A Simple Guide to Managing Village Poultry in South Africa/Rearing and Management
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Rearing and Management
Rearing Chickens
- Newly hatched chicks need special care. Some hens are better mothers than others and successfully rear many strong and healthy chicks.
- The first 3 - 4 weeks of life are very important and the chicks need a lot of protection from predators and the weather. They should be put into an enclosed pen to protect them. The pen must be moveable and large enough for the chicks to scavenge with their mother. The pen should be moved to fresh ground each day and make sure that there is some extra kitchen waste for them.
- The chicks must be kept dry and warm. It is important that they learn with their mothers how to scavenge (search) for food. At night the mother and chicks should be shut up in the hen house which is very secure.
- During the day the chicks should be given additional feed. To start with, this could be a hard-boiled egg that is chopped into pieces, then small amounts of finely crushed grain, bread, cooked or raw mealie meal. After 10 days feed chicks only twice a day and give them only what they can clean up quickly, otherwise feed will be wasted.
- The mother must not eat the chicks’ feed. A small enclosure where the food is placed should be made so that the chicks can enter but not the mother.
- Clean, fresh water should also be provided in a suitable container but chicks should not be allowed to get wet. You can put clean stones in the drinker to stop the chicks from falling into the drinking water.
- Remove any dead chicks immediately and bury them far away from the pen and chicken house.
- When chicks are 3 - 4 weeks old, they can leave their moveable pen to scavenge more widely for their food with their mother. They still need some additional feed separately from the rest of the flock and from their mother if they are to grow well and keep healthy.
- By about 4 weeks of age you will be able to separate the males from the females by looking at them. Males will grow faster and they should be given extra feed to allow them to do this. Try to feed them separately from the rest of the flock for about half an hour each day.
- Do not wait until the males are fully-grown before you eat them or sell them. This means that you will save feed and have more room in your hen house for new chickens to replace them. You will have more feed left to give to other chickens.
Management of Hens
- Chickens will start to lay when they are 6 - 8 months old. Good feeding and care will result in the birds coming into lay early and producing many more eggs.
- Hens in lay will have a large red shiny comb. A hen not in lay will have a shrivelled, pale comb. Hens normally go in and out of lay so their combs will change colour from time to time.
- Collect all eggs from the nest boxes at least once each day. As stated previously, only put a few (6 - 8) eggs under the broody hen that you have selected.
- Do not store eggs in a warm place. Do not keep them for more than 5 - 7 days before selling or eating them as the eggs will go stale and many will not hatch out when put under the broody hen.
- Select clean, large eggs with good shells for putting under a broody hen. Eggs with thin or cracked shells will not hatch. A large egg will produce a big chick which will be healthy and has a good chance of growing into an adult bird.
- When hens are about 2 - 3 years old they will either stop laying or lay only a few eggs. They are eating your valuable feed and returning nothing to you. You must eat or sell them and replace them with young hens that are coming into lay.
See Also
- A Simple Guide to Managing Village Poultry in South Africa - Introduction & Background
- A Simple Guide to Managing Village Poultry in South Africa - Housing
- A Simple Guide to Managing Village Poultry in South Africa - Breeding and Hatching
- A Simple Guide to Managing Village Poultry in South Africa - Feeding
- A Simple Guide to Managing Village Poultry in South Africa - Health
