The first week of a chicken’s life is by far the most important time to ‘get it right’ as a farmer. During these first days in its new surroundings, a chick must follow its instincts to scratch and peck at anything that looks like it might be food, and to find clean drinking water. Chicks also depend on their warm surroundings (32 degrees C in the first three days for broilers and layers, up to 34 C for turkeys) to maintain core temperature, and thereby encourage efficient metabolism.

Farm Practices 

Chicks are relatively fragile, just like any other young animal – susceptible to disease, mineral deficiencies, mistreatment and starvation/dehydration. Good farm practice is critical for good profitability, and we are always ready to offer advice if needed. Keep disease out of your pens by having an excellent disinfecting programme and by resting the pens for at least two weeks between batches. The rest period is very important as it allows the litter to dry, it breaks the life cycle of many micro-organisms that can cause poultry disease, and it allows you time to observe and repair any damages to equipment or to the poultry house.

Many farmers will spend the first few hours after chick placement watching and observing. This simple technique allows immediate responses to unexpected problems such as thirsty chicks rushing water bottles and getting wet, then cold, then huddling on one another to get warm. Turkeys exhibit this behavior in a much more erratic way than do broilers and layers, with much more exaggerated results – wet birds become desperate for warmth, piling up on one another and causing suffocation and trampling deaths. If you are placing turkeys more than 24 hours after hatch, being present for the first few hours can mean the difference between all of your turkey poults surviving the first night or many of them getting wet and being trampled or suffocated.

Preparation for Arriving Chicks 

During your rest period, ensure that all equipment is functioning properly. Disinfect chick feeders and waterers, disinfect the pen, treat the litter with disinfectants and by piling it to generate heat that destroys insects and bacteria. 2 days before the chicks arrive, place a layer of new, sterile pine shavings or treated / aged bagasse in the brooding area. Check feeders and waterers to make sure you have the recommended amount of each; check your brooding heater to make sure it is working as expected. On the day you expect the chicks to arrive, your brooding area should already be up to the right temperature as measured on the litter with a thermometer. Children’s ear thermometers are perfect for measuring the litter temperature, and are available at many pharmacies around the island. When the chicks arrive, they should be placed in the warm brooding area on clean NEW litter and they should immediately be able to find cool, clean water and fresh, palatable feed.

Rolls of craft paper are often used with broilers and layers to cover the litter and sprinkle feed around for quick recognition by the chicks. Do not use chick paper with turkeys; the flat, relatively slippery surface can cause spraddled legs in turkey poults, a condition that they will not likely recover from unless it is caught and quickly corrected with very individualized attention.

Temperature + Environment 

Baby chicks must be given a brooding area which is clean, dry and warm. In the Caribbean our day time air temperatures in summer are roughly equal to the ideal brooding temperature, however drafts, shaded areas and moisture can all lower the inside air temperature below ideal. Regardless of time of year and the temperature outside, always check the litter temperatures and add heat or ventilation as required.

High-Wattage heat bulbs (250 watts) or our InterHeat® Carbon Fiber Heaters (900, 1200 or 1500 Watt) can be used where electricity is available; a gas-burning heater such as our Gasolec® M8 Gas Brooder, which is roughly equivalent to the 1500 watt electric heater, can be used where no electricity is available in the pen. The electricity and gas cost for either method will be approximately the same. Baby chicks need the heat to build up their internal ‘core temperature’, which is required to get their metabolism going. Without a warm environment, they don’t go looking for food; instead, they huddle together to get warm – often causing condensation and further cooling, in a vicious cycle which often results in bacterial infection and mortality. At best, it delays the commencement of feeding and growth.

Poor temperatures in the first 48 hours of brooding will give the flock an inconsistent growth rate – some birds will grow reasonably well, others will be stunted because they started to develop later than the large ones – and they often will never catch up. An adequately heated brooding area – average 250 watts per 150 to 250 birds depending on how windproof your location is – will show chicks spread evenly throughout the entire space; if too cold, they will huddle on one another in corners or under any available source of warmth; too hot, and they will shy away from heat lamps and gas heaters, trying to escape to the edges of the pen.

Beware of rapid temperature decreases on rainy days! Nighttime temperatures usually drop below ideal brooding conditions, so heaters should be switched back on and curtains used to avoid heat-stealing wind draughts.  By day 7, your birds will require less and less supplemental heat – follow the temperature guidelines and use your thermometers to make sure you are providing the most ideal environment at all times.

Feed + Water

Chicks must be provided with enough space and consistent feed and water – each period of no feed or water can significantly delay the total time needed to achieve full market size. Brooding requirements include one 1-gallon water bottle per 100 chicks and one feeder tray or Turbo-Gro mini feeder per 100 chicks. Growth efficiency is irreversibly damaged if feed and water are not provided within the first 96 hours after hatching. The warmth provided by heaters gives the chicks a body temperature which encourages their metabolism, and the feed provides the nutrients needed to start the growth process. Chicks do not ‘know’ that the feed in the tray is feed; they only act on instinct by scratching and pecking at interesting things in their environment; when their crops are filled with feed, their bodies identify the feed as something useful, and their instinct brings them back to that feed. If no feed is provided, they eat litter or other small particles (which may or may not be nutritious) and have to re-learn eating habits when feed is finally introduced.

Broilers, layers and turkeys all have specialized dietary requirements which are addressed in feeds that are designed for each of them. Broiler feed is the most commonly available in Barbados, sometimes specialized layer and turkey starters are not available… layer chicks and turkey poults can, in a crunch, be fed broiler starter. Turkey poults should not be given coccidiosis medication unless recommended by a veterinarian; some of these medications are toxic to turkeys in high enough quantities, even though they can be beneficial to broilers and layers in preventing infection. Turkeys on broiler starter should also be given vitamin supplements including vitamin D and vitamin E to ensure adequate availability of these very important ingredients in the development of fast growing birds.

Days 7 To 14

Broilers are growing machines – they are expected to increase to 4 times their hatch weight in 7 days (from approximately 45 grams to 180 grams). With the most demanding part of brooding now over, your focus should shift to making sure they are eating and drinking as expected. Monitor and record feed consumption, weigh your birds at the end of every week to see whether they are on target or not. By day 14, your broilers should weigh a whopping 460 grams, or 1 pound – 10 times their hatch weight. Pay extremely close attention to house temperatures, if you drop the temperature too soon your broilers will huddle in the search for warmth.  

Turkeys also grow very quickly, from 40 to 60 grams at hatch up to 160 grams at day 7, 380 grams at day 14. House temperatures start to drop to 29 C (day 7) and then 28 C (day 14). Monitor feed consumption and end-of-week weights to make sure your birds are on track for a good result.

Layers will also be over the most challenging part of brooding and farmers should shift their focus to gradually reducing house temperatures while monitoring feed consumption.    

Look out for: 

• Huddling together in corners, or under heat sources – including rays of sunlight coming through the sides. Increase the heat in the house.
• Birds spreading out away from heat sources and crowding the sides of the pen – decrease the additional heating. Chicks and poults should be randomly scattered throughout the pen if the heating is correct.
• Meeting end of week weight targets – possibly the best measure of potential growth performance for broilers and turkeys. If they don’t meet weight at 14 days, they won’t meet weight targets at 6 weeks.
• Feed consumption being less than expected, or chicks scratching the feed out into the litter because they don’t like the taste or texture.
• Water consumption being less than expected; chicks that don’t drink, won’t eat.
• Early signs of disease or nutritional deficiencies – unexplained mortality, birds falling over and can’t get back up, leg weakness, spongy leg bones.