Preparing the house before arrival: heat, litter, water, feed, brooder guard, light

This lesson is part of The day-old chick: the first 30 days specialisation. It opens to every registered student, from free registration. Levels 1 to 5 and the tracks remain readable by everyone.

On the day the boxes arrive, it is too late to prepare. A cold floor does not warm up in an hour, damp litter does not dry while you unload, a drinker filled at the last minute gives water that is too cool. In level 1, you learned the checklist for the day before; here, you learn to build it yourself, figure by figure, for a flock of 2,000 chicks: how many brooders, what circle diameter, how many drinkers, how many kilos of feed on the paper, when to light up. A house that is ready on time is half of a successful start.

• ✓Build the preparation countdown, from the sanitary break to two hours before arrival
• ✓Size the brooding area: number of brooders, circle diameter, lighting-up time according to the floor
• ✓Calculate the water and feed equipment for a given flock and place it correctly
• ✓Write and sign the checklist for the day before, and refuse an arrival if one point is missing

1. The countdown: from the sanitary break to H−2
2. Heat: the floor matters more than the air
3. Litter: material, depth, dryness
4. Water: calculate, place, temper
5. Feed: trays, paper, stock
6. The guard and the light
7. The checklist for the day before
8. Going further

• •Countdown: sanitary break 14 days, litter and circles at D−3, lighting up at D−2 (concrete) or D−1 (earth), water and feed at H−2.
• •The floor matters more than the air: 32 to 34 °C under the edge of the brooder at chick height, litter at 30 to 32 °C, warm to the hand; never light up on the morning itself.
• •For 2,000 chicks: 4 brooders + 1 spare, 4 circles 4 m in diameter (500 at 40-50 per m²), 28 to 32 mini-drinkers, 40 trays, 120 kg of feed on paper, 6 to 7 bags in stock.
• •Dry litter of 5 to 8 cm (8 to 10 in the rains); water and feed never under the brooder; light 23 h, newspaper readable on the floor; no draught at chick height; high opening always open.
• •Checklist signed the day before, with figures; a missing point is corrected during the night or postpones the flock.