From the point of view of economic feasibility, the cultivation of precocious poultry of meat breeds is not just profitable. Both in the private farm and in the farm, this allows you to relatively quickly get a large amount of product that is in consumer demand. The broilers are the most popular among the mass buyers . Cultivation of this type of poultry for meat is possible both on an industrial scale and in the usual private compound. To avoid failures and mistakes, it is better to understand the details of how broilers for meat are grown.
A practical source of quality meat
In everyday life, broilers are called birds (less often rabbits), which is grown only for meat carcasses. However, experts make a strict distinction: there is a breed of meat, and there are meat crosses, and the term "broiler" refers specifically to crosses. As a result of carefully calculated interbreeding, the purpose of which is to obtain early maturing and rapidly gaining mass offspring, broiler chickens are. Growing meat is the only purpose of their creation. Chicken meat crosses already at the age of two months give a commercial carcass weighing about one and a half kilograms.
Of course, chickens of meat breeds can also be grown for meat, they also gain weight well, are well-fed, but under equal conditions of feeding and keeping show more modest results.
Broiler chickens in a private farm
Contrary to a widespread misconception, broilers can also be raised in a common farm. Perhaps the weight of the carcass will differ from the factory, but when feeding poultry for their own needs, the difference of 100-200 grams is not significant.
Unlike laying hens, broilers do not need perches, you can not think too much about insulated chicken coops, because the life of such a chicken does not exceed 80 days. It is simply unprofitable to feed him longer, because after this age the bird significantly slows down the rate of muscle building, and feed consumption increases. How, then, in the private economy are broiler chickens fed? Growing for meat in most cases is made from purchased young animals, and there are reasons for this. Eggs, from which hybrid chickens of meat crosses will later be bred, are practically not found on sale, it is easier to purchase daily or grown chickens.
Purchase, placement and fattening of chickens
One of the most pressing questions is where to buy? By default, a broiler can only be sold on farms where they breed different breeds to produce meat crosses. However, if we recall that in everyday life broilers are called not only cross-breeds, but also breeds of meat direction, then chickens can be purchased at the pedigree farm and even from private enthusiasts involved in breeding purebred birds.
Immediately after purchase, the chickens are placed in brooders, where it is recommended to establish a two-level temperature regime. If it is warmer on one side and cooler on the other, chickens have the opportunity to move to a more comfortable place. Thus, the owner receives a simple and unambiguous signal to increase or decrease heating. This simplest technique allows you to reduce in advance the possibility of death of young animals due to overheating or hypothermia.
What should broiler chickens eat from the first days of life? Cultivation for meat requires close attention to the diet, so the best option would be specialized pre-start feed from 0 to 7-10 days. This diet lays the important functions of the digestive system, chickens get a good supply of health. It is important to remember that any, even the most elaborate mishmash itself hopelessly loses pre-feed compound by the perfect balance of all substances necessary for the development of the chicken.
Natural broiler chickens
If we are talking about meat crosses, then it is worthwhile to understand in advance that quality offspring can not be expected. However, purebred breeding of poultry of good meat breed in the private economy is quite possible, it is enough to get a healthy parental family. In the process, among the chickens it will be possible to choose the most caring brood hens and entrust them with replenishment of the feed stock.
A quality hatching egg from good-breed chickens can also be bought at breeding farms, especially if surpluses are temporarily discovered in them. Having your own incubator makes it possible to put up with the lack of talent for brood hens in the parent chicken family, and the rest and maintenance is no different from caring for purchased chickens.
Containment conditions: broiler house
For feeding poultry, a system of perches and nests is not required, as in a hen house for laying hens, in addition, chickens simply do not have time to enter reproductive age. Therefore, for broilers, spacious rooms with feeders and drinking bowls, floor or in mesh cages are quite suitable to the best of their ability.
If you plan to breed broilers at home, regardless of the choice of direction (getting chicken meat or fattening young meat crosses), broilers for chickens will be required. You can equip the “chicken house” from improvised materials, the main thing at the same time is to observe the temperature regime and an acceptable level of humidity. The first two weeks of life, the air temperature in the room should be about 30 degrees, then you can reduce it to another 25 degrees, after a month - up to 20-23 ° C. It is advisable to avoid drafts - they can cause mortality.
Ways to reduce feed costs at a private farm
Least of all hassle with compound feed corresponding to the age of the bird, however, broiler breeding at home can be built partially on cheap feed. However, during the first week of life it is better to use special compound feed. Firstly, at this age, chickens eat very little, so the costs will be small. Secondly, proper feeding in the first week of life lays the foundation for health.
In a private compound, hens of meat breeds grow well on grain mixtures, where you can add greens, vegetables, and kitchen waste. But free walking is better to limit: the less broilers have the ability to run, the better they gain weight.
Broiler Breeding as a Small Business
As a small business, it may be interesting to breed meat-breeding chickens, but not crosses, since it takes a lot of effort to breed crosses, this is not a simple breeding work, but almost jewelry actions with genetic features. In purebred breeding, it is convenient to use an incubation egg, then it will be possible to achieve the maximum number of chickens even in the absence of good brood hens.
Trade in young animals can bring even more profit than raising for meat. You can sell daily chicks, but grown chickens are sold more expensively, the price can vary significantly depending on the breed (for example, from day to month can cost 45-60-100 rubles per head).
Poultry Organization
If it is possible to open a real poultry farm, then this requires a solid investment and a special approach. However, if you have a good business plan, such an enterprise can bring stable profits, especially if there is an opportunity to acquire your own fodder base.
The direction of work depends on which product the poultry farm will work on. A broiler as a final product is a quick turn of generations of poultry, the use of productive meat crosses, and a full production cycle is desirable - from feed to supply of chicken to customers.
What and how to feed broilers
Special feed for broilers is the best diet for poultry, which is grown for meat. In this case, feeding rates can be prescribed in grams, but experienced owners recommend feeding ad libitum. The larger the daily ration, the greater the weight of the broiler at the time of slaughter. But with the independent preparation of a complete diet, you will need to comply with the norms of nutrients necessary for fast fattening of a bird.
Protein-rich foods are needed to quickly build muscle. If crushed grain is taken as the basis, then it must be enriched with meat and bone meal and fish meal, this increases the protein content in the mixture. The addition of greens and vegetables provides the broiler with vitamins and fiber, which promotes good digestion. It is more difficult to provide the bird with microelements, therefore it is better to use premixes, they contain the necessary set of all substances that ensure a good metabolism and contribute to the most complete digestion.
Errors in keeping poultry meat
Many inexperienced owners make mistakes in the maintenance and feeding of poultry, and in the best case this leads only to an unsatisfactory result - the meat carcass is of poor quality, with an unsatisfactory fat content. If the ration is the same for the whole bird, regardless of its direction, then the result will be very average - the laying hens will be worse carried, and the broiler carcasses will be very far from ideal.
Another common misconception is an attempt to feed the bird with boiled vegetables. It is difficult to keep such a mishmash fresh; in warm weather, fermentation processes can begin within half an hour after preparation.
It is also not recommended to keep broilers for meat crosses longer than 80-90 days. The amount of feed that the bird consumes at this age is quite large, and the growth rate is constantly decreasing. In addition, molting is approaching, during which the chicken loses some weight. Overexposed broiler can suffer simply because of its large weight, it is difficult for him to move. It is better to establish a turn of chicken generations in order to receive meat products in a timely manner.
Useful Tips
The problem-free maintenance of broilers in the private sector is quite possible, especially if you feed the bird with compound feed. It is important to remember that different types of compound feed are not interchangeable, for a meat breed bird, a composition with a high protein content is intended.
It is more convenient to buy chickens in relatively small batches with an interval of a month, the groups will reach slaughter age in turn, which facilitates the processing of products.
The most beneficial seasonal broiler content, this allows you to enrich the diet of the bird with fresh grass, cheap vegetables and fruits. Due to the seasonal maintenance, it is possible to slightly reduce the cost of fattening the bird and warming the house.
If the broiler has reached such a size that it can easily be sent to the pan, it is more profitable to score it than to spend money on treatment. You just need to make sure that this is not a disease dangerous to humans.