How to raise Five-Black chickens during the brooding period? Do these two things well and they will grow better
The Five-Black chicken, also known as the Five-Black-One-Green chicken, is a rare premium breed of poultry in the world, with a long history of breeding. Its eggshells are green, and its meat and eggs are both very nutritious, with many people eating them as a tonic. So, how do you raise Five-Black chickens during the brooding period? What cautions are there in raising Five-Black chickens? Let's take a look together!
I. How to raise Five-Black chickens during the brooding period?
1. Stocking density
Stocking density has a great influence on the growth and development of Five-Black chicken chicks. Low density is not economical, while excessively high density causes uneven chick development, slowed growth, easy infection with disease, and increased mortality. Based on the experience of past farmers, it is recommended to keep 30-35 birds per sq m before 6 weeks of age, and 12-15 birds per sq m before 18 weeks of age.
2. First drinking and first feeding
Chicks should be given water before feed. First drinking should begin as early as possible to help gastrointestinal movement and yolk absorption. The drinking water should be clean and pollution-free. In winter, use warm boiled water; water that is too cold easily makes chicks sick. For first drinking, penicillin water is usually used at 1000 units per bird; at 2-4 days of age they can drink 0.02% enrofloxacin water, used for 5 consecutive days, then stopped for 3 days, then used for another course, which can prevent gastrointestinal diseases. After the chicks have drunk enough water, when most of the chicks show pecking behavior, they can be started on feed. Choose high-quality chick feed for first feeding.
3. Hygiene management
Chicks have low resistance and are prone to viral infection, so the brooding room must be cleaned frequently, with bedding replaced in time. Feed troughs, drinkers, and the brooding house should be cleaned and disinfected once a week, and drinkers washed once a day. Keepers entering and leaving the brooding house must change clothes and shoes, and a disinfection pool should be set up at the door.
4. Light, temperature and humidity management
During the brooding stage, chicks can receive light 24 hours a day. In addition, temperature is the primary condition for raising chicks well. When brooding on the ground, bedding must be spread indoors no matter the season, so that the chickens' bellies do not get cold when they sleep. The temperature during the brooding period is best kept constant, so that the chicks cannot fail to adapt. Humidity has a relatively large effect on the health and growth of chicks. The suitable humidity for Five-Black chicken chicks is 60-65% in the first week, and 50-60% after the second week.
5. Grouping management
The purpose of grouping is to make the chicks develop uniformly and increase the survival rate. Generally, they are grouped at the appropriate time according to size and strength.
II. What cautions are there in raising Five-Black chickens?
Point one: Raise awareness of disease prevention
The key to this issue is the two aspects of isolation and disinfection, which are also the most critical preventive measure steps. However, for most small farms, they like to build chicken houses on their own land. This practice means the Five-Black chicken houses have no enclosing wall and no disinfection pool, and people and Five-Black chickens live together. All kinds of people can enter the production area at will, which makes it very easy to bring pathogens into the chicken farm. Some chicken houses are even only three or four meters apart, with their exits facing each other, which also makes infection very easy. Once infection occurs, it will trigger a series of chain reactions.
Point two: Random introduction of breeding stock can bring in sources of disease
Some Five-Black chicken farmers like to bring in more chicks of different breeds for raising, but because the channels for introducing breeding stock are chaotic, they do not follow proper procedures for introduction, so the introduced chicks themselves carry disease and transmit it to the existing chicken breeds, causing large-scale infection.
The above are the Five-Black chicken brooding-period breeding methods and cautions compiled for you by the editor. We hope they can help all you farmers.