Poultry in Home Conditions - What You Need to Know

Many owners of household plots and private houses develop poultry farming not only for personal consumption of eggs and meat products, but also for making a profit. Technology of poultry farming involves the breeding of poultry eggs or meat breeds. To produce eggs, chickens are most often bred. They, with the exception of broiler breeds, are characterized by a more intensive egg production than ducks, geese, guinea fowl and turkeys, grown mainly for meat production. To get dietary products, it is customary to plant quails. Significantly less often than other birds, used for breeding peacocks, pheasants and ostriches.

Chickens of egg breeds begin to be carried around at the age of 5 months. Under optimum conditions, up to 300 eggs can be obtained per chicken per year. For this, first of all, you need a warm, illuminated room. Chickens are particularly productive at the age from one year to two years.

Broiler breeds of chickens and other poultry breeds bred for meat production are usually ready for slaughter at the age of 3 to 4 months. They are generally not recommended to be kept for more than a year, since after reaching this age, poultry meat becomes more stringent.

Poultry farming at home attracts the fact that poultry is unpretentious. For its maintenance it is possible to use almost any outbuilding without heating. But it is better to use specially constructed poultry houses, specially equipped and reliably protecting the bird from drafts. It is desirable to treat poultry with antiseptic solutions several times a year. This will avoid the spread of infections that are harmful to poultry. For this, it is necessary to observe such a condition of maintenance, as the number of birds in relation to the area of the content. For 20 adults should be at least 10 square meters. M of the room.

Quail is most conveniently kept in special cells.

For the maintenance of chickens, the premises must be equipped with nests with a soft litter of straw or sawdust, feeders for dry and wet food, drinkers, and containers with a mixture of ash and sand for "bathing" the bird. You should also build special roosts.

For geese and ducks, feeders in the form of a trough are obligatory, and drinkers placed on a baking sheet, which will avoid wetting the litter.

When keeping any bird, it is advisable to have areas for walking. Waterfowl breeds quickly gain weight and less often fall ill if they have access to a reservoir.

Poultry farming at home involves the use of a variety of grain feeds (whole grain is better not to use, it is worse absorbed), food waste, various plant foods and special vitamin supplements.

For domestic poultry farming, it is possible to purchase young birds or take them out with the help of an incubator. Incubation, a less expensive method, but will require more time and knowledge. To facilitate the process of breeding chicks, there are incubator models that independently maintain the necessary temperature level and simplify turning the eggs. Sometimes, poultry farming at home involves hatching eggs with older birds.

Recently hatched chicks require more careful care than adults. They should be warm and be provided with the necessary amount of special food (for example, finely chopped boiled eggs) and warm, clean water. Not grown up young growth should be protected from communication with an adult bird.

Poultry farming at home can become a source of not only meat and eggs, but also down-feather raw materials, fat, and by-products. In any case, those who have made a decision to master poultry farming at home will be provided with natural products, the quality of which is unquestionable.