how to raise broilers.If you’ve just decided to raise broilers, congratulations! You’ve chosen one of the best things you can do with your time, and if you follow these few simple guidelines, you’ll be raising chickens in no time. Let’s get started!

how to raise broilers

Begin with day-old chicks.

The very best way to start raising broiler chickens is by starting with day-old chicks. A batch of healthy, lively and well-adjusted chicks can grow into a flock that’s ready for butchering in six weeks or less. The trick is getting them in the first place.

To ensure your chicks have good genes and are free of disease, buy them from a reputable breeder who raises show birds and sells eggs for hatching. If you’re buying from a hatchery or feed store (and we recommend against this), make sure you know how long they’ve been on display and whether they were vaccinated against common diseases like Marek’s disease. You want them to be as close to being able to survive without any human intervention as possible; if they look sick or lethargic at all when you pick them up from the store, take them back!

You should also ask whether the birds have been treated for parasites such as lice or mites; most hatcheries will offer some sort of treatment before selling their chicks out into the world because they don’t want people coming back complaining about dead birds everywhere—that would cost money! Finally: Make sure no one else has touched your new little feathered friends before signing off on payment; otherwise there might be germs involved with their previous owner(s).

Set up a brooder.

A brooder is a place where you keep chicks until they are old enough to be moved to a permanent home. Brooders should be warm and draft-free, with good air circulation. Chicks need a heat lamp or heat pad to keep them warm as well as food and water.

Add your chicks.

Add your chicks

Now it’s time to introduce your new broiler chickens to their new environment. The brooder should be prepared and ready before you bring the chicks home from the store, so you only have one thing left to do: add them! Be sure that you’ve got enough feeder space (the amount of feeders depends on how many chickens you’re raising), water, heat source and bedding material in place before adding them; otherwise they could become stressed and possibly even die.

Introduce your chicks

It’s best not to introduce more than 50% of a brood at once since this can cause an overload of stress on the birds, who will struggle with adjusting themselves into this new situation until they get used to it all again back in their own habitat later down the line once they’ve fully settled into their surroundings here at home where we want them all happy, healthy & productive over time.”

Brooder temperature.

The brooder temperature. If you’re raising chicks, they’ll need a brooder temperature of 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit (35-38 Celsius). This is the ideal temperature for chicks to grow and thrive properly, so it’s important that you keep your brooder at this level. The best way to do this is by setting up a heat lamp over the brooder and making sure it does not blow on any part of their body—they should be protected from drafts or wind by keeping them in a draft-free area. Once your chick has grown into an adult chicken and has been sent out into the world to live on its own, they’ll also need a constant source of warmth during cold winter months.

Provide lots of fresh water at all times.

You should provide clean, cool water for your chicks at all times. As they grow older, they will drink more and more water, so it’s essential to keep the supply up to date. The rule of thumb is one cup per day per chick (after the first week). This means that if you have 100 chicks in your broiler house, you’ll need 100 cups of fresh water each day! Make sure there’s enough for them all to have their fill—a dirty dish can be a big turn-off for chickens who are thirsty.

Ensure that there is enough space around each little bowl for two birds at once; this helps prevent arguments over who gets access first when one bird backs out due to being crowded out by another bird behind him/her trying his/her luck.*

Food.

Birds need a balanced diet to grow. To provide this, it’s best to feed them a mixture of grains and protein sources. Grains are good sources of energy, while protein is needed for muscle growth. You can also feed them fresh grass or greens if you want to supplement their diet with additional roughage. Just make sure that the overall combination has a proper balance of nutrients (for example, don’t just give them grain or only eat from the ground).

Don’t overfeed your birds! If they get too much food at once, it will go to waste because they won’t be able to finish it all before spoiling due to bacteria growth (but there’s more on that later).

After six weeks of age, you can begin transitioning your birds to an outdoor pen or pasture.

When you’re ready to move your chicks outdoors, you’ll need to build them a coop and run. A good rule of thumb is that the size of your brooding area should be about 6 square feet for each bird (measured by length and width).

The first few days should be spent in the garage or under cover from sun and rain. During this time, they will be accustomed to being out of their brooder box but still need protection from predators like cats, dogs or hawks. The next week or so can then be spent in a screened-in enclosure outside while they become accustomed to cooler temperatures and any possible diseases in their new environment.

Once they’ve been exposed to these elements without issue for several weeks, you can transition them into an open-sided pen with clean bedding on the floor along with some shade if needed during hot spells — just make sure they have access back inside if it rains!

Clean the brooder and coop often.

To keep your brooder and coop clean, you should do two things:

Use a disinfectant such as bleach, hydrogen peroxide or vinegar every day.
Clean the brooder and coop after each flock of chickens (usually 7-14 days), after each illness or death of a chicken.

One last note on broilers. Takeaway: You can raise chickens quite successfully, even if you’re new to raising livestock.

One last note on broilers. You can raise chickens quite successfully, even if you’re new to raising livestock. If you’ve been reading this and thinking “No way! I’m not going to do that,” I’d like to encourage you to reconsider. It’s worth a try! Even if it doesn’t work out for some reason, at least you’ll know for sure where your priorities lie and whether or not poultry is right for your family. Many people have done fine with just a handful of birds in their backyard—and they’ve been able to eat the eggs or meat they produced all year long.

Conclusion

I hope this guide has helped you get started with raising broilers. The most important thing is to make sure your chicks are healthy and happy. This will ensure they grow up healthy and strong, which will in turn lead to better tasting eggs and meat!