Today, most villagers breed not only egg, but also meat breeds on their yards. This is because home-grown broilers are a fairly profitable occupation that allows not only to provide themselves and their relatives with fresh chicken meat, but also to earn extra money.
Conditions of detention
With proper planning of the most important processes, raising broiler chickens can be a good source of additional income, which is especially important in our difficult times. Before deciding to buy chickens, you need to carefully consider what you need it for, to understand all the basic nuances of feeding and keeping a bird.
Broiler chickens are quite whimsical; they are much more demanding than regular chicken nestlings. One of the most important parameters for the correct maintenance of a one-day broiler is considered to be air temperature. Ideally, it should be about 30 degrees heat. During the first two weeks after the appearance of the chickens, care must also be taken to increase the duration of daylight hours. A competent combination of these factors contributes to the activation of the growth process and weight gain by the chick. From the moment the chicks turn two weeks old, you can gradually lower the air temperature to 20 degrees Celsius.
To breed chickens, you will need a dry and clean room equipped with a ventilation system. According to most experts, the best way to keep poultry is to grow broilers in cages. However, poultry farmers with a small number of chickens can use floor keeping. But in this case, it is very important to monitor the maintenance of the right temperature condition so that the chicks on the floor do not freeze. In the winter season, fragile chickens can be kept in a small greenhouse, fenced off for them. In a greenhouse, it is much easier to maintain optimum temperature and provide ventilation.
Home Improvement
When calculating the area of the premises, it is necessary to take into account the selected method of breeding broilers. The chicks grow up pretty quickly, so after a few months they can be put into implementation. Chicks can be kept in cages, which can be easily purchased at appropriate stores or made with your own hands, or on bedding. At home, it is preferable to choose the floor method for placing broilers. The house should be quite roomy. However, those who plan to breed one-day chickens can do without large areas.
In order for the growing chicks to get the necessary vitamin D norm, it is advisable to equip a canopy covered with a net near the chicken coop. Places reserved for feeders and drinkers should have good lighting. It is better to fill the floor of the house with ordinary small sawdust.
Chicken house ventilation
Those who plan to breed broilers indoors need to take care of a high-quality ventilation system in advance. In some cases, it is advisable to use hoods. Chicks, like adult hens, need a constant influx of fresh air. Therefore, without a ventilation system, nothing will work. Experienced poultry farmers recommend purchasing hoods equipped with temperature controllers. The advantage of such equipment is that it will automatically turn on and off at the right time, preventing chilling of the chicks.
Selection and acquisition of chicks
Having precisely determined that growing broilers at home - this is exactly what you need, you can think about buying chickens.When choosing chicks, it is imperative to thoroughly examine the proposed individuals. You can buy chickens at the poultry farm, in the market or from neighbors involved in their breeding. The acquisition of chicks in the markets is very similar to the game of Russian roulette, because no one can give an absolute guarantee of the health of individuals. Further broiler rearing largely depends on the conditions under which the chicks were transported to the point of sale - whether the required temperature regime was observed, whether they received enough water.
When buying chickens at poultry farms, one should take into account the fact that the company always puts up weaker young stocks for sale, leaving itself the best individuals. The only advantage of such a purchase will be a lower price. But such savings can result in additional costs. Factory “rejection” can quickly die at home. When choosing broilers, you need to remember that good young animals cannot be cheap. Low price should not attract, but alert potential buyers.
To buy quality chickens, you can join the order of one of the wholesalers purchasing poultry at hatchery stations. So you are guaranteed to get viable and well-developed chicks vaccinated against the main varieties of parasites.
Features and growing conditions of broilers
Those who plan to have no more than fifteen chickens at their farmstead can do without incubators. In this case, it is more advisable to purchase ready-made young animals, rather than laying eggs in an incubator and waiting for the appearance of chicks. The cost of individuals depends on the time of year and the characteristics of the region. In summer, chickens can be bought at a lower price than in winter.
Those who consider growing broilers for meat from a business perspective need to take care of such additional equipment as:
- a well-heated house where chicken can be kept in winter;
- cages, because keeping a large livestock in open space is a rather troublesome task;
- incubators.
For maximum efficiency in the first weeks of life of the chicks in the room where they are located, a certain temperature should be maintained, which depends on the age of the bird. In addition, it is important to provide the chickens with at least a 17-hour light day. The optimal planting density should not exceed 15 individuals per square floor area.
Growing broiler chickens implies the creation of certain conditions for them. Moreover, this applies not only to light and temperature conditions, but also to litter. Some advise using shavings of fibrous peat, while others argue that young animals can be kept on the bare floor. As practice has shown, both are mistaken. The best option is ordinary small sawdust.
Growing broilers: feeding five day old chicks
Chickens living in the poultry farm are fed special feeds consisting of complex fortified supplements, shells or chopped shells, meat and bone meal and fish meal, corn, peas, barley and wheat. Growing broilers is a rather troublesome and costly task. To get one full-fledged meat breed chicken, you will need at least 4-5 kilograms of feed.
The most important period is considered the first days of the chicken's life. Chicks under five days of age are advised to give a mash, cottage cheese and crushed boiled eggs. A special mixed feed for chickens is used to prepare the mash. If you do not have the opportunity to buy such food, you can prepare a special mixture consisting of boiled millet, barley and oats. Weak chicks need to be forced to feed. To do this, take a regular pipette and fill it with a mixture of cow's milk and egg yolk. This should be done at least eight times a day.
Features of feeding twenty-day chickens
Even a beginner poultry breeder should understand that young animals do not eat at all like broiler chickens. Growing at home is a very time-consuming process that requires certain knowledge. Starting at the age of twenty days, chickens can be transferred to six meals a day. In their diet must be present the top of soy or sunflower, as well as boiled potatoes and at least two grams of baker's yeast.
Such chickens can be fed with a mash made on yogurt, consisting of crushed oats, wheat and barley. With proper feeding, by 30 days of age, the chick should weigh 500-700 grams.
Features of feeding the monthly young
Thirty-day broilers can be fed whole grains. Starting from this age, the basis of the bird diet should be a mixture of 25% wheat, 10% barley, 5% peas, 20% soy, 20% corn and 20% sunflower. It can be purchased at any specialized store or prepared independently. In addition, yeast, shellfish, chalk and fishmeal must be present in the diet.
Essential Vitamins and Supplements
Growing broilers should be based not only on creating optimal conditions for their maintenance, but also on a varied and nutritious diet. Therefore, all feed must be fortified. To do this, it is recommended to add zucchini, pumpkin, cabbage leaves and various greens to the chicken food. The half-eaten shredder, which has stood for about two hours, must be replaced with a new one. Broilers need to be fed exclusively with fresh food. Otherwise, the bird may have serious problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
To get a full-fledged healthy livestock, it is necessary to give vitamin and mineral supplements to chicks from the age of five days. Initially, you can limit yourself to vitamins A and E. Also, the presence of shell rock, bone meal and chalk is of no small importance. To ensure the daily rate of calcium in the diet of a bird, there must necessarily be products such as cottage cheese and yogurt.
When can broilers be transferred to a street cage?
Growing broilers is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. Those who decide to seriously engage in this matter will have to delve into many nuances. One of the most important issues can be considered the process of transferring chickens to a street cage. This can be done from the age of four weeks. It is important to understand that the bird is very afraid of drafts. To create street cells, you can use old window frames. The advantage of such cells is that they completely protect the chicks from drafts. In addition, broilers are very fond of heat, and the glass warms up well from the sun. If the chickens are too hot, there is always the opportunity to open the window.
Organization of feeders and drinking bowls
In order to avoid spreading and trampling of the feed, made from the profile of the feeder, it is desirable to place them on the outside of the cells. So the chicks will be able to peck the food, sticking his head through the cell. At the same time, during feeding, the chickens will not interfere with each other, because each of them will have access to the feeder.
To ensure the drinking regime of broilers, it is better to use nipple drinkers. Their main advantage is that they are easy to keep in perfect cleanliness due to the presence of a washable valve. Nipple watering is built on the same principle as a conventional wash basin. Water begins to pour after each press of the valve. The use of such a system prevents the entry of pathogenic microorganisms into the water that can provoke various diseases of broiler chickens.
