The best time and correct method for starting chicks on feed
A chick's first feeding after hatching is called "starting to feed." When starting chicks on feed, pay attention to the timing and method, because chicks are at their most fragile within 24 hours of hatching, when their digestive organs have not yet grown and matured. Starting feed too early will harm their digestive tract, while starting too late will drain their strength and leave them thin and weak. So what time should you start feeding them? Let's take a look.
1. Time to start feeding
Newly hatched chicks have nutrients from the heavy yolk inside their bodies, and these nutrients carry them through the most fragile period. Starting feed at the right time helps them absorb and digest these internal nutrients, helps expel meconium, and promotes rapid growth. The timing of the first feeding must be appropriate, neither too early nor too late; the best time is between 12 and 24 hours, when the mortality rate is at its lowest.
2. Drinking water before the first feeding
Before the first feeding, give the chicks plenty of water for 2-3 hours. After hatching, chicks lose a great deal of water from their bodies, so providing sufficient water replenishes what their physiology needs, stimulates their appetite, softens the feed, helps absorption and digestion, and allows the nutrients carried over from the yolk to be absorbed, speeding up metabolism. The water should ideally be above 16°C, and low concentrations of glucose and vitamins can be added to the drinking water to strengthen the chicks' constitution, ease the stress of transport, and speed up the elimination of harmful substances from the body.
3. Method of starting feed
Because chicks have not yet grown and matured, or are rather fragile, after hatching, the feed given to them must be chosen with great care. It is best to choose feed that is nutritious and easy to digest, and the feed should ideally be slightly moistened. Some vitamins and antibiotics can also be added to the feed to prevent digestive tract diseases. The feed must be fresh and mixed just before feeding. Do not feed too much at one time; adopt the practice of adding frequently and feeding little, especially during high summer temperatures. For the first feed, you can use steamed millet mixed with cooked egg yolk, scatter it on the feeding utensils, and make clucking sounds or tap to attract the chicks to come and eat. Pick up the chicks that cannot get any feed and put them among the chicks that are eating, so that all the chicks slowly learn to eat. On the second day, you can add fine-pelleted complete feed to it, and after a week they can be fed complete feed entirely.
4. Feeding management after starting feed
After the chicks have learned to start feeding, observe their drinking and eating closely to prevent them from fighting over food or water, which would otherwise affect their growth and development and also cause crushing and trampling, leading to death in severe cases. In addition, during rearing, pay attention to the cleanliness of the rearing environment and the feeding utensils. Chicks often eat and defecate at the same time after starting feed, so the droppings should be removed promptly after each feeding, and the drinking water should be changed frequently; it is best to disinfect once every 1-2 days.
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