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Baby chicks management
When chicks arrive at the housing facility, it is important to ensure that the barn is set up for proper brooding. Chicks will transition from a very tightly controlled and conditioned life at the hatchery to a more independent life at the broiler farm. This means ensuring proper temperature/humidity, excellent water quality and ventilation, and ensuring easy access to feed. With such a short growing period, chick health in the 7 days after placement can really set the stage for performance over the entire grow out period. Another important component for neonatal health and disease control is ensuring, cleaning, disinfection and down time between groups and excellent biosecurity practices when chicks are in the barn. Due to advances in poultry genetics, knowledge of nutrition, bird management and disease control, broilers grow very fast. Their growth rate is dependent on the amount of energy (calories) in their feed. A 3-feed program is most efficient and cost effective program.
Sexing day-old chicks can be accomplished by one of two methods: 1) vent sexing or 2) feather sexing. Each method has difficulties that make it unsuitable for use by the small flock owner. Vent sexing relys on the visual identification of sex based on appearance of sexual organs. Feather sexing is based on differences in feather characteristics at hatch time. A brief explanation of each method is as follows. Vent sexing of chicks at hatching has complications that make it more...
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Steve Leeson, Ph.D., from the University of Guelph, recently revealed new findings on the importance of chick nutritional strategies. Leeson was sponsored by Alltech, a global leader in animal health, to present his findings at the International Poultry Expo, held in Atlanta, Georgia. His findings exhibited the importance and impact of a comprehensive nutritional strategy for chicks during the first seven days out of the egg, which would in turn yield heavier birds at 42...
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The Animal Sciences Group believes it may be possible for laying hens to produce mostly – or even exclusively – female embryos. This can help reduce the number of day-old roosters that are killed every year in the Netherlands, which now amounts to tens of millions. The process of sexing and killing day-old chicks has lead to much societal protest; therefore the ASG has been asked by Minister of Agriculture Verburg to look for other solutions. "The most elegant solution is, of course,...
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