The word "broiler" is borrowed from the British. The consonant "tu broil" is translated as "spit roasting". What meat is better fried? Young. Well, more precisely, broiler chickens with an average weight of 2 kg. Their meat is considered a dietary product. In addition, it is more tender and nutritious compared to adult poultry meat.
Growing broiler chickens is troublesome, but also quickly pays for itself. Chickens with high vitality, a good meat shape of the body grow quite quickly. The most popular broiler chickens of the breeds of Plymouthrock (white) and Cornish (white), bred in the United States.
White Cornish is a purely meat breed. Gives up to 120 eggs per year. In industrial production, a white plymouth rock is crossed with a white cornish, which ultimately gives excellent offspring. In amateur production, you can confine yourself only to white plymouthrocks. In two months, broilers reach one and a half kilograms, and some two. By the way, chickens of egg breeds would weigh no more than half a kilogram. About 3.5 kg of feed is consumed per kilogram of weight gain (twice as much is required for chicken of egg breeds).
Broilers are grown indoors. Mesh fences (from the netting) are arranged next to them for walking and sunbathing. A dozen chickens will need two square meters. Young growth is released in dry and sunny weather. Broilers do not require unlimited walks: they will grow poorly. Nor do they need perches.
The room for the maintenance is selected dry, bright. Drafts are not allowed. The litter (floor) is made deep. It changes only when a new batch of broilers is settled. Sawdust, shavings, sunflower husk, and straw chop are best suited. Mold and odors are not allowed. In summer, 7 cm is enough thickness, in winter - 12 cm. If the top layer is very dirty, it is removed, and the same amount is added.
Broiler chickens. Feeding. It is easy to guess that nutrition is crucial in growing. Not only the growth and quality of meat, but also the viability of chickens will depend on the usefulness and quality of the feed. It is best to use compound feeds manufactured specifically for broilers by factories. They are already balanced, have all kinds of nutrients, vitamins, trace elements. But broiler chickens can also be raised successfully on feed mixtures prepared on their own.
An approximate composition of a kilogram of the mixture includes such components:
- corn tart - 400 g;
- wheat flour - 200 g;
- barley tart - 150 g;
- oatmeal - 100 g;
- sunflower meal - 150 gr.
To this composition, it would be nice to add 50 grams of meat-bone or fish flour , or 100 grams of home-made cottage cheese. In addition, each chicken should receive 1 gram of baker's yeast per day. From the seventh day, chopped nettles, alfalfa, cabbage, grated carrots are added to the mash (wet) (for starters, 5 grams per chicken, gradually increasing to 20). And to prevent rickets, broiler chickens should receive fish oil (per gram per day).
Calcium must be present in the diet: crushed eggshell or chalk (add 10 grams per kilogram of feed). For good digestibility of food, fine gravel is needed (it is placed in separate feeders). Starting from the weekly age, babies feed three times a day with a moist (not wet, but rather wet) mash in milk (removed). Dry feed should be kept in separate feeders at all times. Make sure that the remains of feed are not soured, and there is always fresh water in the drinkers. The first two weeks of broiler chickens require constant, round-the-clock lighting, then the duration of lighting (taking into account the natural daytime) is reduced to 17 hours. The intensity of electric lighting up to 20 days is 4 W per square meter, after 20 days 2 W is already enough.
Subject to these standards, broiler chickens grow strong, healthy and gain good weight.