Poultry encyclopedia · NEXTEKCI School · Farm equipment
Weighing scale
A hanging or platform scale, with a bucket or net, used to weigh a sample of birds every week. It lets you compare growth with the targets, calculate flock uniformity and spot a delay before it becomes costly.
Key facts
- Sample
- About 100 birds, taken from 3 places in the house
- Frequency
- Every week, same day, same time
- Days 7 and 14
- Weigh in groups of 10 chicks in a bucket
- Weight at 7 days
- About 4 to 5 times the day-one weight
- Uniformity
- 80% or more of birds within ± 10% of the average weight = even flock
- On arrival
- Weigh about 5% of the boxes
What it is for
By eye, you only notice a growth delay once it is already large. The scale gives the flock’s average weight every week: you compare it with the targets, track uniformity and decide in time (water, feed, space, heat, health, sale date). For pullets, body weight decides when the lighting is increased.
Which scale
A hanging (hook) scale or a platform scale, with a bucket or net to hold the bird. It must be accurate enough for chicks in the first weeks and strong enough for broilers at the end of the flock. Check it from time to time with an object of known weight, and always zero it with the empty bucket or net.
The right method
Weigh about 100 birds taken from 3 different places in the house, never only near the door, where you catch the slowest ones. Weigh every week, on the same day, at the same time, before feed is given.
On days 7 and 14, weigh in groups: 10 chicks in a bucket, then divide the weight by 10. After that, weigh birds one by one. Catch them by both legs, calmly, without running through the flock, and write everything on the record sheet.
Reading the results
At 7 days, a well-started chick weighs roughly 4 to 5 times its day-one weight: this is the best indicator of brooding quality. Uniformity is the share of birds whose weight is within ± 10% of the average: 80% or more, the flock is even; 70%, average; 60% or less, poor, and you must find the cause (water, feed, space, heat, health).
Common mistakes
Weighing too few birds, or always in the same spot; weighing after feeding one week and before feeding the next; changing the weighing day; forgetting to zero the scale; writing nothing down; chasing birds around the whole house, which stresses and injures them.