Feeding broilers for rapid growth. Broiler chickens rearing, care and feeding. Advantages and disadvantages of broiler farming

A broiler is a hybrid of domestic animals obtained by crossing different breeds. It is distinguished by its precocity. Broilers are called not only poultry, but also other animals, such as rabbits.

In this article we will talk about broiler chicken, namely: where to start, how to choose eggs, what and how to feed according to growth periods, how to feed, what vitamins to give, what not to feed, diseases and how to treat. Let's talk about adult broilers: living conditions, feeding and water, diseases and how to treat them.

In general, let's go through all stages of cultivation - from the egg to the sale of the finished product.

Broiler eggs

Choosing an egg for incubation is an important part of the broiler raising process, because it determines the percentage of chicks hatching, how healthy the offspring will be, how often they will get sick or not get sick at all, how quickly they will gain weight, etc. Whether you make a profit or lose money also depends on the right choice for laying eggs.

To select eggs, we select a healthy broiler chicken without signs of infectious diseases. It is recommended to leave your choice on a medium-sized hen.

The egg should be uniform in color. It is advisable to choose medium-sized ones, because small eggs produce the same offspring.

Large ones have a thin shell. Therefore, it is possible that microscopic cracks may appear through which the infection germ can penetrate. In addition, many eggs of this size simply will not hatch into chicks.

The weight of the egg is also selected, if possible, the same. Then the chicks are born with a slight difference in time.

We take eggs from nests several times a day. They must not be overheated or cooled. It is advisable to store them in a warm, dry room in which permissible temperature changes do not exceed 5 degrees.

Laying eggs in the incubator

The maximum shelf life between removal from the nest and placement in the incubator is two or three days. If this period is exceeded, the likelihood of negative consequences for their healthy development in the future increases.

A correct, competent approach to the process of selecting eggs to put in the incubator is the key to a successful result.

The maximum age of the chicken from which eggs are taken for the incubator is limited to 2 years.

What and how to feed

Properly feeding broiler chickens, starting from the first day of their life, is very important, because starting feeding sets the appropriate rate of growth and development of this poultry. In addition, the composition of the feed plays a decisive role in the quality of the final product – meat.

Broiler chickens from zero days

There is a widespread belief that day-old broiler chickens should be immediately given crushed boiled eggs, cottage cheese, and mixed feed, which help strengthen the digestive system.

Broiler chicken

However, others caution against such a decision. They claim that this is precisely the reason for the death of the poultry population in the first 2 - 3 days of their life. And feeding boiled eggs to broiler chickens at one day of age not only does not strengthen their immunity, but also upsets the digestive system and causes death in large numbers.

It is not recommended to feed any wet food. It is useful to give only millet and a small amount of egg powder at such an early age. Chicks should have free access to feed and water. The size of the cage, box, or other place in which the brood is kept allowed each chicken to eat and drink freely. We dilute potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate) in a very weak concentration in water.

At the same time, you should not allow the color of the water to change to pink. It is also recommended to separately prepare an aqueous solution of glucose. This will help avoid dyspepsia - a disease of the digestive tract.

The room in which the chickens are kept should be well ventilated, but protected from drafts. Dampness is also detrimental to them, even if the optimum temperature is maintained.

Week old chicks

You can gradually accustom babies to starter feed from the fifth day of their life. At the same time, they are soldered with a solution of vitamins. Before this age, it is not recommended to give them antibiotics.

It is useful to put a drop of Trivitamin in the beak of each chicken.- a drug for the treatment and prevention of vitamin deficiency. We add Baytril to the water, which is intended against infections at the rate of 1 gram per 2 liters of water.

7 day old chicks

From the age of one week, chickens are taught to eat cottage cheese. We diversify the diet with crushed boiled eggs. The food can be lightly moistened with whey. The approximate daily consumption rate during this period reaches 15–20 grams. The room temperature is 30 – 32 degrees.

Important! Make sure that the chickens do not get dirty or wet while eating. Otherwise, this is fraught with their death. The places where they are kept should be dry with the required temperature and humidity.

Chicks are 10 to 20 days old

To avoid one of the most common diseases of poultry - coccidosis, which leads to disruption of digestive processes and dehydration of the body, at two weeks of age the drug "Baycox" is added to the water at the rate of 1 gram per 2 liters of water.

During this period, they eat up to 30 grams of food per day. In order for babies to have good growth, take care of increased daylight hours from the very first days. The ambient temperature is kept at no lower than 28 degrees. If young animals at this age become hypothermic, they may develop bronchopneumonia, which occurs precisely as a result of hypothermia.

Two-week old young

You can add skim milk, yogurt, and buttermilk to the feed. After 15 days of feeding, protein feed of plant origin is mixed into the food. The proportion of greens can be gradually increased. Now it should be up to 10% of the total feed mass.

Mix in crushed eggshells, nutritional yeast, and grated carrots in small quantities. Under no circumstances should chickens be given sand. Don’t forget to make a very weak solution of potassium permanganate.

From day 10, for three or four days, broilers may begin to die. Therefore, during this period we feed poultry with antibiotics. Add a couple of drops of iodine. After a short break, vitamins are given; vitamin D is especially important during this period for rickets.

Lack of vitamins leads to hypovitaminosis A, D, E, B. Chickens are given only high-quality food. If you buy it ready-made in packaging, keep an eye on the expiration dates.

How to raise month-old chicks

After 22-25 days, they switch from feeding starter feed (cereals) to growth feed (in granules). The composition of broiler feed should include mineral content, protein (fish meal), cereals (corn), amino acids and vitamins. You can also continue to add green mass.

To save money we recommend do not buy expensive growth feed, but make its composition yourself: crushed wheat, oats, corn, barley, peas. All components are mixed in equal proportions. It is advisable to add fish oil, whey, and meat and bone meal to the food. Add (but do not mix) leaves of cabbage, lettuce, and green onions.

Feeding one month old chicks

By 35 days of life, you can gradually increase the volume of corn to 40% of the total amount, and reduce wheat, oats and barley. Meal or cake is about 15%. The percentage of green mass can be reduced.

Under normal housing conditions and high-quality feeding, one-month-old chickens weigh about 800 grams.

We exclude from the diet all types of bread, boiled potatoes (if they are not mixed with other ingredients), all processed foods, especially if the smell is noticeable. We remind you to refrain from adding sand. We make sure that the chickens' water is always clean, fresh, and slightly warm. It is useful to use settled water.

We lower the ambient temperature to 23 - 25 degrees. The duration of illumination is reduced to 14-16 hours a day.

To avoid aspergillosis at this age, you need to ventilate the room well and avoid dampness. For preventive purposes, add a little iodine-containing drugs to the food and water.

All new food is given in small quantities at first so that the chickens can get used to it. Otherwise, they may have indigestion, which will lead to death.

Chicks are 45-50 days old

After 40 days of life, the young animals are given whole grain rather than crushed grain. Purchased finishing compound feed containing essential nutrients is also used. But if you want tasty meat, you can refuse to purchase it.

Whole, not crushed, grain is poured into the feeders. Vitamins, feed yeast, chalk should also be present in the feed. Upon reaching 45 days of age, we exclude any medications. A good effect is obtained by preparing porridge, which includes boiled small fish, corn, wheat, peas, and greens.

Two month old broilers

All this is mixed and allowed to brew. In the porridge, increase the percentage of corn to half the total mass.

If you didn’t skimp on food and gave them a full ration, their weight at this age should be more than one kilogram. Breed also has a big influence on this indicator.

If the weight of a unit of young animals of one breed reaches 1.2 - 1.3 kg, then the weight of a grown chicken of this age can be 1.6 - 1.8 kg. other things being equal.

We continue to use clean, settled water. We gradually lower the ambient temperature to 21 - 23 degrees. The duration of daily illumination is reduced to 12-14 hours.

The area in which the young animals are kept must be sufficient so that everyone can freely approach the feeder or drinker. However, the walk should not be spacious, otherwise the broiler will lose weight due to excessive activity.

Breeding adult broilers at home

Keeping broilers for fattening for longer than two months is not economically feasible, since with age the bird gains weight more slowly and we consume more feed. In addition, broiler meat older than 70-75 days is less tasty than broiler meat that is two months old.

Cage maintenance and care at home

If you want to raise up to 10 broiler chickens at home, cage housing is suitable for you. Depending on the size of the cage, they contain 3-5 birds (then we make the cage dimensions in such a way as to limit the free movement of the bird to what is necessary - to approach the feeder and drinker), or up to 10 birds (the cage dimensions increase, the requirements for spatial conditions of keeping and dilutions remain the same).

Keeping birds in a cage

When raising livestock of more than 10 units need to make or additional number of cells(since one cage, when containing more than a dozen heads, is very bulky and inconvenient to move, loses mobility), or think about keeping it in a pen.

Let's say it is economically profitable for you to raise livestock in cages. Then for dry food (compound feed, grain), it is advisable to choose trough-type feeders, which are placed outside the cages along the entire tier. We also build a solid drinking bowl, for example, from a PVC sewer pipe.

The front side of the feeder can be made from metal rods of a combined type. This is convenient because at first chickens can be kept in such a cage.

Steel rods on the walls are spaced quite often to prevent the brood from running out of the cage or falling out of it (if the cage is in the second or third tier).

After the young animals grow up, they are seated in different cages, removing the rods from the walls one at a time. Thus, we provide adult broilers with free access to feed.

Broiler cage

There are several requirements for the conditions of keeping adult broiler birds:

so that the containment area allows eat freely each individual, that is, not too small, but not too large (the reasons are indicated above);
permanent Availability of quality fresh food in feeders. In addition, there can and should be separate feeders for porridge, if it is used;
constant availability of fresh (preferably settled) warm water in drinking bowls, but not higher than 22-25 degrees;
enough hours daylight hours(12-14 hours). If less, we provide additional lighting;
humidity air 68-72%;
no dampness, especially in cells;
no drafts must not be;
ambient temperature – within 20-21 degrees(if it is lower, then the activity of broilers decreases, the intensity of feed consumption decreases, weight gain slows down; if it is higher, then the bird becomes hot, the result is the same);
mandatory presence ventilation, since otherwise the intensive accumulation of nitrogen will have a detrimental effect on the life of the bird. A case is described when the owner, in order to save on heating costs, placed half a hundred broilers in a greenhouse where greens were grown in a small improvised pen. Despite the fact that there was periodic access to fresh air in the greenhouse, after a few days the greenery began to wither due to the increased nitrogen content in the air, although this was not felt. After the pen was fenced off with film, the concentration of nitrogen in the environment in the pen reached such a level that the chickens began to behave sluggishly, ate food reluctantly, and slowly gained weight.
cells inside must be clean. To do this, you can make the floor from galvanized welded fine mesh, and clean the floor tray based on the amount of litter accumulated in it;
If raising broilers at home is “put on stream”, then it is necessary to periodically carry out cell disinfection(after slaughtering the previous batch, but before growing the second).

Disadvantages of keeping birds in cages:

requires cash investments more than with the corral method of cultivation.

Advantages:

convenient in maintenance;
more compact(saves space used).

How to keep and raise a broiler in a pen

This method of keeping broiler chickens and incubators from zero days is no different from the previous one. The main differences are as follows:

cost-effective in terms of construction. Basically, to raise birds in a pen you need a floor and walls. If you are going to raise poultry in a barn, then fence off part of the barn with collapsible sections of welded mesh wire, put in feeders and drinkers - and the pen is ready;
designed for content at least 10 goals birds;

Chickens on the run in the pen

Flaws:

requires increased care and attention eliminating dampness and high humidity, broiler bedding must be changed frequently to keep the floor dry;
occupies by area more space per unit of livestock.

Advantages:

less material costs, compared to the first method.

Requirements for ambient temperature, humidity, absence of drafts, dampness and other conditions of maintenance remain the same.

Proper feeding. Where to begin

As mentioned above, it makes no sense to fatten broilers for longer than two months. This is justified by the following:

after two months fattening birds gain weight more slowly;
consumption feed increases;
broiler meat older than 2.5 months more rigid, less tasty.

Feeding adult broilers (in our case, in the recommended age range from 60 to 75 days) comes down to the fact that they need to be given only high-quality feed with the following diet:

We feed adult broilers with whole grain or purchased finishing feed. To make the meat tastier, we advise you to abandon commercial feed altogether. This will save you money and improve product quality.

But there will also be more worries; to raise chickens, you will need to buy separately wheat, barley, corn, peas, etc., and mix all this in fractional proportions. Don't forget to give herbs and add fishmeal.

If you are not too lazy, prepare porridge for your poultry from the above ingredients with the addition of boiled small fish. If there is no fish, add fish oil. The main share should be corn (up to 50%).

When raising birds, some switch after two months of fattening exclusively to corn and greens (5 - 10 days before slaughter). With normal complex feeding, expect that your broilers will weigh at least two kilograms by 70–75 days of fattening.

Broiler feed

Attention! We do not give broilers:

boiled potato(if it is not mixed with other components);
all varieties of bread;
All overdue products;
sand;
medicines(if possible);
several at the same time new products food in large quantities;
other components, if we see that they cause negative reaction at the bird.

What to drink

Follow the same rules as when raising young animals. Water should be:

clean, preferably settled;
moderately warm(around 20 – 21 degrees);
in drinking bowls, providing unhindered access poultry (depending on the number of livestock);
can be diluted in very low concentration potassium permanganate(potassium permanganate). At the same time, you should not allow the color of the water to change to pink.

Diseases of broiler chickens

Broiler chickens can suffer from quite a few diseases. Some of them:

If you do everything correctly, the result will not be long in coming.

Recommendation for beginners: there is nothing better than personal experience. Therefore, in the initial stages of developing your business, you can use the information and recommendations of others. But if in practice you achieve better results thanks to your achievements, it would be a sin not to take advantage of it.

Fattening birds at home involves selecting the right diet so that broilers reach the desired weight in a short time.

And if large farms use feed for this, private farms make do with vegetables, herbs, and food waste. This feeding is much more effective.

Farmers successfully prepare analogues of factory feed according to ready-made and practice-tested recipes. When choosing a diet, it is important to take into account the age of the bird, your goals, the time of year, as well as the availability of certain products on the farm.

Wet mash is very useful for broilers and convenient for fattening chickens. They are a mixture of several ingredients.

As a rule, these are grains brewed in water or broth. They are needed primarily only for newborn babies, whose bodies are not yet ready to digest other, coarser foods.

Wet mash for fattening has the following advantages:

quickly and for a long time saturate the body of chickens,
provide replenishment of the need for various microelements,
you can quickly prepare mash from food waste,
low cost of such feed.

The mash includes:

hay flour,
cereal grains,
fresh vegetables - potatoes, beets, carrots, pumpkin.
In the summer, greens are added, and in winter, fish oil is added.

The liquid base is whey, water or skim milk. It should be no more than a third in relation to other products.

The feed can be mixed manually or mechanically. The consistency should not be too liquid.

When choosing the composition of the mash, it is important to take into account the age of the chickens, as well as the goals pursued - obtaining meat or eggs.

Laying hens require more calcium, so eggshells are added to the mash.
Meat breed chicks need proteins found in eggs, meat and bone meal, which means more of these components need to be included in the mash.

Wet mash recipe for week old chicks

Mash components:

oatmeal, barley, wheat porridge,
corn shit,
sunflower cake,
fish or bone meal.

All ingredients are mixed with fermented or fresh milk. The chicks are given 30 grams of this mash.

The wet mash must be eaten by the chickens within three hours, otherwise it will spoil.

EXCELLENT VIDEO INSTRUCTIONS

We feed broiler chickens with dairy products

As a rule, fermented milk ingredients are not given to chicks in their pure form, but are included in feed and wet mash. They are first given to chicks 10 days after birth.

The simplest food option is to mix kefir with grain to obtain semi-dry porridge.

The ingredients are mixed and fed to the chicks within an hour after preparation.

What feed is used to quickly gain weight in chickens?

By properly organizing the feeding of broiler chickens, you can achieve rapid weight gain, and already in 2-4 months you can send the bird to slaughter.

To do this, you can purchase special feed for fattening, the composition of which is carefully selected by specialists.

“Newborn” chickens are fed cottage cheese and boiled eggs, after which they are introduced to the so-called starter feed with a high protein content, which helps strengthen the chicken skeleton, ensure muscle growth, and improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. For these purposes, food PK-6-1 in granules is suitable. It contains wheat, corn, cake, low-fat kefir and barley.
At the age of 2 weeks, broilers begin to actively grow and at this stage they are given PK-6-2 feed. It is also granular, but the granules are larger. The composition is similar to the starter food, but the ingredients are presented in different proportions, lysine, vegetable oil and meat and bone meal appear. The feed is served dry, but can be mixed with water or fresh milk. The use of PC-6-2 ensures intensive weight gain and the formation of protein tissue in poultry.
At the age of one month, broilers are transferred to finish feed - PK-6-3. The granules in it are even larger and easier to feed. Fresh herbs, feed fat, and feed yeast are added to the composition. Since the life of broilers is quite short, at this stage it is necessary to help the chickens gain the necessary kilograms, and using the right feed allows this to be done. PC-6-3 contains less proteins, but is rich in minerals and vitamins.

VIDEO DESCRIPTION

If you do not have the opportunity to purchase ready-made food, you can prepare it at home.

What greens and vegetables to give to broiler chickens

Vegetables and herbs are an essential source of vitamins and fiber, so they must be included in the diet of broilers.

Fresh carrots are extremely beneficial for chickens. They begin to add it to wet mash, starting from 5 days of age at the rate of 5 g per chick.

Greens are an indispensable ingredient in the daily diet of broilers. In summer, as a rule, there are no difficulties with it.

It is allowed to give chickens alfalfa, clover, nettle, dandelion and other plants, and in winter you can use sprouted grain greens.

If we compare broiler chickens with representatives of other meat breeds, they deserve the title of leaders in terms of productivity and availability. Today, raising and feeding broilers at home is a favorite pastime of many novice poultry farmers. At the same time, even unqualified people quickly learn the key intricacies of this type of activity and note a good return on investment.

If you have a desire to start a family business in a country house or private home, or you simply want to save yourself from the need to buy chicken meat and eggs in supermarkets, then this decision may be very relevant for you.

A distinctive feature of this type of poultry is the absence of difficulties in arranging living place. Broilers do not need to create any difficult living conditions, but they still need to adhere to a special feeding regime. If you intend to fatten chickens of this breed, carefully study the question of how much feed a broiler needs before slaughter.

However, every newborn chick requires proper care and comfortable living conditions. In the first days of life, chickens are kept in equipped cages made of metal mesh with special heating systems in the form of ordinary incandescent lamps. In order for birds to grow and develop fully, during the first week of life they need to be provided with a temperature within the range of 26-33 degrees Celsius. In the following days, these indicators drop to 19-20 degrees.

If growing occurs on the floor, in wooden or cardboard cages, then be sure to cover the floor of such a structure with a special bedding ten-centimeter layer. As a basis you can use the following materials:

Sawdust.
Straw.
Shavings.

When soiled, the litter is changed. For seating young animals, it is customary to adhere to a scheme of 15-18 heads per 1 square meter of area.

It is also important to take care of the correct lighting conditions. Light should be supplied to the house 24 hours a day, but it should not be too bright and harm the chicks' vulnerable eyes. Many farmers paint their lamps blue or green.

To protect young livestock from gastrointestinal infections, drinking systems and feeders are regularly washed with hot water and detergents, and also rinsed thoroughly. In addition, young animals are given a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate and a number of antibiotics that increase the functionality of the immune system.

Sick individuals are placed quarantined and require intensive treatment based on medications and high-quality feed.

Homemade broiler feed

To raise healthy and productive broiler chickens, you need to feed them properly, observing the basic subtleties of the diet, the balance of vitamins and other important points. It is no secret that in most cases this breed is raised for one purpose - delicious meat, therefore, in order for the final product to be of good quality, juiciness and tenderness, feeding must be carried out taking into account established programs. With this approach, the costs of developing a future business will quickly pay off.

Do not forget that, in addition to nutrition, broilers need to be provided with stable access to clean and fresh drinking water. It is important that the liquid is always in a large volume, and its temperature is 18-22 degrees Celsius.

The best food for rapidly gaining weight chickens is special feed. As for additives, you can add them yourself. How much feed a broiler eats before slaughter depends on its individual characteristics and age. There are a number of mixtures on the market that are designed specifically for chickens and laying hens, as well as for broilers. When purchasing a combined solution, you will only have to comply with the daily nutritional intake and wait for the moment when the costs are recouped.

How many kilograms of food do you need to quickly and effectively fatten a chicken? Can be determined exact figures according to the following table.

It is recommended to feed chickens one week old up to 8 times a day. If you do this too often, the tiny stomach will not be able to process such a large volume of food, which will lead to the development of many diseases. Already from the second week of life, the daily norm is 5 times a day. From the third - 4 times a day. From the fourth week until immediately before slaughter, food is given twice a day.

When fattening broilers, it is customary to adhere to the following scheme - prestart - start - fattening - finish. Accurate weight gain indicators determined by the volume of food eaten.

Other features of fattening

Raising massive and productive broilers at home is not difficult at all. If feeding is carried out taking into account all the subtleties, then at the age of 10 days the chicken will weigh about 0.2-0.25 kilograms. At the same time, the weight of hens is 20-30 grams less than the weight of cockerels.

When choosing the appropriate type and structure of feed, it is necessary to take into account the age of the livestock and the ability stomach and intestines digest food. From the first to the tenth day of life, chickens are given microgranules or sifted grains. From 11 to 24 days - granules measuring 2-3.5 millimeters or a coarse scattering.

The first month of life is the most important period in the development of young individuals, therefore the issue of feeding at this age is necessary treat with extra care. An incorrectly chosen diet can lead to the death of an entire livestock. It is important to choose food that is quickly absorbed and easily dissolved in the body. Similar products include:

Millet.
Oatmeal.
Bran.
Boiled eggs.
Cottage cheese.

As for fresh greens, it is recommended to give it from the fifth day of life, observing the calculation of 5 grams per 1 chicken per day. Week-old broilers grow well on pureed pumpkin and carrots.

A good increase in muscle mass is noticed when using boiled potatoes, sunflower cake and dairy products. However, you need to remember that in the early stages of development, the chicken’s stomach is not sufficiently developed, so it is better to add more fresh herbs to the food, as well as sprouted wheat grains.

If access to fresh grass is not available, grass meal can be used as an alternative. In the summer, broilers are fed fresh vegetables, including carrots and pumpkin, and in the winter - dry grass, eggshells and pharmaceutical vitamins.

At the same age, the diet of young individuals can be supplemented with boiled potatoes in the ratio of 20% of the total food. To accelerate the growth of muscle mass, the mash is diluted with fresh fish and bread yeast, which are diluted with warm water or warm milk at the rate of 200-300 grams per 10 kg of dry food.

When the animals are one month old, they are fed whole grains. The final stage of feeding does not imply changes, however, the general menu is supplemented with succulent feed and large grasses.

Feeding chickens aged 1 to 14 days

The first days of life are the most critical, so it is necessary to choose the right diet and feeding scheme. As mentioned earlier, at this time the chickens are fed at least 8 times a day. By the second week of life, the number of meals is reduced to six. The approximate daily norm is 10−15 grams, by day 14 - about 80 grams, increase portion sizes to avoid malnutrition.

Small chicks should receive plenty of boiled eggs, dairy products such as whey, low-fat kefir, cottage cheese, and wet millet mash, to which various dairy products are added.

In the absence of pronounced problems with the functionality of the stomach, such as diarrhea or indigestion, the chicks are given dry feed, which is created specifically for the starting period. The main ingredient of this food is corn, which stimulates the active development of the skeleton and muscles, increasing the performance of the stomach and intestines.

Purchase option cost relatively high, so it is much wiser to create the mixture yourself, and then extrude it using:

50 percent of the total weight of ground corn.
15 percent ground wheat
15 percent meal or cake.
12 percent dairy products.
as well as barley (the remaining share).

In the first days of life, the share of grain crops is 55-60 percent of the total diet. It is important to feed the grain ground and without film.

Already from the second week, crushed shells, shells, chalk, as well as fish oil, which contains many nutrients, appear in the diet. In addition, babies are fed grass flour, crushed dandelion, dry nettle, pea greens and alfalfa, which helps to compensate for the deficiency of fiber in the body.

Fresh greens are considered the main natural source of vitamins.

What to feed broilers aged 14-30 days

The intensity of feeding can be reduced to 4 times a day by using independent food. Every day, a 2-4 week old chicken can eat from 90 to 120 grams of feed. It uses a mixture of corn, wheat, cake, meat and bone meal, herbs and fat.

With intensive fattening, young animals begin to gain weight at a very rapid pace. For example, by the end of the fourth week the weight of the chicken is 1.5 kilograms, and the diet becomes very varied, since the animals are already almost omnivores. New products are being actively added to the diet, including in the form of mash. Among the most effective recipes:

When using ready-made mixtures, the starting feed PK6−1 can be replaced with the fattening version PK6−2, which contains lysine, oil and meat and bone meal, which is necessary for the rapid growth of chicks.

Feeding before slaughter

At the age of 30 to 45 days, the finishing feeding stage begins. It is carried out twice a day, keeping a portion of 90 to 180 grams. Now you can eliminate ground grains from your diet, replacing them with whole grains (if possible, you can germinate the grains). Feed PK6−2 is replaced with balanced finishing PK6−3, creating its composition according to home recipes. For example, you can use the following recipe:

20% corn.
20% soy.
25% barley.
25% wheat.
10% peas.

The finishing dish can be called grain mixtures.

The feed is also diluted with cake, sunflower and mineral products, including shells and chalk sand.

Already by the 45th day of life, weight gain stops, remaining at around 2-2.5 kilograms, so the investment ceases to be profitable. To avoid unnecessary expenses, you can start slaughtering poultry if you do not intend to raise laying hens or chickens for incubation.

To increase the resistance of broilers to various diseases and reduce the death rate, it is necessary to undergo a comprehensive therapeutic course of antibiotics and vitamins.

Any poultry farmer can raise a productive broiler population at home. In order not to be disappointed in the final result, it is enough to strictly follow the established rules and recommendations. In this case, you will be pleasantly surprised by the success of home poultry farming.

Attention, TODAY only!

Broilers are not a special breed of chicken, as some novice poultry farmers mistakenly think, but specially bred hybrids that do not lay eggs well, but grow very quickly. Therefore, broilers are bred in order to obtain the maximum amount of tender and dietary meat with minimal feed consumption. Considering the fact that broilers are fattened for no more than eighty days and in this short time they must have time to gain marketable weight, the issue of quality of broiler feed comes to the fore.

So, the most important thing in raising broilers is the understanding that you shouldn’t fatten them for more than 2.5 months, because after this period they practically do not gain any more weight, but eat, excuse me, like crazy.

Many feed theirs with mixed feed and kitchen waste - and are happy. They say that it is not chickens that grow up, but real elephants. In general, this bird is very unpretentious.

It is very important to feed them especially intensively in the first month of growing. That's when they grow fastest.

At this time they are given a boiled egg, millet, oatmeal, and crushed wheat. Next - barley, wheat and oats in crushed form and without films.

From three weeks, boiled potatoes and mixed feed are given. They feed with woodlice and chopped nettles. From dairy products you can give cottage cheese, yogurt, whey and skim milk. They also produce waste from dairy and fish production. Very little at first. From a week of age, you can also give chopped cabbage and carrots.

What to feed broiler chickens?

Poultry is often present on domestic, private or industrial farmsteads. Nowadays, the most popular solution for breeding poultry for slaughter is broiler chickens, as they grow quickly, suffer little illness and gain weight well. But in order for broilers to grow quickly and correctly, that is, without side effects such as diseases, etc., they must be fed correctly.

First, it’s worth talking about poultry, because it depends on it what to feed broiler chickens. Broilers are a special species from the family of domestic chicken birds. It was bred and went through a long selection process, and was also selected by people for special purposes, namely, for breeding poultry for slaughter. Based on the results of choosing the “best”, it was possible to create a modern broiler that grows quickly, does not get sick, is resistant to temperatures and is almost omnivorous. However, you should not feed broiler chickens with just anything, because this will lose the effect of rapid weight gain.

Feeding broiler chickens is literally broken down by developmental stage, that is, for better and faster results, the poultry menu must be varied exactly as prescribed. For the first 2 weeks, the food for broiler chickens will be grain, or rather grain crops. It can be anything, millet, barley, wheat, oats and more. The only main thing to remember is that they must be ground into coarse grains or other smaller fractions, otherwise the chickens may die when eaten. Don't forget about water, as it is necessary to the same extent as food. Drinkers should be placed accessible to birds and always contain clean water.

After a two-week period, plant components can be introduced. Although, it would be possible to do what they do on poultry farms and make the food for broiler chickens monotonous by putting them on compound feed. However, this leads to rapid weight gain and inactivity of the heads, and they can fall from this inactivity and weakness.

Plant components include crops such as potatoes, and various types of cakes from oilseed crops, for example, sunflowers, peanuts, rapeseed or soybeans. If possible, do not forget about proteins. Protein-containing food for broiler chickens is either meat or dairy. Since chickens do not eat meat, you can add dairy products to your diet, for example, yogurt or settled milk that is mixed with food. This provides calcium and microelements for rapid growth and a strong name system.

You should also not forget about mixing vitamins and minerals into the feed, as this is important. When the bird becomes an adult, the question of “what to feed broiler chickens” will be contained in succulent feed, for example, herbs and others. It will be possible to finish the diet on them. Feeding broiler chickens is not at all a difficult task if you know how to approach it correctly.

Broiler chickens grow very quickly and by 56 days of age reach 1.4-1.6 kg of live weight. It is not recommended to raise broiler chickens for meat for more than 80 days, since the intensity of their growth decreases with age and the payment for feed products worsens. Meat chickens grow most intensively in the first four weeks of growing. Hybrid chickens obtained by crossing birds of specialized meat breeds have high growth energy. Broilers are raised indoors without pastures, with low light. The duration of daylight should be at least 17 hours. To ensure peace for the chickens, there should be twilight in the poultry house, especially towards the end of rearing. Broilers are kept on deep bedding made of clean, dry sawdust or other bedding material.

In the first days, broiler chickens can be fed like chickens of egg breeds, using boiled eggs, millet, finely crushed wheat, and oatmeal. Grain feed should be given in finely crushed form, without films, in an amount of 60-65% of the total weight of the diet.

From 20 days of age, some of the grains can be replaced with potatoes, which the chickens readily eat. Before feeding, potatoes are boiled, mashed and added to wet mash. Of the protein feeds, dairy products are valuable: skim milk, yogurt, buttermilk, whey, fresh cottage cheese. From 10 days of age, chickens are given slaughterhouse and fish waste - first 5-7 g, and then 10-15 g per head per day. Protein feeds of plant origin are also introduced into the diet: soybean, sunflower, peanut cakes and meals in an amount of 15-17% by weight of dry food. From the 3rd day of rearing, broilers should be given green feed. Fresh greens are crushed and added to mash, 6 g per head per day. In the autumn-winter period, when there is no natural greenery, chickens can be given sprouted grain. as well as herbal flour. Good-quality grass meal begins to be fed to chickens from 5 days of age at the rate of 2-3 g per head per day. Next, this norm is increased to 5 g. Broilers are not given more than this amount of grass meal, since it contains a lot of fiber, which is poorly absorbed by the bird’s body.

A valuable vitamin feed for meat chickens is red carrots, which are introduced into mash in crushed form from 5-7 days of age in the amount of 3-5 g per head per day. From the 5th day, vitamins A and E are introduced into the feed, which are necessary for the normal development of young animals. You can make your own trivitamin. You need to take oil solutions of vitamins A, D2 and E. Pour 10 ml of each vitamin into a half-liter jar of vegetable oil, shake and put in the refrigerator. The resulting trivitamin should be added to the mash 2 times a week at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 1 kg of feed. If instead of vitamin D2 you have to administer vitamin D3. it must be remembered that its activity is 25-30 times higher. An overdose of vitamin D3 causes poisoning. To prevent this from happening, one drop of the vitamin must be mixed with 30 drops of vegetable oil. Give the resulting mixture according to the norm of vitamin D2. The complex of vitamins will help to avoid rickets in chickens, swelling of the joints of the legs, and they will not “fall on their feet.” limp.

What do broilers feed at poultry farms?

Of course, in order for a chicken to grow to the size of a familiar chicken carcass by the age of 45 days, feeding simple grain or bran will not be enough. However, one should not think that if a bird in a factory grows faster than one raised by grandmothers in the village, the reason is solely due to hormones and antibiotics that provoke growth.

The fact is that for industrial production of meat, poultry farms use chickens of special breeds and crosses, the genetics of which already include rapid growth and a high rate of muscle mass building. Another important aspect of selecting a poultry breed for production is the ability to convert feed into animal protein. Simply put, such a bird requires less food to grow large and heavy. This is precisely the main secret of such a rapid growth of broilers in enterprises.

Basic diet

In fact, no one feeds birds clean grain at poultry farms. But don’t think that this is a negative factor. The fact is that for rapid growth and a balanced composition of meat, broilers need a special diet. One grain, even the highest quality, cannot provide it. Therefore, at large industrial enterprises, birds are fed with ready-made feed. It is much more convenient and requires less labor. In addition, all the substances necessary for birds are already contained in such food, and broilers simply will not be able to choose one thing and not eat another component. This makes it much easier to maintain your ideal diet.

The composition of feed for broilers in different proportions includes completely natural and familiar ingredients for poultry: corn, wheat, sunflower and soybean meal, bone meal, feed yeast, fat, as well as salt, chalk and a vitamin-mineral complex. In general, everything that is fed to poultry on private farms is only ground and dried.

Medicines and harmful substances

It is worth noting that without the use of medicines, it is simply impossible to raise poultry on the scale of a large poultry farming complex. To prevent diseases and epidemics, poultry farms regularly vaccinate livestock. But if you purchase broilers in a store, you can be sure that all products must undergo veterinary control before being sent to the counter. During the analysis, specialists check for the presence of residues of substances harmful to humans or drugs prohibited for use in our country.

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Start feeding no later than 12-13 hours after they are born. If this is not done, then after a couple of days they will weaken and die or become stunted.
The crop of small chickens needs to be checked and monitored for fullness. If it is empty, then the chicken is removed and fed from a pipette with a mixture of milk and yolk. To restore strength, two or three procedures are enough.
Initially fed: boiled eggs, millet, fresh dairy products. Gradually add finely crushed grain (barley, wheat, oats). Grains make up 65% of the total diet.

Changing your diet depending on age

To balance the diet as they grow older, various supplements are introduced into the diet.

3rd day. Green feed (chopped fresh greens) at the rate of 6 g per chicken per day. In the absence of fresh herbs (in winter and autumn), sprouted barley or grass flour is given.
5th day. Herbal flour is good quality. They start with 2 grams and as the chickens grow, they increase this figure to 5. You can't give anymore. Because flour contains a lot of fiber, and it is poorly absorbed by their body.
6th day. Red carrots. It is crushed and added to the mash at the rate of 5 grams per day.
7th day. Vitamins A and E.
10th day. Fish waste. Start with 5 grams and increase to 15 grams per chicken per day. At the same time, vegetable proteins are included in the diet: sunflower cake, meal. Their amount in dry food is 15%.
20th day. 20% of grains are replaced with potatoes. Prepare wet mash.

Making your own vitamin complex

The complex includes three types of vitamins - A, D2, and E. Oil solutions of these ingredients are mixed with ordinary vegetable oil (two teaspoons of each vitamin and 500 ml of oil).

When preparing the complex, instead of vitamin D2, you can use vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). But it is 30 times more active than vitamin D2. Therefore, they can poison birds. To prevent this from happening, strictly follow the proportion: for 1 drop of D3 – 30 drops of oil.

The resulting mixture should be stored in the refrigerator. The vitamin complex is added to the mash 2 times a week (5 ml of vitamins - 1 kg of feed).

Types of feed

The most important rule when feeding broilers is: “For each age, its own compound feed.” It is explained by the gradual functional development of the digestive organs in chickens. Therefore, they talk about three types of feed:

pre-launch (up to 4 days);
starting (from 5 to 30 days);
final (from the 31st to the 56th day).

Pre-start feed recipe:

corn – 50%;
wheat – 16%;
barley – 8%;
soybean meal – 14%;
dry return – 12%.

Starter feed recipe:

corn – 48%;
wheat – 13%;
soybean meal – 19%;
dry return – 3%;
feed yeast – 5%;
fishmeal – 7%;
herbal flour – 3%;
chalk – 1%;
feed fat – 1%.

Finishing feed recipe

corn – 45%;
wheat -13%;
barley – 8%;
cake – 17%;
feed yeast – 5%;
fish meal – 4%;
meat and bone – 3%;
herbal flour – 1%;
chalk – 1%;
feed fat – 3%.

As mineral supplements, you can use not only chalk and bone meal, but also shell. For better absorption of minerals, do not forget about the vitamin complex.

Disease Prevention

The prepared multivitamin complex will relieve chickens from leg diseases. They will not limp, their joints will become stronger, and their paws will stop swelling.

To improve the motor activity of the stomach, chickens need fine gravel and chicken shells. As a result, the absorption of all feed increases. The bird gains weight faster. You can't give sand.

After three weeks of age, potassium permanganate is given every three weeks to prevent stomach diseases. It should have a cherry color and always be fresh. If diarrhea persists, then you need to check the quality of the feed and the cleanliness of the drinking bowls.

Chickens sometimes peck at each other. There are many reasons for this phenomenon:

lack of balance in nutrition;
compacted content;
dirty and damp litter.

The pecked places should be lubricated with brilliant green. Its smell will scare away aggressive chicks. The chickens are fed water acidified with citric acid for three days.

Frequency of feeding and drinking habits

Meat breeds of chickens are fed often and ad libitum. The frequency is as follows:

first week – 8 times;
second – 6;
third – 4;
then two times are enough (in the morning and evening).

The food is given to the bird in a slightly moist form. The optimal time for eating it is 40 minutes.

The drinking bowl should always contain water with a temperature of no more than 30°C. The bird does not drink hot water. It is necessary to monitor the cleanliness of drinking bowls and feeders. Therefore, they need to be washed with hot water and disinfected every week. To do this, take a 5% formalin solution.

Check digits

The growth dynamics of chickens is checked by weekly weighing. The optimal results are:

1 month – 500÷700 grams;
2 months – more than 2 kilograms.

conclusions

In order to achieve and exceed these target figures, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the broiler feeding technology:

monitor the diet and change it depending on the age of the chickens;
be able to prepare your own multivitamin complex;
know the composition of feed;
engage in disease prevention;
observe the frequency of feeding and watering poultry;
Constantly monitor the growth process of chickens.