WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BROILER BROODING

Brooding is a very crucial stage in poultry farming. What happens before and after the chicks arrive will impact their health, livability, and performance, so it is in our interest to provide day-old chicks with an adequate environment.

There are things we need to put in place before the arrival of the broiler chicks, to make sure they settle in well and prevent problems at a later stage.

Here is what you should do before the chicks' arrival:

Make sure to clean and disinfect your pen or house thoroughly.
Spread litter evenly to a depth of 2-5 cm (0.8-2 inches).
Your feed form should be a dust-free sieved crumb, or 2 mm (0.06 inches) mini pellet.
Pre-heat the pen or house at least 24 hrs before chick arrival.
Arrange the equipment to allow unrestricted access to feed and water.


When the chicks arrive, you should weigh a sample and record their live weight and CV% / Uniformity.

Check the chick vent temperature is between 39.4-40.5 degrees centigrade, and place the chicks evenly onto paper. Ensure feed and water is available and that light intensity is between 30-40 lux.

Brooding is a very crucial stage in poultry farming. What happens before and after the chicks arrive will impact their health, livability, and performance, so it is in our interest to provide day-old chicks with an adequate environment.

There are things we need to put in place before the arrival of the broiler chicks, to make sure they settle in well and prevent problems at a later stage.



Here is what you should do before the chicks' arrival:

Make sure to clean and disinfect your pen or house thoroughly.
Spread litter evenly to a depth of 2-5 cm (0.8-2 inches).
Your feed form should be a dust-free sieved crumb, or 2 mm (0.06 inches) mini pellet.
Pre-heat the pen or house at least 24 hrs before chick arrival.
Arrange the equipment to allow unrestricted access to feed and water.


When the chicks arrive, you should weigh a sample and record their live weight and CV% / Uniformity.

Check the chick vent temperature is between 39.4-40.5 degrees centigrade, and place the chicks evenly onto paper. Ensure feed and water is available and that light intensity is between 30-40 lux.



WHAT TO DO AFTER PLACING THE CHICKS

When the birds have settled into their new environment, check their behavior for 1-2 hours, and adjust the conditions according to chick behavior.

When the chicks are tightly-packed together, it means that they are too cold. They become distressed and noisy.

If they avoid the heat source, it means they are too hot; they become quiet, spread their wings, and pant.

The chicks should neither be too hot nor too cold and evenly-spread across the house/pen.



You should provide ventilation without drafts, to provide fresh air, remove waste gas, excess moisture, and heat.

Supply small and frequent top-up of feed, check water supply is running and that supplementary drinkers contain freshwater.

Check crop fill. In 2 hours, 75% of the birds should have full crop fill, 80% in 4 hours, more than 80% in 8 hours, more than 85% in 12 hours, and more than 95% at 24 hrs.

For best results during brooding, a farmer should buy quality chicks, that are clean after hatch, stand firmly and walk well, alert and active, free of deformities, and vocalize contently.



THE FIRST TEN DAYS

If the paper placed on the floor in the house does not disintegrate naturally, then it should be removed from the pen house from day three (3) onward.

Brooding rings, if used, should be expanded from day three (3) of age, and completely removed at 5-7 days of age.

Endeavor to top up the feed on the paper/feed tray at regular intervals during the first 3 to 4 days.
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Thanks for the post,
Please do we have hatchery in Enugu where a very small farm can hatch their eggs irrespective of the number