7 March 2024

8 minute learn

Editor’s word: This text is an excerpt from the Cobb Breeder Administration Information and extra articles will observe. The Information was designed to spotlight essential components which might be almost certainly to affect flock efficiency. To learn or obtain the entire Information or to view Cobb’s different administration guides, click on right here.

The significance of the brooding interval can’t be over emphasised. The primary 14 days of a chick’s life units the precedent for good efficiency. Further effort throughout the brooding section can be rewarded within the closing flock efficiency.

Chick consolation

Test chicks 2 hours after placement which can give them time to settle and establish the reception space. Guarantee they’re comfy. Chick distribution and conduct needs to be intently monitored after placement and throughout the first 24 to 48 hours of brooding. It’s regular to see some chicks sleeping, some chicks consuming or ingesting, and a few chicks actively exploring their new surroundings. Should you observe chicks panting, huddling, chirping loudly or irregularly distributed throughout the brood space, examine the trigger(s)instantly. If not corrected, they’ll have a destructive influence on flock welfare and efficiency outcomes.

Whereas inserting chicks and checking throughout the brooding section, workers ought to discuss at a low degree and transfer calmly via the home to attenuate stress. After guaranteeing that every one chicks are positioned and cozy, workers ought to depart chicks alone for at least 2 hours to permit them to acclimate to their new environment and to relaxation.

Brooding temperatures

Chilly chicks will huddle with lowered exercise, leading to lowered feed and water consumption and due to this fact lowered progress fee. If they’re comfortably heat, the chicks needs to be evenly and actively shifting across the brooding space.

A wonderful indicator of ground temperature is the temperature of the chick’s ft. By inserting the chick’s ft in opposition to your neck or cheek you can learn the way heat or chilly the chick is. If the chick’s ft are chilly, the inside physique temperature of the chick can also be lowered. If the ft are chilly, re-evaluate preheating temperature and present ambient/ground temperatures throughout the brooding space.

Chick inside temperature may be measured utilizing a small rectal probe thermometer with a gentle tip. Fast-reading, digital thermometers are beneficial for these chick checks.

Hatched chick inside temperature needs to be 40 to 40.6 °C (104 to 105°F). Chick inside temperature above 41° C (106 °F) in first 4 days can result in panting. Chick inside temperature beneath 40 °C (104 °F) signifies that the chick is just too chilly.

At hatch, the chick can’t adequately management its physique temperature and relies on the surroundings for warmth to thermoregulate. When temperatures are too excessive or low, the chick should compensate via panting or metabolizing power to supply warmth. Both situation has a destructive influence on weight achieve, progress and welfare outcomes. Since chilling or overheating throughout brooding can lead to poor progress, poor feed conversion and improve the susceptibility to illness, offering the right temperature in brooding can finally have an effect on manufacturing efficiency.

At 12 to 14 days of age, the chick could have the total skill to manage its personal physique temperature. To compensate for the adjustments in chicks’ inside physique temperatures, the scale and warmth manufacturing of the birds, and the event of thermoregulatory skills, the brooding temperature should be adjusted each few days (see desk).

Temperature circumstances within the brooding space should guarantee sufficient consolation for the chicks. Optimum temperatures permit the birds to be distributed throughout the brooding space with correct entry to water and feed. Monitor chicken conduct typically as it is a good indicator of chick consolation.

Chick hydration

The yolk accommodates 1 to 2 g of moisture so the chick will drop some pounds however not grow to be dehydrated. If chicks begin panting, they’ll lose 5 to 10 g of moisture within the first 24 hours after which dehydration will happen. Increased relative humidity will cut back moisture loss but additionally impair warmth loss, so appropriate brood temperature is significant. Chicks from smaller eggs (youthful breeder flocks) require increased brooding temperatures as a result of they produce much less warmth. 

The yolk accommodates 2/3 fats and 1/3 protein with the fats for power and protein for progress. If early feed consumption doesn’t happen the chick will use each fats and protein within the yolk for power, leading to insufficient protein ranges for progress. Early feed consumption is essential for chicks to maintain metabolic processes similar to inside physique temperature.

Crop fill analysis

The primary goal of administration throughout the first hours after placement on the farm is to obtain as a lot consumption of water and feed in as many chicks as attainable. Failure to realize this goal will result in irreversible issues with flock efficiency together with poor progress, poor feed conversion and poor flock uniformity.

Pattern 100 chicks per brooding space. If the crops of the chicks are checked 8 hours after placement a minimal of 85 % of examined chicks ought to have each feed and water current. A minimal of 95 % of the chicken’s crops needs to be crammed upon examination the morning after placement.

If too many crops are exhausting (> 15 %), instantly consider water availability, water temperature, move fee, and many others. to find out why chicks will not be accessing water within the brood space.

If too many crops are gentle (> 15 %), instantly consider feed availability, feed location, feed presentation (uniformity and scent), and confirm that the right feed was delivered to the farm. Test ambient temperature and ground temperature as properly to find out why chicks could not be accessing feed within the brood space.

Beak conditioning

Beak conditioning may be carried out within the hatchery at day of age or between 4 and 5 days of age on the farm. Within the hatchery, this process is carried out by skilled personnel and usually entails specifically designed, automated tools that gives an infrared remedy for the tip of the beak. Conditioning the beak at quarto 5 days on the farm requires extra labor and particular consideration to make sure that chicken stress is minimized. 

Beak conditioning can have a optimistic web welfare profit because it ends in an optimum beak form for breeders for consuming and ingesting, and it can also forestall aggressive pecking, a conduct that may result in chicken damage, pores and skin trauma, and mortality. Furthermore, if the highest beak is considerably longer than the decrease beak (hawk’s beak form) the chicken’s skill to drink and eat could also be impaired. An extended beak on high can also negatively influence the mating effectivity of the rooster since he could have problem holding the neck feathers of the hen.

• The beak continues to develop because the chicken ages and should be saved in good situation for consuming and ingesting. At numerous phases throughout the chicken’s life, technical managers ought to consider the form of the beak.
• Beak conditioning is very helpful for birds raised in open-sided homes or with out managed mild depth throughout rearing. Birds raised in homes with out managed lighting will usually have extra beak progress and mature sooner than birds reared for 20 weeks in light-controlled (darkish out) homes.
• Light pecking at feathers and objects within the surroundings is taken into account regular conduct.
• Throughout particular person chicken vaccination (16 to 19 weeks of age), the form of every chicken’s beak needs to be rigorously evaluated. The right beak form is essential for consuming and ingesting, which, in flip, will promote most fertility and uniformity of the flock.
• The beak reconditioning tools ought to solely be operated by skilled personnel to make sure minimal stress for the chicken.
• Solely the keratinized tip of the beak (clear portion) needs to be eliminated when reconditioning the beak tip.
• If the beak deformity is extreme or a beak reconditioning shouldn’t be attainable, the chicken needs to be faraway from the flock and humanely euthanized.

Water administration

Be certain that each feeders and drinkers are in sufficient provide, relative to the stocking density, and close to one another. It’s necessary that these areas have the right ambient, ground and litter temperature, defending the chicks’ thermal consolation zone. 

Supplemental drinker verify

The supplemental drinkers ought to by no means be allowed to grow to be fully empty (dry). Drinkers should be cleaned and refilled as essential. Preserve most water ranges within the supplemental drinkers till chicks are giant sufficient to create spillage. Supplemental drinkers needs to be eliminated roughly 48 hours after placement. Water spillage and waste needs to be saved to a minimal particularly throughout chilly seasons due to
decrease air change to get rid of moisture throughout these months.

Nipple drinker verify

Nipple drinker peak needs to be at chick’s eye degree for the primary 2 days after which maintained barely above chick’s head at a peak that the birds must stretch barely to succeed in. The birds’ ft ought to all the time be flat on the litter. A chicken ought to by no means have to face on its toes to drink. Strain needs to be such that there’s a droplet of water suspended from the nipple. As a normal information, a nipple move fee of 25 to 30 ml per minute is beneficial within the first week. Nevertheless, all the time discuss with the producer’s directions.

Ultimate water temperature is between 10 and 14 °C (50 and 57 °F), nevertheless birds can tolerate a variety of water temperature; even so water temperature ought to by no means be higher than 25 °C (77 °F). If this happens the ingesting system should be flushed at the least 3 instances per day.

Bell drinker verify

Frequent evaluation and adjustment are important. The bell drinker water degree needs to be 0.5 cm (1/4 in) from the lip of the drinker at day of age and lowered step by step after seven days to a depth of 1.25 cm (1/2 in) or thumbnail depth. Bell drinkers should be cleaned every day to forestall buildup of contaminants. If essential, in scorching climates, flush the water system at the least two to a few instances every day to take care of an accurate water temperature. All bell drinkers needs to be ballasted to cut back spillage.

Flushing water programs

All poultry watering programs needs to be flushed every day, however at a minimal of 3 times per week to take away biofilm and management water temperature. If water programs are usually not flushed recurrently, biofilms can type on the within the pipe lowering water move and high quality. Excessive stress flushing requires having sufficient quantity and stress. One to 2 bars (14 to twenty-eight psi) of water stress will create the speed and turbulence within the pipe work to take away biofilm. In heat or scorching climates, it is perhaps essential to flush greater than as soon as a day to cool the water temperature. There are computerized flushing programs that make the flushing job simpler, saving the producer time and guaranteeing the water flushing occurs. For programs with flush modes, set to flush at 2 seconds per meter (3.3 ft) of drinker line.

To learn or obtain the entire Cobb Breeder Administration Information or to view Cobb’s different administration guides, click on right here.