Comparative Optimization of Hatch Brood for Efficient Growth and Survival Rate of Newly Hatched Chicks

Abstract

Poultry plays a very important role in global food security, and economy due to its valuable contribution to the food economy through the meat and eggs component of their food. Practices in conventional brooding systems which include late provision of food and water upon hatching are however dangerous to ideal growth, chick survival and growth. The experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of a design with optimized design of hatch brood with special focus on access to feed and water early in the life of the chicks on growth performance, mortality and overall wellbeing of the newly hatched chicks. Three treatments, i.e. Control Group (Traditional Floor Brooding) and Treatments A (Unoptimized Feeding and Watering) and B (Optimized Early Feeding and Watering with improvement of environmental conditions) were run in a controlled experiment. A total of 3,600 chicks were needed in the experiment with 1,200 chicks in each group of treatment. The primary parameters observed were weight gain, death rate, signs of dehydration and respiratory distress and at two times every day during a duration of 7 days behavioural observations were carried out. The result of the study indicated that the treated chicks in Treatment B were exponentially superior concerning weight gains, reduced deaths and lowered stress reactions, as compared to the Control Group and chicks in Treatment A. Supply of balanced feed and clean water early in the day were found to increase the metabolic activation and feed intake in the first hours, which resulted in a better growth performance and flock uniformity. The One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to statistically analyze the data gathered in the experiment to determine whether it was significant or not that there were deviations among the treatment groups. The improvements observed in Treatment B proved to be statistically significant (p < 0.05); hence, early nutritional support was effective in hatch brooding systems.