Chick quality and brooding

Regardless of whether the chicks are home produced or bought in as day-olds , the quality of the chick can determine the success of the flock. This is particularly the case with organic production where antibiotic support for common yolk sac infections would not be considered appropriate in other than extreme circumstances. 

The chick, by virtue of the retained yolk, can survive for 3-4 days without food or water. This should never be a survival mechanism that is put to the test, but it does explain why at 3-4 days of age it is common to see an increased mortality. Chicks with low vitality, and especially those from young parent flocks, often appear to be active until this age and then account for a mortality increase. As a guide the first week s mortality should not exceed 1 % and ideally be no higher than 0.75%. The time spent obtaining ideal conditions for the chick in terms of temperature, food, water and freedom from draughts cannot be overstated, but in a chapter such as this it is not possible to cover the finer points of management practices. It is sufficient to say that the brooding temperature of 30-32°C can be achieved by LPG (low-pressure gas) canopy brooders, by infra-red lamps, or by heat mats similar to those used in pig creeps. Whichever system is selected, the 

If the farmer has little first-hand experience of poultry husbandry, these points should be learnt from the management advisor employed by most integrators or from specialist textbooks or manuals produced by the companies supplying stock into the intensive market. However it must be remembered that when the inexperienced producer is only learning from textbooks or, even worse, learning from the ill informed local expert , the welfare of the stock is in jeopardy. 

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