What do monthly chicks look like? Feeding chickens of meat and egg breeds at home. Diet and norm depending on the age of the bird

To get strong and healthy young animals, you need to know all the nuances of proper feeding. To determine the regime and norm of nutrition, the poultry farmer needs to take into account the age of the chickens and their belonging to the breed (meat or egg).

Healthy daily offspring of laying hens are distinguished by strong legs, a retracted umbilical cord and a soft belly, an even beak and fluff that does not stick together. The nutrition of young animals should be balanced.

Rules for feeding daily small chickens at home:

1. For the first 2-3 days, small birds are fed with such products: hard-boiled eggs (finely chopped), herbs (dandelion), cottage cheese, cereals (barley, wheat).
2. You can add a little special additive and well-sifted corn flour to the feed.
3. Food is poured on paper and used to eat from the feeder.
4. Diurnal birds need to be fed every 2 hours.
5. The feed rate for 1 chicken is: cottage cheese + cereals (5 g each), 1/10 of one egg.
6. Clean water at room temperature should always be in the drinker.
7. The drinker and feeder should be washed frequently.
8. To improve appetite, a little sugar or ascorbic acid is added to the water, as well as liquid kefir.

Weekly

For laying chicks at the age of 1 week, the daily feed intake is slightly increased.

Features of feeding young laying hens at the age of 1 week at home:

1. Small chickens need to be fed 2-5 times a day.
2. Cottage cheese and eggs are excluded from the diet and a mixture of cereals (wheat, oatmeal, corn, barley) is added in equal proportions.
3. Additionally, chickens at the age of 1 week are given dairy products (kefir, yogurt), cooked cereals.

Fortnightly

Laying chicks that are more than a week old can be given boiled potatoes (5 g per day per head), carrots (grated) and other vegetables.

Also, for better digestion, it is necessary to accustom young birds to crushed chalk, crushed boiled eggshells.

At 1 month

Already from 4-5 weeks, the feed rate for small layers is reduced to control the weight of the young. The feeding interval is 3 hours. Farmers are advised to give such an amount of feed that the bird does not eat its fill. You can determine this rate with experience. If the chickens start to eat sluggishly, then the amount of food needs to be reduced.

In addition, from 1-2 months of life, birds are given the opportunity to walk more in the fresh air and eat mainly greens. It is necessary to gradually transfer the young to coarse grain, and in a month and a half to give whole grain. Moist mash with bone meal is added to the diet of laying birds for growth.

Boiled potatoes remain on the menu, and their daily intake increases to 10 g per head. Already from the first month, in addition to the main feed, you can give chickens homemade food waste and do not forget about feed for young animals. A feeder with gravel or fine dry sand should always be near the layers.

Feeders and drinkers at home should be far from each other so that the chickens do not bring water into food, and droppings into the water.

Video "Raising laying chicks"

We bring to your attention interesting video, which tells about all the nuances of growing, including feeding, young eggs of the egg breed.

You can get good chickens only if chickens are fed correctly from the first days of their lives.

At poultry farms, the process of raising poultry is put on stream, then for a beginner who raises chickens in his subsidiary farm many questions may arise. As the bird matures, its diet changes and is supplemented.

Daily chicks

Feed for chickens from the first days of life can be natural, combined (compound feed) or mixed. Its choice depends on the number of birds and the owner's ability to care for her.

The best option is mixed feeding, which allows you to provide the chickens with everything they need.

Chicken Feeding Basics: What Beginners Need to Know

The first question a novice chicken breeder asks is usually whether it is possible to feed the chicks immediately after the incubator.

Opinions among poultry farmers in this case are divided. Some believe that chickens still absorb the remains of the yolk and do not need food, while others are confident in the need to feed the babies. To answer this question, it is worth turning to veterinary data.

This is what a chick just hatched from an egg looks like.

Assimilation of yolk residues occurs in chickens at different rates, which depends on individual characteristics. The process can take from 2 hours to a day.

Chicks, after the yolk is used up, for the proper formation of the digestive system and straightening the intestines, you definitely need to eat.

For this reason, in the box in which the kids will be, you need to put not only water, but also a saucer with food. Chickens will peck on their own as soon as they feel hungry.. Some will feed immediately after they dry out, while others - only at the end of the first day of life.

Trying to force feed a bird should not be.

Reception frequency

It is very important to observe the frequency of feeding. With natural feeding, products such as yogurt, cottage cheese and chopped eggs quickly deteriorate due to the increased temperature in the cage, and therefore they should be given. small portions every 2 hours. Anything left uneaten within 30 minutes should be removed.

hard boiled chicken eggs not all are included in the diet of chickens in the first days of life, believing that they can provoke diarrhea.

There is also an opinion that the yolk is too fatty food for babies. Both statements are considered partially correct. Eggs alone should not be fed to chicks, but should be combined with other foods. They give eggs at the rate of 1 egg per 6 chickens per day.

Access to dry food (crushed grain) for chicks should be constant.

Feeding and feeding chicks

Chickens should be fed from the incubator with boiled water, which is changed as it gets dirty. Access to water must be constant.

As a means for the speedy formation of microflora, yogurt (home-made) or biokefir should be given to babies.

In the event that fresh whey is available, it is good to prepare a wet mash of crushed cereals based on it. Also, when using starter feed, you can slightly soak it in whey, but not more than 1 feeding per day.

Only hatched

The first day after the chicks have hatched is an important stage in their development. Therefore, it is necessary to know exactly how to feed chickens from the first days of life at home.

If during this period the nutrition of the chickens is incorrect, then most likely this will cause their significant mortality (death).

Since not all chickens will immediately peck at food, then it is best to use crushed cereals: wheat and barley. It will not deteriorate due to the high temperature in the cage, and the kids will not get poisoned.

Chicks should be watered with clean boiled water, into which you can throw a little manganese, but only in such a volume that the liquid does not turn pink.

It is also useful to add a few drops of glucose to the drinker. But dairy products should not be given yet. Also, do not get babies an egg as their first meal.

per diem

Feeding chickens, starting from the first days of life, should be very diverse and include not only cereals and dairy products, but also greens and protein foods. Day old chicks are fed at 2 hour intervals..

Babies are given a mixture of cottage cheese and finely chopped hard-boiled eggs, as well as hard millet porridge and various crushed cereals.

It is also necessary to provide a sufficient amount of vitamins, for which on the second day you need to offer chopped green onions to the chickens (you do not need to take store-bought ones because of the high content of chemicals in it).

From the 4th day, finely chopped dandelion and wood lice grass should be added to food little by little. Also, boiled chopped boneless fish and ground beef are being introduced as protein foods. This feeding continues for 7 days.

Crushed cereals in dry form should be available to chicks all the time. During the entire period, it is necessary to give babies kefir or yogurt.

Weekly

At the age of 1 week, chicks have a rapid development, which depends on how you feed them during this period.

Week-old babies at this time maximum grain variety required. They continue to be given dairy products. The egg can be excluded. It's time for the chickens to pour some coarse sand - it is needed for better digestion of food.

In the same period, they begin to produce vegetable and fruit waste in a small amount (DO NOT CONFUSE WITH ROTTEN!).

If you plan to feed with compound feed, then you can start adding starter feed.

Two or more weeks

From the age of 2 weeks, in good weather, it's time to let the chickens out on open ranges.

The diet remains the same, but you can slightly reduce the portion of protein food, as the kids will get a fairly large number of insects and worms in the ground.

They will also begin to find greens on their own and it can not be included in the mash.

In the areas where the chicks walk, poisonous plants should not grow, since at this age the chickens cannot yet distinguish them from edible ones.

monthly

From 4 weeks, they begin to gradually transfer chickens, first to medium (coarse) grinding, and by 6 weeks to whole grains.

Once a day, they should be given a wet mash with bran, bone meal (it can be replaced with phytocalcivit for dogs), boiled vegetables, and not very salty leftovers from the table can also be added.

In addition, grown chickens it is necessary to constantly have ground shell for consumption.

If chickens have the opportunity to graze indefinitely, then it is not necessary to leave grain for the whole day, but you can feed them by the hour.

At three months

At the age of 3 months, the chicks look like adult hens, and already switched to standard diet, which they will have in the future.

You can feed them by choice: compound feed or grain mixtures.

Video

Conclusion

Knowing exactly what chickens are fed in the first days of life and later, you can get a healthy bird with high productivity.

Remember two main rules:

1. Do not feed chickens against their will.
2. Provide constant access to dry food and fresh boiled water.

The chick develops in the egg for 21 days. It does not matter where the eggs are, in the incubator or under the hen. 3 weeks the poultry farmer should use to solve many issues. One of them is where the chicks will live. It is worthwhile to immediately think over the food base for young animals, so as not to subsequently give newborns what is at hand.

Laying hens require a special diet. It is necessary to immediately take care of the health of the chicks. A first aid kit is being prepared for them. It contains everything you need for the first preventive measures. It is advised to purchase "First Aid Kit No. 1 or No. 2". The kits are slightly different, but each of them contains vitamin complexes, antibiotics and a drug for coccidiosis.

Laying chicks are especially susceptible to coccidiosis, but growing egg breed chicks at home takes place with less losses than when breeding broilers. What features are noted when breeding laying hens? What to feed the young and adult herd?

Content methodology

Immediately after the chicks have hatched in the incubator and dried out, it is recommended to place them in a brooder. This is a cage in which the optimal microclimate for livestock is maintained. There are no more than 15 goals per 1 m 2. The brooder includes feeders and drinkers.

If chickens appeared from eggs that were incubated by a hen, then a chicken is also planted in a brooder. Choose a cell with a larger area. In it, the young growth of the egg breed is 2 weeks. After that, the livestock is resettled: the chicks grow rapidly. In 2 weeks, there should not be more than 10 goals per 1 m 2. In a month, the crowding of individuals is 7 heads per 1 m 2. Next, the chicken is removed from the young. Individuals are placed in cages for further cultivation.

To make it convenient for both chickens and chickens, they use a different method of keeping, floor. Before placing the livestock in the room, it must be cleaned and disinfected. The walls are treated with a solution of slaked lime. Lime granules or powder are poured onto the floor: 1 kg/m 2 . After that, lay the litter. Most often, straw or large chips are used. You can cover the floor with peat or sawdust.

The window is painted over with white dye so that the livestock and the hen are not in direct sunlight. Feeders, drinkers for both young and laying hens must be equipped indoors. It is necessary to provide a nest where the chicken will be with its brood.

Often, day old chicks are kept in a spacious box. The floor is covered with a soft blanket or sheet. Housekeepers advise using newspaper or non-slip cardboard: it is easier to change. An infrared lamp is installed above the livestock, which is a heating device. Young growth can be in a box for 2 weeks. After that, individuals are placed either in cages or in a chicken coop on the floor.

There are some advantages cell culture birds before the floor method of keeping:

• it is easier to take care of the chicks: it is easier to wash the cage than to clean up the chicken coop;
• the livestock is growing rapidly, gaining weight;
• you can control the nutrition of the chicken;
• the risk of spreading infection is reduced;
• the likelihood of developing coccidiosis is practically excluded;
• the efficiency of feed use is noted;
• in the future, laying hens in cages rush better.

Breeding livestock in a free way simplifies the work of the poultry breeder. There is no need to build cages and equip them with everything you need. The bedding is often not changed. Only new hay or straw is added to the floor. If the young grow up with a chicken, then she herself will teach the chicks to peck food, drink water, look for worms and insects, and use ash baths.

The main disadvantage of free keeping is that young animals often get sick. Infection rate 100%: pathogens are transmitted through common feeders and drinkers. There is a high risk of developing coccidiosis, which manifests itself when helminths enter the body. They may be in dirty bedding.

Another disadvantage is the inefficient use of feed. Young growth scatters food on the floor, trampling it into the litter. Farmers are constantly inventing devices to make feeding the herd more economical.

With the cellular content of chickens, there is no exercise. Individuals move little, which can adversely affect the development of young animals. They may lack not only active movements, but also fresh air. In the summer, the livestock is recommended to walk in enclosures.

In poultry farms, individuals are accustomed to cages from birth. A certain mode of growing and caring for young animals is maintained. Motion is completely absent, but experts note further high productivity in laying hens.

Whatever method of keeping is chosen for young animals, under a hen, floor or cage, chickens need to create a certain microclimate in the room. They should be warm and light. Maintain optimal humidity in the chicken coop. Keep the air clean.

1. 1 week - air temperature 35 C.
2. 2 weeks - 33 C.
3. Gradually reduce the temperature by 2-3 degrees every week.
4. At 1.5 months, the air temperature can be 20 C.
5. The optimum temperature for 2-3 month old birds is 16-18 C.
6. Adult chickens feel fine at a temperature of 10-12 C.

If the newborn chicks are warm, they are active, eat well, and respond to sound. If it is cold in the chicken coop, then the young grow under the lamp in a herd, bump into each other. At high temperatures, the chickens sit separately, move little, and eat poorly.

• Humidity in the room in the first week can withstand 75%.
• 2 weeks - 70%.
• You can gradually reduce the humidity to 65%.

With high or low humidity, individuals develop inflammatory processes. They may sneeze and cough. The corneas of the eyes become inflamed. There is a decrease in the quality of plumage. High humidity provides favorable soil for the reproduction of helminths in the litter.

For chicks, the light regime is important. It affects the growth and development of young animals. It is recommended to use an infrared lamp for livestock. It is not bright, heats the room well.

Until puberty, daylight hours are kept at 12-14 hours. This is necessary so that the laying hen does not begin to lay eggs too early. They will be inferior, small. It is impossible to fix this with any drugs and nutritional supplements.

Normally, laying hens of egg breed bring the first clutch at 4 months. Starting from this time, daylight hours are increased to 16 hours. This is the optimal mode, which is necessary for the normal egg production of birds. With each laying, the weight of the eggs will increase. The light regime is especially necessary to monitor in winter, when the nights are long. The light in the chicken coop is turned on at 6.00 in the morning, and turned off at 22-23.00.

Long days and bright lights in the coop can change the behavior of the flock. Individuals become irritable and aggressive. It may start to peck. Poultry productivity is declining.

After the chicks have appeared in the incubator or under the hen, they must be dried. In the incubator, they will dry themselves. They are taken out of the closet after the plumage of the chicks has become fluffy.

With a mother hen it is more difficult. It is necessary to carefully remove the chickens from the nest so that the chicken does not notice their absence. Otherwise, the hen may leave the clutch. The eggs will freeze, the chicks will not hatch. The young are placed under a lamp. After all the eggs have hatched, the mother hen is also removed from the nest. At this time, the chicken coop is cleaned and disinfected.

1. During the hatching period, the chick drinks the remaining yolk liquid. This allows him to last up to 10 hours without food. The first thing to do is to give the livestock sugar water or glucose. This will give the chicks strength, reduce stress, and increase resistance to disease.
2. After 6 hours, the chicks are fed. Eggs are boiled, crushed and poured into the feeder. The serving is 5 g per head.
3. Boiled water is poured into the drinker, heated to a temperature of 20 C.
4. Feeding is carried out every 2 hours, even at night.

If the chicks do not eat, it means that they do not know how to peck. It is necessary to tap on the feeder with your finger so that the young can see it. They will repeat the movements and begin to eat food. Usually the first lesson is given to the chickens by the mother hen. She also watches the behavior of the young, drives everyone to the feeder, punishes too active individuals who push other chicks away from eating or drinking.

On the first day, no more events are held. It is necessary to monitor the cleanliness of the bedding or cage tray. If necessary, it should be washed with a disinfectant. Growing and caring for young animals is not only about observing the optimal regime of keeping. It is necessary to properly feed the chickens so that in the future the chickens show good productivity.

Feeding the young

Laying chicks when raised at home are most often fed traditional feed. Poultry farms use combined mixtures. The second day begins for the livestock by drinking vitamins. Individuals are given "Chiktonik" or other drugs. In 1 liter of boiled water, add 1 ml of the product. 2 hours after the young are saturated with vitamins, feeding begins. The diet is more varied. It includes, in addition to eggs, millet, cottage cheese, greens.

Parsley, dill, nettle, dandelions, carrot tops or boiled carrots are given as greens. All the ingredients are chopped with a knife, the carrots are rubbed on a fine grater. They begin to give mash with the addition of yogurt.

• Egg 2 g, greens 1 g.
• Millet 5 g, curdled milk 5 g, cottage cheese 1 g.
• Vitamin drink.

The diet is maintained for laying hens and for 3 days. The serving is 15 g. The chicken should not remain hungry. Pay attention to his goiter. After feeding, it is enlarged and slightly elongated. From 4 to 10 days, cake and minerals begin to be introduced into the diet. Use sunflower meal or soybean meal. As minerals, they give chalk, crushed shell, crushed eggshell. The serving for future laying hens is 24-25 g.

Growing poultry at home

In the first month, especially the first 10 days, chickens need special care. They need a warm, dry, clean room with good ventilation, but without drafts. No more than 20 ... 25 chickens should be placed per 1 m 2. After 4 ... 5 weeks they are seated in 17 heads, and ac 10 to 20 weeks - 10 heads per 1 m 2.

For the first 3 ... 5 days, it is better for chickens to lay paper on the floor, and pour sifted chicken feed, small corn grits on it. Chickens rummage through such litter without harm to themselves and remain clean.

Do not feed chickens on a cold floor, otherwise they will catch a cold. In no case should chickens climb into feeders and drinkers with their feet: feed and water contaminated with litter cause intestinal diseases, and wet litter is detrimental to immature chickens.

For the first timeFor 10 days the chicks are fed every 2 hours. During this period, the best food for them will be finely chopped hard-boiled eggs, crumbly cottage cheese, mixed with semolina or corn grits. For 10 chickens give one egg or 50 g of cottage cheese mixed with 50 g of cereals. It is useful to give chickens small cereals, lightly ground oatmeal flakes, chicken feed, adding powdered milk to them (1/4 of the volume of cereals or a mixture of cereals) and one ground multivitamin tablet (for 10 chickens). Such a dry mix is ​​convenient because the poultry farmer can leave for a long time, pouring feed into the feeder, and the chickens themselves regulate feed intake. After each feeding, check if all chicks have full stomachs.

From 3…5 days of age, chickens are taught to eat finely chopped greens; On the 10th day they give boiled potatoes, grated carrots, pumpkin, zucchini and other vegetables. Wet crumbly mash should be eaten within 30-40 minutes (give 30-40 g per head), the remains must be removed (sour feed causes poisoning and death of chickens). For the intestines of chickens, fresh yogurt, kefir, and whey are very useful, which are given in the morning, and then the drinkers are filled with fresh water. As a disinfectant, 2 times a week, a weak solution of potassium permanganate is given for half an hour, but it should not be given immediately unnecessarily in the first days of the chickens' life.

Starting from the age of 10 days, the chickens are given finely crushed chalk, well-boiled ground eggshells, in separate feeders there should always be fine gravel or coarse sand.

In the first month, chickens are very demanding on heat, they die even when room temperature. The first 5 days the temperature in the area where the chickens are placed should be 29…30 °С, from the 6th day it is reduced to 26…28 °С and each subsequent week - by 3 °С, by the end of the month it is brought to 18 °С. Good for keeping chickens warm infrared lamps: they do not blind and can be left overnight. In warm sunny weather, chickens can be taken outside from the age of 3 days. To walk accustom gradually.

In home gardens, chickens are mainly kept on a deep, non-replaceable litter. Deep bedding contributes to the release of a large amount of heat, protects the legs of chickens from the influence of low temperatures, affects their general condition and health, and, of course, is one of the most important environmental factors. As a result of the enzymatic decomposition that occurs in the litter under the influence of bacteria, the bird receives an additional source of biologically active substances, mainly B vitamins. With good care, the litter does not stick together into lumps that stick to shoes, springs when walking and crumbles when squeezed in the hand.

Good bedding material is peat, straw chaff, wood shavings, sawdust. Bedding mixtures have proved to be the best. Moss peat absorbs about 3 times more moisture from the air and manure than sawdust and wood shavings, and 2 times more than straw chaff. The moisture capacity of peat increases if it is stored in the attic in winter, where it freezes well.

The main advantage of peat as bedding is its ability to eliminate unpleasant odors. Litter, especially liquid , with mingling with peat, becomes invisible. Peat dries the bird's feet very quickly and thus prevents the occurrence of colds. Eggs laid by chickens at night do not break when they fall on a layer of peat, and if they do break, their contents are mixed with peat, which prevents the development of such a defect in chickens as pecking eggs. Finally, peat, together with manure, is an excellent fertilizer.

Peat is poured in a layer of 8-15 cm. Such a litter can be used up to 4-5 months. At the same time, once a week you need to remove the top layer along with the litter. Therefore, peat bedding is not only healthy and comfortable for the bird, but also saves time and labor for the amateur poultry farmer.

moisture capacitychopped straw bedding is much smaller than peat, wood shavings and sawdust. In a straw bed less group B vitamins are formed. Uncut straw is not used as bedding, as it becomes very quickly moistened and moldy. In Ukraine, crushed corn cobs are used as bedding, but only for adult birds. Due to its high toxicity, its use in raising chickens is not recommended.

All bedding materials can be used for bedding mixes. A mixture consisting of different parts of peat, wood shavings and straw chaff is especially convenient. The high content of wood chips in the bedding mixture slows down its decomposition and biological synthesis. The thickness of the layer depends on the material used and the stocking density of the bird. At normal planting density, the layer thickness should be 20-25 cm. In this case, the litter will remain dry throughout the year.

To stimulate the biological activity of the fresh bedding, it is necessary to leave a part (5-10 cm) of the old bedding, which acts as a "sourdough". Over time, when loosening, the old and fresh layers are gradually mixed. The frequency of loosening depends on the microclimate and the type of bedding material. In conditions of humid air (winter), it must be loosened daily to increase evaporation from the underlying layer.

To bind moisture, it is recommended to add lime (0.5-1 kg per 1 m 2 ), but the structure of the litter does not improve. The addition of superphosphate (0.5 per 1 m 2 ) helps to improve the structure of the litter. Loosen bedding material should be to the full depth. Otherwise, anaerobic conditions are formed in the lower layer and useful aerobic populations of microorganisms die. Floors must be well insulated from soil moisture. Wooden floors do not need a protective coating, as deep underlayment does not destroy, but rather preserves the wood.

Bedding is recommended to be harvested in the summer and stored indoors to prevent moisture. Lay the litter in the house, usually in autumn in dry weather. In order to prevent it from getting wet, iron trays are installed under the drinkers or coasters are made. Excessive dryness of the litter is undesirable. At humidity below 20%, enzymatic processes are suspended. With dry litter, the dust content of the air increases. In the hot season, it must be sprayed with water. This reduces dust, and the evaporation of moisture helps to lower the temperature in the house.

When poultry is kept on damp, moldy litter, diseases can occur - aspergillosis, coccidiosis, as well as respiratory diseases. in excessively humid deep litter helminth eggs and chicken tick larvae develop. Damp litter becomes cold, which contributes to a decrease in temperature and an increase in relative humidity, pollutes feeders and drinkers.

Chicken feeding

Chickens hatched under the hen. Here they are dried up and begin to peek out from under the wings. Watch them and you will see - the chickens are already pecking at something. They try to forage shortly after hatching.

Previously, many poultry farmers believed that chickens should be fed only on the second day of their life. It was a mistake. Poultry scientists say something else: the sooner you start feeding chickens, the faster they dissolve the residual yolk and they develop better.

Good feed for chickens in the first days of their life are; finely crushed high-quality grain mixture, finely chopped hard-boiled egg, well-pressed non-acidic cottage cheese, porridge, hard boiled, yogurt. From the very first days of growing chickens, you need to give finely chopped fresh herbs - alfalfa, clover, nettle. Gradually, flour mixtures from cereals, animal and mineral feeds are introduced into the diet: first the mixtures are dry, and then wet. To moisten the mixtures, whey with pressed yeast diluted in it is used.

Dry mix chickens up to one and a half to two months of age are given plenty: the feeder with the dry mix should always be with the chickens.

Up to ten days of age, chickens are fed six times a day, from the tenth day to one and a half months of age - five times, and then they switch to four meals a day.
We have said before that wet mash feeders should be washed and dried frequently, and this is especially important when feeding chicks: sour and contaminated feed causes disease.

The number of feeders and drinkers must be sufficient, otherwise the chickens will interfere with one another.

Goiterschicks should be full after evening feeding. If there are chickens with incomplete goiter, they must be transferred to another room and fed separately.
Mineral feed should be kept in separate feeders.

The water needs to be changed several times a day.

Chicken feeding

Feed types

There are two main types of food: hard and soft. The first type includes mainly grain or grass seeds in their natural state, the soft one includes flour made from the same grains, as well as vegetables, various greens and animal feed. Grains and seeds soaked in water or scalded with boiling water should also be considered soft food. Often, soft food is made up of different types of flour, as well as bran with the addition of various boiled vegetables and herbs. Greens and vegetables are always given in chopped form, both boiled and raw. Mixers are made from flour with milk, whey or just water.

Soft feed in the body of a bird is digested faster, so it is mainly used for fattening and raising chickens. It can be given to molting and convalescent birds in cases where enhanced and versatile nutrition is required. Soft food is also fed in case of increased egg laying, but moderately for fear of bird obesity. It is good to mix ginger and mustard into it, but with great care. First give a small pinch, and then gradually increase the dose.

Soft food is used both cold and warm. In the warm season, it can be cold, and in the cold - warm, so that there is no loss of heat in the body, the consumption of which at this time is stronger than usual. The feed temperature should not exceed 40°C. Soft food is given in a bowl convenient for pecking, hard food can be given by scattering it on the floor of the room. This method of giving food is preferable, since the bird, while collecting it, at the same time produces some exercise, which is very important in winter, especially for those birds that are deprived of walking. Do not throw food on the snow or on frozen ground, and also give it chilled in the cold. Compliance with these rules prevents diseases.

Feeding mode

Successful breeding poultry largely dependent on the diet. In winter, an adult bird should be fed 2 times a day - in the morning and in the evening. In the morning you need to give soft and warm food, in the evening - dry grain. This rule is very important, because in winter there are short days and long nights. During the night sitting on perches, a bird that has eaten hard grain is less affected by frost, as the activity of the digestive organs continues. In the intervals between morning and evening feedings, cabbage or greens can be given to peck, hanging it on the walls or hanging it from the ceiling of the house so that the bird can reach it. Greens do not contribute to obesity, but the bird pecks at it with great pleasure.

In the warm season, feeding can be done according to various modes. Where the bird uses spacious, vegetated paddocks, it is enough to feed it once a day - in the morning. For a short night, the bird does not get hungry. In autumn, when the bird can feed on grains in the stubble, no need to feed her. Where there are no spacious walking areas, you need to feed the bird more often than in winter, namely 3 times a day.

Chickens should be fed as often as possible: in the first days of life 5-6 times a day. Then, until 3-4 weeks of age - 3-4 times a day. As they grow, depending on whether the chickens have the opportunity to get their own part of the food, the number of feedings is determined.

Birds should be given as much food as they need to be healthy and productive. Lack of feed weakens the body and reduces productivity, and excess leads to obesity and also a decrease in productivity. Determination of the required portion of food depends on the experience and observation of the owner. Experienced poultry farmers advise giving so much food so that the bird does not eat to its full and greedily takes up food in the next cottage. If she is taken for food sluggishly, being quite healthy, the portion should be reduced.

Depending on the properties of the food, it should be given in more or less quantity. The bird eats less dry grain than soft food, vegetables and herbs. It is impossible to compare the supply of grain feed and, for example, bran mixed with water. The latter will require much more to deliver a small amount of nutrients to the bird. Great importance is attached to the diversity of food. It is better to give grain of one or two types as the main feed, diversifying it with soft food to another cottage, and also feed vegetables, herbs, and meat additionally.

Chickens require a much more varied diet. At the beginning of their life, they should be fed with animals and soft food, giving, of course, one or two types of grain. As the grain grows, the portions of the grain increase, and the animal feed decreases. Gradually, the number of feed components is reduced, and the bird is content with those few of its species to which it has become most accustomed in recent times.

Vegetable feed

Feeds of plant origin include grain feeds, waste from industrial processing (flour milling, oil milling, sugar beet), green, succulent feed, hay.

Grain feeds form the basis of the diet of birds. Of the grain feed, the birds are fed: oats, barley, corn, rye, millet, buckwheat, peas, vetch, sunflower seeds, flaxseed and, in addition, waste: obtained during grain processing (bran, basting, chaff, flour dust) and oil mill industry (cake, meal).

oatsin some areas it is the main grain feed. It is fed both to adult breeding birds, especially during oviposition, and to young ones. The disadvantage of this food is a large number of films, reaching up to 30-40% of the mass of the entire grain. Chickens should be given oats ground and sifted. It stimulates feather growth. Good oats should be large, white or light yellow in color, dry, with a moisture content of not more than 30%. Oats are also fed in sprouted form.

Barleycan be included in the diet along with other grain feeds. The bird eats it less willingly than corn or wheat. It is better to teach him from a young age. In areas where barley is a common crop, it can serve as a major part of the grain diet. Good barley should be full-grain and thin-skinned, light yellowish-white in color, with some sheen, fresh strawy smell, without mustiness. It is fed as part of a flour mixture and as a whole.

Cornis a valuable grain feed, most readily eaten by birds, especially chickens. Due to the high content of carbohydrates and fat, it is considered a good feed for fattening; it is easily digested. In areas where maize is predominantly grown, it is included in almost every diet and is fed either whole or coarsely ground, or ground.

However, the protein in corn is considered deficient in individual amino acids. In addition, it is poor in minerals, especially calcium, so it is better to feed a mixture of grain feeds. When feeding corn to adult birds during egg laying in the warm season, it should not be introduced into the diet in large quantities, as this contributes to obesity, in the cold season the risk of obesity decreases.

Ryein its composition it approaches wheat, but is relatively poorly eaten by birds, especially in its entirety. When feeding poultry with wet mash, rye is added in ground or steamed form. Rye flour is part of the fattening rations and in the first period of fattening.

Milletclose in composition to oats. It is fed whole and ground, as well as collapsed (millet). Millet is given to chickens in the form of a steeply boiled crumbly porridge. Millet millet can be used in grain mixers.

Branare waste products from the flour milling industry. The most commonly used wheat bran. They contain a lot of phosphorus, but compared to grain feeds they have little calcium. Bran can be given to chickens 30, ducks - up to 60, geese - up to 80 g per day.

Grain slices(grain waste) are very diverse in quality. The less foreign impurities in them (straw particles, chaff, earth, dust), the more nutritious they are. The composition of wheat and rye cuts used for poultry feed varies within the following limits:

• broken and coarse grain - 20-44%
• weed seeds - 19-68%
• various impurities - 5-45%

flour dustis a mixture of flour and bran with an admixture of earth, dust, etc. The most nutritious is white dust, less - gray and the least nutritious dust with a large admixture of earth particles. Flour dust, preferably white, can replace part of the grain in the diet, especially when the laying of the birds is already over.

Malt sprouts obtained by sprouting barley. They are added to the grain diet. Sprouts contain a special substance called lecithin, which is rich in phosphorus. They must be given to laying hens and males to obtain breeding eggs of high fertility and subsequent viability of the embryos.

Yeastas a small supplement to the diet, they serve as the main source of vitamin B1 for poultry. Composition of dry yeast:

• protein - 48.1%
• carbohydrates - 29.3%
• water - 10.8%
• fiber - 2.6%
• minerals - 2.6%
• fats - 1%

Yeast is introduced into the diet mainly for chickens raised without walking, in the amount of 1-5%.

Adviсe

How to catch a bird?
Catch a bird should be in a darkened room, while you need to use blue light lamps. The best time to catch is when the bird has perched. It is convenient to use a corner made of timber and metal mesh. With this device, the bird should be pressed against the wall and caught by the wings. If you want to catch individual individuals, it is better to use a wire hook with a diameter of 5-6 mm, a length of 1 to 1.5 m. Waterfowl are caught by the neck, the rest - by the leg.

What are the drinking water requirements?
Polluted water serves as a source of infection. Wild birds should not be allowed access to the water. The design of the drinkers should prevent water contamination by the bird itself. The frequency of water changes depends on weather conditions and bird species. In the warm season, water should be changed at least 3 times a day; Drinkers should be disinfected 3-4 times a month.

How to yeast flour mixtures?
Yeasting of flour mixtures is carried out to increase the nutritional value of feed and enrich them with a vitamin part. To do this, use darkened rooms, temperature maintain within 18-20 °C. Based on 1 kg of flour mixture, 10-20 g of baker's yeast are diluted in warm (30 °C) water. The feed is covered with a layer of up to 30 cm. For 1 kg of flour mixture, 1.5 liters of water will be required. After thorough mixing, the food is left for 6 hours, after every 2 hours it is mixed again. The temperature of the yeast mass should be 20-27 ° C.

How to germinate grain?
For 1-2 days, the grain is poured with water, after which it is scattered with a layer of 5-8 cm until sprouts appear. Sprouted grain is given to chickens in the amount of 30-40% of the daily supply of the grain part of the diet.

How to grind grain?
As a result of grinding, the particle size should be in the range from 1 to 2 mm. The degree of grinding depends on the type and age of the bird. The quality of the crushed feed will be higher if it contains less pulverized fraction.

What are the feed intake standards?
Geese and ducks, according to their biological characteristics, use silage better than chickens and turkeys. With low productivity or in an unproductive period, the amount of silage fed is increased. Combined silos are fed to young animals from the age of three weeks.

Combined silos are prepared from clover, alfalfa, kale, carrots, potatoes, sugar beets. The humidity of the silo should not exceed 70%. Before feeding, 5 g of chalk is added to 100 g of silage.

How to feed food?
To reduce feed losses, feed should be used that is appropriate for the type and age of the bird's productivity, as well as convenient feeders. You should not make drastic changes in the composition of the diet. The height of the side of the feeder should not be lower than the back of the bird. Feeders should be filled one-third with loose feed, and half full with whole grains. Give wet mixes more often. The length of the feeders should ensure the simultaneous approach of the entire bird.

In order to keep day old chicks at home and subsequently have healthy pets, farmers should organize proper rearing and provide balanced nutrition and care. For effective development of the digestive system, the first feeding of chicks should be carried out shortly after birth. For the first time, the composition of food for chickens may consist of small corn grits. The faster the chicken eats something tasty, the faster the reflex to food will appear. When rearing in the first month of life, it is important to monitor the composition of the diet and the frequency of feeding so that the little bird receives as many of the necessary nutrients as possible.

The survival of chickens depends on the right diet

Feeding day old chicks

Improper nutrition is the most common cause of death of day old birds, and not various diseases, as many farmers believe. In addition to boiled egg yolk and small corn grits, already on the second day, the nutritional composition can be expanded with other cereals. Feeding chickens on the first day of life is best done after two hours and in small portions, so the kids do not scatter food. Growing chickens requires meals that are not large, but frequent, about 5-7 times a day. The composition of nutritious cereals such as barley, semolina, millet, ground oatmeal, wheat are suitable for small chicks of the first day incubator as well as possible. In the case when the chicks do not eat everything from a mixture of cereals, which is made by hand, but only the one that they liked the most, then do a one-component meal. Porridge should be dry, not boiled for the first day.

Feed for chickens should be easily digestible, balanced and nutritious for good growth of the immature organism. Specially optimized feeding of chickens from the first days of life should include, without fail, clean warm drinking water. For water, an adapted vacuum drinker is used. Babies need to drink plenty of fluids to restore water balance. Most newborn chicks have a weak appetite due to adaptation to new living conditions. Therefore, you should not panic if the babies peck sluggishly, as the hatchery chicks grow and leave, they will gain the necessary weight.

Hatchery chicks are often a bit lethargic and reluctant to peck at food.

Weekly pet diet

Chickens for health and growth from the first days of life need not only cereals. Little by little, as a source of calcium and nitrogenous matter, let's cottage cheese on the third day. Mix about 40-60 g of curd mass with cereals at the morning meal for 8-12 chickens. By themselves, dairy products are suitable and liked by small pets, so farmers add fresh kefir, whey or yogurt as a probiotic to the drinker. On the third day, various greens are introduced into the diet. It is used both in pure form and as a mixture of grain with plantain, dandelion, dried nettle. Add fresh clover, alfalfa. Fresh green onion feathers are used for preventive measures of intestinal diseases.

For convenience, greens are collected with their own hands in a small bundle and hung at an accessible height, on the walls of the place where pets are grown. Boiled carrots, potatoes, beet tops and coniferous flour are added to the herbs.

When growing, the nutrition of an adult bird is half green, so it is necessary to accustom from a very early age to an abundant amount of herbs. In order to strengthen the immune system and prevent the occurrence of pet diseases, you can add a little fish oil to your morning meal. Nutritious for babies and duckweed and mud. Remember that you can add egg yolk to your diet. Farmers who breed broiler birds at home give specialized compound feed for 4-5 days. Contains a number of minerals and vitamins for the intensive development of babies. At a week of age, meals are reduced to 4 times a day, but are compensated by a plentiful portion.

It is necessary to accustom chickens to greenery from a very early age.

Feeding chicks

Pets that have reached one month spend most of their time on the street, which is why they eat greens. With fresh grass, kids get the right amount of vitamins. After four weeks, chicks produce coarse grains, and closer to two months, whole grains. The owners add a wet mash to the diet, which they make with their own hands. Use household food waste bone meal which promotes the growth of pets. When caring for a healthy balance in the body of the chickens, put a separate feeder into which pour fine gravel, ground shell or sand.

Goiters in chickens after evening feeding should be full. If there are chickens with an incomplete goiter, they must be transferred to another room and fed separately.

It is important for monthly birds to get as many natural and varied foods as possible, as well as foods that contain fiber. If the food is balanced and of high quality, made by hand, then farmers will get strong young.

One month old chicks should actively graze outside

Principles of feeding and rearing chickens

Wholesome nutrition and care at home from the first days of life of babies will ensure healthy chickens in the future. It is necessary to follow some rules for keeping chickens, such as:

• quality composition of food;
• plentiful portions;
• feeding schedule;
• daily regime.

Most owners grow their little pets in cardboard boxes. Therefore, food is placed in a separate dish at the bottom of the box. A sufficient number of feeders and drinkers will provide normal access to food for all pets in the incubator. The drinker should be comfortable and not leak. Water should be changed several times during the day. At first, chickens are most vulnerable to disease. Dryness and normal condition of the legs and down will eliminate disease and mortality among birds. As soon as the babies hatch, they are placed in a separate incubator for a while to dry out. For a long time, babies should not be kept separately in order to avoid further illnesses.

In the absence of an incubator, the laying hen warms the chickens

Optimal temperature regime for small chickens 30-32°C. Weekly gradually reduce the temperature to 29 ° C. On the twentieth day 25°C, and thereafter an average of 22°C. Standard practice includes placing a heater or heat lamp next to the box.

The place where the pets are kept, farmers provide cleanliness, order and care with their own hands. Saucers for food and drinking bowls should be thoroughly washed from food residues, and food rotting should be avoided.

Poor quality care and poor nutrition expose babies to various diseases. It is extremely important to keep track of each individual. In the event of the appearance of a sick bird, be sure to isolate from all litter. Follow all sanitary standards and provide a balanced diet for babies, as a result you will get healthy poultry.