Broilers are meat chickens that are genetically programmed to gain weight quickly. Features of breeding, keeping, feeding

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Author:

Rasskazov Pavel.

Reading time: 4 minutes

Broilers are a type of cross of the chicken family, which was obtained by breeders by repeatedly crossing certain lines of chickens. Broilers are not a breed. They retain their characteristics only in the first generation.

Features and differences between broilers and regular chickens

Broilers differ from regular chickens in the presence of the following characteristics:

• the body weight of a cross-country chicken is much greater than that of ordinary chickens of the same age;
• short legs and wings;
• calm balanced character;
• increased feed consumption per head;
• rapid growth.

Weight gain

Peak weight growth in cross chickens occurs in the first 1.5 weeks. During this time, the young animals gain 1.3-1.5 kg. By the second month, the bird weighs from 1.8 to 2 kg. By 3-3.5 months, chickens reach 2.5 kg or more.

Body structure

The appearance of the birds is also somewhat different from the appearance of ordinary chickens:

• externally the bird looks squat;
• short wings, powerful short legs, yellow , widely spaced;
• the chest is fleshy , protruded forward;
• thighs are powerful and muscular;
• the plumage is predominantly white without unnecessary inclusions;
• light skin.

The ability to breed offspring and transfer productive data

Broiler chickens lack the brooding instinct. Chickens are hatched in incubators.

Expert opinion

Sadchikov Nikolay Alekseevich

Veterinarian ornithologist

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It is not advisable to obtain offspring from broilers: the young animals do not retain their exceptional characteristics characteristic of this type of cross. Offspring are bred only from certain lines of purebred chickens.

Diseases

Broiler chickens begin to get sick if they are not fed or cared for properly. This issue should not be ignored. At the first signs of a particular disease, you need to seek help from a specialist. If this is not done, you may lose all your broilers.

What diseases can broilers suffer from:

Helminths in the intestines (heteracidosis)

The development of this disease can be prevented by paying due attention to the cleanliness of the poultry house. Arthritis is a disease that affects the condition of the bird’s joints. She begins to move less and is in a sitting position most of the time. Ascites - its development can be triggered by poor nutrition, in particular, the lack of greens in the diet

Fat begins to accumulate in the bird's abdomen and it becomes difficult for it to walk. Stomach upset. Pseudoplague - a bird can become infected with it by eating infected eggshells. Having identified this disease, the infected individual must be removed from the general flock, and the poultry house must be disinfected. Poisoning – occurs due to the bird consuming low-quality or stale food.

Breeding broilers is a profitable business, but it requires attention and effort. If you follow the recommendations given in this article, it will definitely be successful.

What breeds of chickens are used to breed broilers?

For the selection of broilers, meat and meat-egg chickens are used. The most popular of them are Cornish and Plymouthrock. Crossing with Brahma, New Hampshire, Langshan is possible.

For example, crosses are obtained by crossing white Cornish roosters, which pass on meat qualities to the offspring, with meat-egg hens, mainly with the white Plymouth Rock line. The resulting chickens are crossed again with white Cornishes. The result of this selection is broilers.

conclusions

1. Growing broilers in production, on the farm and at home is beneficial due to their increased early maturity.
2. Most broiler breeds show poor egg production characteristics, but some of them are highly productive and can produce up to two hundred eggs per year.
3. The advantage of raising broilers is the possible receipt of significant income in the form of meat products and funds from its sale within two to three months after the start of fattening.
4. Hybrids, as a rule, have large and massive chicken breasts, which have good dietary and taste qualities. Crosses of meat chicken breeds have the same characteristics, only they are bred not only for meat, but also to produce a large number of eggs.

Broiler crosses

Popular broilers in the Russian Federation are considered:

Cross refers to the meat direction, characteristics, content

Broiler Ross 308

Early maturing cross with high rates of meat productivity and egg production

Broiler Ross 708

Bohemian meat chickens with exuberant growth. Main characteristics, nuances of content

Broiler Cobb 500

Early maturing broilers of Dutch selection with good meat productivity and calm disposition

Broiler Gibro-6

Domestic meat and egg cross with minimal maintenance and feeding costs

Broiler-61

Compact, early maturing chickens with a universal focus that do not require large areas for keeping

Broiler-M

An early maturing cross of universal orientation, perfectly adapted to Russian conditions

Broiler Shift

An extra-heavy meat hybrid that will generate income without any maintenance difficulties

Broiler Cobb 700

Chick care

In order for broiler chickens to grow healthy, they must be carefully looked after. Basic care activities include:

1. Treating the chicken coop with disinfectant solutions before moving in the young animals. For these purposes, products such as Ecosept or Arquadez are suitable. To prepare the solution, add 250 ml of disinfectant to 1 liter of water. The advantage of such disinfection is that there is no need to rinse off the solution.
2. Daily cleaning of feeders and water bowls. It is also necessary to ensure that food and liquids in containers are always fresh. Do not allow food to become sour or rotten. It is best to feed the chicks little by little and add fresh food as the feeders empty.
3. Ensuring plenty of drinking water. Broiler chickens drink a lot. The feeling of thirst leads to significant psychological discomfort and reduces the productivity of the bird.
4. Adding potassium permanganate to water. This event is held once a week to disinfect the stomachs of young animals. To prepare the solution, just add a little potassium permanganate to the drinking bowls until the liquid turns pale pink. The prepared solution should be in the drinking bowls for no longer than 40 minutes. After this time, you will need to replace it with clean water.
5. Organization of a special disinfection mat - a depression in the floor near the entrance filled with sawdust soaked in a disinfectant solution. Thanks to such a mat, chickens entering the chicken coop after a walk, as well as poultry farmers, will not be able to bring pathogens inside.
6. Regular cleaning of the inside of the chicken coop. Excessive indoor pollution leads to various diseases and even death of birds. Therefore, once a week it is necessary to carry out general cleaning - remove droppings and change the bedding. And once a month, the walls and floor of the poultry house need to be treated with lime.
7. Organization of "bathing" smoking. To clean the feathers, you need to install a large container with fine sand in the chicken coop. In it, the young animals will carry out hygiene procedures. In addition, ingesting small grains of sand helps improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

When performing the above activities, broiler chickens will feel as comfortable as possible. Therefore, it is worth making efforts to ensure sanitary conditions in the chicken coop.

Breeding process

To raise a bird, a number of steps are taken:

• purchase a hatching egg for hatching in an incubator or buy chickens aged from 1 to 3 days at a poultry farm or grown young animals with a maximum age difference of 5 days;
• determine the method of keeping livestock : cage or floor;
• purchase the necessary equipment - feeders, drinking bowls;
• stock up on feed according to age category;
• set the lighting and ventilation mode in the room.

Arrangement of the place

Before moving broiler chickens into the chicken coop, you will have to prepare the room. To do this you will need to do the following:

1. It is good to disinfect the poultry house. To do this, it is necessary to plaster and cover the walls with lime, and also cover the floor with lime in a ratio of 1 kg per 1 m2.
2. Seal all cracks and cracks in the walls to avoid drafts. You should not cover the holes with old rags and other unnecessary things; it is better to plaster them thoroughly.
3. Cover the floor with a soft covering 10-12 cm thick. For this you can use straw or small sawdust.
4. Install vertical and frontal drinkers and feeders. In this case, the length of the containers must be calculated in such a way that there is no crowding during meals.
5. Equip perches. The size of each should be 30-35 cm. The gaps between the perches can be made the same length.

If it is necessary to build a new chicken coop, it is worth considering the standards adopted for raising broiler chickens. It is better to use wood as the main building material. But plywood and cinder block are allowed. The ceiling height should be 1.8-2 m. To protect the livestock from the penetration of small animals, you will need to raise the foundation by 35-40 cm.

Content Features

Chicks and adult broilers are kept both in cages and on the floor. In both cases, it is necessary to observe planting density, temperature and light conditions, humidity and nutritional characteristics for each age period.

Chicken crosses: how do they differ from breed and hybrid?

Read

Is it possible to keep chickens in SNT, a private house, a city, or a country house?

Answer

Why do chickens peck each other until they bleed and what to do about it?

Causes of pecking

Chicken coop - location, materials

When planning to place a chicken coop on your site, it is important to remember that chickens cannot tolerate:

• low temperature,
• high humidity,
• lack of oxygen.

Choose a place with a groundwater level no higher than 1 meter from the ground surface.

1. Floor. The concrete base is poured. The floor level is made 20-30 cm above the ground level. Such a base will avoid problems with humidity and prevent gas exchange with the ground. The entrance to the broiler chicken coop is preferably located from the east.
2. The walls are usually made of treated wood, brick or blocks, and the blocks are plastered. When breeding at home, wooden chicken coops are often built. Insulation, such as polystyrene, is placed between two layers of boards. The walls should be smooth on the inside - this will make cleaning easier and allow for thorough disinfection.
3. Roof. A solid or gable roof is made of wood, PVC or tiles. Sheet metal is less suitable for a roof; it gets very hot in the summer and cools down quickly in the winter. A gutter is installed under the roof.

Nutrition

Crosses are fed with balanced feed, aimed at meat chickens from the first days of life. From 1 to 3 weeks they are fed with PK-5 Start and Growth compound feed, from 4-5 weeks before slaughter - with Finish 1 compound feed. Together with dry food, you can feed mash and chopped vegetables.

• Stern
• Recipes
• Supplements

Compound feed pk-1

Description of food for egg breeds. Instructions for feeding laying hens

Read

Compound feed pk-2 and pk-3

Mineral and vitamin compositions, feeding standards

Read

Compound feed pk-4

Used to feed laying hens aged 15-17 weeks

Read

Compound feed pk-5

Composition and instructions for feeding broiler chickens

Read

Purina® Pro

Important differences from the previous line, application patterns Start, Growth, Finish

Read

Barley and wheat for laying hens

Germination and steaming of barley and wheat for chickens: how to do it correctly and how to give it to laying hens

Read

Wheat for broilers

Rules for feeding broiler chickens with wheat. Dosage for chickens from the second day of life and adult birds

Read

Mash

Making mash for broilers at home

Read

Rice and buckwheat

How and in what form you can use rice and buckwheat to feed chickens. Standards for adult birds and chickens

Read

Bread

What kind of bread can you feed chickens and how to do it correctly

Read

Fish

The product is given in limited quantities: overfeeding can cause serious harm to the bird

Read

Chalk

Chalk as a food additive for chicken feed. Feeding standards for chickens, young animals and laying hens

Read

Meat and bone meal

Meat and bone meal is a mandatory additive for feeding chickens, containing protein and fats of animal origin.

Read

Fish fat

How to give fish oil to chickens, layers and broilers. What are the benefits of the drug and are there any contraindications?

Read

Limestone

Limestone (dolomite) flour in the diet of chickens. Advantage over chalk and feed shell

Read

Salt

Daily dosage of salt for adult birds and young animals and cases of unwanted use

Read

Recommendations for raising broilers at home

If you want to get a good chicken carcass in a short time, follow these recommendations:

1. When using an incubator, in the first ten days, organize the most comfortable conditions for the chicks and provide healthy, nutritious food.
2. If you buy day-old chicks, carefully select each individual so that you can raise them at home in the future. Give preference only to the most active ones - this guarantees a reduced percentage of loss of young animals.
3. In the first five days, give only dry seeds and ground grain. Avoid wet and fatty foods, such as cottage cheese. Such food is considered ideal for the proliferation of pathogenic flora, which leads to the death of broilers.
4. When the young animals are one week old, switch them to a starter combination feed. The grain mixture contains balanced vitamins that support the health and growth of fast-growing individuals. Gradually add chopped fresh herbs. Don't forget to rinse it with boiled water first.
5. From day 21, introduce vegetables, trimmings of meat and fish, and porridge cooked in broth into your diet. During this period, it is also advisable to give fermented milk products.
6. Remember to maintain a comfortable temperature and humidity. Change the bedding material in a timely manner so that it does not have time to become wet. Excessive humidity develops specific diseases in birds.

Foreign selection

The first breeds of broiler chickens were bred in England. Farmers have noticed that by crossing individuals of different meat breeds, they can get chickens that grow quickly and gain weight. Which hybrid is better? Let's look at the main favorites.

ISA F15

The Isa Hubbard is an original French breed that is extremely popular among meat producers. Compact chickens with a small head have white plumage and yellow skin pigmentation. Females have a wide, muscular chest, while males have a medium chest. Strong paws easily support the weight of the hybrid.

What makes this special breed unique? Professionals classify the broiler as a meat-egg type. In addition to delicate products, the farmer also receives high-quality large eggs. If you create favorable living conditions and provide your pet with adequate nutrition, the bird can be kept without problems.

The description of the cross states that all individuals demonstrate excellent weight gain without significant costs. Thanks to their compact body, chickens are survivable. Chicks quickly adapt to any climate, so they are in high demand.

By week 7, females reach 2.6 kg, and males - almost 3.5 kg. Many farmers slaughter their livestock when they are one month old. This feature saves feed, allowing you to receive finished products much earlier.

Arbor Acres

Are there new breeds of broilers? Recently, the Arbor Acres hybrid has become popular among farmers. It belongs to the Isa Hubbard group, but has some distinctive features.

The characteristic says that cross-country chickens are large birds with white feathers and yellow skin. The massive skeleton easily carries a huge mass. Individuals have strong short legs and very developed legs and thighs. On a small neck there is a medium head with a leaf-shaped crest.

The breed is considered one of the best and most productive. Chickens quickly build muscle, so by a month their weight reaches almost 2 kg, and after 10 days - 3. Patient farmers can get huge carcasses that increase up to 6000 g. Low-calorie meat has a subtle sweetish taste and does not cause allergies.

When purchasing chicks, you should remember their weaknesses. Often the videos only talk about the pros, forgetting to indicate the cons. In order to grow crosses without problems, you need to take into account the heat-loving nature of the birds. At the slightest temperature fluctuations, the young animals become “sad” and fall ill. Those who want to get the most out of it should think about suitable content.

Master Gris

An interesting foreign cross, which is used both as a source of meat and for the production of eggs. French breeders obtained an unpretentious and hardy bird. With proper care and maintenance, the survival rate of chicks is close to 99%.

The characteristic states that roosters can reach 7 kg, and females - almost 4 kg. Pets have tasty juicy meat without extraneous aromas and low fat content. Unlike other broilers, representatives of the species begin to lay eggs at 28 weeks, their productivity is up to 300 pieces per year.

A characteristic feature of the variety is the color of the plumage. Most often, meat crosses are white, but Master Gris chickens will surprise you with a mixture of gray shades. The pockmarked, well-fed specimens can live both in cages and in enclosures.

Foxy Chick

An ideal breed for home growing, suitable for beginners. To grow and gain weight, you don’t need to put in a lot of effort or purchase professional mixtures. Chicks develop naturally without problems, with a minimal mortality rate.

The main feature of the cross is its red or brown feathers. Bright large hens reach a weight of 4 kg, and cockerels - 7 kg. In the photo they can be recognized by their wide chest and short massive legs.

Many farms practice raising young animals for eggs. During the year, a laying hen produces a little more than 240 eggs, while the weight of one specimen is at least 70 g. Not all egg breeds exhibit such indicators.

Sasso XL 551

For lovers of the original aroma of meat, French breeders presented an unusual form that tastes like game. Red birds with yellow skin and paws are unpretentious in care and feeding, so they will take root in any farm.

Broiler chickens of this breed can be raised free-range. Chickens gain weight well by eating pasture. By 100 days the weight exceeds 4 kg. During the same period, hens begin to lay large eggs: from 80 to 95 g.

The initial development rate is slightly behind that of industrial varieties, but they are designed for small farms and outdoor grazing. Feedback from farmers who have owned the cross is always positive. After becoming acquainted with the hybrid, many switch to these birds. These are special broilers of this type of breed that yield more than 95% survival rate, which makes them as profitable as possible.

Purchase

You can purchase chicks in the following places:

1. The accessibility of the market makes it the first choice for purchasing chickens. However, this is, perhaps, all with merit, since by doing this, you are buying a pig in a poke and do not have detailed information about the pedigree of your new inhabitants of the chicken coop (suddenly this is not a broiler breed at all), however, just like farmers who themselves and they sell them. In addition, it remains unknown: in what conditions the birds were bred and kept.
2. When buying from a poultry farm, you can be sure that you will receive exactly the breed you requested with certificates. However, it is worth finding out about the health of birds. There have been cases when unscrupulous factories sold only weak and unproductive individuals.
3. At hatchery stations, the quality of chicken breeding is always at a high level. When purchasing a batch, you can be sure of the quality of the chickens and their breed. The disadvantage may be the limited volumes sold.

Egg selection

When choosing, you should pay special attention to shape, size and color. Very small egg sizes indicate that the offspring will be weak.

Too large ones may have two yolks inside, so you shouldn’t risk it either. Bad choice:

• pear-shaped;
• elongated;
• too rounded shape.

Such eggs hatch into unhealthy birds.

The egg must be fertilized and this can be determined using an ovoscope. Material suitable for incubation is distinguished by a clear dark spot in the middle.

At what age should you buy chickens?

Broiler chickens should be purchased when they are still very young, in the very first days of life. The best time to buy is the month of May. Hens should be selected that are old (approximately three months of age). Meat-egg crosses can be purchased at four months of age and even older, since they begin to lay eggs no earlier than 6 months.

Rooster or hen

In broiler chickens, sex is usually determined by the feathering on the wings. The upper row of feathers in hens is significantly shorter in length compared to the lower row, but in day-old cockerels they are the same length.

Broiler chickens when raised for meat have their own characteristics. Roosters are more suitable for this purpose. After all, they are larger and therefore weigh more.

Preparation

Chicken coop requirements

A poultry house for raising and year-round keeping of broiler chickens must meet the following requirements:

• completely safe for its inhabitants;
• good thermal insulation from cold and damp (a foundation is required);
• air circulation in the room and the correct choice of ventilation system;
• Desirable location on a hill.

The premises must comply with all fire safety standards. Beware of open heating systems, such as wood burning stoves. Carefully inspect the entire area for protruding nails and wires that could injure the occupants of the house.

Necessary equipment

You can build a wooden chicken coop with your own hands, having the following equipment and materials:

• for the foundation: cement, sand, pebbles, crushed stone, bricks;
• timber 100 by 100 millimeters;
• timber 50 by 100 millimeters;
• planed boards 20 millimeters thick;
• glass wool;
• metal staples for fastenings;
• metal profile;
• nails and screws;
• level gauge;
• drill with an attachment for turning screws;
• hammer, saw and axe;
• foil for insulation;
• roofing felt