Drs. Teryn Girard and Hollyn Maloney
The newly designed poultry division at our clinic, Prairie Swine Health Services, focuses intently on a field approach to health management. A strong focus by the producer and attention to detail during the first 10 days, known as the brooding period, is key to success in both broiler and turkey barns.
Why does the brooding period matter so much?
Brooding allows a producer to set his or her birds up for success as soon as they get into the barn. Good brooding means that regardless of whether you get good or poor quality chicks, you have done everything in your power to help your flock thrive. The power of good brooding is most notable with poor quality chicks. With good brooding, a great flock is still achievable.
What are the goals of proper brooding?
- Get the birds on feed immediately
- Get the birds on water immediately
- Train birds to use the feed and waterlines
- Have the birds evenly distributed through the barn
- Good 7-day bodyweights
- Low first week and overall flock mortalities
How to prepare the barn for placement
The pre-placement period is often overlooked during the development of a flock health plan. Properly clean and disinfect the barn and waterlines, especially if the previous flock had a high disease challenge. Allow disinfectant to sit in waterlines to remove bacterial films that have accumulated in the lines during the previous flock.
Further, it is important in colder climates to heat the barn prior to placement and prior to adding bedding to the barn. We have found that the floor remains cool if the barn is not properly heated or if the barn is only pre-heated after the addition of bedding because the bedding insulates the cold floor. Cool temperatures during the brooding period will reduce feed and water consumption. Barns should be preheated to 88-91 F/ 31-33 C with 60-70% humidity prior to adding bedding. Bedding should be placed at least 24 hours prior to placement so it has time to warm up. Bedding temperature should reach 82.4-86 F/29-30 C. However, these temperatures are dependent on your heat source and humidity.
A minimum of 50 g of feed per bird should be placed on evenly spread chick paper. Increase this amount to 60 g of feed per bird if chicks are poor quality or previous flocks have struggled to get onto feed. Feeders should be set to flood mode and drinkers should be set so the nipple is at the bird’s eye level for the first few days.
How to support the bird at placement
The birds are about to arrive so every detail must be analyzed. Double check that all cleaning solution has been emptied from the waterlines by flushing the lines. Allow time for the new, fresh water to come to room temperature. Ensure the water flow rate is appropriate. Flow rate will depend on the type of nipple your waterline has.
Ensure light intensity is between 40-60 lux. An interesting detail we have been focusing on during our brooding audits is measuring air speed. It is important to ensure your birds have access to fresh oxygen and CO2 is removed. However, airspeed should not be higher than 0.15 m/second (30 ft/minute).
We encourage producers to take initial body weights and vent temperatures at placement to determine the initial health status of this flock. Vent temperatures should be between 103-105 F/ 39.4-40.5 C. Check body weights and temperatures on birds in all four quadrants of the barn.
Over the first 24 hours, it is important to assess crop fill. Seventy five percent of birds should have a full crop two hours after placement and 80% of birds should have a full crop 4 hours after placement. If crop fill is below these targets, you should investigate why birds are not eating. First, you must determine what the crops feel like. The crop will feel soft and squishy if birds have only been drinking but not eating and hard if birds have only been eating but not drinking. An empty crop indicates that the bird is neither eating nor drinking. Alternatively, you may feel litter in the crop if birds are trying to eat but not finding feed. Next, watch how your birds behave. If birds are huddling or panting you should check the temperature. If birds appear frantic or sleepy you should check the lighting and the temperature. If birds are only eating litter, ensure that feed is accessible and easy to get to in all areas of the barn. Walk the barn regularly in the first 24-48 hours to stimulate the birds and encourage them to transition from the feed on the paper to the feeders.
How to evaluate your brooding practices
Data collection at placement and throughout brooding is essential to evaluate your brooding practices. Compare your seven-day average body weight with the initial average body weight at placement. Body weights should be 4-4.5 times what they were at placement.
Use your flock sheet to record everything you do during the brooding period. Record keeping will ensure you can evaluate your process at the end of every flock, Evaluation is essential to create a specific plan for your facility.
Observe vent temperature patterns through the brooding period to determine how comfortable birds were shortly after arrival, as they adjusted to barn conditions, and how any changes in the barn may have affected them. Lastly, at the end of the flock cycle, you can look at total flock mortality and condemnations as we have found both of these parameters correlate with how well the first week went. Below is a table we use for producers to record information about brooding in addition to their regular flock records.
| Brooding Record | ||||||
| Amount of Feed on Paper (g/bird): | ||||||
| Day | Average Body Weight | Average Vent Temperature
(Minimum 25 birds) |
Water Consumption | Feed Consumption | Light Intensity | Hours of Light |
| 0 | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 4 | ||||||
| 5 | ||||||
| 6 | ||||||
| 7 | ||||||
| 8 | ||||||
| 9 | ||||||
| 10 | ||||||
Dr. Teryn is a poultry veterinarian for Prairie Swine Health Services and holds a masters degree in poultry ethology (behaviour). Dr. Teryn spends a significant portion of her time providing veterinary support to the poultry group within Cargill Animal Nutrition in Western Canada. When she’s not working, Dr. Teryn enjoys reading, swimming, hiking and biking in the mountains.
Dr. Hollyn is a poultry and swine vet with Prairie Swine Health Services and holds a masters degree in public health. She spends about 80% of her time working with poultry producers across Alberta. When she’s not working, Dr. Hollyn enjoys hiking, skiing, cycling, and gardening.
