Let’s Talk Farming
(3rd of a Series)
By Manny Pinol
There is an old practical wisdom which says “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
With the deluge of TV and print ads on feed additives, growth enhancers and anti-biotics for chicken, there is this mistaken belief among backyard poultry raisers that they could rear and raise healthy chicken by providing them with all sorts of anti-biotics and growth enhancers.
There is no such thing as “Super Chicken” produced by feeding it with expensive feeds and pumping it with all kinds of vitamins and anti-biotics.
The backyard poultry raiser is advised not to introduce to the flock any anti-biotics either through the feeds or the water unless there is really a need for it.
The chicks come out of those egg shells healthy, so why give them medication when they do not need it?
Again, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Our experience in the Braveheart Farms showed that the best formula in ensuring that the chicks will be healthy is to make sure that the ground where you place them on Day 1 is clean.
Disinfecting the area by spraying it with Lysol or similar formula at least one week before they hatch is advised, especially if the area had been used before by other chicken.
As mentioned earlier, fine chick starter feeds should be scattered on an old newspaper laid down in the middle of the enclosure on the ground.
After a few days, the feeds could be given to them through the plastic feeders or bamboo poles split in half.
Water with a small amount of table sugar diluted in it should be made available to the chicks. Plastic waterers are preferred to avoid the risk of the chicks drowning themselves in huge open water receptacles.
For the first 30 days, the chicks should be fed with chick starter crumble and then grower crumble mixed with corn grits from 30 to 60 days.
The backyard chicken raiser must remember that chickens are just like us. You do not change the baby feed from the soft Gerber to freshly cooked rice abruptly.
There is a transition phase so that the chicks will slowly adapt to the new feeds.
Say, on the 28th day the chicken raiser could start the feed transition by giving the chicks 3/4 of the chick starter crumble and 1/4 of the grower crumble with corn grits.
On the 29th day, the mixture would be 1/2 of the chick starter crumble and 1/2 of the new feeds; on the 30th day 1/4 of the chick starter and 3/4 of the new feeds.
On the 31st day, the chicks could be given the full amount of the new feeds.
The same process of feed transition should be observed when the backyard raiser changes the chicks‘ feeds from grower with corn grits to finisher with cracked corn from the 60th to the 90th day when the free-ranged chicken would be big enough for the market.
It will not hurt if every now and then, the chicks are given “merienda” in the form of over-ripe bananas or even coconut “sapal” which is the waste when you make “gata.”
There are two schools of thought on how to give feeds to the chicks.
One is what we call “ad libitum,” where feeds are made available to the chicks at all times. This will make sure that the chicks will never go hungry and they do not peck each other.
There is a disadvantage though because the chicks may sometimes eat more than they actually need which means added expense and sometimes, they tend to become lazy and do not move around.
The other is the “feed as they consume” which requires a lot of attention from the poultry raiser as he has to constantly check when the chicks have cleaned up the feed receptacle.
The risk is when the backyard poultry raiser forgets to check the feed receptacles and the chicks will go hungry.
But the “feed as they consume” method is best applied when the chicks are already in the range after reaching 21st day when all of their preventive health procedures have been completed.
It must also be remembered that the chicks body is like a clock. If they get used to being fed between 7 to 8 a.m., 12 noon to 1 p.m. and 4 to 5 p.m., the feeding must be consistent.
Otherwise, it will hurt them and it will be noticed that they will start dropping their wings and they will be vulnerable to infection and diseases.
The poultry raiser also has several choices for the feed receptacles. There is the plastic receptacle which could be hung in the middle of the enclosure.
Since the plastic feed container is raised, there is no risk of the chicks getting into it and contaminating the feeds with their dung.
The other would be a bamboo pole split in half and stabilized by nailing it to a wood slab. While this will give the chicks a wider area to feed, the problem here is that they usually get into the feed receptacle and drop their dungs on the feeds.
The last key to raising healthy chicks is to make sure that water is always available.
There should never be any instance when the chicks will go thirsty. This will hurt them more than when they could not eat the feeds on time.
(Next installment will discuss about the immunization and vaccines necessary under Philippine conditions. We will also discuss common poultry diseases and the specific medications and interventions.)
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