A brief description on Pre brooding and brooding of Broiler chicks.And mainly the different type of Brooding.

1. BROODING OF BROILER BIRDS
Dr.SHARON A J
15-MVM-044
Kerala Veterinary &Animal
Sciences University

2. Need for Brooding
 New born chicks cannot regulate the body temperature efficiently
 Higher metabolic size
 Body temperature is higher (41.70C)
 Lack of feathers for insulation.
 Thermoregulatory centre not fully developed
 It is mandatory that newly hatched chicks have to be provided with artificial heat
during the initial stages of development
 (duration depend on :- Species, Breed, Strain of Bird to be brooded )

4. Pre–Brooding
 Managemental practices before brooding or before receiving the chicks
 Purpose
 To avoid the stress on the birds
 For the sanitation and disinfection
 Expose surface to the disinfectant and fumigants
 Remove material that helps in multiplication of pathogens
 To avoid different diseases

5.  FOLLOWING MEASURES ARE GENERALLY CONSIDERED FOR TAKING GOOD RESULTS
 1. Selection of area
 2. Cleaning
 3. Removal of litter
 4. Clean the equipment
 5. Dusting/web removal
 6. Repairing
 7. White Washing
 8. Disinfection
 9. Fumigation
 10. Provision of different materials
 11. Equipment testing
 12. Arrival of chicks

6. Pre brooding cleaning
 Remove all old litter from the house.
 Sweep walls, ceiling and floors to remove dirt and dust, then scrub with water and
disinfectant.
 flake any necessary repairs to house and equipment.
 Spray the house with a safe insecticide if ticks, lice or mites have been a problem
 On the following day, wash the walls and floor with a two percent solution of a mild
disinfectant, if available; otherwise, use water. The house and equipment should
have at least two days to dry out.
 Spread litter 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in.) deep on the floor.
 If sawdust is used for litter material, cover it with paper during the first three days
so the chicks don't eat it. Sawdust can cause problems in the digestive systems of
young chicks.
 Replace the equipment and install and test the brooder at least 3 days before the
chicks arrive. peep litter management - Any organic material that absorbs moisture
can be used for litter.

8. Brooder House
 Brooder house is the shed in which the chicks are brooded
 should not be located near houses accommodating older birds to minimise
the chances for disease transmission.
 Brooding can be done in Brooder house alone or Brood-grow house or
Brood-grow-lay house.

9. Layout of Brooding Equipment's
 A few hours before the chicks arrive, put clean water in the, waterers,
completely fill the feeders and put some feed on the paper or cardboard. The
temperature under the hover should be 35 C (95 F).
 When the chicks arrive, count them and dip the beak of each one into a waterer
to be sure that it gets a drink
 Watch the chicks for at least two hours. If any are obviously ill, remove them.
The chicks' behaviour will tell you whether the brooder temperature is correct.
 Check the distribution of the chicks and see that they have feed and water often
- every three hours for the first 24 hours, including the night.
 During the brooding stage, chicks will eat through the night because light is
available continuously. They should never be without feed for more than 30
minutes at a time

10. Brooding feeders
 Brooding feeders - The first few days chicks will pick at anything and will not
be able to tell a feeding area from the rest of the floor, so it is wise to have
feed scattered over a large area. Put newspaper or cut cardboard boxes down
on the floor and scatter feed on them to supplement the chick - size feeders.

11. Brooding waterers
 Brooding waterers - For 100 chicks, use four waterers made of small clay jars
or tin cans inverted in saucers or the bottoms of larger tin cans
 Increase number and size of waterers as the flock grows
 Because chicks drown easily, openings in waterers must not be large enough
to allow chicks to fall or be pushed into the water.

12. Cartwheel Layout of Brooding

13. Inefficient brooding

14.  On the 3rd day, allow the chicks to finish the feed in the feeders. From then on, fill the feeders half
full. If chicks are eating well, remove the paper or cardboard.
 For the rest of the chickens' lives, completely change their water at dawn and in the early afternoon,
rinsing the waterers out as you do so. Chickens should have water available at all times.
 On the 6th day, be sure that there is grit in the feeders. From then on, always have grit available.
 On the 7th day, Decrease the temperature to 31.1 C (90 F). Remove the brooder guard.
 On the 14th day, lower the temperature to 29.4 C (85° F).
 On the 21st day, provide larger feeders (sLower the temperature to 26.6 C (80 F).
 On the 28th day, lower the temperature to 23.9 C (75 F)
 Place waterers on a slatted or wire mesh platform. Lower the temperature to 21.1 C (70 F). If
nighttime temperatures do not fall below this, remove the brooder.
 Even in cold weather, you may remove the brooder a week later. Make sure that drinking water does
not freeze.

15. Brooding Methods
 Spot brooding
 1.Floor Brooding
 A. Canopy Brooding
 B. Infra –Red Brooding
 C. Gas Brooding
 D. Coal Brooding
 E. Electric Brooding
 F. Hot water brooding
 G. Slab Heating
 2.Battery brooding
 3.House brooding

16. Spot brooders
 Floor brooders( Canopy/Hover brooders, infra red bulbs or propane fuelled systems)
 They are designed to keep a specific area within a building at the desired temperature.
 Common in Conventional windowless housing systems.

17. Floor Brooding
 A. Conopy Brooders
 An umbrella like canopy/bamboo basket with two to five incandescent bulbs fixed
at the inner side, is inverted and hung in such a way that that the bords can freely
move in and out.
 A hover with 1.0 m Diameter is sufficient for 250 chicks.
 The bulbs produce heat when on the hot air is trapped by the canopy in effect
providing warmth to the chicks.
1 m

18. Infra red brooding (IR)
 No canopy required
 Infra red light heats he object that comes in contact with it by Infra red
radiation.( Not the air)
 Infra red & Infra red white Bulbs are available (250 W) available.
 1 Bulb Sufficient for 250 chicks.
 Bulbs must be hung 50 cm above the litter ( to prevent catching fire of litter
material during summer)

20. Advantages of IR brooding
 Chick observation is easy due to lack of canopy.
 Accidental mortality due to improper handling of canopy is avoided.
 Germicidal effect of IR rays increases the chick survivability rate IR light has
been found to reduce cannibalism.
 Brooding cost lower
 IR enhances vitamin D synthesis.

21. Gas Brooding
 These are 6-8 ft. in diameter with a gas burner located in the top of the
dome.
 They operate on Natural Gas or LPG.
 They Accommodate 500-2000 day old chicks and have an input rating of
12000-20000 BTU ( British Thermal Units) per hour, depending on their size.
 Gas brooder 5.5 kW s sufficient for 1250-1500 chicks.

23. Catalytical Gas Brooding
 A catalyst is employed to produce a chemical reaction and heat production.
 It produces a clean Flameless heat and dust and moisture do not affect its
operation.
 It is having a Btu rating of 22000 per hour.
 Such burners use 20% less gas than the conventional gas brooder.

24. Electrical Brooding
 Used in places where Electric power is comparatively inexpensive.
 Electric heaters are placed under a canopy with a thermostat to turn the
current on and off.
 Electrical fan in some models draws fresh air from the outside at the top and
circulates it down and over the chicks on the floor.
 It requires around 2500watts of power.

26. Hot water Brooder
 Hot water pipes placed about 12in. (30cm) above the floor to supply the heat.
 Boiler heats the water in the pipes
 Thermostat helps to switch on and off the boiler to help maintain the uniform
temperature.
 Four to Eight Hot water pipes are placed down the middle of the house and an
insulated cover is placed over them to hold the heat near the floor.

27. Slab Heating
 In this method the heat is supplied from below
 A concrete slab (floor) is heated by running pipes through the concrete and
forcing warm water through the pipes.
 Boiler regulated with thermostat maintain the water temperature to the
required degree and the thermostat switch on an off the boiler according to
need.
 In some instances where electricity is cheaper the slab is heated using
electricity.
 Heating is done only a section of 6-8 ft. wide in the middle and extending the
entire length of the brooding area.( Not the entire floor)

28. Battery Brooding
 Birds are reared in Battery Brooder
 Consists of 4-5 tiered cages each of which having the heating space comprising 1/3 rd of
the area and the remaining portion as the run space.
 Heating unit consist of electric heater with a thermostatic control.
 The heating space is covered with false roofing made of GI to trap the hot air.
 Paper is spread on the wire mesh and after 10 days it is removed.
 Each tier measures 150-180 cm long,75 cm wide and 30-40 cm High
 Each tier can accommodate 25-30 Broiler chicks until market or 75 to 100 chicks up to
three weeks of brooding

30. Advantages of Battery brooding
 Housing density is high.
 There will not be ay litter born disease spread.
 Birds spend less energy due to movement restriction.(Feed efficiency will be
improved)
 Higher survivability of chicks.
 Minimum labour requirement.
 More accurate temperature control is possible

31. Disadvantage of battery brooding
 Higher initial investment
 Birds are uncomfortable due to movement restriction.
 Occurrence of Broken legs, Breast blisters and other carcass defects are
more, Especially in case of broilers.
 Handling of faecal matter is cumbersome.

32. House Brooding
 It is also called as room heating
 In environmentally controlled houses the entire house is heated to furnish
necessary brooding temperature.
 The temperature is lower than that of canopy type brooder 29 0C.
 Heat necessary to warm the entire room may be supplied by a central heater
and then forced thought the house through a duct
 1. Whole house Brooding
 2.Partial House Brooding

33. Whole House Brooding
 It is very convenient to alter the temperature precisely as per the
requirements of the chicks
 Chicks can move freely in the entire area
 No brooder guards
 Easy observation of the chicks possible.

34. Partial House Brooding
 Temporary Plastic walls Partitioning 1/3 of the brooder house Generally
 20-25 chicks per/m2 are brooded.
 The chicks move about freely within the area delineated by the plastic walls.
 He brooding temperature can be easily provided.

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