We often see some merchants or small farmers on the roadside or near farmers' markets carrying a basket with many chicks in it for sale. ''
Faced with the little light yellow fur balls running around and making constant chirping sounds, I believe many people can't refuse.
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But these chicks often have a common “fate” after they are bought home – no matter how carefully they are taken care of, many of them will not survive more than a week or two.
Why did the chicks I raised as a child die so quickly? Today I’m here to answer your questions.
Where did the chickens you raised in childhood come from?
In fact, raising chickens is really not an easy task.
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First of all, the chicks we buy on the market now,Basically, they come through the hatching channel of chicken farms.
Especially female egg-type chicken breeds, such as Luodao Red, White Leghorn, New Hanxia and other breeds are generally used for laying eggs, and chicken farms generally do not sell female chickens at will.
Except for some very outstanding individuals who are selected as breeder chickens, most of those little roosters that cannot lay eggs will be eliminated.Most of these culled chickens will be crushed and made into livestock and poultry feed for reuse.
There are also a small number of slightly better ones that are selected for free-range farmers or small chicken farms in rural areas to buy and raise and sell at home.
Of course, in some counties, cities, towns and villages, the chicks raised and hatched by rural families will also be sold, but compared to the former, the number is much smaller.
Therefore, the little chickens we bought when we were young were almostAlmost all roostersfew vendors sell hens.
Why did the little chicken die inexplicably?
Bird chicks can be divided into two types: one is late-forming chicks, like swallows and sparrows. Their chicks are born hairless, bare, and cannot open their eyes.
Only after the mother bird has fed it by mouth for many days will it open its eyes and gradually grow down.
There is another type of early-forming chicks, which include poultry such as chickens and ducks.
Its characteristic is that it is born with downy hair, and can follow its mother everywhere after birth, and can also learn to find food on its own.
However, although the chick can run around and eat by itself, for a newborn chick, its ability to withstand adverse external environments and conditions is still quite fragile.
In addition, the digestive system of newborn chicks is not yet mature and they need to eat foods that are easy to digest.
Moreover, chicks also have some small requirements for the growth environment after birth:
1. The temperature is not up to standard
Newly born chicks have very high temperature requirements.The temperature of chicks hatched by incubation equipment needs to be above 30°C, and the ambient temperature should preferably reach 33°C to 34°C, which is safer.
If the temperature is lower than this, the chicks are likely to die due to hypothermia.
Domestic chickens use their own body temperature to incubate chicks. The body temperature of chicks is generally around 40°C. However, the body temperature of newborn chicks is very small. After leaving the mother's body, the chick's own heat is easily lost with changes in the outside temperature, thus reducing the temperature of the chicks. Resistance to the external environment.
This is one of the reasons why we often see newborn chicks always gathering under the wings of hens to seek care.
If the chicks lose the care of the mother, the chicks will huddle together and look for a way to maintain body temperature.
Chicks have different temperature requirements at different stages of growth and development.
1~3 days old can adapt to 40℃~35℃;
4~5 days old can adapt to 34℃~33℃;
6~8 days old can adapt to 33℃~32℃;
9~12 days old can adapt to 32℃~30℃;
13~20 days old can adapt to 30℃~28℃;
After 20 days of age, the chicks can live normally at room temperature.
However, most of the chickens we buy in the market are casually covered by vendors with a towel or cloth sheet before being sold in the market.
Especially in the morning and evening, the temperature changes greatly, and it is difficult for the chicks to adapt to such temperature conditions. Although they were jumping happily when purchased, the inappropriate temperature environment has already caused a lot of damage to their young bodies. blow.
Therefore, when the chicks we buy do not use heating equipment, the changes in the cold and hot environment will inevitably make the chicks unable to adapt to the temperature changes, and they will die within a few days.
2. Feeding a single feed for a long time
When I was a child, the adults in my family believed that chickens should only eat millet soaked in water and would not feed them anything else.
really! Free-range chickens are omnivorous birds, and plant seeds are very good food for them.
butFeeding a single feed for a long time will inevitably lead to malnutrition during the growth and development of chicks.
Moreover, if the chicken has not finished eating the food that has been soaked in water, it is likely to go bad if it is left in the trough for a long time. At this time, the chick’s digestive system is very fragile, and it will not eat this kind of bad food. Eventually, it can easily lead to illness, diarrhea, or even death.
3. Not replenishing enough water
Many people will neglect to give water to the chicks, thinking that the chicks cannot drink water and will die of diarrhea if they drink water.
In fact, this idea is completely wrong, becauseChickens must be adequately hydrated during their growth and development stagesthe purchased chicks must not only be placed in a breeding box with a suitable temperature, but also be provided with sufficient drinking water at all times.
When I first started raising chicks,You must ensure that they drink water first, and then feed them after about an hour.and the water the chicks drink must be clean, clean water.
Because newborn chicks have a very fast metabolism and a high demand for water, and the required environmental temperature is relatively strict, real-time replenishment of water must be done.
By the way, we occasionally see a “squirrel chicken” smaller than a chick on the market, which is a quail chick.
Young quails have higher temperature requirements, and the ambient temperature needs to reach 38℃~40℃ to survive.
If you don't pay attention to this, it will be almost impossible to feed and grow squirrel chickens.
4. Being ravaged
There are also naughty hands. Most of the children who bought the chicken will fall in love with it after seeing the cute chicken. They will grab it and stroke it with their hands.
In fact, children do not have any malicious intentions, most of the time they just do it because they like it.
However, when people's energy and curiosity are too strong, they just want to play with the chicks, and they don't consider the chicks' endurance at all.
These chicks are just born, and their organs are still very fragile. They are easily injured by this. After the chicks are injured, they rarely receive medical treatment, and death is inevitable.
5. Don’t pay attention to hygiene in chicken coops
Also, when raising such chicks, many people do not pay attention to the hygiene issues in the chicken coop and fail to clean it regularly.
As birds, chicks have relatively short digestive systems and will excrete food quickly after eating. Therefore, chicks' nests often see a lot of feces and urine if they are not cleaned for a day.
If not cleaned in time, the chicks can easily become contaminated by dirt.Especially when chickens defecate, feces will occasionally stick to the villi near the anus.
If the feces is not cleaned up in time, it will accumulate and eventually the entire anus will be covered, causing the chick to be unable to defecate and die.
If you encounter this situation, the best way is to use a kitchen towel or cotton swab with a little warm water, slowly soften the feces near the anus, and then wipe it clean.
How to raise chickens correctly?
Having said all that, what can we do to raise chicks correctly?
1. Choose chicks that are lively and lively and have loud cries.
First of all, when buying chickens, you should choose chickens that are energetic, flexible, have shiny down, and have loud and powerful cries.
When we gently catch the chicken, we can clearly feel that its struggle is powerful. We can also turn the chicken over and place it on the ground to see if it can turn over quickly. This is also a simple and primitive method. Selection method.
2. Choose a suitable breeding container
If conditions permit, you can choose a wooden breeding box. The advantage of a wooden breeding box is that it is easy to keep warm and has good air permeability. Of course, a breeding box with a temperature control device is the best.
If you don’t plan to prepare either, you can also find a large, sturdy cardboard box and put a heating pad inside to warm the chicks. At the same time, pay attention to the humidity in the box.
Under normal circumstances, the humidity is required to be controlled at 50% to 75%, which is a more suitable environmental condition for chicks' humidity requirements.
When the chicks are raised for about one and a half to two months, the chicks' down feathers will gradually fade and new feathers will grow. At this time, there is no need to add heating or humidification. The chicks can completely grow in a normal environment. grew and developed under the conditions.
The chicken's nest can be padded with a layer of rice husks, walnut sand, and corn cobs as bedding materials. These bedding materials can allow the feces excreted by the chickens to ferment and make them less smelly.
You can buy it on all major shopping platforms, or you can use kitchen paper towels as padding and replace it every 2 to 3 days to ensure the healthy growth of the chicks and the hygiene of people's homes.
3. Special chick feed can be used for feeding
You can consider purchasing chicken feed directly when feeding. Nowadays, chicken feeds for different growth stages can be purchased on major shopping platforms, and there are many special chick feeds to choose from.
This kind of feed is reasonably proportioned according to the nutritional needs of the chicks, and is more convenient to feed.
If you prepare your own feed, you can feed some soaked rice, millet or corn residue in the early stage; after two weeks of raising, the chicks can gradually be fed grains directly; you can feed them some chopped vegetables, carrots or cucumbers every few days. The chicks peck their own food; in order to supplement protein, you can also feed some additional dried mealworms.
In addition, since chicks have no teeth, they need to swallow some small stones or gravel-like things to help grind and digest food in the crop.
It can also be coarse river sand, which can be washed and dried before being mixed into food for the chickens to eat.
4. Keep drinking fountains clean
The issue of drinking water has been discussed before, so I won’t go into detail here. However, it is worth emphasizing that the requirement for drinking fountains requires the use of professional drinking fountains.
Drinking fountains should be cleaned regularly, and the water in the drinking fountains should be replaced frequently to keep them clean.
5. Do a good job in epidemic prevention and control
Chickens are very susceptible to diseases. If conditions permit, the chicks can be injected with some epidemic vaccines to reduce the probability of the chicks getting sick.
When I was a child, I had an uncle who worked on the railway. One year he brought me two small black chickens. It is said that when the freight section was transporting a batch of farm chickens, one of the cages overturned during the loading process. All the chickens ran away.
When he was off work, he accidentally noticed the crow of chickens in the corner. He followed the sound and found these two little chickens nesting there shivering. My uncle took them home and gave them to me to raise. .
This batch of transported chicks were vaccinated, and they were the only two I raised when I was a child. Unfortunately, they were later taken away by weasels…
Editor in charge: Shang Shangwen Q