Features of keeping broilers in cages at home
Growing and keeping broilers in cages at home has its advantages and disadvantages, and this is due to the fulfillment of a number of requirements in order to preserve the livestock and ensure its growth and development.
Keeping broilers in cages at home
Features of broilers for breeding
The cage content of broilers in a household is related to their characteristics, since, in contrast to the breeding rate of conventional chicken breeds, the main task in growing broiler lines is to gain weight as quickly as possible.
Of no small importance when deciding whether to grow them in a confined space is that these hybrid breed lines are capable of intensively gaining body weight, for which they were bred in order to get more chicken meat in a short time period.
In addition to being a meat source, many broiler breeds have established themselves as good young producers, exhibiting high egg production indicators.
Among the distinctive features of broiler poultry that require a special approach to keeping:
- large size and large (on average about 5 kg) weight of birds, which limits the number of individuals for one cage,
- intensive increase in body weight,
- obesity of the trunk, located horizontally.
Selection of broiler chicks
To select young animals for the purpose of keeping them in cages the decision is made depending on the purpose of breeding: for meat or for obtaining eggs. Particular attention should be paid not only to the quality of the breed, but also to the behavior of the selected chickens, their activity, reaction to noise, the condition of the eyes and plumage.
It is possible to buy healthy broilers, which would subsequently provide a good economically beneficial result, only at a poultry farm or from professional poultry houses who are responsible for observing all standards for breeding and raising chicks.
Due to the fact that mortality rates among newborn chickens are high, poultry houses recommend purchasing young animals that are at least 10 days old and have a standard size.
You can grow and keep broilers in cages at home using one of 2 available methods:
- extensive, when chickens are purchased in the spring and raised until mid-summer, after which they are slaughtered and sold, the re-recruitment of chickens is not performed until the next season,
- intensive, in which a new generation is acquired every quarter, and individuals that have reached 2.5 months of age go to slaughter.
The most optimal age for slaughter broiler breeds is 70 days. After this period, the birds begin to suspend their growth and gain in weight, and the amount of feed consumed increases. Such broiler maintenance becomes economically unreasonable.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Cell Growing
Raising and keeping broiler chickens in cages is considered to be a more economical method than floor standing. The cellular method has become more popular with the advent of modern technologies that allow you to organize batteries of cells yourself. Among the benefits of breeding broilers in cages, poultry houses note:
- saving space in the room and reducing the associated costs of electricity, heating and ventilation,
- reduction in the amount of required feed as a result of being in a limited area,
- an increase in the growth rate due to a decrease in bird activity,
- limiting contact and, as a result, preventing the spread of various infectious and other diseases,
- the absence of contact of birds with the litter and the inability for birds to eat excrement,
- optimized possibilities for feeding and watering birds, caring for them, veterinary examination, and thinning the number of individuals.
In addition, reviews of poultry houses who prefer to grow and keep broiler breeds of chickens in cages note a reduction in the period for feeding chickens by an average of 3-5 days.
The disadvantages of keeping broilers include:
- rather large initial financial and labor costs for arranging cages or purchasing ready-made equipped complexes,
- obligatory daily cleaning of cages, carrying out disinfection measures, after the cage is free of the bird.
In addition, the cellular content of domestic broilers has an impact on their health. So, birds grown in a cage begin to suffer from problems with paws due to limited activity and a sharp large gain in weight. Affects the condition of chicken legs and the mesh floor of the cage.
We create conditions for cell cultivation
Before deciding on the cages and keeping broilers at home, you need to decide on the main issues regarding the conditions for breeding birds in a confined space.
Premises and equipment
For self-erection of structures or the installation of ready-made sets of equipment for planting chickens, an ordinary wooden shed can be chosen as a suitable room. In the summertime, chicken cages are placed directly on the street.
The list of equipment required for the purchase includes:
- lamps for light illumination,
- heating elements to create heat,
- ventilation systems,
- feeders and drinkers.
Microclimate
For forcing broiler chicks indoors, the necessary conditions must be created and maintained:
- the temperature for day-old chicks is about 32 ° С with a gradual decrease by 0.2 indicators daily until reaching 16-18 ° С by one week of age,
- humidity from 50 to 70%,
- daylight hours - at least 23 hours for chickens, reduced from a week of age to 16-20 hours.
Food
When breeding chickens by the cage method, it is recommended to ensure the constant presence of feed in the cells. The diet of small broilers includes boiled eggs, wheat grains, greens. Starting from five days of age, chickens are soldered with vitamin solutions, adding shell rock and bone meal to the diet. In the last weeks of growth until the moment of slaughter, the feed of the chickens is diversified with roughage.
Bird cage requirements
Today, for the cultivation of meat broilers on an industrial scale and in household conditions, cell batteries are being created to ensure compliance with the stocking density of chickens. They are mounted in a tier of 4-6 cell rows and allow keeping up to 150,000 individuals in a poultry house. You can see how it looks in the video. The block system is equipped with the possibility of feeding and watering birds, and allows you to install additional light sources, if necessary. The floor of these cages is extended, which allows the house to easily catch the bird.A special tape is placed under the floor to remove droppings.
Modern technologies make it possible to automate such keeping of chickens using built-in systems. heating and ventilationcontrolled both in manual and automatic modes.
For home keeping of chickens in a small backyard farm, lightweight versions of cage batteries of 2-3 tiers are possible, no more, subject to the planting density, which can be made with your own hands if you follow the video instructions.
Among the basic requirements for self-assembled cage content are:
- norms of maximum stocking density - up to 25 chicken heads per 1 sq. m of floor, but not more than 40 kg of mass by the final stage of cultivation,
- section material - galvanized mesh, wooden cages are less wear-resistant,
- the presence of grooves outside sections for manual feeding and feeders inside for mechanized,
- the presence of files and a drinking water supply system,
- availability of galvanized pallets for droppings,
- a small cell at the mesh covering the floor.
The presence of wheels in the equipment of the cage batteries creates advantages for the movement of the cages when the heat enters the street.