How to grow a chicken from an egg at home, when it is better to hatch and rules of care
Many homeowners try to raise chickens on their own. It is not easy for people who have never done this, and therefore it is necessary to familiarize yourself in advance with how to grow a chicken from an egg.
Is it better to grow with a hen or in an incubator?
Before you start raising, you need to decide which is better: raising chickens in an incubator or with a brood hen.
Benefits of brooding
Some people do not want to raise birds in an incubator and therefore are looking for a hen so that the hen will breed new offspring on its own.
The main advantages of this incubation method include the following:
- there is no need to constantly monitor the temperature inside the incubation structure;
- you do not have to feed small chickens on your own, since the hen does it herself;
- the chicken independently monitors the heating of the offspring and helps it hatch from the egg;
- the brood hen protects young birds and protects them from any danger.
Incubation method
Most often, people are engaged in breeding new offspring of chickens in a brooder. The main advantages of using the incubation method when growing birds are:
- low cost of the structure in which the chicks will be grown;
- ease of use of the incubator;
- the possibility of breeding several dozen young individuals;
- low level of labor costs;
- growing chickens of any age.
Among the disadvantages of using incubators is the fact that in order to ensure their performance, it is necessary to ensure a continuous supply of electricity.
When is the best time to hatch chickens?
Before you start breeding chickens, you need to determine when to hatch them. You can breed young birds at any time of the year. However, to avoid problems, it is recommended to do this in a warm season, when the air temperature does not drop below 10-15 degrees Celsius. Therefore, many poultry farmers advise hatching chicks in the month of May or June.
When growing in an incubator, you can do this early - at the end of March or in April.
What to do right after the chicks appear?
After the young chicks have hatched, you need to start drying them. If they appear in the incubator, then they will dry out on their own.When they appeared under the hen, you will have to carefully get them out of the nest. This is done carefully so that the chicken does not notice and does not leave the place of laying. All young chicks are placed under the lamp until they are dry.
When they are completely dry, they are placed back under the hen for further rearing.
What conditions do day-old chicks need?
So that day-old chicks do not die quickly, they must be properly looked after. These birds must be raised at a suitable temperature. The temperature indicators inside the incubator should not fall below twenty degrees Celsius. To keep the chicks free from problems, additional heating lamps are installed.
In the early days, you will have to feed the chicks yourself. To do this, use a pipette, with which they can be fed and watered.
Light mode
Chicks are not kept in the dark and therefore reliable lighting should be arranged in advance. To improve lighting, special infrared lamps are used. Their advantages include the following:
- ease of use;
- low cost;
- reliability and long operating time, which is 4-5 thousand hours;
- calming effect on young chicks;
- the ability to regulate the working power.
Power features
It is necessary to familiarize yourself with the nutritional characteristics of chickens in advance in order to feed them correctly.
What to give in the first days of life
Feeding chickens in the first day of life is considered an important task that a person faces. If a poultry farmer wants to raise healthy chicks, he must know what to feed them. The easiest way is if the chicks hatch from the eggs, which are incubated with a hob. In this case, a person only needs to take care of feeding the chicken, since she will do everything else on her own.
If the chicks hatch in the incubator, you will have to feed them yourself. In the first days after birth, they are given plain water through a pipette.
Feeding day old chicks
The real feeding of chickens begins one day after birth from eggs. Day-old chicks should be fed as follows:
- first, you need to prepare a special drinker, with which the chicks will drink fresh water;
- for manual feeding of birds, a pipette is prepared in advance;
- boiled yolk mixed with semolina or wheat groats can be used as complementary foods;
- different types of cereals must not be mixed during feeding and therefore one type of grain is given at a time.
Weekly
It is easier to feed weekly chickens, as you can prepare the feed for them yourself. This will require the following components:
- two and a half cups of corn;
- a spoonful of vegetable oil;
- a third of a glass of wheat;
- 40 grams of fishmeal;
- three tablespoons of feed yeast.
All of the listed ingredients are stirred, after which the chickens are fed with the resulting mixture.
Periods
Many are interested in how to feed chickens that are one month old. Such chicks are considered quite strong and therefore they are given the same food as regular chickens. However, there are some differences in the type of feed used. When feeding chickens, it is recommended to feed not whole grains, but ground grains. Also during feeding use the following:
- cottage cheese;
- compound feed;
- boiled vegetables;
- fresh grass;
- vitamins.
Diseases of chickens
It is recommended that you deal with common chicken diseases in advance.
Symptoms and Treatment
Indigestion is a common ailment in chicks. It manifests itself if you feed them incorrectly. The main causes of indigestion are thought to be feeding on contaminated water and too coarse food. In this case, all birds will have to be soldered with antibiotics and fed with cottage cheese with mixed feed.
Vaccination at home
Chicks are vaccinated in the first days of their life. Most often, they use funds that are buried in the eyes. Before the introduction of the agent, the body of the chick must be carefully fixed, after which the vaccine is applied to the eyes with a pipette.
Broiler Chick Diseases
Common diseases in broiler chickens include the following:
- Aspergillosis. This is a dangerous viral disease that affects the respiratory tract of chickens. Treatment is with antiviral medications.
- Salmonellosis. The disease most often affects young individuals. Symptoms of salmonellosis include puffy eyes, indigestion, stunted growth, and loss of appetite.
- Pullorosis. This ailment manifests itself in both young and adult birds. The development of the disease is evidenced by constant thirst in chickens, as well as poor appetite.
Conclusion
Some summer residents want to grow chickens on their own. Before starting this, you need to familiarize yourself with how to raise and feed young chicks.
