After constructing the coop, first of all, quality and healthy chicks should be purchased from a reputable hatchery. Chicks of New Hampshire and Australop can be purchased from the bodies under Animal Development Farm Pokhara, Chicken Development Farm Banke and Nark. Chicks of Giriraj chicken can be purchased from various suppliers.
Some hatcheries in Kathmandu also supply chicks of local chickens. Some farmers have complained that the chicks supplied in this way contain some local as well as other breeds (New Hampshire, Kuroiler, Giriraj, Australop, etc.). Of course, as an alternative to hatcheries, good quality local chickens can also be selected from village poultry farmers. But the chickens purchased in this way should always be kept in a separate coop for a few days and then mixed with the main coop.
If chicks cannot be purchased due to supply or transportation problems due to low production, you can purchase male-hatched eggs and let them hatch with a few females at first. If that is not possible, you can also purchase just one or two male chicks and breed them with local females. Nowadays, chicks of Giriraj and Kuroiler are becoming more readily available compared to New Hampshire and Australop, which are obtained from government farms.
Temperature required for brooding:
If the mother hatches the chicks herself, then no type of brooder or heat source is required. If the chicks hatched by the mother are separated from the mother within a few days and raised or if one-day-old rural chicken chicks are brought in and raised, then they too need to be raised with artificial heat, like broilers and layers. The process of creating a proper environment by providing the chicks with the necessary temperature, feed, water, etc. from the age of one day is called brooding. Rural chickens are generally kept in a brooder for two to three weeks in the summer season and four weeks in the winter season, depending on the geography.
When brooding rural chicken chicks, it is practical to brood 250 chicks in one brooder. Generally, if a brooder has a diameter of two and a half feet, 250 chicks can be raised in it. However, this number may fluctuate slightly depending on the temperature and weather. If a fence made of galvanized sheet or thick cardboard, one to two feet high depending on the age of the chicks, is made not more than 60 cm away from the hover, the chicks cannot go to other corners and it is easier to manage the temperature. Such a fence is called a chick guard. Since rural chickens are lighter than broilers and can fly, they need a chick guard that is slightly higher than broilers.
The temperature is slightly lower than that of broilers and layers, but this is not a problem. If the chicks are raised by laying them on the floor, then chaff, wood dust, finely chopped dry straw, etc. should be placed in the cage in advance, as available. Feeders, other equipment and the room should also be cleaned and disinfected. The necessary materials for the brooder such as: chick guard, equipment used for temperature control, etc. should be kept ready in the chick-rearing room before the chicks enter. It is necessary to arrange the necessary space according to the number of chicks.
This should be done before bringing the chicks. The chicks should be carefully checked for heat, light, feed, etc. in the room where the chicks are raised. However, local and rural chickens, even if they look like broilers, can later hatch well. However, since they are slightly stronger than layers, if they are sick at first, keep a record of which hatchery you bought them from. If the production was not satisfactory, you should also consider an alternative. If the previous lot is available when placing chicks in the next lot, you should choose a breed that is healthy, friendly to you, and has a low mortality rate. If you are purchasing chicks from a hatchery without using local mothers, the required temperature should be provided in the brooder 24 hours before bringing the chicks. A thermometer should be hung in the cage to measure the temperature of the brooder, and the thermometer should record the temperature of the chickens’ living space, the corners of the cage, and the floor.
The cage should also be disinfected before the chicks arrive. If formalin is used for disinfection, it should be done 48 hours before the chicks arrive. Otherwise, its gas will affect them. Before placing the chicks in the brooder, to reduce stress or manage stress, you can dip the chick’s beak in water containing ten percent glucose or acid pack, or you can also mix a stress-reducing drug in all the water. To make a ten percent glucose solution, dissolve one hundred grams of commercially available glucose powder in one liter of water. If the chicks are kept in this way, if it is winter, you can give them food and water at once. If it is summer, it is best to give them food only a few hours after giving them water. If you can do this, it will help manage the stress that the chicks, who are comfortably sitting inside the egg, have to endure when they reach the farmer’s cage.
It is worth remembering that for the first five days, the chick cannot change its body temperature as needed. It takes a full 14 days for this system to develop in its body. Therefore, this period is more sensitive from the point of view of temperature. As a result, in the first week, when the temperature in the brooder and the cage decreases, its body temperature also decreases. As a result, the chick eats less food and water. Physical growth decreases. The risk of disease attacks the chick increases. The less the weight gain in the first week, the more the adult weight of the chicken decreases. Therefore, the care of the first week is very important.
The same is also related to lung infections. The farmer can never get the expected benefit from the chicks that suffer in the first week. Since the source of heat in our country is usually a zinc-sheet brooder, if the temperature of the floor under the brooder is 40 degrees Celsius, it can be ensured that the surrounding temperature is 35 degrees Celsius. You can also check whether the temperature is suitable for the chicks by the behavior of the chicks. For example, if the temperature is right, the chicks will not make much noise, will not huddle together near the heat source, and will not sit on top of each other.
If the temperature is low, the chicks will end up sitting on top of each other and may die of suffocation. Therefore, temperature management can be said to be a very important task. The chicks should be placed in the brooder house as soon as possible. The longer the chicks are kept, the more water they lose from their bodies and the higher the mortality rate. When transporting the chicks, it is best to transport them in plastic crates or paper cartons, etc., with straw.
Qualities that should be present in a good chick:
1) Dry and lean body and no stains on the feathers or any part.
2) Alert and agile. Bright and round eyes.
3) Able to walk and eat food on its own.
4) No crooked beak, crooked neck, splayed legs, or crooked or curled claws.
5) Eyes not covered by eyelashes.
6) If local, the weight of a one-day-old chick should be at least 28 grams and if Giriraj, 40 grams. If New Hampshire and Australop, a chick weighing 35 grams should be accepted.
7) No red spots or discoloration on the leg joints.
8) No stains or dirt on the anus and croup.
Age-dependent temperature requirements for rural chickens
| Age (days) | Temperature inside the brooder |
| First day | 33 to 35°C |
| Two to seven days | 31 to 32°C |
| Eight to 13 days | 28 to 30°C |
| 14 to 22 days | 27°C |
| Over 22 days | 21°C |
A variety of devices can be used to provide temperature to the chicks inside the coop, depending on the situation and availability of materials. Such as: electric brooders (electric heaters, heaters, homemade hovers made with zinc heaters), gas brooders (gas heaters, gas mantols), kerosene-powered brooders, and brooders powered by coal, chaff, wood dust, etc. All of these brooders have their own characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages. Of these, the electric brooder is the easiest and best from the point of view of chicken health. In a country like ours, which is plagued by load shedding, it is not possible to raise chickens without the help of other breeders.
After two hours of keeping the chicks in the brooder, their behavior should be studied. Even if the lights in the brooder are very bright, the chicks make a lot of noise and run away from the light source. Similarly, after four to five hours of keeping the chicks, you should check the temperature by holding some chicks and rubbing their feet on your neck or cheek. Similarly, you should check whether the chicks have any food on their bottoms.
The temperature of the chicks should be higher than our body temperature (40 degrees Celsius). If the chicks’ feet are cold, then the source of the temperature should be reconsidered. If the bottoms are not soft when checked in this way after 24 hours, it can be assumed that the chicks have eaten the food but the water bowl is not enough or they are not getting water, and arrangements should be made accordingly.
Chicks and mothers of local chickens, turkeys, quails, and pheasants can also be raised together in the same pasture and cage. Their cage, pasture, and water requirements are similar. When raised together in this way, the chicks of the chickens also guide the chicks of other breeds to the places where they can graze, play in the dust, etc. and help them establish themselves in the environment there.