Rearing calendar · NEXTEKCI School

White broiler: the week-by-week calendar

What to do and watch each week, from preparing the house to the sale at around 35 to 45 days. Target weights are achieved under very good conditions: in an open-sided house, in strong heat, reaching 70 to 85% of them is a good result.

1. Before arrival

   Target

   A clean, dry house, heated and stable 24 hours before the chicks arrive.

   Temperature

   Heating switched on at least 48 hours before; floor at least 32 °C in the brooding area, about 40 °C directly under the brooders; no more than 2 °C variation over 24 hours.

   Lighting

   Lighting installed and tested: about 25 lux at floor level, with no dark corners; timer set and electrical back-up ready.

   Feed

   Starter crumbs in stock; 1 tray or sheet of paper per 50 chicks, with about 50 to 65 g of feed per chick on the paper.

   To do this week

   • ✓Clean in the right order: remove the litter, dust down, wash with detergent from top to bottom, let it dry, then disinfect; respect the downtime period.
   • ✓Clean the water tank and pipes (solution left for at least 12 hours), then rinse thoroughly.
   • ✓Repair the roof, wire mesh and curtains: no holes, curtains tightly closed at the bottom.
   • ✓Spread dry litter 5 to 10 cm deep (rice husks: 5 cm minimum) and set up the chick guard or the house partition.
   • ✓Fill the water reserve (48 hours) and set up 14 to 16 drinkers per 1,000 chicks, filled with clean water at room temperature.
   • ✓Place a min-max thermometer at chick height, in the centre of the brooding area.
   • ✓Get the scales, flock sheet and footbath ready; display the phone numbers of the vet in your area and of the NEXTEKCI advisers.
   • ✓Ask the vet in your area for the vaccination protocol before the chicks arrive.

   Watch out for

   • •Damp litter: a squeezed handful should stick slightly then crumble; if it stays in a ball, it is too wet.
   • •Draughts at floor level, or equipment placed directly under the heat source.
   • •Gas or charcoal heating: renew the air as soon as it is lit, even before the chicks arrive.
   Read the lesson

2. Week 1 (days 1 to 7)

   Target

   About 211 g at 7 days. Key benchmark: at 7 days, the chick weighs 4 to 5 times its day-one weight.

   Temperature

   32 to 33 °C on day 1, 29 to 30 °C at 7 days; air humidity 30 to 50%, then 40 to 60%. No draughts: renew the air through the top of the curtains.

   Lighting

   Day 1: light 24 hours a day, about 25 lux. From the 2nd night: a single dark period every 24 hours, always at the same time.

   Feed

   Starter crumbs, always available on paper or trays, topped up 3 times a day; about 35 g per day at 7 days (172 g cumulative).

   To do this week

   • ✓Place the chicks without delay, in soft light, close to water and feed; weigh about 5% of the boxes to know the starting weight.
   • ✓Check all the equipment 1 to 2 hours after arrival, then look at how the chicks are spread out 2 hours after.
   • ✓Hold the feet of a few chicks against your cheek 4 to 6 hours after arrival: they should feel warm.
   • ✓Feel the crops of 100 chicks at 24 hours: at least 95% full and soft.
   • ✓Check every 2 hours on the first night (temperature, chick spread, water, heating); move weak chicks to a warm separate area.
   • ✓Start on about half of the house; widen the chick guard every day from day 3.
   • ✓Record mortality, feed, water drunk and min-max temperatures every day (water benchmark: about 60 ml per chick per day at 7 days).
   • ✓Weigh a sample at 7 days and compare with the arrival weight.

   Watch out for

   • •Chicks huddled under the heat (cold), spread out with beaks open (too hot) or bunched on one side (draught).
   • •Hard crop (not enough water) or soft crop swollen with water (not enough feed).
   • •Cold feet: floor too cold.
   • •Mortality above 1% in a single day after day one: call the vet in your area.
   Read the lesson

3. Week 2 (days 8 to 14)

   Target

   About 527 g at 14 days.

   Temperature

   27 to 28 °C at 14 days; humidity 50 to 60%. Still no draughts on the chicks up to 14 days.

   Lighting

   Once the chicks weigh 100 to 160 g, lengthen the night gradually to 6 hours of continuous darkness, always at the same time.

   Feed

   Starter up to 10 to 14 days; paper and trays for 7 to 10 days, then feeders. About 70 g per day at 14 days (550 g cumulative).

   To do this week

   • ✓Remove the chick guard at around 7 to 10 days; enlarge the area (from half to three quarters of the house at 8 to 10 days, three quarters at 11 to 14 days).
   • ✓Heat and ventilate each new section for at least 24 hours before letting the chicks in.
   • ✓Raise feeders and drinkers: rim at back height; in bell drinkers, water about 1.25 cm below the rim after 7 days.
   • ✓Flush the water lines at least 3 times a week; wash open drinkers every day.
   • ✓On-farm vaccinations following the protocol of the vet in your area: carry them out and record each vaccine on the flock sheet.
   • ✓Weigh at 14 days; do the hand test on the litter, especially under the drinkers.

   Watch out for

   • •Smell of ammonia at chick height: it can cut the growth of a 7-day-old chick by 20%.
   • •Wet litter under the drinkers: drinker too low, leak or pressure too high.
   • •Water intake that stops rising from one day to the next.
   Read the lesson

4. Week 3 (days 15 to 21)

   Target

   About 1,008 g at 21 days.

   Temperature

   24 to 26 °C at 21 days; humidity 50 to 60%. Air speed over the birds: 0.5 m/s maximum.

   Lighting

   A continuous night of about 6 hours, always at the same time; in an open-sided house, natural darkness does most of the work.

   Feed

   Grower feed (15 to 28 days), changed over 3 days; about 112 g per day at 21 days (1,203 g cumulative).

   To do this week

   • ✓Switch from starter to grower over 3 days: two thirds old feed, then half and half, then one third, then all new feed.
   • ✓Use the whole house; adjust the curtains with the time of day: in the morning, open the downwind side first.
   • ✓Weigh about 100 birds in 3 places, on the same day and at the same time; work out uniformity (share of birds within ± 10% of the average weight).
   • ✓Keep a sample of every feed delivery until the sale; count the bags in stock.
   • ✓Raise feeders and drinkers to back height; no bird more than 3 m from water.
   • ✓Record water drunk every day (benchmark: about 190 ml per bird at 21 days).

   Watch out for

   • •Uneven flock: fewer than 70% of birds within ± 10% of the average weight.
   • •Panting during the hot hours.
   • •Birds going off their feed after the feed change.
   Read the lesson

5. Week 4 (days 22 to 28)

   Target

   About 1,604 g at 28 days (1.78 kg in the Cobb 500 targets).

   Temperature

   21 to 23 °C recommended at 28 days; humidity 50 to 65%. In Côte d’Ivoire it is often hotter: heat becomes the problem. Air over the birds: about 0.9 m/s.

   Lighting

   Same programme: continuous night of about 6 hours, at a fixed time.

   Feed

   Grower feed; about 152 g per day at 28 days (2,148 g cumulative). Plan the switch to finisher at 29 days.

   To do this week

   • ✓Weigh in 3 zones and work out daily gain: (this week’s weight − last week’s weight) ÷ 7.
   • ✓Check the underside of the feet at weighing: scabs mean the litter is too wet.
   • ✓Install and adjust the circulation fans (at least 90 cm, about 1 m off the floor, blowing with the wind).
   • ✓In strong heat, lift the feeders about 6 hours before the hottest time of day and feed again during the cool hours.
   • ✓Check stocking density at the planned sale weight: 30 kg of bird per m² maximum with natural ventilation.
   • ✓Order the finisher feed and prepare the 3-day changeover.

   Watch out for

   • •CV above 10%: check feeder space, water, litter and ammonia.
   • •Caked litter and ammonia (above 10 ppm at bird height).
   • •First signs of heat stress: panting, wings held away from the body, less feed eaten.
   Read the lesson

6. Week 5 (days 29 to 35)

   Target

   About 2,269 g at 35 days (2.52 kg in the Cobb 500 targets). In a hot open-sided house, 1.8 to 2.1 kg is a good result.

   Temperature

   19 to 21 °C recommended, or as cool as possible; humidity 50 to 70%. Air over the birds: 1.75 to 2.5 m/s.

   Lighting

   Continuous night of about 6 hours; in strong heat, let the birds eat during the cool hours.

   Feed

   Finisher feed (29 days to sale), changed over 3 days; about 188 g per day at 35 days (3,359 g cumulative).

   To do this week

   • ✓Switch to finisher feed over 3 days.
   • ✓In strong heat, open the curtains as low as possible on both sides; walk slowly through the house to get the birds up and drinking.
   • ✓Use misting only from 28 °C and never when humidity is above 70%.
   • ✓Keep the water cool: tanks in the shade, warm water replaced during the hot hours (benchmark: about 319 ml per bird at 35 days, much more in strong heat).
   • ✓Fix the slaughter date and time with the abattoir or buyer; decide the sale age with your own figures and the profitability calculator.
   • ✓Check in the records that the withdrawal periods of all treatments will be over before slaughter.

   Watch out for

   • •Heat stroke: the heaviest birds die first.
   • •Water intake falling without a drop in temperature: often the first sign of a problem.
   • •Rising mortality or listless birds: call the vet in your area.
   Read the lesson

7. Week 6 (days 36 to 42)

   Target

   About 2,948 g at 42 days (3.28 kg in the Cobb 500 targets).

   Temperature

   As cool as possible; air over the birds: 1.75 to 2.5 m/s. Heavy birds suffer most from the heat.

   Lighting

   Over the last 5 days before the sale, shorten the night by one hour a day. Daytime catching: raise the light to 10 to 20 lux 48 hours before.

   Feed

   Finisher feed; about 214 g per day at 42 days (4,783 g cumulative). Remove feed 8 to 12 hours before slaughter.

   To do this week

   • ✓Remove feed 8 to 12 hours before the slaughter time (catching and transport count as part of the fast); leave water until catching starts; record the time.
   • ✓Catch at night or early in the morning, in dim light, calmly; lift equipment that gets in the way and keep good ventilation.
   • ✓Put fewer birds per crate in the hot season; transport during the cool hours.
   • ✓Ask the abattoir or buyer for the weight of each load and the downgrades.
   • ✓Work out the flock’s feed conversion ratio: feed consumed ÷ total live weight sold.
   • ✓After the sale: remove the litter, clean, disinfect and leave the house empty and dry (downtime) before the next flock.

   Watch out for

   • •Stocking density going above 30 kg of bird per m² as the birds grow.
   • •Bruises and scratches: rough catching or overcrowding.
   • •The cost of each extra day: between 35 and 42 days, about 1.9 kg of feed per extra kilo gained.
   Read the lesson

8. Week 7 (days 43 to 49): if the flock is kept on

   Target

   About 3,606 g at 49 days (3.60 kg at 45 days in the Cobb 500 targets).

   Temperature

   As cool as possible; air over the birds: 1.75 to 2.5 m/s.

   Lighting

   Shorten the night by one hour a day over the last 5 days before the sale.

   Feed

   Finisher feed; about 230 g per day at 49 days (6,350 g cumulative).

   To do this week

   • ✓Only keep the flock on if your figures justify it: after 42 days, each extra kilo needs more than 2 kg of feed.
   • ✓Recheck stocking density at actual weight: 30 kg of bird per m² maximum with natural ventilation.
   • ✓Apply the heat plan every day: curtains, fans, cool water, feeders lifted during the hot hours.
   • ✓Prepare catching as in week 6: 8 to 12 hours of feed withdrawal before slaughter, calm catching in dim light.
   • ✓After the sale: cleaning, disinfection and downtime before the next flock.

   Watch out for

   • •Heat-stroke deaths among the heaviest birds.
   • •Leg problems and litter that can no longer cope.
   • •Weight gain slowing while feed intake stays high.
   Read the lesson