BROODING MANAGEMENT

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BROODING MANAGEMENT

• THE CRITICAL PERIOD

Present by JIRAWAT SEETHAO Technical
Service Charoen Phokphan Food Public Company
Limited
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• The objective of proper brooding is to develop
• appetite as early as possible.

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Back To The Basic

• Houses Preparation and Biosecurity.
• Chick Quality and Transportation.
• Feed Quality and Feeding.
• Water Quality and Drinker.
• Management and Knowledge.

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THE FIRST 48 HOURS

• Maximize
• Immunity
• Performance
• Livability

To achieve all of them come from yolk and feed
consumption.
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THE FIRST 48 HOURS

• Proper
• Temperature
• Humidity
• Feeding programs
• water management
• Air quality
• are also essential components of brooding to
  avoid stress.

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THE FIRST 48 HOURS

• It is essential to assess and correct early
  management problems to achieve full genetic
  performance potential and maximum immunity.

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Building Performance

• Proper management during the first 48 to 72 hours
  of a broiler chicks life is critical to
• maximize immunity,
• performance and
• livability.

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Building Performance

• Chickens yield breeds in particular are still
  developing
• The immune system,
• The thyroid gland and
• Intestinal tract

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Building Performance

• The thyroid gland is responsible for producing
  thyroxine (and ultimately, T3), a hormone
  involved in
• protein synthesis
• growth
• development of the skeleton
• development of the nervous systems
• tolerance of stress.

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Building Performance

• The intestinal tract is where feed conversion
  begins.

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Supply Organs
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Building Performance

• They help form the basis of performance that
  reaches the genetic potential.
• It is essential to protect the development of
  these organs through stress-free early
  management.

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Building Performance

• Damage to these systems will irreversibly affect
  growth and feed conversion for the life of the
  flock.

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Building Performance

• Avoiding stress through proper management is
  critical because stress induces the release of
  immunosuppressing hormones called
  corticosteroids.
• It can also encourage the growth of unwanted
  pathogens such as salmonella or campylobacter.

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Building Performance

• Stress can turn very minor infections into life
  and performance-threatening infections.

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Environmental Factors to ConsiderWhen Brooding
Chicks
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Thermoneutral Zone

• The thermoneutral zone is the place where the
• temperature
• humidity
• Ventilation
• interact to produce a chick that is neither
  heat nor cold-stressed.

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• All 3 components
• are
• significant

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Temperature

• Ambient Temperature (Air Temperature)
• Effective Temperature (Chick Feel)

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Temperature

• Maintain the correct temperature.
• This factor is crucial in chick brooding,
  especially during the first seven to ten days of
  the chick's life.

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Temperature

• Early in life, the chick is poorly equipped to
  regulate its metabolic processes to raise or
  lower body temperature.
• Chilling or overheating during this crucial
  period can be disastrous.

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Temperature

• Death is often the result of temperature
  extremes, but chilling or overheating can damage
  young chicks without causing death.

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Temperature and Chick Physiology

• Temperatures of 35 C or higher cause a highly
  significant drop in cardiac output and blood
  pressure.

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Temperature and Chick Physiology
Table 1. Average body temperature as influenced by age.
Age of Chicks Average Body Temperature
1 day 39.7 C
2 days 40.1 C
4 days 41.0 C
5 days 41.4 C
10 days 41.4 C
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Temperature and Chick Physiology

• Maintain proper temperature levels and use good
  husbandry practices to prevent long-term effects
  such as
• low growth rate.
• reduced uniformity.
• poor feed conversion.

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Recommended Brooding Temperatures by House Type
and Age
Table 2
Age Brooding Temperatures Brooding Temperatures
Age Conventional House Controlled Environment House
1st wk. 32.2oC (90oF) 29.4-31.0oC (85-88oF)
2nd wk. 29.4oC (85oF) 26.7-28.3oC (80-83oF)
3rd wk. 26.7oC (80oF) 23.9-25.5oC (75-78oF)
4th wk. 26.7oC (80oF) 23.9oC (75oF)
5th wk. 23.9oC (75oF) 21.1oC (70oF)
6th wk. 21.1oC (70oF) 21.1oC (70oF)

• Usually measure at chick height, one foot from
  edge of hover
• Usually measure at chick height

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BROODER MANAGEMENT
Check point one foot from edge
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Temperature

• If a house is too cold, a chick's body
  temperature will decrease,
• which can stunt its growth and/or make it more
  susceptible to disease.

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Temperature

• If the house is too hot, the chick's body
  temperature will rise,
• which can lead to dehydration problems.

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Temperature

• Avoidance of temperature stress, either hot or
  cold, is key to proper development of the thyroid
  and gastro-intestinal tract of the young bird.

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Temperature

• The actual environmental temperature is the
  single greatest determinant of chick temperature,
  
• But it is influenced by both humidity and airflow.

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Humidity

• Humidity is the heat transfer agent.
• Sufficient humidity must be present to
• transfer heat to cold chicks
• or away from warm chicks.
• Chickens lose heat to the environment by
  evaporation of moisture primarily from the
  respiratory tract.

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Humidity

• High RH increases the apparent temperature at a
  particular dry bulb temperature,
• Whereas, low RH decreases apparent temperature.

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Humidity

• High temperatures have a more adverse effect when
  the relative humidity is 65 percent or higher.
• House is near 60 percent relative humidity, the
  combination of high temperature and humidity can
  cause serious problems.

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Humidity

• High humidity at the wrong temperature may
  increase the speed at which
• heat is lost from chicks in a cold environment
• may cause rapid overheating in a hot
  environment.

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Humidity

• The level of humidity appears to be critical for
  poultry.
• Results show that increased relative humidity
  results in depressed feed consumption.

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Table 3 Feed Consumtion
Relative Humidity () Relative Humidity () Relative Humidity () Relative Humidity () Relative Humidity () Relative Humidity ()
Dry-Bulb Temperatures 37 49 56 67 73 82
Feed Consumed (grams) Feed Consumed (grams) Feed Consumed (grams) Feed Consumed (grams) Feed Consumed (grams) Feed Consumed (grams)
32.2C 44   14      
27.2C   56     50  
22.2C       61   47
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Interaction Between Temperature and Relative
Humidity
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Effective Temperature
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Relative Humidity

• recommended
• first three weeks 60 to 70
• next four weeks 40 to 60

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The Effect of Brooding Temperature and Relative
Humidity on Performance of Broiler Chicken at 1
st. Wk. of Age
Brooding Temp/RH Sex Wt. (gms.) Wt./ Doc Wt. Dep. Cum Feed
35 o C / 80 RH Male 182 4.0 0.50 162
35 o C / 80 RH Female 174 3.8 0.00 168
35 o C / 80 RH Straight Run 178 3.9 0.25 165
33 o C / 80 RH Male 179 3.9 0.00 164
33 o C / 80 RH Female 179 3.9 0.67 164
33 o C / 80 RH Straight Run 179 3.9 0.40 164
30 o C / 80 RH Male 189 4.2 0.67 167
30 o C / 80 RH Female 187 4.1 0.00 170
30 o C / 80 RH Straight Run 188 4.1 0.40 168
Kheang Khoi Research Farm CPF Thailand
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The Effect of Brooding Temperature and Relative
Humidity on Performance of Broiler Chicken at 3
rd Wk. of Age
Brooding Temp/RH Sex Wt. (gms.) Dep. FCR
35 o C / 80 RH Male 873 1.00 1.385
35 o C / 80 RH Female 778 0.00 1.421
35 o C / 80 RH Straight Run 825 0.50 1.401
33 o C /80 RH Male 897 0.00 1.369
33 o C /80 RH Female 793 0.67 1.430
33 o C /80 RH Straight Run 834 0.40 1.404
30 o C /80 RH Male 910 1.00 1.370
30 o C /80 RH Female 823 0.00 1.393
30 o C /80 RH Straight Run 875 0.60 1.379
Kheang Khoi Research Farm CPF Thailand
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Recommend Brooding Temperature (Ross2003)
Too Low
OK
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Optimum Temperature
Maximum
Relative Humidity 60
Minimum
Average
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VENTILATION
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VENTILATION

• Air quality is critical during the brooding
  period.
• Ventilation is required during the brooding
  period to maintain temperatures at the targeted
  level and to allow sufficient air exchange to
  prevent the accumulation of harmful gases such
  as
• carbon monoxide.
• carbon dioxide.
• ammonia.

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VENTILATION

• Gases such as carbon dioxide and ammonia (in
  water vapor) are heavier than oxygen.
• If they are present in the house, they will tend
  to sink to floor level, displacing oxygen.

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O2
CO2 NH3
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VENTILATION

• The result can be the dual problem of ammonia
  blindness due to ammonia concentration at the
  floor,
• and ascites due to low oxygen at floor level!.

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Lack of Oxygen (High Co2 )
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VENTILATION

• Establishing minimum ventilation rates from one
  day of age will ensure fresh air is supplied to
  chicks at frequent, regular intervals.
• Stirring fans can be used to maintain evenness
  of air quality at chick level.

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Airflow

• Airflow impacts the temperature of the chick
  through wind chill.
• It is also needed to distribute temperature
  uniformly throughout the environment.

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Airflow

• Significant airflow is necessary in stacked
  chicks to remove excess heat.
• Too much airflow may chill chicks after
  placement in the houses.

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Air velocity and Cooling EffectMichael Garden
Aviagen 2005
Air velocity (FPM) 1 week old (C) 4 weeks old (C) 7 weeks old (C)
100 -2 -1
200 -6 -3 -1
300 -12 -6 -3
400 -8 -4
500 -10 -6
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Estimate wind chill effect broiler chick

  1wk 2wk 3wk 4wk 5wk 6wk 7wk
100 2 1.75 1.5 1 0.5 0.25 0
200 6 5 4 3 2 1.5 1
300 12 10 8 6 5 4 3
400   14 12 9 7 5 4
500       10 9 7 6
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Chick Felt at Air Temperature 32C
Age Target Air Velocity (FPM) Air Velocity (FPM) Air Velocity (FPM) Air Velocity (FPM)
C 100 200 300 400
1 33 30 26 20
2 30 30 27 22 18
3 29 30.5 28 24 20
4 28 31 29 26 24
5 24 31.5 30 27 25
6 22 32 30.5 28 27
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The Effective Temperature of Different Age of Bird
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The Effective Temperature of Each Air Velocity
and Relative Humidity
Mature bird
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Minimum Ventilation Rate

• The most practical way to calculate the air-flow
  is by the rule of thumb
• provide 0.22 cubic feet of air-flow per minute
  per kilogram of body weight of the chickens in
  the house for each 1 F of temperature of outside
  air (Table 2).

Key Factors for Poultry House Ventilation
Larry Vest, Extension Poultry Scientist Bobby
L. Tyson, Extension Engineer
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Table2 Suggested Air Flow
Outside Air Temperature Outside Air Temperature CFM per kg bodyweight at 30-60RH
(F) (C) CFM per kg bodyweight at 30-60RH
40 4.4 0.236
60 15.6 0.353
80 26.7 0.471
100 37.8 0.589
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How to Calculate CFM
Bird Age Bwt. No. bird Total wt. CFM/B Total CFM
1 0.075 10,000 750 0.5 375
2 0.225 9900 2228 1114
3 0.680 9850 6698 3349
4 1.086 9800 10643 5322
5 1.708 9750 16653 8326
6 2.040 9650 19686 9843
7 2.480 9550 23684 11842
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estimate wind chill effect broiler chick

  1wk 2wk 3wk 4wk 5wk 6wk 7wk
100 2 1.75 1.5 1 0.5 0.25 0
200 6 5 4 3 2 1.5 1
300 12 10 8 6 5 4 3
400   14 12 9 7 5 4
500       10 9 7 6
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Chick Felt at Air Temperature 32C
Age Target Air Velocity (FPM) Air Velocity (FPM) Air Velocity (FPM) Air Velocity (FPM)
wk C 100 200 300 400
1 33 30 26 20
2 30 30 27 22 18
3 29 30.5 28 24 20
4 28 31 29 26 24
5 25 31.5 30 27 25
6 22 32 30.5 28 27
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Chick Felt at Night Time (22C)
Age Target Air Velocity (FPM) Air Velocity (FPM) Air Velocity (FPM) Air Velocity (FPM)
wk C 100 200 300 400
1 33 20 16
2 30 20.25 17
3 29 20.5 18 14
4 28 21 19 16
5 25 21.5 20 17
6 22 21.75 20.5 18
Air Velocity can Chill The Bird and induce to
infect by diseases.
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WATER AND FEED
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WATER AND FEED

• Prior to chick delivery, a final check must be
  made of feed and water availability and
  distribution within the house.

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Feed

• Feed must be within the comfort zone of the
  chicks.
• Proper physical composition (good crumbles, not
  pellets or mash) will encourage uniform
  distribution of nutrients and efficient
  consumption by the chicks.
• Proper nutritional composition will give the
  chicks a good start.

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Water

• Water must be easily available to the chick, and
  it must reside within the chicks comfort zone.
• Nipple drinker height is important to adjust
  according to the actual size of the chick
  delivered.
• Pressure must be low enough to allow easy access
  to water for a small chick, while not wetting the
  floor.

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Water

• Water Temperature 18-24C

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Water

• 360o nipples are easier for chicks of all sizes
  to trigger than nipples that must be pushed
  straight up.
• Check nipples by depressing them lightly from
  the side, to see how easy it is to access water.
• Older drinkers may become less responsive to the
  light pressure a small chick might apply.

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MONITORING EARLY CHICK PERFORMANCE
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Overheating in the holding area or during
transport

• Careful troubleshooting by taking rectal
  temperatures is needed to discover and correct
  overheating problems in the holding area or
  during chick transport to the farm.

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Overheating in the holding area or during
transport

• The air temperature within the basket of chicks
  will be higher than the surrounding air
  temperature.
• One hundred 40-gram chicks at 32.2C will
  produce 165 Btus per hour.
• If the air circulation stops, the temperature
  within the basket will rise 0.75C per minute
  resulting in an ambient temperature around the
  chicks of 40C in about 10 minutes.

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How do I know when my chicks are in the zone?

• The only way to know for certain is to take
  rectal temperatures of chicks throughout the
  house (at least 3 locations).

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Comfortable

• Rectal temperatures are solidly at 40-40.8oC.
• At the farm, the chicks will spread out, eating
  and drinking.
• The chicks have warm feet.

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Hot

• Rectal temperature is over 41.1oC.
• The chick is panting.
• In the houses, a chirping distress sound may
  occasionally be heard.
• Chicks may move away from the heat source and
  line up along the wall.

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Hot

• At the hatchery or during transport, the chicks
  cannot move out of their uncomfortable
  environment - panting is their only option.

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Cold

• Rectal temperature less than 40oC.
• The chicks will be less active.
• At the house, the cold chicks may huddle or
  bunch around the heat source or in feed lids.
• The low temperature chick has cold feet.

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Struggling

• Rectal temperature just at 40oC.
• The chick has cold feet.
• These chicks may be more difficult to pick out of
  the group without actually taking temperatures.
• Struggling chicks are diverting energy that
  should be used for growth and development to
  temperature maintenance.

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Chilling in the first 12-48 hours of brooding

• Chicks do not have the ability to control their
  body temperature completely until they are 2
  weeks old.
• They are reacting as a cold-blooded animal during
  the first few days.
• Floor temperature and insulation will be more
  important to chicks during this time than the air
  temperature.

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Chilling in the first 12-48 hours of brooding

• Floor temperature in the area of the feed and
  water should be 32-33C at placement.

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Chilling in the first 12-48 hours of brooding

• Smaller chicks from young flock sources have
  more trouble controlling body temperature than
  larger chicks
• They will be the easiest to chill.
• Floor temperature is more critical to these
  chicks, and warm temperatures must be held longer
  to achieve maximum survival and performance.

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Chilling in the first 12-48 hours of brooding

• Insulation from the cold and condensation
  inherent with concrete flooring is also
  essential.
• At least 5 to 7 cm of fluffy dry litter material
  is needed.

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Chilling in the first 12-48 hours of brooding

• Students at the University of Georgia6 submitted
  chicks to 12.8C for 45 minutes.
• At 35 days of age, the liveweight of the
  cold-stressed chicks was 0.11 kg less than the
  normally brooded controls.

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Chilling in the first 12-48 hours of brooding

• Increased metabolism required to meet the demand
  for heat production in a chilled chick requires
  increased oxygen.
• The heart works harder to meet this need,
  predisposing the chick to ascites later on.

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Chilling in the first 12-48 hours of brooding

• Litter with a tendency to mat and hold moisture
  at the surface should be avoided.
• Thin floor coverage may be adequate for summer
  brooding,
• but doesnt provide enough protection from cold
  concrete and moisture in the cooler seasons.

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Key Point

• Litter temperature
• is
• critical
• Not air temperature.

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Over Heating in the first 12-48 hours of brooding

• Ernst et. al.4 found that heat stress at 40C
  (environmental temperature) for one hour
  significantly reduced growth rate to 16 days.
• The weight difference persisted with no
  compensatory gain!

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Over Heating in the first 12-48 hours of brooding

• Van der Hel et. al.5 examined feed intake at
  environmental temperatures over 35-36C,
  especially during the first 48 hours.
• He note that exposure to temperatures above this
  is critical temperature resulted in decreased
  feed intake during the following 14 days, as well
  as increased mortality.

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Chilling in the first 12-48 hours of brooding

• Cold stress negatively impacts all chicks,
• young flock sources suffer the greatest impact,
• most noticeably reflected as dehydration or
  starve-out losses.

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Remedial Measures?

• Studies have shown that some of the damage caused
  by early stress is irreversible
• A percentage of the genetic potential will be
  permanently lost.
• Measures can be taken to minimize the impact of
  short-term management lapses and the subsequent
  performance loss

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Culling

• Avoid culling before day 7, especially in flocks
  composed of chicks from
• young breeders,
• mixed breeder sources or
• split placements.
• Give chicks an opportunity to start.

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Culling

• By day 7, however, poor chicks should be
  obvious.
• These struggling chicks will serve as an
  infection source and a drain on feed and floor
  space.
• No amount of medication will fix this chicks.
  Cull them from the flock.

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Walk the chicks!

• When chicks are congregating in feed lids, along
  walls or in corners, frequent walking will force
  the birds to move out.
• This allows the chicks in the center to access
  feed and water, and may prevent sweating due to
  condensation in the groups.

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Walk the chicks!

• Attempt to correct the temperature, humidity or
  air movement issues that are causing the bunching
  in the first place, but try to manually keep the
  chicks spread out in the meantime.

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Be alert to flock differences!

• The identical environment may produce 40C rectal
  temperatures in chicks from older flocks but only
  38.3-38.9C rectal temperatures in chicks from
  younger flocks.
• Dont assume that the birds will always respond
  to management the same way!.

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Be alert to flock differences!

• All of these measures may be helpful to the
  borderline chick.
• The unstressed chick does not need them, and the
  severely stressed chick will probably be
  irreversibly damaged,
• and ultimately culled.

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Vitamins? Electrolytes? Antibiotics?

• The use of vitamins, electrolytes or antibiotics
  will not be deemed cost-effective by a large
  integrated operation.
• On a house-by-house basis, however, logical use
  may improve the performance of the struggling
  chicks.

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Take time to Assess and Correct the Problem!

• The first 48 hours go by quickly.
• It is easy to let the problems go, especially
  since the rectal temperatures of most birds will
  be 40-41.8C after 48 hours anyway.

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Take time to Assess and Correct the Problem!

• Do not let it slip by!
• Failure to properly assess and correct problems
  flock after flock lets the genetic performance
  potential of every flock slip through your
  fingers!

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Take time to Assess and Correct the Problem!

• Check rectal temperatures of chicks in hatchers,
  holding areas and during delivery to make
  adjustments in airflow where possible to correct
  problems.
• Check rectal temperatures of chicks in the barn
  after placement.

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Take time to Assess and Correct the Problem!

• Make corrections in early management for the
  current flock, or adjust management for future
  flocks as needed.
• Be sure to walk chicks to keep them spread out,
  eating and drinking, until the corrections take
  effect.

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Take time to Assess and Correct the Problem!

• Observe feeding and drinking behavior.
• Note any repeated incidence of the indicators of
  poor air quality
• ascites and ammonia blindness.
• Correct early air quality issues with improved
  ventilation and temperature control.

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Take time to Assess and Correct the Problem!

• Do not rely on remedial measures once damage is
  already done!
• Some of the lost performance is irretrievable!

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Conclusion

• Before chicks arrive, inspect the house closely
  to ensure proper setup.
• After a poor start, there is little time to
  compensate for the lost growth as a chick's life
  is only approximately 1000 hours.

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Conclusion

• Thus, every hour represents 0.10 of the chick's
  life. In a 24-hour period, 2.4 performance can
  be lost.
• Many producers recognize that performance lost
  the first day or first week will be reflected in
  final performance results.

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Take Time For a Good Start
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• THANK YOU

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References

• 1. Hill, D, 2001. The crucial first 48 hours in
  the life of a chick. Proceedings of Virginia
  Poultry Health and Management Seminar, Roanoke,
  Virginia, 2001.
• 2. Hulet, R. M. and R. Meijerhof, 2001. Multi- or
  single-stage incubation for high-meat yielding
  broiler strains. Proceedings of Southern Poultry
  Science and Southern Conference of Avian
  Diseases, Page 35.
• 3. Savage, S. The University of Georgia
  Cooperative Extension Broiler Tip, March, 1991.
• 4. Ernst, R. A., W. W. Weathers, and Jean Smith.
  1984. Effect of heat stress on day-old broiler
  chicks. Poultry Sci. 631719-1721.
• 5. van der Hel, W., M.W.A. Verstegen, L. Pijls,
  and M. van Kampen, 1992. Effect of two-day
  temperature exposure of neonatal broiler chicks
  on growth performance and body composition during
  two weeks at normal conditions. Poultry Sci.
  712014-2021.
• 6. Lacy, M. P., The University of Georgia
  Cooperative Extension Service Broiler Tip,
  January, 1994.