Breeding chickens is a profitable business, which does not require a large investment of time and effort, if you have the skills. Many farmers use the incubation method. Hatching chickens has its own characteristics, which will be discussed later.
Suitable breeds
In the incubator, you can raise chickens of many meat and egg breeds. The most popular among farmers are:
- Chickens Brahma.
- COBB-500.
- Master Gray.
- Kuchinsky yellow chicken.
The Loman Brown breed should not be grown at home. The procedure for breeding this bird is complicated.
Loman Brown
A hatched chick cannot inherit the qualities of its parents. This is due to the peculiarity of breed selection. When creating suitable conditions for the content, it will be possible to save only some characteristics.
The breed of chickens is in demand in Russia, as it has taken root in the country. For breeding, birds usually buy chicks or hatching eggs sold at genetic poultry farms.
COBB-500
Chickens of this species are in demand, since their survival rate is 97%. These chickens have yellow skin, and they quickly gain weight. Farmers slaughter a bird when its age is 1 month. Chicks of this species hatch according to the standard procedure described in this article.
Incubator
Hatching chickens is only possible with a quality incubator. The device will be a replacement for the brood hen, so it is important that favorable conditions are created in it for hatching chickens at home. In the incubator:
- temperature and humidity should be stable;
- a certain mode must be supported;
- There should be a mechanism for moving or turning the trays.
Automatic appliances are expensive, but it’s much easier to work with. There are mechanical and home-made devices. Each device has its own characteristics.
Egg selection
You need to choose the right eggs, from which healthy chicks will hatch. It is important to make sure they come from healthy chicken. When selecting, the following rules should be considered:
- There should be no smell.
- The optimal weight is 50-60 g.
- Perfect shape.
- The egg should be laid no more than a week ago.
- No damage.
Eggs should not be washed and wiped, since the shell microflora is damaged. Checking them for compliance will help the transmission device - an ovoscope. Thanks to him, it will be possible to check whether the yolk and air bag are located correctly. The yolk is in the middle or near the blunt edge. The air bag is located near the blunt end. You should not choose the egg in which the yolk is close to the shell or the air bag is less than the volume of a teaspoon.
Thanks to the transillumination of eggs during selection and during cultivation, the pathology of the embryo can be determined:
- spots are evidence of bacteria;
- lack of transparency confirms the presence of putrefactive bacteria;
- the dryer will be upon drying of the shell and the presence of a pungent odor;
- pathology is given by blood blotches;
- the presence of paint confirms the presence of a uniform orange structure;
- if the shell is damaged during translucency, a tech will be visible.
Egg laying procedure
Hatching of chickens will pass without complications if the preparation is carried out correctly. Before laying eggs should be placed in a warm room. The temperature of the eggs should be 25 degrees. During preparation for laying eggs, the incubator should be cleaned and disinfected. It is advisable to pre-check the incubation mode. Before laying, the temperature should be 36 degrees.
Eggs are placed blunt end up. If the device is automatic, then you do not need to control the inclination of the tray, temperature and humidity. Using a mechanical apparatus, these characteristics must be carefully monitored. A horizontal egg laying is also performed, and then the trays should be rotated 180 degrees. Bookmark preferably in the evening. After 4 hours, it is necessary to lay the middle, and when 4 hours pass - small. Then the brood will be homogeneous.
Incubation
Chick hatching time is 21 days. During the first stage (up to 7 days) important organs appear. During the first 3 days, it is necessary to maintain a temperature of 37.8-38 degrees, and humidity - 65-70%. From 4 days, the indicators drop to 37.5 and 55. If there is no automatic revolution, then you need to carry it out up to 3 times a day after the same time.
In the period of the second stage (from 8 to 11 days), the skeleton, claws, and beak are formed. Suitable temperature is 37.6-37.8 degrees, and humidity is 35-45%. Turning over is the same as in the previous step.
With the onset of the third stage (from day 12), the embryo acquires a fluff and a stratum corneum on its claws. Suitable temperature is 37.2-37.5 degrees, and humidity is more than 70%. Necessary conditions are created by fans. Chicks should be checked on an ovoscope. The circulatory system should be noticeable. On day 19-20, the eggs are turned over, leaving space, then you do not need to do this.
How do chicks hatch? Chicks tear open an air bag, and then a shell. They take air, make a squeak. Then their eye sockets open. Birds are released from the egg. After hatching, the chickens are placed under the brood hen or brood. This is how hatching of chickens takes place in an incubator.
Chick inspection
Egg breeds should be examined after 6 hours, and meat breeds after 10. Chicks have the following symptoms:
- umbilical cord closure, lack of blood;
- shine and softness;
- lack of turbidity of the eyes;
- hard beak;
- wings are adjacent to the body;
- activity, reaction to noise.
If it is important to find out the gender of the bird, you can use simple methods:
- When taking the chick by the scruff or paws of the cockerels hang quietly, and the hens raise their paws or pull their head.
- During incubation, hens appear first.
- In chickens, an alternation of long feathers with short ones is observed, and in a rooster, they are all the same.
You can determine the gender by egg:
- The presence of tubercles and rings during palpation indicates the hatching of a rooster.
- When ovoscopic in a male, the air bag is in the middle.
Care
After hatching, chickens need to carefully monitor their condition, especially during the first week of life. Several days of chicks are kept in a box.
During the week you need to follow simple rules:
- It is necessary to provide round-the-clock lighting.
- The temperature should be 30 degrees, and after 5 days it can be reduced to 28.
- The box must be kept clean. At the bottom you need to lay paper or soft material, which should be changed every day. After 5 days, the chicks must be transferred to the cells, which have a fine-meshed floor and a marked shield.
- Seedling about 30 goals per 1 square. m - so the chicks will be more comfortable. An increase in space is required from 4 weeks.
- Feeding is done after 12 hours. The first meal should be corn grits. Then you can give other food - semolina, wheat groats, as well as dairy products. From 3 days you need to give greens. The grass must be treated with boiling water, chopped, mixed with cereals. Feeding for 7 days is carried out after 3 hours.
- Drinking water should always be clean. In the first hours they give a glucose solution, and from the second day - yogurt.
Subject to these simple rules, healthy chicks will be born. It is important to correctly carry out all the stages of growing chicks, because only then they will be healthy. Chickens are suitable for meat and eggs. Growing birds in an incubator will bring a lot of income if you deal with this matter efficiently.