Why broilers do not grow: what can cause this condition and ways to solve the problem

At what age does egg laying begin?

The onset of egg production differs depending on the breed and direction.
In egg breeds, laying begins at 4-5 months of life. Meat and egg birds begin laying at 5-6 months. The meat breeds are considered the latest - their first egg can be laid only by 7-8 months. When do chickens start laying eggs? Effective and simple methods for determining which birds are laying eggs and which are not Read

How to determine the age of a chicken by various external signs and what is this for? More details

The best breeds and crosses of Russian-selected chickens: the top 5 most productive chickens that are worth paying attention to Watch

Diseases

No matter how hard the owners try, their charges are not 100% insured against various ailments. What to do if birds stop gaining weight due to illness? First you need to determine what exactly the chickens were infected with.

A common problem is helminths.

They can settle not only in the intestines, but also in the crop, preventing the animal from developing properly. A course of antibiotics will help correct the situation. A weakened body will also need a course of vitamins.

Some farmers complain that chickens fall on their feet. This happens to both chickens and cockerels. Why don't broilers grow? The most common cause is rickets, which appears due to a lack of vitamin D. Limbs weaken, bones become brittle, and the bird is unable to walk normally. Without treatment, the case can end in death.

Once again, the cause of the problem lies in an insufficiently varied diet. From the first week you can add greens to it (nettle is especially useful); sprouted grains are an excellent addition. Vitamin supplements from the pharmacy will not be superfluous.

If the house is not clean enough, chickens can develop viral arthritis. At the same time, the joints are hot to the touch and visually enlarged. Broilers also suffer from tendon displacement, usually due to deficiencies in the diet. The legs become twisted and the bird is unable to move normally. Most often, such an individual has to be slaughtered.

To avoid paw problems, keep the floor of the pen clean and tidy. There should be no objects that could cause injury to animals.

Do not make the perches too high - the bird may fall from it and injure its legs.

Reasons for the development of the disease

When the first signs appear in chickens, you should immediately begin to look for the source of the disease. There is no single cause for this disease. When bald patches appear in individuals, several factors should be analyzed.

Attention! If beef thyroid gland is frequently added to the diet of chickens, baldness may begin to develop. Insufficient intake of vitamins A and B from food can lead to the onset of feather loss

Alopecia can also be caused by a deficiency of protein nutrition containing sulfur-rich amino acids.

Insufficient intake of vitamins A and B from food can lead to the onset of plumage loss. Alopecia can also be caused by a deficiency of protein nutrition containing sulfur-rich amino acids.

Violation of the conditions of keeping the chicken flock in the form of surface contamination, excessive humidity or aridity, winter, insufficient lighting can give rise to feather loss.

Note. Infection of livestock with skin parasites can act as an activator of feather shedding. Parasitic organisms that feed on feathers and down settle on the skin and in the under-feather layer

The basis of their nutrition are pieces of epidermis and downy feathers.

During the seasonal replacement of feather cover, the chickens' nutrition should be 2 times more intense. The beginning of natural molting can develop into typical alopecia, if during this period the birds are not supported with feed additives of sulfur, manganese and potassium. Insufficient content of these components provokes loss of plumage on the neck, chest and tail. In addition, calcium, iodine and phosphorus deficiencies also play a role in feather maintenance.

Broilers are not growing, what should I do?

In the event that broilers stop growing, the prerequisites should be established and they should be eliminated very quickly. If you are raising chickens for subsequent sale, then low weight can negatively affect the success of the trade.

Why broilers do not gain weight main reasons:

1.The room temperature is not correct.

For normal growth, the room in which they are kept must be warm. They need warmth constantly. In the initial 2 weeks, chickens develop immunity. When the chicks freeze, they will not be strong. Please note that the room temperature should be 30 degrees Celsius. After 14 days, the temperature can be reduced to 25 degrees Celsius.

For the first time, their lights must be on all day long.

3. Lack of calcium in the body of chicks.

Poor growth can often be associated with common vitamin deficiency.

4. Incorrect diet.

It happens that young animals do not gain weight due to the fact that they need to drink or they do not have enough food. Then the body seeks internal opportunities for the chick’s organs to develop, but there are no longer enough reserves for growth.

Helminths can infect the digestive tract of chickens, their crop and esophagus, so the development of birds occurs more slowly.

What to do if broilers begin to grow poorly?

You need to pay attention to the conditions in which broilers are located. The room must be at the required temperature without humidity

Lamps with infrared radiation are perfect for this. They simultaneously illuminate and heat the room. If broilers are not developing well, you should pay attention to the lighting in the room. For their development, daylight hours must be approximately 17 hours. It should be noted that bright light is also not required. It will irritate the young animals and can cause pecking. It is advisable to use soft light. Lamps with blue and red light are suitable. This will create the required length of daylight hours and will also have a positive effect on the development of broilers.

Bird feeding must be of high quality. The food contains minerals, vitamins and calcium. It is recommended to use mixed feed. This will give the chicks everything they need.

When buying compound feed, please note that it must contain protein. Calcium in the bird's body comes from chalk and eggshells, which must be included in the daily diet of broilers

To improve digestion, crushed shells and crushed gravel are added to the food. This facilitates faster digestion of food, and, naturally, the young animals will grow faster. Feeding chickens in the first 7 days should be at least 8 times a day. After a week you need to give food 6 times a day, in the third week 4 times a day. It is necessary that the food includes greens, as they provide the chicks with the necessary vitamins. As preventative measures, vitamins and antibiotics should be included in the diet. Remember that vaccinations are required and all birds must be examined by a professional veterinarian.

If broilers are sick with helminthiasis, you can treat the birds with Garlic Nilverm. This drug is sold in pet stores. The product should be mixed into wet food intended for birds. Broilers gain weight poorly due to lack of proper care.

Meat crosses compare favorably with other breeds if you are not interested in egg production, but primarily in meat productivity. As everyone knows very well, broiler chickens grow very quickly, and in two months they reach a weight of about one and a half kilograms. It is not recommended to keep these crosses for more than 80 days; it becomes unprofitable, because a lot of feed is consumed, and their growth slows down significantly after this period. The fastest weight gain is observed in the first month of life.

Broiler chickens are kept in chicken coops, without pasture with low light, but the daylight hours must be at least 17 hours. To keep chickens at rest, they need dim lighting so that their physical activity is low. The litter in the poultry house should be deep and soft; as the litter becomes dirty, it should be replaced with a new, clean one. In this case, the density of chickens should be 11-14 birds per 1m2. if the room has good ventilation, then the density can be increased to 18 heads per 1 m2. Also, for good growth, you need to maintain the correct temperature regime, see table 1

Temperature conditions for broilers of different ages

Conditions for growth

If the chickens are not growing well, you need to check the living conditions and, if necessary, adjust the care.

Temperature conditions. The first 14 days - 30℃, then at least 25℃. The lamps must be on 24 hours a day.

Vitamins and minerals, including Calcium, are added to the food of young individuals for rapid and high-quality growth. They give food on schedule (8 times a day), in plentiful quantities. To increase appetite, sweeteners are used, then chickens are more willing to eat regular food.

The first month is the most important month in the life of chickens, so special attention should be paid to them during this period.

In the first days of life, chickens are treated with antiparasitic drugs. Pay attention to stool and general condition to avoid infections. The final rule is to keep young animals isolated until they reach a certain age.

Weight standards for broiler chickens

Broilers are genetically endowed with the ability to grow quickly. Scientists are constantly improving meat breeds of chickens and creating new ones, trying to reduce the fattening time. If earlier representatives of meat breeds of chickens were ready for slaughter at the age of 60–63 days, then modern broilers do not need to be fed for more than 40–45 days.

Chickens are born weighing 40–44 g; after 10 days their weight increases 6 times and reaches 200–240 g. Cockerels are slightly heavier than hens. At ten days of age, the difference in their weight is about 30 g.

After another 10 days, the weight of the chicks increases by another 500 g and amounts to 750–800 g. This is the norm, but there are exceptions, for example, there is a known case that occurred in Veliky Novgorod. Local poultry farmers managed to fatten a three-week-old chicken to 2 kg.

Attention! Accelerated growth negatively affects the musculoskeletal system of birds, so farmers try to limit the activity of birds. They arrange chicken coops so that the feeders are in close proximity to the birds

The broiler weight continues to increase rapidly up to 2.5 months. At the age of 30 days, the normal weight of a chicken reaches 1550–1600 g. Meat breed chickens are usually fattened for 40–50 days. In the future, their growth slows down, but their appetite remains the same, so feeding the young animals longer is unprofitable.

What to feed to make them grow quickly

Experienced poultry farmers recommend purchasing commercial feed designed for meat poultry.

To feed without compound feed, you need an optimal calculation of the balance of all nutrients.

Let's consider both options and the amount of feed in the tables below.

Please note that industrial feed for broilers is given according to the following scheme:

from the 1st to the 5th day - prestart;

from 6th to 18th - starting;

from the 19th to the 37th day - growth;

from the 37th to slaughter - finishing.

To summarize: gaining muscle mass is not difficult for meat breeds.

Important! Broilers have a high need for water, so it should always be clean, fresh, and freely available.

You need to familiarize yourself with the conditions of their detention, feeding habits and apply them in practice. And timely preventive measures will keep the young animals healthy.

Possible reasons

Broiler chickens are quite capricious and whimsical in their maintenance; they quickly react to any change in conditions. Therefore, there are many reasons for poor weight gain in broilers. Thus, errors in nutrition, living conditions, diseases - all this negatively affects the gain in live weight.

Did you know? The name broilers comes from the English verb to broil, that is, “to fry over an open fire.”

Temperature

Broilers are very sensitive to temperature conditions. Violation of temperature standards for keeping broilers leads to poor immunity of the bird, as well as to high energy costs for heating the body, rather than weight gain. Therefore, low temperatures, as well as sudden changes, are unacceptable.

Large walking area

While for most breeds of chickens a spacious area for walking is a prerequisite for keeping, broilers can be called an exception. In a spacious area where they can move freely and freely, a lot of calories are consumed. Therefore, it is forbidden to give broiler chickens access to a large space.

Diet problems

Nutritional imbalance and lack of protein is another very common cause of poor weight gain in broiler chickens. In principle, with low weight gain, the first thing owners should do is to reconsider the birds’ diet.

There may be several problems in the diet:

• birds may not receive enough food in one feeding and simply be hungry;
• the number of feedings may not correspond to the age needs of the chickens;
• the diet may be poor, unbalanced, with a deficiency or excess of various nutrients;
• the bird's appetite may decrease or even disappear as a result of transferring from one food to another;
• birds may not have enough clean drinking water for a normal appetite.

Find out more about feeding broilers: compound feed PK-5 and PK-6, additives in the form of nettles, as well as about making feeders and drinkers.

Also, very often, broiler species can gain weight poorly due to a lack of protein in the diet. If owners feed chickens with homemade mash, then weight loss becomes common. After all, at home it is very difficult to correctly compose a diet and select all the minerals, vitamins and other nutrients necessary for birds in the right proportion.

Video: stunting due to poor diet

Special breed of broiler

Breeds of broiler chickens are divided into 2 categories: those with a high rate of muscle gain and those with a low rate. In the latter case, birds gain weight over a longer period of time.

If you did not pay attention to this point when choosing a breed, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise in the form of a slow gain of muscle mass. Be sure to ask the breeders for this breed characteristic.

We advise you to read about the characteristics and maintenance of broiler crosses ROSS-308, ROSS-708, Cobb-700.

Digestive problems

Broilers are extremely sensitive to feed, especially newborn chicks. Their food must be of the highest quality and freshest. Poor, unsuitable, old food (rotten or moldy) can cause metabolic disorders, decreased or increased acidity and dyspepsia. With dyspepsia, digestion in the stomach occurs, heaviness and pain are noted.

In this case, the bird may refuse to feed, becomes apathetic, and inactive. One of the symptoms of dyspepsia is bowel dysfunction. If you observe such a clinical picture, you need to take immediate action. With this condition, ascorbic acid, glucose, and potassium permanganate solution help well.

The second problem is helminth infestations. The most common are: capillariasis, ascariasis, prostagoniasis. It is dangerous to give veterinary drugs to chickens on your own without an accurately established diagnosis. To do this, it is necessary to examine feces using helminth-ovoscopy and various tests to determine the type of parasites and select the appropriate drug.

Important! Helminthiasis can only be confirmed (!) based on the results of laboratory tests of the droppings.

After anthelmintic therapy, chickens must undergo a 3-day quarantine, and all droppings during this time should be burned.

Causes of underweight in broilers

If during control weighing it turns out that broilers are not gaining weight, it is important to figure out what is causing this. The following factors influence live weight gain:

• unbalanced diet;
• temperature conditions in the chicken coop;
• digestive problems in chickens;
• spacious walk.

Attention! Broiler chicken breeds differ in the rate of increase in muscle mass. Some grow rapidly, others more slowly. It is important to clarify this issue when purchasing chickens.

Incorrectly composed diet

Often, broilers do not gain weight due to mistakes the farmer made when preparing their diet. For intensive muscle building, birds need to get a lot of protein. Poultry farmers who feed their birds food prepared with their own hands are often faced with slow growth and underweight chickens. They simply cannot balance their diet correctly, so it is recommended to feed broilers with special feed. It contains all the necessary substances that promote rapid growth - protein, minerals, vitamins in the correct proportion.

Another reason for weight loss is frequent changes in feed. As a result of a sudden change in diet, the birds become stressed and, as a result, broilers eat poorly. Also, the rate of feed consumption per bird affects the increase in muscle mass. If a farmer tries to save money by filling the feeders only 2/3 full, then the chickens are undernourished and therefore grow slowly.

Temperature conditions in the chicken coop

Broilers react sharply to temperature disturbances in the poultry house. In the cold season, the thermometer in the chicken coop should not fall below +20 degrees. Otherwise, the birds will spend the energy obtained from food not on weight gain, but on heating the body.

Attention! For broilers, not only low temperature is dangerous, but also its fluctuations. Sudden changes cause stress in birds, which subsequently affects productivity.

The level of humidity in the room also affects the health of birds. In a damp poultry house, the threat of the spread of infectious and colds increases. A chicken coop for broilers must be equipped with supply and exhaust ventilation.

Digestive problems in chickens

Fungus-contaminated feed can cause serious digestive problems in young animals. By eating rotten grain that has not been stored properly, chickens suffer from dyspepsia and intoxication. The birds' appetite decreases, diarrhea begins, and nutrients are poorly absorbed by the body. As a result, the bird not only does not gain weight, but also loses weight.

Another reason for underweight in broiler chickens is helminthiasis. Infection with worms occurs through dirty bedding, and some parasitic infections are transmitted through eggs from laying hens. Common types of helminthiasis:

• ascariasis;
• capillariasis;
• prostagonymosis.

Common signs of helminth infection are loss of appetite, lethargy, diarrhea, and exhaustion. If you find similar symptoms, you should invite a veterinarian to make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment.

Spacious walking area

Unlike chickens of egg and meat-egg breeds, broilers do not need a spacious area for walking. An active lifestyle leads to high calorie consumption, which negatively affects weight gain. Ideally, meat chickens are kept in cages to limit their ability to move.

Methods for solving the problem

Broiler chickens grow well if kept in good conditions and given adequate nutrition. Having discovered smaller deviations from the norm during control weighing of chickens, it is necessary first of all to correct the birds’ diet. Next, we will have to work to improve the living conditions of birds.

Broiler nutrition

When raising meat chickens, it is better to feed them ready-made feed, selecting it according to age. It will contain the necessary substances in the correct proportion. If the farmer prepares the mash himself, then it is worth adding premixes and vitamins to their composition. The broiler diet should include:

• protein - it is found in grains, eggs, cottage cheese, fish, legumes;
• vegetables – carrots, fodder beets;
• greens - nettles, onions, tops;
• mineral supplements - chalk, shell rock, yeast, bone meal, fish oil.

It is important to properly organize the feeding of chickens. Chickens under 7 days of age are given food 8 times a day at regular intervals.

From the second week of life they are transferred to six meals a day, then to four meals a day.

Important! The transition to a new type of feed is being made gradually. A sudden change in diet causes stress in birds; they need to get used to the new taste and composition of food

Correction of conditions of detention

The poultry house must be warm. The temperature inside, even in winter, cannot fall below +20 degrees. In the fall, it is worth sealing all the cracks and considering the possibility of heating the room. The presence of ventilation is a mandatory requirement. Harmful vapors of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, damp and musty air have a detrimental effect on the health of birds.

It is extremely important to organize proper lighting of the poultry house. Experienced poultry farmers recommend using infrared lamps; their light has a soft reddish tint.

In addition, these lamps give off heat well.

It is important to keep the chicken coop clean by regularly removing droppings. Complete disinfection of the premises is carried out twice a year.

Drinkers and feeders are washed with soda solution or scalded with boiling water daily. All these measures will help avoid the spread of infectious and parasitic diseases.

Reduced walking

If birds receive feed in the required quantity, and their housing conditions meet sanitary standards, but there is a lack of weight, it means that the birds move a lot. It is beneficial for chickens of meat breeds to be outdoors and take sunbathing, but walks should not be long. It is better to reduce the area of ​​the yard to a minimum - there should be 18–20 chickens or 10 adult birds per 1 m2.

Broilers do not grow or gain weight slowly for three reasons - due to an incorrect diet, poor living conditions or an active lifestyle. When faced with a problem, a farmer must analyze where he made a mistake and try to change the situation as quickly as possible, because his profit depends on it.

Diet related problems

Piglets eat and grow poorly, what to do?

Quite often, poultry farmers are worried about the question: why do broilers eat poorly, what to do?

• Poor appetite in chickens may be due to inappropriate temperature. When it's hot, the need for food is significantly reduced. In this case, it is necessary to provide broilers with free access to oxygen and give them more water to maintain temperature balance. If the temperature is too low, then it should be increased to the optimal temperature.
• Illness also causes lack of appetite. Helminth infections, which are often found in animals, affect the crop, esophagus and gastrointestinal tract. To correct the situation, you need to give broilers antibiotics and saturate their food with vitamins.

  Helminthiasis in broilers

• Transition from one food to another. When changing their diet, chickens need some time to adjust. To begin with, it is better to give new food in a 1:1 ratio to the old one. In the future, the amount of new food should be increased, gradually reducing the previous diet to zero.
• Inconsistency with the diet will also suppress the appetite of birds. It is advisable to feed broilers at the same time every day.
• Moving to a new place and fear provoke stress in animals, due to which their appetite disappears. It is necessary to provide the broilers with rest, and after a few days they will return to their normal diet.

There are situations when broilers refuse to eat feed. The reason for this may be that the feed does not match the age of the bird. For example, after the 30th day of life, 50% corn in the feed is the norm, but at first this amount is unacceptable.

Important! Immediately after birth, chicks should not be given feed. You should buy pre-start food in a specialized store or replace it with millet for several days.

When purchasing food, you should check it carefully. If the food is expired and stored in a damp place, then rotten grains may get into the feeder, and broilers will neglect poor-quality food and ultimately remain hungry.

Why don't broilers drink water?

Most often, broilers refuse to drink water if it is of poor quality. It is necessary to monitor the cleanliness of the drinking bowl, because birds often spoil it themselves by climbing into a container with dirty paws. It is necessary to thoroughly rinse the containers to remove any impurities, as they contain bacteria that can cause diseases.

Various goiter diseases are also the cause of water refusal. They occur due to blockage by fungi of the genus Candida (candidiasis). Then the chicken sits, ruffled, and does not move. Prevention of the disease consists of cleaning the cage (or chicken coop) and treating it from various parasites.

Broilers don't drink water

Why do broilers grow poorly?

The main reason why broilers do not gain weight is poor quality nutrition. When raising broilers, you need to carefully monitor their feeding. It is better for broilers to eat on a schedule, and their food should be balanced. The feed mixture must contain the required amount of vitamins and minerals, the presence of which can be achieved by feeding the bird with high-quality starter feed purchased in a specialized store.

Another reason why broilers grow poorly may be a disease that has struck them. In the presence of helminthiasis or damage to the gastrointestinal tract, weight gain stops and the animals stop growing.

If broilers are kept in an open pen, they will expend a lot of energy moving around. Then they stop gaining muscle mass, and ultimately grow to the desired size not by 2-3 months, but by 5.

Why do broilers gain weight poorly or not grow at all?

An unbalanced diet, or rather a lack of protein in the feed, is a common answer to the question: why broilers do not grow. Protein plays a vital role in gaining muscle mass. Neglecting the purchase of quality feed and trying to save money, poultry farmers often do not think about the future consequences for the growth of livestock. Only high-quality food filled with the necessary elements will ultimately bring the desired result.

Lack of protein in feed

Excessive mobility and activity also stops the chicken from gaining weight, because then the birds will spend all their energy on moving, and not on gaining weight.

To normalize the growth of broilers, it is necessary to eliminate all the reasons for its delay. It is worth providing the chickens with good nutrition, eliminating physical obstacles and making sure that this does not happen again in the future.

Important! It is recommended to add a few drops of fish oil to the water, which increases the appetite and immunity of chickens.

Why broilers don't fledge

Feathers protect the body from low temperatures, wind and other factors, therefore they are simply necessary for the normal functioning of the body.

Normally, already on the second day of life, chickens have a small number of feathers, and by 3 weeks of age the bird is already fully feathered. However, sometimes feather growth is delayed, which worries poultry farmers.

Delayed plumage in broilers can be explained by the fact that the growth of feathers lags behind the growth rate of the chicken as a whole. In this case, it seems that the bird is covered with feathers only on certain parts of the body.

Note! Chicken alopecia is the loss of feathers, which leads to baldness of the bird and is pathological in nature.

The causes of both alopecia and lagging plumage are:

• Wrong content. Insufficient lighting, poor ventilation and drafts have a detrimental effect on broilers and can cause various types of diseases and disorders. Plumage also directly depends on these factors.
• Feeding plays the most important role in the life of broilers. The lack of necessary components in food has a bad effect on the functioning of the body as a whole, including plumage.
• Infectious diseases affecting the body can cause alopecia or stunted feather growth in broilers. To avoid problems of this kind, you need to monitor the well-being and appearance of chickens, their living conditions and nutrition.

Important! To prevent baldness, you can mix fish meal, grass and add vitamins to the food.

How to solve a problem

If chickens are losing weight, action must be taken otherwise the bird will die. Much of the weight gain depends on the bird's diet. It is necessary to watch what a broiler eats from the first days of its life. The diet should contain vitamins and proteins

If there is no household waste, you will have to purchase special feed. Pay attention to fertilizing. Can be used: fish, bone meal, milk

Each chicken should be given 2 g of yeast once a day. From 7 days of age, alfalfa or nettle are added to food. There should be clean water in the feeder. Chickens should eat to their heart's content.

It is recommended to feed broilers in accordance with the standards. It is important to monitor the conditions of detention. The room must be clean, at the proper temperature, of optimal size. Pay attention to gas pollution.

The chicken coop must be ventilated periodically.

We feed broiler chickens with dairy products

Experienced poultry farmers must include dairy products in the fattening diet of broiler chickens. Milk, whey, yogurt, and low-fat cottage cheese provide the calcium needs of babies and allow them to develop normally.

As a rule, fermented milk ingredients are not given to chicks in their pure form, but are included in feed and wet mash. They are first given to chicks 10 days after birth.

The simplest food option is to mix kefir with grain to obtain semi-dry porridge.

The ingredients are mixed and fed to the chicks within an hour after preparation.

What feed is used to quickly gain weight in chickens?

By properly organizing the feeding of broiler chickens, you can achieve rapid weight gain, and already in 2-4 months you can send the bird to slaughter.

To do this, you can purchase special feed for fattening, the composition of which is carefully selected by specialists.

1. “Newborn” chickens are fed cottage cheese and boiled eggs, after which they are introduced to the so-called starter feed with a high protein content, which helps strengthen the chicken skeleton, ensure muscle growth, and improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. For these purposes, food PK-6-1 in granules is suitable. It contains wheat, corn, cake, low-fat kefir and barley.
2. At the age of 2 weeks, broilers begin to actively grow and at this stage they are given PK-6-2 feed. It is also granular, but the granules are larger. The composition is similar to the starter food, but the ingredients are presented in different proportions, lysine, vegetable oil and meat and bone meal appear. The feed is served dry, but can be mixed with water or fresh milk. The use of PC-6-2 ensures intensive weight gain and the formation of protein tissue in poultry.
3. At the age of one month, broilers are transferred to finish feed - PK-6-3. The granules in it are even larger and easier to feed. Fresh herbs, feed fat, and feed yeast are added to the composition. Since the life of broilers is quite short, at this stage it is necessary to help the chickens gain the necessary kilograms, and using the right feed allows this to be done. PC-6-3 contains less proteins, but is rich in minerals and vitamins.

VIDEO DESCRIPTION

What greens and vegetables to give to broiler chickens

Vegetables and herbs are an essential source of vitamins and fiber, so they must be included in the diet of broilers.

Fresh carrots are extremely beneficial for chickens. They begin to add it to wet mash, starting from 5 days of age at the rate of 5 g per chick.

It is recommended to include fresh cabbage and beets in your diet, and boiled potatoes.

Greens are an indispensable ingredient in the daily diet of broilers. In summer, as a rule, there are no difficulties with it.

It is allowed to give chickens alfalfa, clover, nettle, dandelion and other plants, and in winter you can use sprouted grain greens.

Causes of poor weight gain

Broilers are very capricious and demanding creatures. Their health and productivity directly depend on the feed and living conditions.

At the same time, broilers are very phlegmatic birds; from their behavior it is very difficult to understand whether they are happy with their situation or not. It is worth noting that it is young broilers that most often die from improper diet.

Experienced farmers, observing their charges, have compiled a list of the most common reasons for poor weight gain in birds. You too can make your own observations. A table will help you with this, in which it is recommended to enter the weight of the birds:

In addition to weight gain, record any features of keeping chickens. For example, changes in diet, feed composition and other nuances. When breeding the next population of birds, you will be able to conduct a comparative analysis and identify the reasons affecting weight loss.

In the meantime, for beginners, we will give our list of reasons that negatively affect weight gain in broilers.

1. Temperature conditions. If birds are cold, their body uses all its resources to maintain heat. Accordingly, all internal reserves are used, so the birds do not gain weight and quickly become exhausted.
2. Walking. For any variety of domestic chickens, having a large walking area is a must. Broilers are an exception to this rule. Of course, it is useful for birds to be in the fresh air, but it is better to limit their freedom of movement. Birds should lead a sedentary lifestyle, this is a guarantee of a stable increase in live weight.
3. Lack of protein. An unbalanced diet leads to the fact that birds have nowhere to get resources to increase body weight.
4. Features of the breed. There are several varieties of broiler chickens. Some of them initially have slow development. It is quite possible that you are faced with just such a breed. In this case, you don’t need to do anything; when the time comes to slaughter the birds for meat, their weight will return to normal without additional effort.
5. Digestive problems. This is facilitated by poor-quality feed or an infectious disease. To identify the true causes, it is better to consult a veterinarian. He will tell you what feed to use. If necessary, he will prescribe a course of treatment.

Why broiler chickens grow poorly and how to help them gain weight

Having purchased broilers, the farmer expects the birds to quickly gain weight, and they think that there will be no problems in this process. But when they begin to notice that the chicks are sitting in one place and not gaining anything, then the question arises: “Why do broiler chickens grow poorly?” The question is very good, so we decided to analyze it in more detail in order to eliminate all possible negative nuances.

Broiler birds are very gentle creatures. In order for them to gain weight well, it is necessary to create certain conditions. In the absence of these parameters, it will immediately become noticeable that the chickens are not growing well, and some individuals have even stopped growing and even die.

It is very important to adhere to the length of daylight hours in the first weeks of broiler life. This is especially important in the first 1–2 weeks

The temperature must also be constant. In addition, drafts should be avoided. When chickens do not need to warm themselves, they absorb all the calories, thereby gaining weight well. It is also worth noting that if the temperature fluctuates or there are drafts, the chick may get sick, and if not treated in a timely manner, it simply dies. We must not forget that broiler birds do not need large pens

They don’t have to walk around and look for worms; it’s important that they gain mass and not waste energy in search of food. Broilers should move as little as possible and gain weight

Remember to eat right. Unbalanced food, without specific vitamins and antibiotics in the first weeks of a chick's life can significantly affect further weight gain.

• If the examples described above did not answer the question “Why?”, then it is worth mentioning that the broiler breed has its own crosses and lines, which may differ in development and weight gain. This important point can help determine the further maintenance of all chickens.
• And I would like to separately remind you about diseases that can also lead to chicks not gaining weight well. There are many diseases and each of them results from poor maintenance and improper diet. Therefore, you should take a closer look at everything that happens to the chicks throughout their lives.

Ways to solve the problem

As you can see, there are quite a few reasons, but again, some of them follow from the above. Now we will try to find the right ways to resolve possible problems and answer the question: “Why haven’t your broilers gained weight yet?”

The lighting should not be very bright; a matte or colored light bulb will do. In addition, in the first two weeks, the light for the chicks should be on all day, and only then gradually reduce the lighting period to 19-20 hours. It is during this period that broilers gain the bulk of their starting weight.

There should be no drafts in the barn and there should be a certain temperature of 30 °C, then by four weeks this parameter drops to 20 °C, but gradually. Broilers are like small children and get cold very easily, to the point that they may develop wheezing and snot. Therefore, it is necessary to insulate the room where the birds will be raised.

For good weight gain, broilers need a small shed. Usually the distance from the feeders is kept to a minimum and the pens are small, even though they contain more than 10 broilers. According to standards, 5 chicks need 0.5 m²; this rather small area will allow them to move as little as possible and gain as much mass as possible. Two adult birds should still rely on the same 0.5 m².

With food, things are much tougher. During the first two weeks, broilers must undergo a course of specific vitamins and antibiotics, which will protect the bird from possible diseases that occur in the first weeks of life. In addition, it is mandatory to purchase feed.

For the little ones - pre-launch, they are fed for the first week. Then comes the starter, they are fed with it for almost a month, and for the last half a month or a month before slaughter they are fed with feed for adult birds. Also, from the third week it is necessary to add green mass, that is, grass.

Video “Caring for chickens at home”

In this video you can learn how to properly care for small broilers.

Incorrect incubation

If chicks do not grow well, the reason may be a violation of the incubation regime. When purchasing chicks from a manufacturer, the breeders do not know under what conditions the eggs were incubated or what material was used for hatching.

In this case, it is almost impossible to do anything for the normal raising of healthy livestock. Violation of the regime will further affect the health of the young animals. This is due to hereditary factors and improper incubation.

Only high-quality eggs are selected for raising chickens. The chickens and roosters are monitored. To prevent family ties between them: it is necessary to form families correctly. The eggs are examined under a lamp or using an ovoscope.

• There should be no dark spots, clots or blood particles. The eggs are placed in the incubator.
• The next examination should be carried out after 2 weeks. The egg contains an embryo, and its heartbeat and movement can be detected. If there are no such signs of life, then the egg is discarded.
• After another week, the embryo is examined again. It should occupy the entire cavity of the egg.

Be sure to maintain a temperature regime in the incubator of 37.8 C. From the 19th day, the temperature is reduced by 0.2 degrees. The eggs must be constantly turned over so that they are well heated on all sides.

Maintain a certain humidity in the incubator. It is 56%. When the temperature rises or falls, chicks may be born outwardly normal, but their development will be defective.

Violation of the incubation regime will certainly affect the immunity and growth of the chicks.

When laying eggs in an incubator, you need to pay attention to which birds they were produced from. There should be no family ties between them

Otherwise, deformity or impaired development cannot be avoided. Keepers cannot know which birds produced the eggs. Subsequently, they may experience difficulties in caring for the young.

Rules for caring for broilers and chickens

As a rule, poultry farmers either hatch broiler chickens in an incubator or buy day-old babies. One way or another, before you get chickens, you need to take care of comfortable conditions for their further maintenance.

Room

Broilers are kept either in cages or in a chicken coop. Many breeders, in order to save space, prefer to stack cages on top of each other, thus obtaining two or three-tiered “high-rise buildings”. When keeping chickens in a cage, their number should not exceed 18-20 birds per 1 m². Broilers should be provided with clean bedding, which is often sawdust.

Sawdust for broilers

The space should be equipped so that each chicken has free access to feeders and drinkers. If broilers tilt their head down too much when eating, you need to raise the dishes to a comfortable level for the birds.

During the first week of life, chickens should have 24-hour lighting. It is advisable that the light be red (the presence of infrared rays is required), since it is softer and more comfortable for children. Next, the daylight hours are increased to 14-17 hours with the replacement of the lamp with a regular one.

Important! Until the 15th day, the temperature in the cells should be at least 29-30°C, then it is reduced to 23-25°C. Care should be taken to ensure that broilers do not sit in stuffy conditions.

Their habitat should be well ventilated, but this breed absolutely does not tolerate drafts. This is especially true for chickens aged 0-5 days. Temperatures above 30°C and below 24°C, lack of light and drafts have a detrimental effect not only on newly hatched babies, but often cause the death of the entire livestock

Care should be taken to ensure that broilers do not sit in stuffy conditions. Their habitat should be well ventilated, but this breed absolutely does not tolerate drafts. This is especially true for chickens aged 0-5 days. Temperatures above 30°C and below 24°C, lack of light and drafts have a detrimental effect not only on newly hatched babies, but often cause the death of the entire livestock.

By following these tips, you won’t have to wonder why chickens are not growing well and what to do.

Nutrition

The main advantage of broilers is that they gain muscle mass well, and their meat is ideal for consumption. With improper feeding, living creatures grow much worse, and in some cases this leads to various diseases.

In the first week of life, chickens can only be given millet and egg powder. It is not recommended to feed babies wet food. It’s too early to give them cottage cheese and boiled eggs. Otherwise, it can lead to digestive system upset and even death. It is advisable to give babies a dose of the drug in a veterinary first aid kit.

Important! Until 7 days of age, chickens should be fed 8-10 times a day, from 8 to 14 days - 6 times, and then food intake occurs only in the morning and evening. Grown-up broilers can be given wet food or mixed feed as food.

When preparing the latter yourself, you need to give preference to wheat, oats, corn, peas and barley. The feed must contain a sufficient amount of macro- and microelements, vitamins and minerals, otherwise the health of broilers will deteriorate and weight gain may stop. It is recommended to add fish oil

Grown-up broilers can be given wet food or mixed feed as food. When preparing the latter yourself, you need to give preference to wheat, oats, corn, peas and barley. The feed must contain a sufficient amount of macro- and microelements, vitamins and minerals, otherwise the health of broilers will deteriorate and weight gain may stop. It is recommended to add fish oil.

At about 5-7 days, you can give the chickens green food, however, if there is an excess of it in the diet, the chicks may experience gastrointestinal upset and diarrhea. With this symptom, they stop giving babies greens in such quantities or completely remove them from the diet.

From the 12th to 14th day, chalk and shells ground into flour are added to the food. The presence of sand in the feeder is strictly prohibited.

Starting from the 10th day, meat and bone and fish meal are mixed into the feed.

Water

Water for broilers should always be fresh and clean. You can mix potassium permanganate into it, but you should make sure that the liquid does not change color to pink. In this case, drinking not only will not bring anything useful to the broilers, but may also worsen their well-being.

Broiler water

It is necessary to ensure that drinking bowls and feeders are always clean, so it is recommended to promptly clear them of all kinds of debris and dirt.

The most common reasons for poor typing

When raising broilers, it is very important to control their growth rate

• After 2 weeks, the weight of the chicks should be 0.5 kg.
• At 1 month — 1.5 kg.
• At 2 months — 3 kg.

If you decide to continue growing for another month, then the live weight should be about 5 kg. Of course, in practice the numbers may differ, but not much. Most owners plan to slaughter after 50 days, because after that the growth rate decreases.

In the event that indicators are far behind schedule, it is necessary to identify the reasons and eliminate them as quickly as possible. Long-term maintenance is not profitable, because when raised for meat, a large number of livestock is usually purchased. Why did the growth retardation appear? Most often this is caused by errors in care:

1. insufficient temperature in the chicken coop. A bird that is kept in the cold will not actively grow - all the calories are spent on heating the body. Young animals are especially sensitive to weather changes.
2. too spacious walking area. Unlike other breeds, broilers do not need to be provided with extensive space to roam. The less energy the chicks spend on movement, the greater the growth will be. For 1 sq. m. you can house up to 10 heads.
3. Most often, broilers do not gain weight because they do not have enough protein. Protein does not necessarily come from meat or fish products. It is also found in plant foods. Review your diet.

There are other factors:

• When the chicks are large, but visually it seems that they do not have enough muscle tissue, the reason for the slow growth is not due to care errors. It lies in the fact that you purchased a specific cross that grows slowly. You should clarify all the details about chickens before purchasing. But if this has already happened, the bird must be raised further, according to the characteristics of the breed.
• Violation of the light regime. For the first week, the brood requires 24-hour lighting. As you grow older, it is gradually reduced and brought to 14 hours a day. It is better to use red or blue lamps. Too much lighting can provoke fights.

Causes of the problem

The main reasons why laying chickens do not grow:

1. Insufficient amount of protein in the birds' diet. Chickens constantly need a sufficient amount of protein food, and its lack interferes with weight gain.
2. Features of the selection of this breed of chickens. Today there are a huge number of varieties of broilers, and some of them take an extremely long time to gain weight. And if you happen to purchase this particular breed, then don’t worry. Just keep caring for and feeding the birds. They will definitely start gaining weight.
3. Diseases of the digestive tract. Chicks, in the first day after their birth, need to be provided with special nutrition. After all, at this moment their digestive system is not yet working at full capacity. If chickens are fed low-quality or spoiled feed, they will develop metabolic disorders and dispersion. This disease most often occurs due to disturbances in the normal acidity of gastric juice.
4. Helminths are parasitic worms. They, affecting the crop, esophagus and the entire digestive system, significantly slow down the growth of chickens.
5. Unfavorable temperature for keeping birds. At an early age, broilers are very sensitive to ambient temperature. And if it is not warm enough, babies spend their last strength and energy on warming up, losing their mass.
6. Lots of living space. For laying chickens, unlike ordinary chickens, large areas should not be allocated for keeping and walking. In such conditions, birds spend a minimum of energy walking and warming up. For a dozen chickens, it is recommended to allocate about half of one square meter of space.

Read also: Moravian black breed of chickens - description and photo

Main causes of poor growth

A healthy bird should increase its weight within a month and a half. If you feed birds grain, this will not give the desired result. This is the first reason why broilers do not gain weight well. The growth of chickens and the formation of muscles depend on properly selected nutrition.

The specificity of large broilers has its own characteristics. They have an increased appetite and special requirements for food. It should be saturated with protein - a necessary building material for gaining muscle tissue. If chickens are not gaining weight well, immediate action must be taken. Slow weight gain in young animals depends on poor nutrition.

Main reasons:

1. 1. The food contains insufficient protein. Little chicks need protein from the first days of life. If they don't get enough protein, their muscle mass will be weak and undeveloped.
2. 2. Few vitamins and microelements. Chicks must be given additional feeding immediately.
3. 3. Digestive problems. The reason is poor quality food and infectious diseases. It is necessary to consult a veterinarian about feeding and treating sick chickens so that other chicks do not become infected.

Nutrition control, according to standards, helps to monitor the weight of chickens, as well as correctly calculate feeding and monitor its consumption. Approximate feed consumption at different growth periods:

Other reasons why broilers do not gain weight well include poor bird housing:

1. 1. Failure to comply with temperature conditions. Broilers should be kept in warm conditions. If chickens are cold all the time, their immune system will weaken and they will definitely get sick. For the first two weeks, you need to maintain the temperature within 30 degrees Celsius. Then you can lower it to a comfortable 25 degrees.
2. 2. Young animals do not get enough sunlight. For the first two weeks, little chicks need 24-hour light. It should be soft and not very bright.
3. 3. Not enough air in the room. It is necessary to regularly ventilate the poultry house without creating drafts.
4. 4. Failure to comply with sanitary standards. Chicks need to regularly change their bedding, which should not be too thin and not very wet.

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1.1

Associated causes

If ordinary chickens need a place to roam, then birds bred by crossing different meat breeds need to move as little as possible. Therefore, broilers are not allowed to go for walks. There are several breeds, many of which are stunted. Considering this, there is no need to worry - the time will come and the chicken will gain the desired weight.

Also, chickens eat poorly or grow slowly due to parasites. Helminthiasis develops not only in the digestive system of chickens, but also affects the crop and esophagus. To cure birds, it is necessary to carry out a course of antibiotic therapy and be sure to support their body with vitamins.

One of the reasons for poor growth is dyspepsia in chickens. Young animals react to changes in food and its quality. Loose stools occur due to premature complementary feeding based on yogurt. In such a situation, it is necessary to save the chicks by adding ascorbic acid and glucose to the diet, having previously dissolved them in water. You can also use a weak solution of manganese for treatment.

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Digestive problems

Digestive problems in broilers lead to weight loss. Most often they are caused by the following reasons:

• consumption of low-quality food . Feeding rotten grain or food infected with fungus leads to intoxication and dyspepsia;
• damage to the body by helminthiasis : capillariasis, prostagonymosis and ascariasis, manifested by decreased appetite or complete refusal of food, diarrhea, apathy and lethargy, general exhaustion of the body.

Roundworms (helminths) that cause various diseases

Worms

The most common parasitic disease of birds of the order Gallinae

Ascariasis

Parasitic disease of chickens caused by helminths

Syngamosis

Damage to the body by parasites occurs due to non-compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards for keeping poultry, in particular, the use of dirty bedding. Some types of helminths are transmitted from laying hens through eggs.

If one of the signs of the disease is detected, you should consult a specialist. Timely diagnosis and treatment will help get rid of parasites and restore the functioning of the digestive system of young animals.

Regular disinfection of the poultry house at least twice a year, treating feeders and drinkers with soda solution will help avoid the spread of parasitic infections.

An effective and affordable remedy for the treatment of helminthic infestation in birds of any age and any category

Piperazine

Broad-spectrum anthelmintic. Features of use for birds

Levamisole

Broad-spectrum anthelmintic intended for adults

Pirantel

An effective and safe remedy for the treatment of diseases caused by protozoan parasites

Metronidazole

Tetramizole for birds: pharmacology, indications for use, dosage, analogues

Tetramisole

Compound feed - how to choose and give it

Sometimes the reason that broilers eat poorly lies in poor quality nutrition, so you need to be very careful when choosing. Fortunately, the market today is huge and finding a responsible seller is not difficult.

Many owners of private farms start meat chickens in the spring, so manufacturers produce special formulations just for them - with a high amount of proteins. Mixtures are not suitable for laying hens or other poultry. Prepared feed is replaced as the herd grows. But first you need to make sure of the quality of the product offered. The seller must have the necessary documents, which indicate the expiration dates and composition, the address of the manufacturer, and on the bag - a label with the name and expiration date.

• From the moment of birth to a month, the so-called starter (starter feed) is used. It can be alternated with natural products.
• Fattening - allows you to gain the required weight in the shortest possible time. The muscle tissues have time to mature properly, which gives them a delicate taste.
• Finish - intended for adults. The protein content is not so high, but there are a lot of vitamins and microelements.

Sometimes when changing the nutritional formula, pets do not eat well. This is because they need to get used to the new taste. The solution is simple - mix both types of food and gradually change the ratio in favor of the new one. Usually, within a few days it is possible to completely switch the patients to the desired mixture.

Diarrhea in broiler chickens: treatment and prevention

Digestive disorders, accompanied by frequent liquid or foamy droppings, are very often observed in young domestic chickens and can signal dangerous infectious diseases, helminthiases, and poor quality feed. If a poultry farmer notices diarrhea in broiler chickens, treatment should begin without delay.

Why is this symptom dangerous, and how to determine the cause of its occurrence? An accurate diagnosis of birds can only be made by a specialist after laboratory testing of the droppings. However, first, urgent measures must be taken.

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Even if the previous appetite is maintained, the chicks suffer from nutritional deficiencies, dehydration, and severe intoxication of the bird's body begins. If treatment is not started in time, diarrhea in broiler chickens will be accompanied by symptoms of other infections.

In order to quickly begin therapy, experienced poultry farmers advise determining by the color and nature of broiler feces what was causing the problem. If you pay close attention to the sick bird, it will tell you the probable diagnosis and how to treat it if the broilers are diarrhea.

Broilers have brown diarrhea

If indigestion in hens and chickens is expressed in liquid, frequent droppings of a brownish or brownish hue, this may indicate both the consumption of poor-quality feed and such a terrible disease as coccidiosis. Most often, this disease is diagnosed in the spring-autumn period, and infection occurs through contaminated litter, feed, and water.

In addition to brown diarrhea, you may notice in broilers:

• reluctance to move, they are motionless, unkempt and disheveled;
• decreased or lack of appetite, increased thirst;
• mucus or signs of blood in the droppings;
• pallor of the beard and combs, indicating the development of anemia and dehydration.

Often with coccidiosis you can see blood in the stool of broilers. This indicates the active destruction of the intestinal mucosa and the need for urgent complex treatment with the use of specialized drugs that suppress the vital activity of pathogens.

Greens in the feces or particles of undigested feed indicate that chickens are unhealthy.

How to tell if a chicken is growing correctly

Different breeds have their own standards, but most often poultry farmers take one of the varieties of broilers. The farmer should keep a notebook in which the type of feed, its quantity, and weight gain are noted. For example, at 10 days a chicken should weigh about 200 grams. To achieve this, you need to add fish waste, herbs, and boiled vegetables to your diet.

At the age of 3 weeks, the weight of the broiler should reach 0.5 kg. This means that development is proceeding correctly and he will gain the necessary mass. Slaughter can begin as early as one month of age. Some farmers believe that meat is especially tasty during this period. The weight of the carcass reaches 1 kg. But still, most owners continue to work, because in just a month the bird gains three times its weight.

Conclusion

If broilers do not grow, any owner wants to understand the reasons in order to avoid repeating their own mistakes in the future.

Most often, they are completely correctable, since they are caused by inexperience or carelessness. Therefore, you should not give up - everything will definitely work out next season!

What to do to ensure that laying hens grow normally

• Experts recommend constant monitoring of the growth and development of birds. It is best to make a competent calculation of the nutritional value of the feed and its consumption.

There are several recommendations

Optimal chicken weight:

• at the age of 14 days - 0.5 kg;
• 1 month –1.5 kg;
• at 2 months – 3 kg;
• at 3 months – 5 kg.

1. In practice, the weight may differ, but not much. Most often, a chicken is slaughtered 55 days after its birth. It is at this age that broilers gain maximum weight.
2. Maintaining generally accepted sanitary standards for keeping poultry has a huge impact on the further growth of broilers. It is recommended to observe the temperature regime in the room. It is important not to forget about cleanliness, constantly getting rid of waste and other debris from the habitat of laying chickens. Good ventilation of the room where the birds live is considered one of the leading factors in the proper development of broilers.
3. One of the most important aspects of the normal weight gain of laying chickens is the limitation of their habitat. Experts say that chickens grow the heaviest in special cages that are small in size. As mentioned earlier, only half a square meter of space is enough for ten chickens.
4. If the reasons for insufficient growth of chickens are a lack of vitamins or various diseases, then in the first weeks of development of pets it is necessary to add antibiotics and vitamins A, E and D to their diet. This will reliably protect chickens from diseases and provide good prevention of vitamin deficiency. It is recommended to repeat this preventive course again after three weeks.

Preparing a vitamin solution is extremely simple. To do this, it is recommended to take 10 ml of essential vitamins per 250 mg of vegetable oil. The composition should be given to chickens twice a week at the rate of 1 teaspoon of fortified oil per 1 kg of feed composition. And the question of why broilers do not grow will be resolved by itself.

Read also: Lakenfelder chickens: characteristics of the breed and its features, photos of rare birds, reviews about them

Only compliance with basic recommendations for caring for broiler chickens, as well as their proper feeding, will ensure good growth and weight gain of pets.

Veterinarian recommendations for bird growth

To avoid weight loss in broilers, prevention of pathologies is necessary. The measures consist of adjusting the diet, conditions and introducing restrictions on the walking of birds. A vitamin-mineral complex should be added to food. If the diet is based on homemade mash with herbs and vegetables, then the following should be used as additives:

• compound feed;
• dairy products;
• fish;
• bone meal.

Newborn chicks under 30 days of age must be kept in a separate box and provided with heating. When they reach 2 months of age, the chicks move to a separate cage. At the same time, the room temperature is maintained at 20-25°C.

Veterinarian recommendations for broiler growth:

1. Providing the chicks with a “well-fed life” - the feeder should not be empty.
2. Regular weighing of chickens and monitoring for compliance with standards.
3. Calculation of nutritional value of the diet.
4. Introduction of restrictions on the mobility of chickens. Rapid weight gain occurs if broilers are kept in cages or other narrow spaces.
5. Arrangement of the poultry house - maintaining dryness, warmth, ventilation. Infrared lamps provide stable temperatures.
6. Daylight hours are at least 17 hours. The lighting is soft with a red-blue spectrum.
7. If parasites are detected in chicks or adults, “Nilver Garlic” is added to the wet food.

Veterinarian and Broiler
The health of broilers also depends on maintaining clean indoor air and clean bedding. The flooring is made of thin, breathable fabric. Providing appropriate conditions will help avoid mass mortality of poultry from infection and pathologies.

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We create the right conditions for normal growth of broilers

As described above, proper care is the key to good weight gain in broilers. Therefore, if you are planning to start breeding broiler crosses, then carefully prepare everything you need, you will need:

• choose the right room in which you will raise chickens;
• treat the walls and floors by whitewashing with slaked lime;
• provide in advance a place for the breed to walk and equip it in such a way that each chicken is carefully protected from open winds;
• stock up on convenient feeders and drinking bowls on the basis that no more than five adult individuals drink water from one drinking bowl;
• purchase good quality feed;
• Get advice on vaccination from your veterinarian.

If you follow all the recommendations for care and feeding, then after 30 days you will get chickens weighing at least 1.7 kg. Further, if all the rules are followed, your tribe will gain weight by an average of 500 grams per week.

And this will continue for an average of 80 days. Then, it is worth sending the chickens to slaughter, since then they will gradually begin to lose their weight. This is exactly how the body of a broiler chicken works.

Diseases

Prevents the growth of infection in the body. Young laying hens often do not begin to lay eggs after suffering from infectious diseases. They experience disruption of the reproductive organs and growth stops. Veterinarians recommend vaccination of egg-laying chickens. This will save the livestock from infection and mass mortality. Broilers are not vaccinated. They are given vitamin complexes and antibiotics.

If growth retardation is observed in the entire population, and not in individual individuals, then the cause may not only be infectious diseases. Birds often suffer from coccidiosis. It is caused by parasites. They end up in the chicken coop along with low-quality food and dirt.

For chickens that are 2 months old, a container with ash and sand is placed in the room if they are meat birds. Individuals must take ash baths to cleanse their feathers of parasites. For laying hens, such a container is installed after six months. Small chicks can eat a lot of sand, which can cause intestinal upset.

Unfortunately, farmsteaders do not always buy healthy livestock. Incorrectly selected eggs, violation of the incubation regime, incest - all this leads to abnormalities in the development of the young. Much depends on the poultry farmers themselves. Compliance with the regime is a key factor for the proper growth of chickens.

Poor quality care

With proper feeding and proper care, meat breed chickens gain more than 1 kg at 1.5 months. Egg breed chicks are smaller. They weigh no more than 200-300 g. An adult chicken weighs 800 g - 1 kg. If broiler chickens were purchased that are rapidly gaining body weight, and some small individuals were noted among them, it is likely that a chicken of egg production was also included along with the meat breed chicks. It is better to separate it from the main stock. Large chickens can crush a small chick and force it away from the feeder and water bowl. In the future, pecking is possible.

• Broilers are thermophilic. Chickens are kept at a temperature of 30 C. They begin to reduce it gradually from 2 weeks: reduce the temperature by 2 degrees per week. The optimal temperature for keeping chickens at the age of 2 months is 18 C.
• Daylight hours are 16 hours.
• The room is always kept fresh air and humidity at 65%.
• Overheating or hypothermia is unacceptable. These are the causes of poor development and growth.
• Chicks feel cold if they gather under a lamp. They crowd close to each other.
• Chicks feel hot if they sit with their eyes closed, as if they are sleeping.

Cleanliness of the premises is required. The litter should always be updated. Lay newspaper, cardboard or oilcloth with sawdust on the floor. The bedding is changed before each feeding. Moisture on the floor is unacceptable. It can lead to the development of helminths and pathogenic bacteria. Chicks become hypothermic on a wet floor.

Read also: First aid kit for broilers: instructions for use, video and photos

If chickens grow poorly under normal conditions, what should you do in this case, where should you look for the cause? The reason may be hidden in vitamin deficiency. Meat breed chicks require more feed than egg-laying chickens.

The diet is saturated with protein feed and food additives of animal origin. Vitamins and mineral salts must be added to the food. Young animals will grow poorly if there is a lack of vitamins “A”, “B”, “D”. Vitamin deficiency will manifest itself in chickens not only in growth deficiency, but also in decreased immunity, loss of plumage, and peeling of the skin.

In good weather, if the ambient temperature is at least 22-25 C, the chicks are taken out into the fresh air. The box is taken outside or the livestock is placed in a closed cage. Walking is allowed from 3-5 weeks after birth. Sunlight promotes the production of vitamin D in the body. If it is not possible to take the chicks out for a walk, then an ultraviolet lamp is installed in the room. Irradiation is carried out daily for 5 minutes. in a day. Fish oil is added to the feed.

Already from 2-3 days, chickens of meat breeds begin to be given mash. They include skim milk or milk, millet, greens and grated carrots: it contains carotene, a growth vitamin. If, with proper nutrition, proper growth is not observed, then supplements with vitamin “A” are introduced into the diet.

Farmers believe that the answer to the question of why chickens do not grow lies most often in vitamin deficiency. Starting from the 2nd week, young animals add cake, yeast, and bran to the mash. These products are rich in vitamins B and E. Vitamin deficiency will slow down development, and there will be a deviation in the growth of muscle fibers and in the functioning of the nervous system. In case of acute deficiency of vitamins, it is recommended to feed young animals with the following drugs: “Calcium gluconate”, “Alpha-tocopherol acetate”, “Chiktonik”.

In order for the chicks to grow normally, greens must be added to their diet from 2 weeks. Nettle is best suited for broilers, but usually young animals are given green onions, dill, parsley, and alfalfa. These are natural vitamins that a growing body needs.