Broilers: care and feeding at home

In comparison with other chickens, broilers have a number of undeniable advantages. This bird is capable of gaining very large weight. And the increase in muscle mass is observed in it as soon as possible. Even the very word "broiler" in English means "meat on a spit" or "roast meat". Rapid weight gain is thus the main advantage of broiler chickens. Growing, feeding and caring for this bird, however, are quite complex. At least, it is more difficult to contain than the same layers. Many farmers call this bird a "greenhouse chicken".

What factors should be considered

To grow chickens of this variety, thus, is much more complicated than the same layers of hens, or even a bird of meat breeds. In order to obtain good results when breeding broilers, the farmer should take care that:

• Acquired young was not a cross, but a real broiler;
• In the room in which the chickens are kept, the air temperature has always remained stable;
• The bird's diet was balanced;
• Chickens received food on time;
• In the poultry house it was always warm and dry.

Ways to keep broilers

They grow this bird for meat. And therefore they contain it usually directly in the shed. That is, in the broiler paddock if they produce, it is very rare. Care of broilers at home can involve the use of both floor and cell methods of maintenance. Both of these technologies have their pros and cons. In cells, chickens gain more weight. But most often farmers grow broilers nevertheless by the floor method. This technology is good, first of all, in terms of ease of care and the absence of significant material costs at the initial stage.

The best hybrids

So, the success in such an enterprise, as the care of broilers and their growing, depends first of all on how good the acquired young will be. The best meat hybrids to date are:

• Cobb-500 (maximum weight of 3.6 kg);
• Ross-308 (5.5 kg);
• Arbor eikers (3-4 kg);
• Hubbard (3.2 kg).

Buy chicks from any hybrid only from a trusted vendor. Otherwise, you can easily run into a fake. It is best to buy young animals at some large poultry farm. You can also buy a hatching egg. In this case, the risk of forgery will be minimal.

What is the air temperature in the house?

This indicator when growing broilers should pay special attention. Meat hybrids - the bird is quite frail and easily gets cold. Obtain proper broiler chickens nursing only if there is a brooder in the household. In this device the chicks are kept in the first week of life. At the same time, the air temperature in the brooder is set at 30 ° C.

Starting from the second week and up to the age of 14 days, this indicator is gradually reduced by 2-4 C. In the third week of life of the young in the poultry, the temperature is maintained at 22-24 C. Starting from the month before slaughter, the indicator is reduced to 20 C.

In the poultry house for broilers it is necessary to arrange two zones - shady, in which they will rest and lighted with feeding troughs.

Broiler chickens, rearing and care: what should be the diet

Chickens of this variety at the initial stage are usually fed with special starting compounds, intended specifically for broilers. You can also use for this purpose and regular millet, and boiled egg. On the second day after hatching, each chicken should receive in this case one drop of trivitamin. This will allow to reduce the attack, which among the chicks of meat hybrids is usually significant.

Broilers, leaving in the first days after which should be especially careful, need and succulent fodder. Greens and vegetables can be given to these chickens already on the fifth day. At this age, young animals also consume cottage cheese, curdled milk, soft food waste. Some owners of homesteads feed small and young broilers additionally with boiled potatoes. But experienced farmers advise doing this as carefully as possible. From a large amount of boiled potatoes, hybrids often turn gut with fatalities. Grain of chicken of this variety is usually offered for the first time on the 11th day.

From the second week until slaughter, broilers are thus fed with mesocarbons and concentrates. At the finish, the number of the latter is reduced. In this case, more juicy feed is introduced into the ration of the bird.

Broiler care: what you need to know

Pour the green mixture into the broiler troughs as much as they can eat for 30-40 minutes. Morsel should not be sour at all. Otherwise broilers can catch any infection. The same goes for drinkers. Water chickens should be changed after each feeding. It must be used necessarily warm (about 20 C) Small chickens in the drinking bowl to protect against infection, you need to add a little potassium permanganate.

The ratio of feed / water when growing broilers should be about 1: 7.

Periodicity of feeding

Thus, exact compliance with the timing of feeding when broiler chickens leave. This indicator also depends on the age of the hybrid. Feed broilers:

• In the first week - 8 times a day;
• The second - 6 times;
• The third - 4 times.

Starting from 4 weeks before slaughter, the number of feedings is reduced to 2 per day.

What should be the feed consumption

Care for broiler chickens, among other things, involves the development of a sufficiently diverse diet for them. The farmer should also take care of the bird getting the necessary amount of nutrients. About the approximate feed consumption per chicken of one or another age can be found from the table below.

Poultry house arrangement: litter

Slaughter weight broilers, care for which was carried out correctly, reach very quickly - for three months. Grow this same bird in most cases in the summer. Heated shed with this method, of course, is not needed. If broilers are grown for sale "stream", the house should be built of "warm" materials and equipped with heaters.

As already mentioned, most broilers contain flooring. In this case, even in the summer in the shed should be provided for at least a thin straw bedding. Change it in the future will have at least once a week. The case of broilers often happens precisely because they are kept on the cold floor. Skvoznyakov this bird also absolutely does not tolerate. About that they were not, the owners should be taken care of necessarily. Otherwise the chickens will catch cold.

Growing and caring for broilers is quite difficult also because the top layer of the litter will need to be constantly loosened. At the same time it is necessary to remove dirty straw, but instead to pour clean ones. The total thickness of the litter should not exceed 35 cm. Otherwise, broilers will not be able to dig it to the floor. As a result, the litter will turn sour. In winter, meat hybrids should be heated with the help of special equipment, and not at the expense of putrefaction of litter.

Feeders and drinkers

Instead of roosts with floor maintenance for broilers, usually arrange shelves. They are placed at an altitude of about 30-50 cm. Feeders and drinking bowls in the shed can be installed, both industrial and homemade. The main thing is that they are enough for all the chickens and next to them would never have been "crush". Clean the feeders and drinking bowls once a day.

Features of cellular content

Proper feeding and care of broilers with floor maintenance can give just excellent results. But in some cases, such a bird is grown in cages. This method is usually chosen when the broilers are kept in very large quantities for sale. The main advantages of cell cultivation, in addition to rapid weight gain, in this case is the possibility of saving the area of the room and reducing the case due to diseases.

The temperature regime in the poultry house with the cellular content is the same as for the floor. In this case, the farmer must also comply with such requirements:

• Cells must be sorted by age;
• It is necessary that the floor in the cells is made of a fine mesh net.

Cleaning in cages for chickens should be done with the application of this method of maintenance daily. In that part of the house, in which the youngest broilers live, additional lighting is needed.

Since the bird can not move freely in this case, and the landing area is significant, it is also necessary to provide at least primitive supply ventilation in the shed.

Helpful Tips

With regard to care broilers, therefore, are quite demanding. When growing such a bird, farmers often face various kinds of problems. So, for example, if:

• The bird fell to her feet, which means she lacks vitamin D;
• The plumage of the broilers became dull and brittle - in the barn too dry;
• Breathing in a bird is difficult and intermittent - the humidity of the air should be lowered.

Feeders with cellular contents

The ration for chickens in this case is developed the same as for floor maintenance. Feeders are mounted outside the cells in such a way that the bird can easily reach for food by sticking its head through the bars. The most convenient kind of drinkers is vacuum.

How to make a cell yourself

Often farmers use broiler structures when growing broilers. Such cells are already equipped with feeders, and sometimes with automatic watering devices. They represent racks in several rows. Good care for broiler feeding involves correct. In industrial cells, this procedure is certainly very convenient. However, such constructions are quite expensive. Therefore, in some cases, owners of household plots make their own cages.

It is not too difficult to make such constructions, for example, from slabs and beams. In this case, first, it is usually usually simply knocked down the rack frame completely. Then, using a bar, it is divided into sections. Then the floors of the future cells are sheathed. In doing so, use a fine metal mesh. Next, the cells are covered with rabbita.

At the final stage, the trough-troughs are knocked down along the entire length of the shelves in each tier. Also, drinkers are installed.

Cells with wheels

Walking on the street of broilers with outdoor mode of maintenance is sometimes still released. It is believed that fresh air within reasonable limits goes to this bird for good. With cell content, it is also possible to provide comfortable conditions for chickens in this regard. To do this, use not too bulky racks with wheels. If necessary, the bird thus contained is simply taken out from time to time into the yard.

Major diseases

Signs of health in broilers are soft tummies and clear eyes. Such a bird is active and has a good appetite. The feathers of healthy broilers are clean, and the wings are tightly pressed to the body. Most often, when growing meat hybrids, farmers face such a problem as digestive upset. To prevent this from happening, the bird should give water after a day with a small amount of potassium permanganate added to it.

Also, chickens should receive small gravel. Chickens from the five-day age can already be given not only vitamins, but chalk. With a lack of vitamin D, broilers often develop rickets. In this case, the birds begin to fall when walking.

Of the infectious diseases most often broilers suffer from coccidiosis and chicken pox. For treatment in this case, the veterinarian is usually called.

Instead of concluding

Thus, care and feeding at home broilers require the right. In the event that the farmer complies with the basic recommendations for the cultivation of this bird, it will gain weight very quickly. In addition, there will not be too much lunge in the herd. The farmer himself will definitely get the profit he expected.