The last days before sale

The chicken is sold, the truck is waiting in the yard. It is noon, and loading begins.

Six weeks of care, and one hour can ruin everything. A sold chicken can still die or lose its value.

Three losses occur when the chicken is already sold. The downgraded, the bruises, and the deaths during transport.

A damaged chicken is paid less, or not paid at all. And it was perfect the day before.

Downgrading starts in the last week. Wet litter burns the feet and marks the breast.

These marks downgrade the chicken, even if it is heavy. Keep the litter dry until the last day.

Fasting begins, but water remains in place. Remove the drinkers an hour at most before catching.

During catching, the chicken panics, jostles, and overheats. With its beak open, this is its first sign of heat stress.

I advise you to catch at night or at dawn. The air is cool, and the chicken remains calm in the dim light.

Lower the light, move slowly, without shouting. A panicking chicken throws itself onto others and gets injured.

Hold each chicken with both hands, wings against the body. Never by a wing, never by the neck.

A pulled wing breaks, a bumped thigh becomes a bruise. And this bruise, the buyer finds it during butchering.

Do not overfill the crates. In high heat, put fewer in each crate.

Tightly packed, they crowd together and suffocate in their own heat. Between the crates too, allow air to pass.

A British study counted the deaths upon arrival. Loaded in over thirty degrees, nearly seventeen times more died than in cooler conditions.

For us, the hardest part is from one to four PM. Load at dawn, and drive during the coolness.

And above all, no stopping in the sun. When the truck stops, air no longer passes between the crates. Nothing cools the chickens anymore.

None of these actions cost a bag of feed. They protect what six weeks of feed have built.

And at your place, is it you who sets the loading time, or does the buyer decide?

Send the loading time, the deaths during transport to our WhatsApp, 05 44 83 27 79, for information. The flock record book is free.

For your chicks, dial 07 07 72 78 67. Subscribe, we will talk about brooding, the worst place to save money.

Your chicks leave our hatchery in Agnibilékrou, sorted, lively, and healthy. With Nextekci, every customer is a satisfied poultry farmer.