White broiler track
From preparing the house to depletion, with the growth targets
Drawn from the School’s technical guide: open-sided house and preparation, brooding, water and feed by phase, heat, weekly weight targets, health and end of flock. Benchmarks: Cobb 500, Ross 308, Efficiency Plus.
This track is open to every registered student. The full text is in the technical guide.
- 1Growth targets: checking against the tables every weekA white broiler is sold at around 35 to 45 days. Over such a short period, a growth delay spotted too late can no longer be made up. The genetics companies’ tables, the scales and the uniformity calculation are your three tools for knowing, every week, whether the flock is on track.11 min read · 5-question quiz
- 2The open-sided house and preparing for the chicks’ arrivalA successful flock starts before the chicks arrive: a well-oriented house, a stocking density suited to the heat, thorough cleaning, dry litter and heating switched on in advance. This lesson gives the complete checklist, from the empty period to the day before arrival.11 min read · 5-question quiz
- 3The first 14 days: heat, checks and lightingThe first 14 days decide whether the flock succeeds: a well-started chick keeps its lead until sale, while a badly started chick struggles to catch up. This lesson gives the precise benchmarks: temperature and humidity by age, the two checks on feet and crops, air speed and the lighting programme.12 min read · 5-question quiz
- 4Water and feed: measuring to steer the flockWater is the broiler’s first nutrient, and feed is the flock’s biggest expense. Both are measured every day and compared with the benchmarks: the amount of water according to heat, chlorine according to pH, cumulative feed by phase. Whoever measures sees problems before mortality does.12 min read · 5-question quiz
- 5Heat and ventilation in open-sided housesIn Côte d’Ivoire, after three weeks, the broiler’s enemy is no longer cold but heat. The heaviest birds, at the end of the flock, are the first to die. In an open-sided house, the main weapon is air moving over the birds: used well, it lowers the temperature the bird feels by several degrees.11 min read · 5-question quiz
- 6Health, vaccination in drinking water, sale and recordsPrevention always costs less than treatment. This lesson brings together what protects the flock right to the end: biosecurity, the right way to give a vaccine in the water when the vet prescribes it, catching without damage, and records that help you do better with the next flock.11 min read · 5-question quiz
- 7Reading your weighings: average weight, daily gain and coefficient of variationWeighing is pointless if you cannot read the figures. A list of 100 weights holds three pieces of information: the average weight, the gain since the last weighing and how even the flock is. This lesson teaches you to draw these three figures from a weighing, compare them with the benchmarks and know what to check when one of them slips.12 min read · 5-question quiz
- 8Litter and air quality: ammonia, humidity and feetWet litter cannot always be seen, but it can be smelt and it costs money: ammonia, foot burns, breast blisters, lower weights and birds downgraded at the processing plant. Litter and air go together: the moisture in one becomes the ammonia in the other. This lesson gives the benchmarks for keeping both healthy until the birds are sold.11 min read · 5-question quiz
- 9The costliest mistakes: spotting them early with your figuresIn broiler farming, a flock lasts 35 to 45 days: a mistake spotted a week late has already cost part of the flock. The good news is that almost every big mistake shows up in the figures before it shows up in mortality. This lesson goes through five common mistakes, with worked cases based on the benchmarks, so you learn to read the warning in time.12 min read · 5-question quiz
- 10Preparing for depletion: feed withdrawal, catching, transport and quality at the processing plantThe last hours of a flock can undo part of 40 days of work: a badly timed fast contaminates carcasses, rough catching causes bruises and fractures, transport in the hot hours kills the heaviest birds. This lesson sets out how to prepare for depletion, hour by hour, and teaches you to read what the processing plant sends back: load weights and downgrades.12 min read · 5-question quiz