Just like children, baby chicks need a lot of attention if they’re going to do well when they’re older, a hatchery owner told a group of producers interested in raising pasture poultry.
“The start is very important,” said Al Keshwani, owner of Rochester Hatcheries in Rochester, Alta.
“Brooding conditions will impact how they will do later.”
Just because chickens are raised outside and not in a climate-controlled barn doesn’t mean they need any less attention to their feed, water or the first few critical hours of life, he said.
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Keeping the chicks warm on cold spring days is key to their survival.
“It is amazing how many people think if they are warm, the chicks are warm,” he said. “Why don’t we just admit we can’t tell if it’s right for the chicks and buy a thermometer.”
The temperature needs to be 28 C at the farthest area from the brood lamp, but Keshwani likes to keep it five degrees hotter.
“It’s easy to reduce the temperature, it’s harder to increase it.”
There must be enough heat lamps to maintain the temperature at night when the brooding areas cool down. He also insists on at least 15 centimetres of shavings or wood to protect the chicks from a cold floor.
Ensuring the new chicks get adequate water in the first two hours is important. Keshwani increases the recommended amount of waterers in the brooder to make it easy for the chicks to find water. He also fills new fibre egg flats with sugar water for extra energy.
“It really doesn’t cost that much to do all those things and it can make the difference if the chicks are stressed or they’re dropping dead on people.”
Keshwani said he and a fellow producer once received two-day-old chicks from the United States that had become dehydrated on the journey.
At $5 a chick he couldn’t afford to lose any and smothered them with attention.
He said he had no losses, while the other producer lost more than half his chicks.
