Many owners of household plots and private houses master poultry farming not only for the personal consumption of eggs and meat products, but also for profit. Poultry technology involves breeding poultry of egg or meat breeds. To get eggs, chickens are most often bred. They, with the exception of broiler breeds, are more egg-laying than ducks, geese, guinea fowl and turkeys, grown mainly for meat. To obtain diet products, it is customary to breed quail. Much less often than other birds, they are used for breeding peacocks, pheasants and ostriches.
Chickens of egg-laying breeds begin to rush around the age of 5 months. Under optimal conditions, up to 300 eggs can be obtained from one chicken per year. For this, first of all, you need a warm, lighted room. Chickens from one to two years of age are particularly productive.
Broiler breeds of chickens and other breeds of poultry bred in order to obtain meat are usually ready for slaughter at the age of 3-4 months. They are generally not recommended to be kept for more than a year, since after reaching this age, poultry meat becomes more rigid.
Poultry farming at home is attractive because poultry is unpretentious. To maintain it, you can use almost any outbuilding without heating. But it is better to use specially built houses, specially equipped and reliably protecting the bird from drafts. It is advisable to treat poultry houses with antiseptic solutions several times a year. This will prevent the spread of infections that are harmful to poultry. For this, it is worth observing such a condition of keeping as the number of birds in relation to the area of keeping. For 20 adults, there must be at least 10 square meters. m. premises.
Quails are most conveniently kept in special cages.
For keeping chickens, the premises must be equipped with nests with soft bedding from straw or sawdust, feeders for dry and wet food, drinking bowls, and containers with a mixture of ash and sand for “bathing” the bird. Special perches should also be built.
Feeding in the form of a trough and drinking bowls set on a baking sheet are mandatory for geese and ducks, which helps to avoid wetting of the litter.
When keeping any bird, it is desirable to have areas for walking. Floating breeds of birds gain weight faster and are less likely to become 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 better absorbed), food waste, various plant foods and special fortified foods.
For domestic poultry, young birds can be purchased or hatched using an incubator. Incubation is a less costly method, but will require more time and knowledge. To facilitate the process of hatching, there are models of incubators that independently maintain the required temperature level and simplify egg turning. Sometimes, poultry farming at home involves hatching eggs by adult birds.
Recently hatched chicks require more careful care than adults. They should be kept warm and provided with the necessary amount of special food (for example, finely chopped boiled eggs) and warm, clean water. Not grown young growth must be protected from communication with an adult bird.
Poultry farming at home can be a source of not only meat and eggs, but also feather and feather raw materials, fat, and offal. In any case, those who have made the decision to master poultry farming at home will be provided with natural products whose quality is not in doubt.