How To Raise Chicken Chicks: Everything You Need To Know

The son or chick of a hen is known in Arabic as the chick, or the chick, and the hen can lay eggs between 5-7 months, and the laying of eggs varies depending on the breed, but in general she lays an egg every day, and also incubates it to provide the necessary heat for the fetus to develop. and grow.

Caring for chicken chicks

Below are some points that explain the care of chicks in the first period of their lives:

Maintaining the temperature, as the chicks should be found in the first week of their life at a temperature of approximately 35 degrees Celsius, after which the temperature is gradually reduced.

Avoid handling chicks and removing them from their brooder for more than 5-10 minutes before they are 4 weeks old; She needs to sleep, eat, and drink a lot at this stage.

Pay a lot of attention to the place where the incubator will be placed, so that it is dry, safe, and away from predators of the chicks.

Chicks can be taken out of the incubators for longer periods, ranging from 15-30 minutes, until they reach 6-8 weeks. They can also be taken out and left to move freely in the house.

The temperature is lowered by five degrees per week until it reaches the ambient room temperature, or approximately 15.6 degrees Celsius.

Feeding chicken chicks

Suitable foods for chicken chicks

The following are foods that are suitable for chicken chicks:

Chicks can be fed special fodder that can be purchased from the market, and the type of feed to be given to the chicks depends on their age and type. Broiler chicken, or laying hens.

The feed of the broiler chick during the first six weeks of its life consists of 22-24% of protein, while the proportion of protein in the diet of the laying hens chick at this age stage does not exceed 20%.

At the end of the first six weeks, until the fourteenth week, the proportion of protein in the laying hens’ diet is reduced to 18% to slow growth to allow the bones to become strong before laying eggs.

After that, the percentage of protein in the food decreases to 16% until the chick reaches puberty in the twenty-second week of life.

Not recommended foods

You should buy the right kind of feed for the chicks. Don’t try to give them the same food as the adult flock, because it’s very high in calcium, which can cause kidney damage, and very low in the protein the chicks need to grow.

How to feed

Here is how to feed chicks:

It is preferable that food and drink be prepared for the chicks before the eggs hatch, and food for the chicks is usually placed in plastic containers called feeders; It makes the process of feeding the chicks easier, especially during the first two weeks of their exit from the eggs, and the feeders have distinctive colors that attract the chicks to them.

These feeders must be at an appropriate level inside the incubator so that the chicks can eat their food easily.

water

Clean and fresh water is placed inside special containers, and the chicks are usually watered by immersing their beak in water, and the chicks will start drinking a little water within a second, or so, which constitutes their need for water.

Diseases of chicken chicks

The following are some diseases of chicken chicks :

Salmonella (Bellerum)

Symptoms : Infected birds develop light-colored diarrhea.

Effect and degree of severity : causes death to chicks.

Prevention : The disease is transmitted from the chicken to the egg, so it is necessary to get rid of all contaminated birds, and contaminated equipment as well.

cold (infectious bronchitis)

Symptoms : mucous discharge from the eyes, sneezing, heavy breathing, and panting.

Effect and severity: The disease can spread through air, food, or contact between birds.

Prevention and treatment: It can be treated with antibiotics, raising the room temperature, and vaccines are available, but they cannot be used during an outbreak.

pneumonia (aspergillosis)

Symptoms : lack of food intake, increased drinking of water, and panting.

Effect and severity: It usually occurs in birds between 7-40 days of age and can cause an increased mortality rate, up to 50%.

Prevention and treatment : To prevent this disease, it is necessary to maintain the cleanliness of the place, and to provide good living conditions, and although this disease is incurable, it is possible to limit its spread.

coli

Symptoms : fever, lethargy, difficulty breathing, diarrhea, and cough

Impact and severity: High mortality rate in newborn chicks.

Prevention and treatment : Although this disease cannot be treated easily, there are some medications that can be given.

Necrotizing enteritis

Symptoms : Diarrhea, with a bad smell.

Effect and degree of severity: This disease affects the gastrointestinal tract, and chicks between the ages of 2 to 5 weeks are more susceptible to this disease than others.

Prevention and treatment: maintaining hygiene, and putting antibiotics in drinking water for treatment.

Causes of death of chicken chicks

Here are some of the reasons that lead to the death of chicks:

The high temperature of the brood is dangerous for the chicks, and the excessive heat leads to dehydration due to the consumption of water more than the feed, which leads to death.

hypothermia; Prolonged and direct exposure to cold can affect the immune system, making birds susceptible to disease.

The death rate due to poisoning is high in chicks, and their death is sudden and frightening if they are poisoned.

Many diseases can cause the death of chicks, including: avian influenza, infectious bursal disease, also known as gumboro, Newcastle disease, which was known as the blight of birds, and other diseases.

General tips for raising chicken chicks

The following points are mentioned to mention some tips that help in the process of breeding chicks :

Cleaning the place for chicks daily, taking into account the allocation of a pair of shoes for this task.

Renew drinking water daily, clean the watering bowl from dirt that chicks may have accumulated in its bottom, and place it in a place away from light and heat.

washing hands thoroughly before and after handling chicks; to avoid infection with salmonella.