How to feed day old chicks: tips

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

Today, many summer residents are thinking about breeding various pets. And chickens are no exception. If you are just starting a career as a poultry farmer, you should know that not all chickens survive the first days of life. Moreover, the main causes of their death are not diseases at all, but malnutrition. So what do you feed day old chicks? Only the right diet will help you get a he althy, strong livestock with high egg production and weight. An important point is the proper care of laying hens. The viability of future offspring also depends on the he alth of the bird. He althy and strong offspring can only be obtained under conditions of proper maintenance.

Essential Diet

Many farmers disagree on what to feed their day-old chickens. The supply of nutrients contained in the yolk sac is only enough for the first 5-6 hours. It is quickly consumed in the formation of the digestive systemlittle chicken. Among diurnal birds fed during the first 16 hours of life, mortality is 20% lower than those fed only after 24-48 hours. This means that the chicks need food, not simple food, but special food.

First meal

So what should it include? To understand how to feed and water day-old chickens, it is enough to look at how the conclusions behave in natural conditions. In the first 4-5 hours of life, the laying hen usually takes her offspring for a walk and teaches them to get the first food. Its main components are insects, seeds, sand and greenery. It is most reasonable to stick to this natural diet, adapting it to the characteristics of the body of a newborn chicken. Insects can be replaced with cottage cheese and yolk. Instead of seeds, chickens should be fed with cereals.

The main component of food in the first days of life is chopped yolk. You can add corn or semolina to it. Ground hercules will also work. Groats are added so that the yolk and cottage cheese do not stick together and the chickens can easily peck and digest the food.

Here is an approximate calculation of the ingredients for preparing the first feed for 10 day old chicks:

• one medium yolk;
• two tablespoons of cereal;
• 75 grams of cottage cheese.

Food for newborn chicks

This issue should be approached very seriously. What to feed day old chicks at home? Since he althy chicks are very active, they may dig through the bedding and try tothen peck out in it. They learn this from their mother. If the chicks are hatched in an incubator, they may have feeding problems. In this case, you need to teach them how to eat properly by “example”. To do this, tap on the groats with the tip of a knife, pick up and drop the grains. Babies will imitate and easily learn to eat on their own.

Newborn chicks need frequent small meals. On the first day, the chicks are fed every two hours. Night feeding is also mandatory. It is better to choose a separate type of cereal for each meal. Otherwise, the chicks will begin to peck out only the grains that they like best, and as a result, they will not receive a whole range of necessary microelements and microorganisms. The diet for feeding birds should be varied. It is recommended to fill the feeders less than half. This way the chicks will be able to eat all the feed and will not scatter it. Remove old food before adding new food.

The height of the feeder is chosen so that the chickens can easily reach the grits, but at the same time they cannot climb into it. If the chicks get into the feeder, they can cover the food with garbage. Such top dressing can cause nutritional disorders, from which the entire livestock can die. Dirty food and water are breeding grounds for germs, bacteria and infections.

What food do chicks need?

Small day old chicks are fed with special feed. They contain essential vegetable fats and vitamins. They usually use wheat,peas, barley and corn. Chickens are fed at the rate of 1-2 tablespoons per day per chick. You can make compound feed at home.

To prepare one kilogram of the mixture you need to take:

• 3 cups of corn;
• 100 grams of barley;
• glass of wheat;
• 125 ml kefir (low fat);
• a glass of cake.

All of the listed components must be finely ground and mixed. Food should be easily digestible and as sterile as possible. The fact is that the digestive system of day-old chicks is very delicate and sensitive.

How to properly feed chicks under the age of 3 weeks?

Let's take a closer look at this. When it comes to what is the best way to feed day old chicks, one factor is important here - warmth. A box with a lamp will be a great nest for crumbs. The temperature in the place where the chickens are kept should not fall below 26 degrees Celsius. It can be gradually reduced to values of 18-20 °C. On the second day, experienced farmers recommend using chopped yolk mixed with semolina, corn, millet and barley groats as feed. Young Hercules and special feeds are also suitable. You can also give chickens low-fat kefir and yogurt. From the third day of life, it is recommended to include eggs in the diet of chicks along with protein. It is also worth adding ground shells to the feed, after removing the film from it.

Farmers are also advised to accustom kids to greenery. You can give dried dandelion, plantainor nettle. The most important thing is that everything should be in moderation. You should not give chickens a lot of greens, because their stomachs are not yet strong enough for such food. Starting from the 5th day, the chicks can be fed less frequently - every 4 hours. On the sides of the box where they live, it is recommended to hang bunches of herbs. You can increase the content of the mineral components of the feed by adding fishmeal, wood ash and ground shells. When the chicks reach the age of 10 days, you can remove the night feeding and release them to the range. This is a prerequisite for keeping birds. If it is not observed, the chickens may get sick. In this case, it is necessary to give them additional vitamins and fish oil.

From two weeks of age, you can begin to introduce boiled vegetables into the diet, such as zucchini, potatoes and carrots. They are used to prepare a wet mash. Low-fat broth is best as a source of protein, but ground meat scraps are also fine. You can use white bread soaked in kefir. At the age of two weeks to one month, chickens should be fed with a mixture of "Growth" or analogues.

Features

Many novice farmers are concerned about the question of how to feed day-old chicks. Basically, the choice of diet is due to the unformed digestive system of the chicks. At this stage, kefir and yogurt are an obligatory component. It is these products that will help normalize the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract.

In the first days after birth, chickens are not able to drink on their own. They need to be solderedusing a syringe or pipette. The likelihood of death from eating disorders is also high. For prevention, you can give the chicks a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

What to do at the first sign of illness?

Make sure the chicks' crops are full. If you find a sick weak chick, first of all, isolate it. In this case, you will avoid further spread of the infection. Plus, the chicken will be much easier to heal.

Formation of the diet

What other things to consider when designing a power plan? What to feed day old broiler chickens?

Here are some guidelines for making a good diet plan:

1. Chicken food must include protein. Their sources can be cottage cheese, eggs and meat broth.
2. Food must contain minerals. For this purpose, you can add wood flour, eggshells, crushed shells and fishmeal.
3. Groats to feed chickens: barley, semolina, millet, oats.
4. Food should contain enough vitamins A, D, E.
5. To normalize the microflora of the stomach and intestines, yogurt or kefir is added to the food.

Chickens do not perceive food: what to do?

Very often, a logical question arises before beginning poultry farmers: what to do if newborn chicks refuse to eat? What to feed day old chicks? No one takes better care of chicks than mom. Therefore, try to put the worries about the kids on the stick. Not necessaryuse your own mother for this purpose. The main thing is that the chicken should be a mother hen who has already sat down to incubate eggs. Try, as discreetly as possible, to replace her eggs with small chickens at night.

The main dish in the first days of life is a hard-boiled yolk. Can day old chicks be fed store-bought eggs? In principle, this is not prohibited, the main thing is to boil them properly. On the second day, it is worth starting to gradually add protein to the feed. If the chicken cannot peck on its own, it is fed boiled yolk pounded in milk using a syringe or pipette.

Conclusion

Raising chickens at home comes with a lot of questions. How to equip the room? What conditions need to be created for young individuals? What to feed day old chicks? In order to raise chickens at home, you need a warm, bright, well-ventilated room. Caring for day old chicks requires special attention. The fact is that the kids have not yet had time to adapt to the environment. If you do not provide them with proper care, you can lose most of the livestock. It is important to provide the chicks with quality nutrition. Day-old chicks can be fed within the first 16 hours after birth. This favorably affects the proper development of internal organs.