood clots and strokes. This is because eggs have choline which converts homocysteine, which is responsible for damaging blood vessels, into safer molecules. It is recommended that people take at least one egg per day, but people should eat the white part more than the yellow yolk. The choline is also helpful in regulating the nervous system and the cardiovascular system.
