Description

Broiler Starter Feed

Broiler Starter Feed is a protein-dense variety of chicken feed designed to meet the dietary requirements of chicks (at the starter stage). Generally speaking, baby chicks can live comfortably on a diet of starter feed and water for the first 1 to 3 weeks of their life before progressing onto grower feeds. The high protein content, usually between 20-24%, helps young chicks grow faster. It is imperative to phase out the starter feed once the chicks are advanced in age, otherwise, the excess protein can cause liver damage.

The broiler starter feed is also a high energy ration that has undergone heat processing thus reducing microbial load, increasing palatability, and ensuring optimum growth. It is thus suitable for all environments and helps in maintaining good litter and reducing feed wastage.

 

Features of the Broiler Starter Feed

• Produced as pellets, thus feed wastage is minimized, digestibility is improved and separation of the feed is eliminated, ensuring a consistent intake of nutrients.
• Supplies essential nutrients for growth.
• Provides sustainable sources of essential amino acids, essential vitamins, and minerals.

 

Feeder Requirements

When first feeding your chicks, you’ll need a feeder that will hold the feed in place while the chicks eat. You can go for special feeders designed for raising chicks.

 

Water Requirements

Broiler chicks need access to fresh water at all times. You can provide fresh water using a poultry drinker that has a reservoir for the water and a pan for the birds to drink out of. These waterers are gravity fed. As the chicks drink the water, more water fills the pan from the reservoir.

 

Diseases

Broilers suffer from heart attacks and a condition called ascites, and these conditions may be related to feeding. Broiler birds convert two pounds of feed into one pound of weight and they grow so quickly that it can be stressful on the birds’ systems.

Veterinarians recommend that to prevent ascites, you should remove the food at night to slow down the growth rate of the birds. Another way is to feed only 90% of the total food the birds are capable of eating every day. Furthermore, eliminating supplementary feedings may also help.