poultry eggs hatching

1. CLASSIFICATION OF BROODING
Natural brooding
 It is done with the help of broody hens after hatching, up to 3 to 4 weeks of age.
Artificial brooding
 In artificial brooding large number of baby chicks are reared in the absence of broody hen.
 Equipments used for brooding are called brooders. Brooder comprises of three elements:
o Heating source
o Reflectors
o Brooder guard
 Heating source may be electrical, gases like natural gas, LPG and methane, liquid fuel like kerosene and solid fuel like coal,
wood can be used as a heating material.
Charcoal stove / kerosene stove
 Where electricity is not available, ordinary charcoal / kerosene stoves are used to provide supplementary heat to
chicks.
These stoves are covered with plate / pans to dissipate the heat.

2. Infra red bulbs
 It is a self reflecting bulb. One 250 watts IR bulb can provide brooding for about 150 to 250 chicks.
 Gas brooder Natural gas, LPG or methane is connected to heating element which is hanged 3 to 5 feet above the
chick to provide heat. Now practised particularly in semi-environmentally controlled and environmentally
controlled houses. These are costly but can take care of 1500 to 2000 chicks
Electrical brooder
 It is also thermostatically controlled heating system that spread required amount of heat uniformly above large
area, this avoid crowding of chicks under brooder directly.
 One electrical brooder can be used for 300 to 400 chicks.

3. Heater coils
 Hater coils may also be provided for warmth instead of bulbs.
 Heater coils of various watts capacities with thermostats, reflector hoods and hanging chains are available for
providing heat to chicks. These coils are more suitable for cold climates, because they give more heat. Separate tube
lights have to be provided for lighting the house. They have to be hanged above the reach of the chicks
 Centralised heating system of brooding is followed in environmentally controlled poultry houses; where the
room temperature is maintained at an average of 32°C during first week of age
 Battery brooders – Multi-tier cage brooding is also practised. Bulbs or heaters with thermostats are used to
provide warmth to chicks in the battery cages
 Bio-gas brooders – Certain farms use the cage droppings and cow dung to generate bio-gas; which will be used to
provide light and heat to the birds

4. Reflectors
 These reflectors are called Hovers . Flat type hover – These hovers are provided with heating element, heating
mechanism and pilot lamp and in some cases thermometer is also there in order to record the temperature.
 Canopy type hover – These reflectors are in concave shape consisting of ordinary electrical bulb, thermostat
mechanism and in some cases thermometer.
Brooder guard / chick guard
 They are used to prevent chicks from straying too far away from heat supply until they learn the source of heat.
 We have to provide brooder guard with a diameter of 5 feet, height of the brooder should not exceed 1.5 feet.
 For this purpose, we can use materials like cardboard sheet, GI sheet, wire mesh, and mat etc. depending upon the
season of brooding.
 During summer season, brooding is done for 5-6 days. In winter season it is 2-3 weeks.

5. BROODER OPERATION
Brooder Operation - Prior to the arrival of Chicks
 About 24 hours before the anticipated time of arrival of the chicks, the brooder arrangements are made and kept
ready
 The house is cleaned, white washed and blow lamped
 Litter materials - Dry litter material such as saw dust, wood shavings, paddy husk etc. is spread to a height of 5 cm
and newspaper has to be placed over this to prevent the chicks from consuming litter material
 Brooder guards - can be made of metal sheets or even card board. The brooder guards have to be arranged in a
circular fashion on litter material with necessary heating arrangements
 Downtime - The house may be prepared before hand for the purpose and kept vacant for considerable length of
time (minimum two weeks downperiod); 225 chicks may be let into brooder arrangement of 150 cm diameter and
300 chicks in 180 cm size brooder guard circle
 Required number of feeders and waterers are arranged alternate to each other on the newspaper area.
 The chick linear feeders and chick waterers should be placed alternatively in a radiating way, to give a "cart
wheel" appearance

6.  Care should be taken to avoid placing them crowded at the centre under the source of heat
 Keep feeders open for five hours and also spread some feed on the newspaper
 Two linear feeders of 60 cm size and two chick waterers may be used for every 100 chicks
 Automatic feeders and waterers may also be used as per manufacturer’s specifications
 Allow free moving space on the sides of waterers and feeders.
 Switch on the bulbs 1-2 hours before the arrival of the chicks to keep the environment warm. When chicks are
delivered, do not allow the delivery van into the farm premises. Take delivery at the entrance itself.