Brooding is a period immediately after the hatch when special care and attention are given to chicks to support their health and survival. A recently hatched chick has not yet developed its own mechanism to regulate its own body temperature hence, it cannot maintain its body temperature properly for the first weeks and It is subject to chilling in the winter season when extra heat is not provided from externally; therefore the chicks will not take required feeds and water and this will decrease the growth and improper development of internal organs, responsible for digestion, thus the chick will not be able to digest the yolk completely. Brooding is classified into natural and artificial brooding. In today’s time, artificial brooding practices are the most prevalent which are only practiced by a farmer. Now a day for Broiler management during the first week of life the brooding operation is followed. Depending upon the season, brooding practices vary in tropical countries where large conventional open housing is normally practiced. Winter – Use 1/3 area of the house for brooding. Summer – Use 1/2 area of the house for brooding.
Several developmental and physiological processes occur during the important and sensitive brooding period of poultry, which is the first 7 days of a chicken’s life. The poultry seems anatomically complete at hatch, but the thermoregulatory, gastrointestinal, and immune systems need further development and maturation. Optimal brooding is essential to optimize animal health and contributes to good performance and survival in later life. Brooding is the art and science of rearing baby chicks. A newly hatched chick does not develop the thermoregulatory mechanism fully and takes about two weeks to develop this mechanism and homeostasis. Therefore, they cannot maintain their body temperature properly for the first few weeks of life; and may be subjected to chilling leading to increase mortality, if not properly taken care of. Brooding of chicks is a very important operation in the early age of the chicks. Chicks are provided with the required temperature by artificial means.
Brooding Management of chicks is a critical task for chicks, especially before and after arrival in the brooder house. If the farmers fail to provide appropriate conditions before landing chicks in the brooder house, the business would lose at the endpoint. Therefore, we discussed some mandatory bullet points about brooding management before and after chicks‘ arrival which never is avoidable for the profitable poultry business.
CLASSIFICATION OF BROODING: Brooding can be classified into two classes:
o Natural brooding
o Artificial brooding
Natural brooding: It is done with the help of broody hens after hatching, up to 3 to 4 weeks
Artificial brooding: In artificial brooding large number of baby chicks are reared in the absence of a broody hen. Equipment used for brooding is called brooders. The brooder comprises three elements: A heating source, Reflectors, Brooder guard. The heating sources may be electrical, gases like natural gas, LPG, and methane, liquid fuel like kerosene, and solid fuel like coal wood can be used as 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 plates/pans to dissipate the heat.
Gas brooder: Natural gas, LPG, or methane is connected to the heating element which is hung 3 to 5 feet above the chick to provide heat.
Electrical brooder: It is also a thermostatically controlled heating system that spread the required amount of heat uniformly above a large area, this avoids the crowding of chicks under the brooder directly. One electrical brooder can be used for 300 to 400 chicks.
Infra-red bulbs: It is a self-reflecting bulbs. One 250 watts IR bulb can provide brooding for about 150 to 250 chicks..….click here to read the full news