Keeping broilers in cages at home: conditions of keeping, feeding and care rules

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Broilers are chickens that are obtained by crossing meat productive breeds. They are grown exclusively for the purpose of later putting them on meat. The content of broilers in cages at home differs mainly in enhanced feeding. At the same time, physical activity is limited, due to which the weight indicator is growing rapidly. Usually such breeds are kept in specially equipped cages. In order for such cultivation of meat chickens to be correct and successful, a list of special rules must be observed.

So, consider the content of broilers at home for beginners. This business is interesting, exciting and profitable.

Keeping broiler chickens at home in a cage

If keeping birds normally, on the floor and without a cage, it will not be easy to raisea large number, especially if the area is limited to a small space. If there are too many individuals, then they can begin to fight for food, water and free space. The very first to die are chickens, which may simply be crushed, because they are weaker and more unprotected. In order to prevent this situation from happening, you can use the cells collected in multi-tiered structures. Keeping broilers in cages at home allows you to keep from 20 to 25 birds at a time.

Key Benefits

1. You can keep 3 or even 5 times as many broilers in the same area without harming their he alth.
2. Chickens gain mass at a much faster rate because the individual is limited in movement, and all calories go into size and weight.
3. Food can be used more efficiently, because the bird will not be able to scatter it, because of this, saturation comes from a smaller amount.
4. Easy to clean up waste such as manure because it ends up on the pallet. So the birds will not peck it and transfer it to the feeder, becoming infected.
5. Feeding, tidying up and regularly inspecting in this case is easier and faster.
6. Less spread of infectious diseases because there is no contact with other birds.
7. You don't need to put bedding because there is a drip tray.
8. Feeders and drinkers are easier to clean and conditions for broilers are much better.

Flaws

Keeping broilers at home in cages has some disadvantages:

1. Have to spend money to make cages.
2. You also need to shell out a considerable amount in order to acquire additional lighting, ventilation and heating. But in general, in the end, with the right calculation, the costs will pay off well.
3. The taste of meat is reduced compared to free-range chickens as a result.
4. It is necessary to clean the cages regularly, literally every day.
5. Food needs to be well balanced. Under such conditions, broilers become susceptible to it. After all, they cannot get various additional food on their own.
6. If the weight of an individual is too large, then problems with the legs and chest may occur, which will adversely affect the quality of the final meat.
7. After each bird batch, all cages must be thoroughly disinfected.

How to furnish a room?

If you properly organize the territory of the chicken coop in which it is planned to place the cages, then the grown broiler birds will be he althy and productive. The room is equipped:

• ventilation system;
• heaters;
• lighting;
• measuring the level of humidity and temperature.

Cage blocks should be placed in such a way as not to cause difficulties when accessing feeders and drinkers in order to maintain and disinfect them.

How to choose cages?

In order for the cage keeping of broilers at home to bear fruit, you need to choose the right boxes. Typically, for such individuals, cages are made of steel with a rod thickness of two millimeters or more. The frames in which they are installed are of the following types:

• made of wood;
• metal.

If you plan to have a large number of individuals, it is better, of course, to opt for metal frames, because they are easier to disinfect, moisture does not accumulate in them. A wooden frame is more suitable for making with your own hands in a small household, because there is a significant saving in metal.

Sizes

Regarding the size of the cells are:

• width less than 0.5 m (suitable for keeping 3-4 individuals);
• wide up to 0.7 m (for 6-8 individuals);
• width less than 1.2 m (for 10-12 individuals).

How deep and tall the cages will be depends on how many chickens you plan to place in them. The largest ones are intended more for industry, they are inconvenient to use in home production. The best option is a cage with a width of 0.65-0.7 m, a depth of 0.3 m, and a height of 0.25 m. These parameters can accommodate up to 8 broilers.

It must be remembered that the floor grating must be made of high-quality reliable steel, and the thickness of the rods must be from 0.3 centimeters, because if the floor will haveless strength, there is a chance that bird weight will bend it, especially if the box is quite wide.

If the chicken coop is large, and you are going to install cage tiers along the walls, then it is most convenient to attach small wheels to those blocks that will be located in the center, then it will be convenient to move the boxes when putting things in order. It is best if vacuum bird drinkers are placed because there is less chance of spilling water and automated refilling will make servicing broiler hens easier.

Temperature

In order for broiler chickens to be kept at home, it is important to maintain the same temperature. If it rises above the normal value (which is 24 degrees), the livestock will certainly get sick, because the chickens simply will not be able to go anywhere and change position.

In order to control the temperature level, it is best to use special thermostats, thanks to which the process of maintaining the desired temperature can be automated. To heat a room with broilers, you can use:

• gas heaters;
• electric;
• infrared.

Heating

Keeping broilers in winter at home requires a well-thought-out heating system. If you install a gas heater, then the breeder's costs are greatly saved, but in this case, fire safety regulations will need to be carefully observed. Onlyrepresentatives of specialized organizations that have a license, so this kind of keeping warm is more suitable for farms.

Due to electric heaters, a large amount of energy is expended, compared to infrared heaters, due to which not the air is heated, but the surrounding objects, and air heating is already occurring from them. Therefore, the use of infrared emitters is more profitable and efficient. Based on the age of the chicken, the following temperature is set inside the cages:

• 1-5 days - 34 degrees;
• 6-11 days - 30 degrees;
• from 12 days - 18-24 degrees.

Lighting

When keeping broilers in cages at home, daylight hours should be approximately 15-18 hours. This is due to the fact that due to the light, the bird consumes food more often and, accordingly, gains weight. When keeping broilers at home, the room is illuminated with electric lamps. In order to maintain the required mode of light, you can use timers that can be configured to automatically turn on / off the light. Broiler chicks under a week of age should have lights on around the clock, when a chick is seven days old, the light period lasts up to 18 hours.

Every 4 sq. m. should be illuminated by at least 100 watts of incandescent lamps or 12 watts of LED lamps. It is better not to use energy-saving lamps, because if they flicker, the birds get sick and lose their accumulated energy.mass.

Humidity

This figure should be maintained within 55-65 percent, if it is higher, mold can begin to develop and bacteria multiply. But if the humidity is lowered, feathers will begin to break, the water exchange in birds will be disrupted.

How to feed broiler chickens?

In order for the individuals to quickly gain the necessary weight, it is necessary to ensure the proper maintenance of broilers and care at home. You can start feeding birds from the first week from the moment they are in cages, the main thing is to follow all the rules and regulations. Due to the fact that newly born chickens have an underdeveloped digestive system, you can give as initial complementary foods:

• grated boiled egg white;
• finely crushed grain;
• fat-free or low-fat cottage cheese;
• curdled milk.

To feed the juveniles, you need to insert a special chute into the feeders located outside so that the chickens can reach the food. Hooks should be built into the feeders in order to adjust them to the required cage height for birds of different ages and weights.

We must not forget that young birds should consume a daily mash (porridge consistency feed). It can be prepared by diluting a dry grain mixture of corn husks and sunflower meal with water or low-fat milk. Dilution ratio should be 4:2:1.

Dry products(domestic or industrial production) can be used to fatten birds that have already grown enough. Industrial formulations contain all the necessary nutrients, as well as beneficial trace elements, minerals and vitamins, mixed in the required ratio. When keeping broilers in cages at home, the breeder should only pour the feed into containers specially designed for this. But it is worth remembering that the price of industrial feed is much higher than the price of homemade feed. Home-made compositions must contain elements such as:

• crushed grain;
• whole grain;
• fiber;
• useful trace elements;
• fats;
• calcium.

Fat contains sunflower cake, which is needed by the broiler to grow he althy, regular feathers, as well as to observe favorable he alth in birds. If there is not enough fat, you can mix vegetable oil into the dry feed (one teaspoon of oil per kg of dry feed). A useful addition to the diet of broiler chickens will be boiled vegetables, which can be given up to 30 percent of the weight of the total feed. Possible vegetables include:

• potato;
• carrot;
• beets.

When keeping and raising broilers at home, owners can add food waste to regular feed. But we must not forget that their number as a percentage should not exceed fifteen percent of the total mass. Waste (especially those containinghard vegetables) must be boiled and chopped before being added to the feed, otherwise it is likely that the bird will choke on the hard pieces in the feed.