- ✓Succeed with brooding using the same benchmarks as for the white broiler
- ✓Adapt stocking density, feed and ventilation to a long flock
- ✓Keep the flock even and healthy until the sale
Brooding identical to the white broiler
Clean, preheated house, floor at 32 °C in the brooding area, water and feed straight away, warm feet 4 to 6 hours after arrival and 95% of crops full and soft at 24 hours. Up to 5 days, the chick cannot regulate its temperature; it only does so fully at 14 days.
| Age | Recommended temperature | Air humidity |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 32 to 33 °C | 30 to 50% |
| 7 days | 29 to 30 °C | 40 to 60% |
| 14 days | 27 to 28 °C | 50 to 60% |
| 21 days | 24 to 26 °C | 50 to 60% |
| 28 days | 21 to 23 °C | 50 to 65% |
| 35 days and over | 19 to 21 °C (or as cool as possible) | 50 to 70% |
Source: Cobb. In Côte d'Ivoire, after 21 days, it is often hotter than these temperatures: the problem is no longer cold but heat. And a flock of coloured chickens stays several more weeks after that age.
Fewer chickens per square metre
For coloured chickens, allow 6 to 8 chickens per m², and fewer if you keep them up to 12 weeks. A 100 m² house therefore takes about 600 to 800 coloured chickens.
Why fewer than for white broilers? Because the flock stays a long time and often ends up heavy. At 8 chickens per m², 3 kg red broilers already make 24 kg of chicken per m². Cobb's benchmark for a naturally ventilated open-sided house is 30 kg per m² at most. Too many chickens per m² means more heat, more mortality and damp litter.
In the hot season, or for a large festive chicken, stay at the bottom of the range.
Three feeds, a longer period
The coloured chicken receives a standard crumbled starter feed, then a grower feed, then a finisher feed. It eats for longer than the white broiler: feed remains the biggest expense of the flock.
- During brooding: feed always available on paper or trays for 7 to 10 days, topped up 3 times a day.
- Feeders at the height of the birds' backs; never leave them empty.
- Change feed gradually, and keep a sample of each delivery until the sale.
- In strong heat: raise the feeders about 6 hours before the hottest time, then feed again when it is cooler.
Source: Cobb.
Water, litter and air
A chicken drinks about twice what it eats, much more in strong heat:
| House temperature | Litres of water per 1 kg of feed |
|---|---|
| 20 °C | 2 litres |
| 26 °C | 2.5 litres |
| 37 °C | 5 litres |
Keep the litter dry: remove the damp patches around the drinkers every day. A handful of litter squeezed in the hand should stick a little and then crumble.
Up to 14 days, no draughts on the chicks: the air is renewed by opening the curtains from the top. After that, air moving over the birds becomes your best weapon against heat.
| Age | Air speed at bird level |
|---|---|
| 0 to 14 days | Still air (no draught) |
| 15 to 21 days | 0.5 m/s at most |
| 22 to 28 days | About 0.9 m/s |
| Over 28 days | 1.75 to 2.5 m/s (very useful in strong heat) |
Source: Cobb.
In strong heat
The coloured chicken copes better with heat, especially the naked necks. But a long flock ends up heavy, and it is the heaviest birds that suffer most.
- Open the curtains as low as possible and on both sides to pass a maximum of air over the birds (after 14 days).
- Circulation fans of at least 90 cm, about 1 m from the floor, tilted in the direction of the wind.
- Misting: start it at around 28 °C, never when the air is already very humid (over 70%).
- Walk slowly through the house: the birds get up, the air circulates and they go and drink.
Source: Cobb.
A 12-week flock often goes through a change of weather. On rainy days, watch the litter near the curtains and the drinkers, and close the side exposed to the rain without cutting off the air.
A long flock must be followed closely
- Every day: deaths, feed, water drunk, minimum and maximum temperature, treatments.
- Every week: average weight and uniformity, compared with the targets for the right type of chicken.
- Light: in an open-sided house, the natural night does most of the work; a continuous night of about 6 hours strengthens the chicken's defences.
Source: Cobb.
For the entrepreneur
- ›Calculate the number of chicks from the floor area: 6 to 8 per m², fewer for a long flock or in the hot season.
- ›Plan the three feeds and the stock for the whole length of the flock.
- ›Invest in air: curtains in good condition and circulation fans for the end of the flock.
For the technician
- ›Check the feet 4 to 6 hours after arrival and the crops at 24 hours.
- ›Remove the damp patches of litter around the drinkers every day.
- ›Record deaths, feed, water drunk, minimum and maximum temperatures every day.
The 3 questions to ask your technician this week
- How many chickens per m² do we have in this house, and how many kilos per m² at the end of the flock?
- What share of the crops was full and soft at 24 hours?
- At what time do we raise the feeders in strong heat?
Key points
- •Brooding identical to the white broiler: floor at 32 °C, crops checked at 24 hours.
- •6 to 8 coloured chickens per m², fewer for a 12-week flock.
- •Cobb benchmark: 30 kg of chicken per m² at most in a naturally ventilated open-sided house.
- •Three feeds: crumbled starter, grower, finisher.
- •No draughts on the chicks before 14 days; after that, air over the birds.