Egg and broiler chickens. How to feed

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

Breeding chickens in the country is a significant help for the family budget. Although the bird is quite unpretentious, it is, of course, necessary to know about the nuances of its maintenance. In particular, chickens require careful care. How to feed young animals correctly? Let's talk about it below.

Peculiarities of feeding in the first days of life

On the first day of life, the appetite of young animals is usually not very good. However, you should still try to feed newborns. Usually, small chickens are fed finely chopped, hard-boiled chicken eggs, as well as cottage cheese. Experienced chicken breeders do not advise giving coarse food during this period. How to feed day old chicks? - the question is actually very important. The fact is that the death of young animals at this time is associated for the most part with malnutrition and, as a result, with a disorder of the digestive system.

On the first day of life, young animals should also be soldered with special preparations designed specifically for this purpose. For example, it can be Baytril, which must be added to water. This will keep the chickens safe from E. coli andstrengthen their immunity. Among other things, preparations for day-old chicks help increase appetite.

Feeding chicks up to ten days of age

A very good solution during this period can be special feeds designed specifically for young animals (for example, "Start"). Starting from the age of three, you can add boiled crushed corn or millet to the diet. A glass of cereal is poured with two glasses of water, brought to a boil and left to steam for 1 hour. The food prepared in this way is cooled and laid out on a bed in a box (4-5 times a day).

Starting from 5 days of age, you can add finely chopped leaves of clover, nettle or mosquito to the diet, as well as grated raw carrots on a fine grater. The mixture prepared in this way is given between the main feedings. It is necessary to accustom young animals to greenery. In this case, in the future it will be possible to save on vitamin supplements. Among other things, starting from the fifth day of life, fish oil should be added to the morning mash (0.1-0.2 g per chicken). This is how 3–10 day old chicks are fed. How to feed older young animals, consider below.

Chicken chicks up to two months of age

From the tenth day of life, young animals begin to give mash, consisting of:

1. Boiled, mashed potatoes.
2. Cooked and chilled fish (possible from waste).
3. Steamed feed.
4. Grated raw carrots.
5. Finely chopped nettle leaves.
6. Cooked meat bones (1 tablespoon for ten chickens).
7. Finely crushed shell (1 teaspoon for ten chickens).

The first five ingredients are mixed in equal proportions. This food should be given four times a day. Moisten the mash with fish or meat broth (uns alted).

Feeding two-month-old chicks

So, two-month-old chickens. How to feed correctly? Starting from two months and ending at four months of age, young animals are given mashes of the following composition:

1. Crackers passed through a meat grinder (or sifted compound feed) - 30%.
2. Mix of crushed bones (fish and meat) with eggshell - 1%.
3. Boiled potatoes - 30%.
4. Crushed carrots and nettle leaves - 20%.

In winter, grown chickens can also be fed grain. For the manufacture of mash, you need to take only fresh products. Starting from the fourth month, chickens are transferred to an adult diet.

Broiler chickens. How to feed properly

Young beef breeds, in contrast to egg breeds, are somewhat more adapted to eating food with a high protein content. In addition, such chickens eat more often. Until the seventh day of life, they are fed with mash every two hours. At the same time, they try to make the night interval as short as possible. In order to achieve this, the first feeding is carried out as early as possible, and the last - as late as possible. Mixtures are given in plenty until the chickens are full. Sprouted grains should definitely be added to the diet in autumn and winter.

Very often, broilers are given a yeasted mash. For its preparation, baker's yeast, mashed potatoes, carrots, herbs are placed in heated water and kept for six hours. Such mash is eaten by young animals more readily than usual. Thus, the question of how to feed broiler chickens comes down mainly to ensuring that there is enough protein and protein in the food, as well as increasing the appetite of the bird itself.

What feeders should be

Very small chickens eat from a plywood sheet with a one-centimeter-high side around the perimeter. Mixers for older young animals are laid in feeders, which you can make yourself. To do this, you need to knock down a long box from container boards about 3 cm deep and 6 cm wide. A rotating round handle should be attached to the ends from above. In this case, the chickens will not be able to climb into the feeder, or sit on top as if on a perch.

We hope we have sufficiently fully answered the main question of the article: “How to feed chickens?” The diet and frequency of feeding depends primarily on the age of the young, as well as its breed.