Breeding chickens is not a difficult task, as they are unpretentious. The main task is to feed the chickens, in the early days of life, at home, as the farm has everything you need for this. In our case, we will consider all the fundamental aspects that really should be taken into account. The experience of many owners of small houses shows that the best food, of course, is natural products.
Content
What does a bird need at an early stage of growth?
Having been born, chicks immediately begin to eat. In the early days of life, they are provided with boiled eggs as the main diet, as this is the best option. Then there is a variety of different types of millet, crushed and so on. Small chickens that have just hatched from an egg require special care in the early days of life. The main condition for proper care:
- the most comfortable conditions, lighting, appropriate ambient temperature;
- proper nutrition;
- timely disease prevention.
In fact, feeding chickens in the first days of life at home, which are with a brood hen, does not require any intervention. The chicken will independently provide food for its chicks. Of course, do not forget that during this period the grain must be given crushed mixed with whole. What to do if chickens lay small eggs? The answer to this question can be found. here.
Optimal conditions
As for creating comfortable conditions, in this case there are two ways to raise chickens:
- Under the supervision of mom-quota. This is an adult chicken who takes care of her children herself. When you need to warm them, she warms them, call for another meal, she will also call. She will hide from rain, protect from cat.
- Another thing is if they are the result of artificial incubation. That is, the bird obtained by incubation, hatched in an incubator.
Given the fact that they are heat-loving, prefer the most comfortable conditions, they need appropriate care. There are many recommendations. First of all it should be:
- heat;
- dry;
- there is no draft;
- good nutrition;
- created protection against cats, magpies and ravens.
With the creation of conditions, everything is simple, then in relation to feeding, prevention and treatment, everything is much more serious. Their development, strong immunity, incidence, growth rate, and so on, depend on how they feed. So, what should be the nutrition for chickens in the first day of their life.
Appears very small, and very wet. The first thing he needs to dry. On the first day, the chick is still weak on its feet and can barely walk. He will not especially eat, since there are no special forces and desires for this. Skill and skills in this come on the second day.
On the first day, as soon as the chicks dry, they need to be drunk. It is very easy to do. It is necessary to take a small small dish, pour water into it and put the chickens. They themselves will find water and themselves will understand what to do with it.
Many owners of furry animals sprinkle millet chicks over the fluff. So did grandmothers and mothers. But given the fact that millet is sometimes the cause of diarrhea, you should not abuse it. In the first hours of their life, it is better to feed the chicks with ready-made starter food; you can buy it in any specialized store.
In the absence of the opportunity to buy ready-made food, you have to cook yourself at home.There are many videos on the Internet about how the feeding of chickens occurs in the first days of life at home and what needs to be done in some situations. Visual aids will allow you to engage in the most correct poultry rearing.
The feed must be complete. It must contain all the vitamins necessary for the good development of the body. As food, it can be used by mixing together several types of cereal cereals.
For example:
- Wheat groats;
- barley;
- Arnautka;
- corn grits.
All these cereals are excellent food from the first days of the life of babies. True, there is a secret here, all cereals can be mixed in equal parts, falling asleep in a feeding container. You can create a complete feed by following a few tips:
- So that the feed is not too dry, it can be slightly moistened with water and thoroughly mixed;
- So that the food was not large, all available cereals must be passed through a grinder or DKU, having previously installed a fine mesh. This will make a homogeneous feed, finely ground.
In addition to food from cereal grains, they need calcium and vitamins. The result of feeding only cereals, and feeding with food with all kinds of additives, is significantly different. It does not have all of those components that affect the growth rate, immunity, plumage and overall health of the chicks. It is recommended to buy ready-made feed additives by mixing them with cereals, which is given to chicks to eat.
How to prepare an additive to the main feed?
For convenience, you can develop a table for feeding chickens in the first days of life at home, in which you indicate all the main aspects of nutrition. Using this manual is quite convenient. Many ready-made complexes are suitable as additives from the necessary vitamin and minerals for small chickens. In our case, we will cook on our own. For the good development of muscles and bone tissue you need:
- bone meal 0.5 grams per 1 kilogram of finished feed;
- fish oil, 5 grams per 1 kilogram of finished feed;
- preparations containing calcium, even if you take the usual preparation of calcium gluconate at the rate of 1 tablet per 1 kilogram of finished feed.
In addition, chickens in the first day of life need the substances that were in the egg. This includes yolk and protein. Only here it should be taken into account that, despite the fact that chickens very much like to eat hard-boiled eggs, it is not worth abusing such feeding. Otherwise, chickens will earn diarrhea, which is very dangerous for little chicks.
Greens, as a vitamin supplement to feed in the first life of a small chicken, to give or not to give. Greens, as an additive to the general diet of chickens, are also needed, like vegetables and fruits for normal development and good health.
At first, they cannot independently tear off leaves from a stalk of herbs. Therefore, all greens must first finely chop. The most useful herbs for chickens are:
- spar;
- alfalfa grass;
- onion greens;
- sorrel;
- yarrow.
All these herbs are rich in high vitamin content, which enter the body along with food:
- Improve the immune system, that is, chickens are less susceptible to various diseases. And if they get sick, they tolerate it easier.
- They have a preventive effect against diarrhea.
- Onion is an anti-infectious agent.
- Alfalfa greens contribute to the development of muscle mass.
A good addition to a healthy diet is freshly squeezed two percent cottage cheese, which also does not need to be abused, since its excess can, on the contrary, cause constipation, which, like diarrhea, can cause chickens to die.
Feature of proper feeding
Food should be balanced. Chicks need the same food as humans, when viewed from a nutritional point of view. Given the peculiarity of feed, feed additives, their combination, indications and contraindications. You can not combine together, cottage cheese and greens. In this case, the additives need to be alternated. One day a curd supplement, and on the second only greens. This is necessary so that the chicks do not scam.
In fact, feeding broiler chickens in the first days of life at home is no different from simple chicks, since in the first stages they do not even differ. Use a similar method of feeding. But as they grow older, broilers begin to accelerate growth, and at this point they already require more food.
While feeding the chicks, take your time, look carefully at how the chicks eat, and whether they eat at all. If they are worried, and especially if, taking the chicken in their hands, it is determined to the touch that their goiter is empty, immediately change the feed. Perhaps the food you are offering does not like or does not fit.
Recommendations and Tips
Disease prevention is especially important. It must be carried out in the first three days after their birth. Of no small importance are the proportions when feeding chickens in the first days of life at home, since they should always have fresh food in the feeder.
Usually in veterinary stores, you can buy a pharmacy for chickens, which already has all the drugs for the prevention of diseases of chickens. They must be prepared in accordance with the instructions and given to the chicks. The dry preparation is mixed with the finished feed, and the liquid preparation is opened and added to the drink for three days.
If you can’t buy a first-aid kit, an excellent solution to the problem of preventing and strengthening the body of chicks is the well-known, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory antibiotic, chloramphenicol. It is used with the calculation, one tablet, previously crushed into powder, for three liters of ordinary water. With the prepared solution, it is necessary to water the chickens for three days. At the same time, you need to prepare the solution on chloramphenicol every day, so that the solution is always fresh and does not deteriorate.
In the future, you will not have any questions with what to feed the chickens in the first days of life at home. Clear requirements and recommendations will help prepare the appropriate diet for the bird. A properly balanced healthy diet is the key to a healthy generation of future chickens.
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