Ahmed Shaban El-banna

ahmedsh22006@gmail.com

BROODING OF
BROILER CHICKS
How to improve 7-day weight
 • During the first 7 days 80% of the
energy is used for growth and only
20% for maintenance, indicating
the importance of this period in the
The importance chicken's life.
• According to management
of 7-day weight guidelines for the modern broiler,
the birds are supposed to increase
live weight 4.25 times during the
first 7 days, from approx. 40g to
180g.
 The importance of 7-day weight

• Good early development of the chick reaching high 7day weights

will ,for example, improve the nutritional maturity of the bird and
accelerate development of the gastro- intestinal tract.
• Also muscle growth and development of muscle morphology
improves, as will the long-term metabolic effects.
• The immune response in young chickens gets better, on the other
hand delayed growth impairs immunological capacities.
• As a result, final performance will be better, eg increased total
growth, improved feed conversion and better uniformity.
 • To confirm the importance of achieving a
good early development, field data was
collected on as hatched Broiler bird flocks
within the European and African region.
• Case studies under Western European
conditions show that improvements of 1g at
Confirmation 7 days correspond to 6g at 37 days of age.
from practice • Gathered data illustrates that good 7-day
weight is positively correlated with high final
body weight (Figure 1).
• Also depending on live weight reached,
there may be a bigger impact when targeting
weight above 180g at 7 days of age. (Dr Annsofie
Wahlstrom, nutritionist Cobb-Europe Ltd)
These data demonstrate that you may increase final weight when the
7-day weight increases from 150g to 180g.
So …. How to improve
7-day weight?
Accept Reality !

• Chicks are not always excellent

• Long transportation is sometimes necessary
• Age of the breeder flock counts

But … perfect result is still possible

Only after right actions
 Management Actions
Below are 5 key points to help ensure
How to optimal early broiler performance:
• Correct brooding conditions such as
improve 7- temperatures, humidity and carbon
dioxide level to stimulate feed intake
day weight • Easy access to feed
• Follow up feed intake by checking the
crops, 95% of the crops should be full • Highly digestible raw materials since the
within 24 hours
• Pay extra attention to feed intake
after four days when many
disturbances occur
• Try to reduce the percentage of small
chicks by seven days by getting the
necessary early feed intake
Dietary Actions
• There are several dietary actions possible
to increase or secure an optimum weight
at seven days. With, for example, the
chicken's gastro-intestinal tract immature
during the first week of age, it is
important to compose feed with:
chicken's enzyme system is not mature.
• High hygiene quality of material included
since the bird's immune response system
is not fully developed and a challenge
might be more devastating to the young
chicken compared to an older bird.
• Optimum breed specific diets and a high
quality of the feed presentation will
enable the small chickens to consume
the amount needed for adequate growth.
 Temperature

Relative Humidity

Management Litter
Actions
Feed Avaibility

Light

Research has shown that
the chick develops the
ability to regulate its
body temperature
around 12 to 14 days of
age. The chick can be
easily stressed if its body
temperature decreases
Temprature or increases by as much
as one degree. Once the
body temperature
changes the bird will try
to compensate and in
most cases this means
that it will have a
negative effect on
performance.
One of the goals during
brooding is to maintain chicks
within their comfort zone,
which is where they are not
using energy to gain or lose
heat to maintain body
temperature.
When birds are kept in
environmental temperatures
above or below their comfort
zone, more energy must be
expended to maintain body
temperature.
This extra energy will
ultimately be supplied by the
feed consumed.
Therefore, the energy from
the feed will be used to
maintain body temperature
instead of growth and
development resulting in
poorer feed conversion.
 • The term relative humidity refers to the
percent of water saturation of air at any given
temperature. The level of humidity influences
the ability of the bird to cool itself through
panting and influences ammonia production.
• Monitor RH within the broiler house daily. If it
falls below 50% in the first week, the
Relative environment will be dry and dusty.
Humidity • The chicks will begin to dehydrate and be
predisposed to respiratory problems and
performance will be adversely affected. Take
action to increase RH.
• RH can be increased by using a backpack
portable sprayer to spray the walls with a fine
mist.
Fogging system To increase R.H in modern poultry houses
 • Making the correct decisions on the comfort of
the birds can only be made if the relationship
between temperature and RH is understood. The
temperature being felt by the bird (the effective
Relationship temperature) is dependent on the dry bulb
temperature and RH.
between • Variation in RH will influence effective
temperature temperature:
and RH - Higher RH reduces evaporative heat loss,
increasing effective temperature.
- Lower RH increases evaporative heat loss,
decreasing effective temperature.
This table
illustrates the
relationship
between
temperature and
RH. If RH is above
or below 60%, the
temperature of the
house at chick level
should be adjusted
in line with the
figures given
 Litter

For optimal broiler welfare &

Litter quality health (foot pad condition,
directly affect respiratory function, eye
condition, etc.), litter should
bird cover the entire floor and
performance should be dry and friable
(loose).

Litter Minimum Litter Depth (or

temperature Volume) Requirements :
should be above Dry Sawdust 2.5 cm
32 C increasing to 5 cm in winter
 • It is recommended that a low level of relative humidity
be maintained between 50 and 70 percent throughout
the growout period, including the brooding period.
• Dusty conditions in the poultry house are associated
with relative humidity below 50 percent.
• Relative humidity of 70 percent or greater provides
environmental conditions suitable for microbial growth
in the litter. As the microbial population increases,
Relationship between more ammonia is generated from nitrogen sources
found in bird fecal material.
Litter quality , RH and
• Ammonia is a gas that has a negative impact on bird
Ventilation( Air quality) health and performance. As increased ammonia
impairs the immune system and increases respiratory
disease in birds.
• High ammonia levels during brooding reduces growth
rate, which is not gained back during the remainder of
the growout.
• Ammonia production can be reduced through the
control of relative humidity which in turn is regulated
by ventilation.
 • Feed intake makes it possible for chicks to grow, developing
necessary tissues and systems.
• It is fundamental that chicks have easy and unrestricted
access to feed from the start.
• Their growing potential is highest during the first week and will
naturally decrease in the following weeks.
• However, this will be irreversibly reduced if a correct seven-
Feed day weight is not achieved.
• In a chick’s first days, protein and energy from the feed will be
Availability used for basic metabolic needs and for development of vital
systems like the skeletal, digestive and immune.
• Therefore, if not enough feed is available, development will
be delayed and reduced since chicks will just try to stay alive
and only use whatever protein and energy is left for
development.
• Inadequate feed amounts can also lead to loss of
weight/uniformity and increased culls and mortality as chicks
will be more sensitive to disease challenges and will have
depleted immunity levels following early vaccinations.
 Feed Avialability
• To achieve the correct feed intake, make
access to feed as easy as possible. We
advises poultry men to cover at least 50
percent of the brooding area with good-
quality paper and provide at least 75 grams
of feed per chick on the paper.
• This allows all chicks to have adequate feed
available and will make for an easier
transition to the automatic feeding system.
• It is also possible, especially with partial
house brooding, to use trays or
supplemental manual feeders.
• If using manual feeders, make sure that
there is at least one per 50 chicks and that
they never run empty since that will create a
huge stress for chicks, leading to reduced
growth.
Light
• Light is an important factor during brooding that should not be
ignored.
• Chick activity is greater in bright light intensity than in low light
intensity.
• During brooding the light should be at the brightest intensity to
encourage chick activity thus assisting them to locate feed and water.
• Once they learn where feed and water are located (somewhere
around 7 to 10 days of age), the light intensity and duration can and
should be reduced.
Light systems should be designed
to produce a minimum of 25 lux
or more.

• Some breeds guidelines advises

to provide 40 lux at chick level
in the brood area.
Dietary Actions
Broiler Pre-starters
Broiler Pre-starters

• There are two types of pre-starters.

• One comes in the form of paste. This is usually supplied in a limited
amount in the boxes during transportation from the hatchery to the
broiler house.
• It aims mainly to keep birds hydrated, but it also offers a good source of
energy and electrolytes.
Broiler Pre-starters

• The second type of pre-starter

is more likely the usual dry
feed, but it is a fortified diet
supplying extra energy,
minerals, vitamins, and most
importantly certain additives
for enhanced gastrointestinal
health.
( Ioannis Mavromichalis - poultryworld.net)
 1. Organic acids

2. Phytogenics
5 alternative
broiler super 3. Hydrolyzed proteins
pre-starter
ingredients 4. Animal plasma

5. Enzymes
 In brief
• There are many ingredients and additives that can be
used to design a broiler super pre-starter.
• The design of such feed will be different when it is to
be part of a drug-free nutrition program.
• In such cases, not only alternative anti-pathogen
agents are required, but proteins of high digestibility
are also a must.
• Among them, animal plasma can provide a double
function as a gut health agent, in addition to being
highly digestible.
(Ioannis Mavromichalis, Ph.D., is an animal nutrition industry consultant)
Goodbye Ahmed Shaban El-
banna