Water and feed as signals: the water/feed ratio and its alerts
A sick chicken stops drinking normally twelve to twenty-four hours before showing a visible sign. A hot chicken drinks more and eats less from the first hour. A blocked drinker shows on the water meter before it shows on the birds. Water and feed are the only two things we measure every day on the whole flock, without catching a single bird: they are the technician's best early-warning signals, provided you know how to read them together, in a single figure, the water/feed ratio.
12 min read · 5-question quiz at the end
By Abdul Hussein ChoumanFounder of NEXTEKCI · Agnibilékrou hatchery since 2006Lesson reserved for students following the steps
This lesson is part of Level 10 — Technical analysis and management. It opens to registered students who have passed the level 9 exam. Levels 1 to 5 and the tracks remain readable by everyone.
What you will learn
- ✓Measure every day the water drunk and the feed consumed per house, and bring them back to a per-bird figure
- ✓Calculate the water/feed ratio and know its normal ranges according to age and temperature
- ✓Recognise the four alert signals of the water/feed pair and know what to check for each
- ✓Keep the water/feed column of the record book so that the alert is seen the same day