How to Raise Native Chicks? A Detailed Guide to Feed Selection and Rearing Methods

As everyone's living standards improve, people's awareness of health preservation has also increased; they no longer merely seek enough food and warmth, but pursue a daily balanced diet with a mix of meat and vegetables. Chicken is a particularly nourishing food, and eating it regularly is very helpful for health and wellness. And in rural areas, almost every household will buy native chicks to raise themselves; they can not only be sold but also eaten at home to supplement nutrition. So do you know how native chicks should be raised?

How to Raise Native Chicks

1. When the chicks enter the brooding room, in the first week keep 50 per sq m, and separate them into groups, laying fresh, clean dry straw on elastic plastic netting or bamboo-woven netting. The thickness of the straw should be such that chick droppings can fall through the gaps to the ground. In the second week keep 40 per sq m, remove the straw, and let the chicken droppings fall directly through the mesh to the ground. In the third week keep 30 per sq m, and afterward 10.

2. Raise the chicks in groups according to age in days, strength, size, and male or female.

3. The chicken house temperature should be 32°C in the first week, then decrease by 2.5°C each week, until the temperature is removed when it reaches the natural temperature of 21°C.

4. Use a 4-hour periodic intermittent lighting method with 1 hour of light and 3 hours of darkness, so that the chickens' activity and rest are moderate, promoting the growth of native chickens and improving feed utilization, while also saving electricity. The light intensity should refer to the light intensity of the daylighting window during the day.

5. Chicks can only be put out to pasture at 25 days of age; this is one of the important factors for ensuring a high survival rate.

What Native Chicks Eat

The first feeding of newly hatched pheasant chicks is called “start of feeding.” Within 24 hours of hatching, corn or broken rice should be mixed evenly with warm water and scattered on plastic sheeting or in shallow-edged feeding troughs as the first feed. On the second day, feed 2/3 cornmeal or broken rice and 1/3 complete feed; on the fourth day, feed entirely complete feed until 1 month. After that, a self-mixed feed can be used until 2 months.

Native Chick Rearing Techniques

1. Pay attention to drinking water: the first drink of newly hatched chicks is called the initial drink; for the initial drink, it is best to use 18°C sugar water or warm boiled water, and the initial drink should be given before the first feeding; drinking water can prevent newly hatched chicks from being weak or short of water and promote the digestion and absorption of the yolk in the body; if conditions permit, equip 1 automatic drinker of 4.5 L for every 50 chicks. The drinker should be disinfected regularly, and the water must be hygienic. You can add 80,000 units of gentamicin to every 0.5 kg of water and let the chicks drink it to prevent disease.

2. Pay attention to temperature: temperature is the key to brooding. Newly hatched chicks generally require an ambient temperature of 32—35°C, and then it decreases by 2°C each week. Whether the temperature is suitable should be judged not only by measuring with a thermometer, but also by observing the chicks' spirit and activity. If the chicks crowd at the heat source, make “cheep cheep” sounds, are restless, move slowly, and have ruffled feathers, it means the temperature is too low; if they stay away from the heat source, breathe with their mouths open, and drink a lot of water, it means the temperature is too high; if the chicks are evenly distributed, lively, quiet in sleep, and sleep in a comfortable stretched posture, it means the temperature is appropriate.

3. Pay attention to feeding: the first feeding of chicks after hatching is called the start of feeding; generally, it is best to start feeding 12—24 hours after hatching. Within 12 hours after hatching, the 5 grams of yolk in the chicken's body is enough for its own energy; use cornmeal and small broken rice mixed wet or as dry feed for the start of feeding; in the first few days, generally follow the principle of “feed little and often, to 80 percent full,” scattering the feed on dark-colored plastic sheeting, and gradually switch to trough feeding later; on the 5th day, add 1% grit to the feed to help digestion, and add a certain proportion of green feed to the feed.

4. Pay attention to humidity: in the early brooding period, humidity should be somewhat higher, which is beneficial for absorbing the yolk in the abdomen and preventing water loss from the body; before 10 days of age, humidity is generally 60—65%, and after 10 days of age it is 50—60%; because in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, microorganisms are likely to grow and reproduce, and the chicks' evaporative heat loss is hindered, causing their body temperature to be too high and making the flock sick, especially prone to coccidiosis. Therefore, attention should usually be paid to ventilation, less watering of the floor, and frequent changing of bedding straw.

Rearing Characteristics of Native Chickens

1. All parts of China have native chicken breeds with local characteristics; try to choose native chickens suitable for local rearing.

2. Feed is very particular: grass chickens must eat green grass, insects, miscellaneous grains, and other “standard feed”; those that eat formulated compound feed are absolutely not acceptable. Keepers must not use “force-feeding” methods on them either.

3. They must be on the grass of a spacious breeding farm and be allowed to actively look for food. Air is the factor with the greatest impact on chicken meat quality; chickens raised in a suppressed environment not only taste bad but also have adverse effects on the human body.

4. The reason grass chickens have a strong “chicken flavor” is exercise. Because when chickens exercise, their muscles can fully grow and develop, intramuscular fat is rich, and the proportion of aromatic substances in the fat increases, so the taste is naturally very fragrant.

Through the above content, I believe everyone has gained a certain understanding of native chick rearing techniques. Although ordinary residential communities, vegetable markets, and supermarkets all sell chicken, everyone prefers to eat native chickens because native chickens have higher nutritional value and also taste more delicious.