RED DEER – Chicken is competing against beef and pork, which means producers must do all they can to deliver quality to the customer.
Condemnations due to disease or contamination on the carcass cost everyone in the chain, said Carlyle Bennett of Manitoba Agriculture.
For example, he told a poultry research seminar in Red Deer, Alberta has the highest rate of chicken cellulitis in Canada.
“Cellulitis leads to condemnation, and it seems like a solvable problem,” he said.
The infection can result if a bird gets a scratch or open sore, sits in litter full of harmful bacteria.
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Foot pad injuries are another common problem.
It is painful for birds and the feet lose their value.
Bennett said these sores are a reflection of barn conditions rather than feed or genetics.
Birds that walk on litter that is too wet, too coarse or produces too much ammonia can develop lesions, which can heal if the floors are checked and problems repaired.
Bennett suggests checking the foot pads of birds that died because those with sound feet are generally in good overall condition.
Processors and restaurants de-manding better animal care may measure the number of foot pad injuries and rate commercial producers accordingly.
“If you are going to hold producers to a standard, you can hold them to a standard they can control,” he said.
Producers should count chick deaths in the first seven days of life. Early death loss is a leading indicator of chick quality, and the hatchery needs to know if the number of deaths is significant so it can investigate its contribution to the losses.
Birds should then be weighed at 10 to 14 days of age because growth rate reflects feed and barn management. Talk to the feed mill about the diet as soon as possible.
Grower diets can be adjusted to slow or speed growth.
Feeders and drinkers need to be checked to make sure there is enough feed in the pans and water is flowing properly.
Good ventilation is necessary if producers are trying to go drug free.
Examine air inlets to prevent “lazy air” in the barn. The air is supposed to come in through inlets and circulate. Cold air is heavy and may sink to the floor, cause condensation and result in wet litter and wet birds.
When it is time to ship the birds, producers should withdraw feed to manage the condition of the guts and curb contamination.
Producers should order the last feed a week before chickens are shipped. Don’t let the bin run empty because that will result in too much carcass shrink.
Chickens will stop eating once all the pellets and crumbs are gone because they do not like the fines. Cooling the barn is not a good way to stop feed intake.
Processing plants tell producers when to take birds off feed but sometimes things go wrong. The catching crew or trucks may be late or the birds stay on the truck for more than six hours.
Bennett recommended providing water for an hour after feed is re-moved.
The birds need to drink enough after they are taken off feed to flush out material. The gut deteriorates if they are off feed too long and could easily tear and release material onto the carcass.
Weight will also shrink. The gizzard is a grinding organ and does not have to be empty.
If chickens drink too much, the digested material moves out of the gizzard and into the gut where it can spill onto the carcass during processing.
A carcass may become contaminated while hanging on the processing line if feed leaks out of the crop through the mouth, feces are excreted from the vent or material in the digestive tract is released by nicking, cutting or tearing the intestine during processing.
The intestinal tract should be mostly empty and intestines should flatten out so material is not likely to spill out.
If birds are off feed for too long, the intestines may be full of gas that may gurgle out and cause contamination.
