Content
Owners of personal farmsteads, aimed at obtaining eggs from chickens first, and then meat, try to find the most egg-producing breed of chickens. A dilemma arises here. The breed, which can be bred independently, is usually not distinguished by a very large number of eggs. And the size and quality may be unsatisfactory. Chickens that lay large eggs in large quantities often cannot be bred, as these are industrial crosses. Such an industrial egg cross is the Lohmann Brown, a breed of chicken created by the German company Lohmann Thiersucht.
The company, of course, keeps the parent breeds of crosses and crossbreeding technology secret. But today its assortment already includes at least 5 types of egg-laying crosses.
Breed of Loman Brown chickens: description, maintenance in a personal yard
Chickens of the German Loman Brown breed are, without exaggeration, one of the best for producing egg products. They may not even be considered as a source of meat. Strictly egg direction dictates the structural features and size of these chickens. To put it simply: “a good layer is never fat.”
Oddly enough, even in broken brown you can get confused. When searching for information in the Russian-speaking space, it seems that there is only one such chicken. Even if it's an egg cross.In fact, the Lohmann Thiersucht company has created two varieties of Lohmann chickens: classic and clarified. In the picture above, these two types are extreme.
The crosses are very similar. Only a specialist chicken breeder can figure them out offhand, so it often seems that the Broken Brown is a breed of chicken, the description of which is contradictory. But it is more likely that different crosses are being described.
The gender of the chicken is clear from the first day: the cockerels are yellow, the hens are red.
Find out what type of Loman Brown chicken you need using photos and descriptions
Loman brown classic
It turns out to be a play on words, but this is a chicken with a classic brown color. The classic cross has a small head with a small leaf-shaped crest of red color. The eyes are red-orange. The earrings are medium size, red. Lobes and face are red.
The neck is short and thin. The body is located horizontally. The back and lower back are flat and relatively wide. The chest is weakly muscled. The belly is wide and full. The tail is directed almost at an angle of 90° to the horizontal. The legs are short, the muscles are poorly developed. Metatarsus yellow, unfeathered.
The egg characteristics of the Loman Brown Classic chicken breed may vary depending on the conditions of detention.
| Cellular content | Yard maintenance |
Puberty | 140 – 150 days | 140 – 150 days |
Peak Productivity | 26 – 30 weeks | 26 – 30 weeks |
Number of eggs in 12 months | 315 — 320 | 295 — 305 |
Number of eggs in 14 months | 350 — 360 | 335 — 345 |
Egg weight when the hen is 12 months old. | 63.5 – 64.5 g | 63.5 – 64.5 g |
Egg weight when the hen is 14 months old. | 64 – 65 g | 64 – 65 g |
Pullet weight | at 20 weeks 1.6 – 1.7 kg | at 18 weeks 1.6 – 1.7 kg |
Laying hen weight at the end of the productive period | 1.9 – 2.1 kg | 1.9 – 2.1 kg |
Egg shells are brown or beige.
Loman brown lightened
The main exterior characteristics of the lightened cross are similar to the classic Loman Brown. Crosses differ in the number, weight and quality of eggs. This cross is intended for markets where the weight of the egg is not important, but the strength of the shell is important.
Egg characteristics of laying hens of the Loman Brown clarified breed:
- egg laying begins at 4.5 – 5 months;
- peak productivity 26 – 30 weeks;
- number of eggs in 12 months – 315-320;
- number of eggs in 14 months. – 355-360;
- egg weight at one year of age is 62 – 63 g;
- egg weight at 14 months 62.5 – 63.5 g;
- pullet weight 1.55 – 1.65 kg;
- The weight of an adult laying hen at the end of the productive period is 1.9 - 2.1 kg.
Advantages of both types of crosses:
- excellent layers;
- good temperament;
- unpretentiousness and endurance;
- good hatchability in the incubator;
- high survival rate of chickens;
- lack of brooding instinct.
The latter is a plus if the goal of the farm is egg production. If for some reason you want to get offspring from laying hens of the Loman Brown breed without an incubator, then the plus turns into a minus. And a picture like the one below is only possible in a photo advertising Lomans as high-quality layers.
The disadvantages, from the point of view of the private owner, include the lack of meat productivity. By the end of the oviposition season, the broken fish look like skeletons covered with tough skin. They have nothing.
The short laying season cannot even be called a disadvantage, since this situation is inherent in all egg-laying breeds. The bird's body wears out very quickly due to the production of an unnatural number of eggs.
Due to so many factors influencing the productivity of chickens, reviews of the Loman Brown chicken breed are often on opposite poles.
In the last video, the owner most likely bought a factory reject under the guise of being young. Or, given the presence of worms, these were birds from a farm with very poor living conditions.
Conditions of keeping and feeding
Lomans are unpretentious and easily adapt to living conditions in their own backyard. But due to the intensity of egg laying, they require increased feeding. The leaching of minerals from the chicken's body leads to either the appearance of a very thin shell on the egg or to its complete absence. This is especially true for the “classic” cross, which lays very large eggs.
Plus, with a lack of nutrients, minerals and trace elements, laying hens begin to peck at their own eggs. In this way they try to restore the disturbed balance in the body. The problem is that if you don't take action quickly, necessity turns into a bad habit that "infects" all the chickens in the coop. As a result, it will be necessary to eliminate the existing livestock and start a new one. At poultry farms, the issue is resolved in a radical way, by trimming the beaks of chickens. It is believed that in this case, the laying hens will not only lose the opportunity to fight with each other, but will also not be able to eat the eggs.
There are three ways to contain lomans:
- in cell batteries;
- on the floor;
- in a chicken coop with roosts.
Each method has its pros and cons.
Cage housing of Loman Brown chickens in the photo.
Space is saved a lot, and chickens do not have the opportunity to peck eggs. The laid egg rolls out of the cage. This increases the egg production level of chickens. But this method of keeping provokes neuroses and self-pecking, as well as aggression towards neighbors.
Floor housing softens nervous tension in chickens. Attacks of aggression are reduced. But keeping birds on the floor gives them the opportunity to eat eggs. The chicken can also crush the egg while moving. Egg production with this type of housing is lower than with cage housing, and requires the owner to collect eggs several times during the day.
Even the construction of nest boxes may not save some of the eggs from being destroyed, since in order to lay eggs in a box, the bird must have a brooding instinct. In fact, if a chicken lays eggs in a chosen place, it means she is making a nest.
Often the box plays the role not of a nesting place, but of a shelter where the hen can safely get rid of the load. Often, several hens lay eggs in the most “secret” box.
Chicken coops with roosts do not play a special role in the safety of eggs, but they help the chickens feel secure above. A calm chicken lays eggs better.
As for the diet, the optimal solution would be to feed industrial feed for laying hens. Trying to balance the diet of industrial egg-laying chickens on your own is a futile task.
Reviews of broken dogs from their owners
Conclusion
Both types of loman browns have high egg production. Lomans today are readily kept not only in industrial factories, but also in private homes. This egg-laying breed fully justifies the cost of feed spent on it.
