Early management techniques of broilers

The early growth rate of modern broilers is much faster than that of past broilers, and the body weight in a week is about 3 ~ 4 times of the birth weight. It is of great significance for broiler production to correctly do a good job in raising chicks a few days ago so that chicks have a good start. The key factors affecting the final production performance of broilers include the hardware facilities, environmental conditions and management of the chicken house. First, to ensure comfortable environmental conditions in the hatchery, chicks live in a high humidity environment, in order to prevent chicks from dehydration in the chicken house, the humidity of the chicken house should be carefully adjusted in the first week. The chicks can regulate their body temperature only when they are about 1 week old. Therefore, before the chicks arrive, they should preheat the henhouse and maintain a comfortable temperature and humidity. The temperature and relative humidity in the house should be checked regularly during the first seven days, at least three times a day, and at least once a day after that. In order to detect the environment of the chicken more accurately, the temperature probe should be as close as possible to the chicken. In addition, a conventional thermometer should be used to calibrate the electronic probe of the automatic control system. In the first three days, high humidity and temperature should be maintained so that the chicks can adapt to the external environment. The relative humidity in the henhouse can be kept at about 70%. Low humidity (less than 50% humidity during brooding) will lead to dehydration, which has a negative impact on chicken performance. Air quality in the first week is also important. Through reasonable ventilation, the temperature and humidity are kept at an appropriate level, and harmful gases are discharged out of the house. From the beginning, a minimum ventilation rate procedure should be established to provide fresh air and remove harmful gases. In addition, the use of circulating fans in the house also helps to improve air quality. We should pay close attention to the behavior of chicks, which is the best characteristic of their perception of temperature. Since temperature and humidity determine the perceptible temperature of chicks, the relationship between temperature and humidity is very important. 2. Layout in the henhouse in order to seize all the growth opportunities, chicks should establish a healthy appetite with good feeding and drinking behavior as soon as possible. In the final analysis, we should try to give 1-day-old chicks free access to feed and water. In order to reduce the stress on the chicks and ensure good early growth, the layout of the henhouse should be done before entering the chickens, so as to shorten the distance that the chickens must walk in order to feed and drink. Before entering the chicken, the preparation work should follow the following guidelines: cover 30% of the brooding area with paper. Spread the feed evenly on the paper, about 50 ~ 70 grams per chicken (equivalent to three days of feeding). Put the chicks on the feed instead of letting the chicks find their own feed. Feed pellets should be of appropriate size, such as sifted scraps. Failure to reach the optimal 7-day-old weight is usually due to the inability of chicks to get enough feed and water. If the temperature in the nursery is too high, the chick's appetite will be suppressed, its feed intake will be reduced, and its growth rate will be suppressed. The evenness of 7-day-old chickens whose body weight is not up to standard will also be poor. Therefore, in order to make the chicks have a good start, it is not only necessary to improve the environmental conditions of the henhouse, but also to make it easy for chicks to get water and feed. A good start will promote the growth of chicks and improve the evenness, feed conversion efficiency and survival rate of the flock. Third, the actual effect of management and inspection management it is very important to check the feeding condition of chicks. By checking the fullness of the crop, the eating and drinking water of the chicks in the first 48 hours can be evaluated. Ideally, if the chicks eat and drink normally, the crop should be full of feed and water, round and content like soft balls. If the crop is flat, or the contents are hard, and the feed grains may be palpable through the crop wall, then the chicks do not eat enough feed or drink enough water. If 80% of the chick crop is full after 8 hours of feeding and 95% of the chick crop is full after 24 hours, it means that all chicks can get enough feed and water. If the crop fullness falls below the above target, it is necessary to increase the paper area, adjust the temperature and humidity in the henhouse, or provide additional feed. If the chicken is short of water after 24 hours, the water pressure should be adjusted so that there are water droplets on each nipple within 24 hours, or there is enough water in the water tray so that each chick can drink enough water. Measuring 7-day-old body weight is also an effective method to evaluate the eating status of chicks. At the age of 7 days, the samples were weighed, and the average body weight and evenness were calculated. These two indicators will show the effectiveness of early management. According to the characteristics of the chicken farm and the company management system, a set of record tables were designed to record the crop fullness, average weight and evenness in detail, which were used to evaluate the feeding and management in the first seven days. The record form is an effective tool to evaluate and improve the feeding and management of broilers, and it should be brought into the quality control system of broiler farms. Fourth, when switching to the automatic feeding system, after eating the 1-day-old spread feed and starting to run the automatic feeding system, the chicks face the second challenge affecting growth and feed shortage. The following methods will help solve this problem: add another feed to the paper so that the chicks have enough time to find the feeder. Move the paper sprinkled with feed to the vicinity of the automatic feeding system. Fill the feeder with feed. The crop fullness was evaluated again, the sample was weighed, the average weight and evenness were calculated, and the feeder conversion was evaluated. In short, in order to achieve the growth potential of broilers, chicks must have a good start; in order to develop their appetite as soon as possible, it is important to manage the environment of broiler houses to ensure that chicks eat enough feed and drink enough water.