7 Ways to Produce High-Quality Broiler Day-Old Chicks
Produce high-quality broiler chicks on your own farm: choose young breeders, select and fumigate eggs, and control storage, temperature and hatch timing.
Broiler day-old chicks (DOC) grow quickly. The downside is that they are easily stressed, which can open the door to a range of diseases. That is why a chick's resilience depends heavily on its quality: the better the DOC, the hardier it is. You can get DOC from farmers who are experienced in producing them, or you can produce them yourself. Beginners are better off buying from experienced breeders, while those who have been in the business for a while can produce DOC on their own farms. Producing quality broiler DOC yourself can keep operating costs from ballooning, as long as you know how. If you want to produce high-quality broiler DOC, here is how:
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Young Breeding Hens
One way to produce quality broiler DOC is to choose breeding hens that are still young. Young breeders lay quality hatching eggs that go on to become superior stock. The older the breeder, the more likely its eggs are small or even abnormal, which makes them unsuitable as breeding stock.
Select the Eggs
Not every egg can be hatched into a DOC, so careful selection is needed. Set aside eggs that are dirty, have cracked shells or fall short of the standard weight. You can also check the yolk: eggs with double yolks are abnormal and very likely won't hatch.
Also read 4 Tips for Proper Broiler Chicken Coop Management
Fumigation
Fumigation removes the bacteria and fungi clinging to the eggshell. The goal is to keep them from getting into the egg, where they could make the hatched chicks sickly and unfit for raising. Never store eggs without fumigating them first.
Proper Storage
After fumigation, the eggs can be stored. Proper storage is essential for the eggs to hatch on time. Quality DOC hatch neither too late nor too early, so it is crucial to keep track of how long the eggs are stored.
Temperature
During storage, eggs need warmth, which can come from lamps or a brooder. Also keep the eggs in an enclosed space to protect them from rats and cats. Adjust the temperature as you go, since the temperature at the start of storage differs from the temperature at the end.
Egg Position
To hatch quality chicks, you need to position the eggs correctly. Storing eggs properly protects their internal structure from damage that would lower their quality. The right way to store eggs is with the pointed end up and the rounder end down.
Schedule the Hatch
To keep track of which eggs were stored or incubated first, you can number them. You can also schedule the right time for each egg to hatch. If an egg doesn't hatch on schedule, you can wait a few more days, but that chick's quality will be lower.
Broiler DOC prices fluctuate, and when chicks are scarce, prices soar. Higher prices naturally hit your farm by driving up costs, on top of feed, which is just as big an expense. You can get around this by producing your own DOC. Follow the tips above to produce high-quality broiler DOC.
Also read Chicken Egg Quality Keeps Improving Year After Year
