Chick quality: hatchery impact on broiler performance

Scott Martin LLC - USA

Chick Quality Hatchery Impact on Performance

Scott Martin SCOTT MARTIN, LLC.

“Field Performance”

$ 858,000

Feed Conversion Advantage

Cost / Kg. Live Change in Profit $0.0074

Target Live Weight x 2.25 Kg

Cost / Bird Change in Profit $0.0165

Number of Birds / Week x 1,000,000

Change in Profit / Week $16,500.00

Number of Weeks / Year x 52

2 points FCR Advantage in Profit:

FCR Advantage Advantage of 2 points of FCR ($332/ton Feed Cost)

“Egg Assessment”

• Egg age – Setting fresh eggs and old eggs tends to hurt hatch

• Flock age – Eggs from younger flocks hold better than older flocks

• Flock history – Some flocks just hold better than others

Things To Consider When Holding Eggs

Proper Egg Assessment

• Monitor the temperature of the eggs

– Use temperature recorders on the farms, in the egg trucks, in the hatchery egg rooms, etc.

• Know the history of the eggs

– How old are the eggs?

– What is the age of the breeder flock?

• Evaluate the egg size

– Know the average egg weight and the minimum acceptable weight for small eggs.

• Evaluate the condition of the eggs

– Dirty, cracked, deformed, double yolk, inverted

Effect Of Egg Storage On Hatchability

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28

Days of Storage

Conditions Of The Eggs

• Dirty Eggs (Omphalitis ?)

• Cracked (No Hatch—Cull Chicks)

• Deformed (No Hatch—Cull Chicks)

• Double Yolk (Cull Egg)

• Inverted (Low Hatch—Cull Chicks)

Dirty Eggs

Condensation

Contamination

Egg Temperature Flow Chart

Hen house

On farm egg room

Egg transportation truck

Hatchery egg room

Setter machine

Setter hall

104 – 106 o F

75 - 85 o F

63 - 68 o F

63 - 68 o F

63 - 68 o F

75 - 80 o F

99.5 - 100 o F

Hens body

AC AC

64.9

63.8

63.5

63.9

61.3

61.4

63.9

61.0

60.7

63.0

62.8

62.2

64.6

62.3

62.1

64.5

62.0

62.1

63.3

61.8

61.6

60.6

61.9

62.0

64.8

62.7

63.5

64.0

61.8

61.6

63.8

60.8

60.8

61.9

63.1

61.8

64.6

62.3

62.3

64.6

62.0

62.0

63.5

55.8

55.9

57.1

61.8

61.6

64.7

62.5

62.4

64.5

61.9

62.0

63.6

60.9

56.8

58.3

62.0

62.0

Holding Room Temperature Without Fan

AC AC

63.2

63.8

63.7

63.1

63.5

63.7

63.3

63.8

63.2

63.2

63.1

63.3

63.5

63.9

63.6

63.3

64.2

64.4

63.5

63.7

63.9

63.3

63.7

63.9

63.4

63.9

64.0

63.0

63.6

63.3

63.3

63.8

63.7

63.5

63.0

62.6

63.8

63.8

63.7

63.1

64.5

64.6

63.3

63.7

63.6

62.6

59.5

60.6

63.5

63.9

63.9

63.0

64.0

63.5

63.9

63.7

63.7

63.3

59.6

61.7

Holding Room Temperature Within Fan

“Ventilation”

Hatchery Ventilation The Proper Set-up HVAC

AREAS Egg Receiving & Holding Setter Bays Hatcher Bays Chick Holding Chick Pull & Wash Clean Equipment Room Hallways

CFM/1000

1 4-5 12-16 12-16 12-16 0 0

TEMP

65-68 76-80 76-80 72-75 72-75 72-75 75

RELATIVE HUMIDITY

60-75% 55-62% 55-62% 65-70% 65-70% N\A N\A

AREA PRESSURE

Neutral To + .01 + .01 To + .015 + .01 To + .015 Neutral To Neg .01 Neg .010 To Neg .015 Positive Neutral

Dead Banding Method With

Room Temperature Monitoring

SET

POINT

5

10

-5

-10

COOL

HEAT

24 HOURS

-5

-10

Fresh air

intake

25% to 75% returned

air from the fresh air room

(fresh air plenum)

Cooling Coil

Fresh Air

modulating

dampers which

opens and shut

Return Air

modulating

dampers which

opens and shut

HVAC System Heat Exchanger

Ventilation Equipment

Always Clean and Disinfect!!!! •Condensation trap

•Walls

Clean filters •Always date

Cooling Coil (Dirty)

Cooling Coil (Clean)

Cooling Coil (Back) (Correct Flow)

Environment Influences on Machines

• Improper Cycling

– Heat & Cool on at the same time

– Front & Rear heat out of sync

– Fresh air dampers closed (after machine recovery)

Environment Influences on Machines

• Room Conditions – Pressure Control

• Extreme Positive Pressure

• Extreme Negative Pressure

– Temperature

– Humidity

0-3 DAYS 3-7 DAYS 7-10 DAYS 10-14 DAYS 14-17 DAYS 17-18 DAYS

100.5 F

100.2 100.7 100.

9

100.8 99.8 99.4

98.0 F

Air Flow

“Maintenance”

Preventative Maintenance

• Calibrate machines and rooms

• Monitor settings

• Check embryo temperatures

• Check moisture loss

• Check pipping

• Check chick temperatures

• Confirm: what you think you have is what you have

Incubator Assessment

• Know your incubator set points

– Temperature

– Humidity

• Have a program for recording how each machine is operating

• Conduct an embryodiagnosis to verify the performance of your incubators

Water Temperature Entering Cooling Coil

18 ๐ C

Cooling Coil Inside Setter

Bad Door Gasket

Good Door Gasket

Improper Egg Rack Seal

No Egg Rack Seal

Curtains Not Sealing

Nozzle Adjustment and Leaks

“Tools”

Hatchery Tools

Magnehelic Gauge

Air Meter Smoke Emitters

Stroboscope

Rectal Thermometer

Data Logger

Digital Thermometer

Humidity Temperature

Meter

Infrared Thermometer

“Egg Set”

Set Times

Breeder Flock Age

• Up to 28 weeks – add 6 hours

• 29 – 30 weeks – add 3 hours

Egg Storage Time

• 1 to 6 days – normal target

• 7 days – add 1 hour

• 8 days – add 2 hours

• 9 days – add 3 hours

• 10 or more days – add 4 hours

TARGET = 504 HOURS

Adjust for breeder flock age and egg storage time

Set and Transfer

• Know your incubation time

• Set consistently (same time every day with exceptions)

• Transfer consistently (same time every day)

• Keep flock age consistent or segregate

“Sanitation”

Sanitation

• Run base line studies • Use reliable products • Monitor hatcheries • Fog rooms • Fumigate inside of machines • Keep a good air flow through the hatchery

“Embryodiagnosis”

Candle And Residue Breakouts

1 2 3 4 5 6 7*** 8 9 10 11 12 13 14*** 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Early Middle Late

• Candle eggs ( 10-12 days or at transfer) residue ( at hatch )

• Look for day embryonic death occurred

• Check flock and machine again

• Check same flock in a different machine

• Check different flock in same machine

• Look for mold

• Look for patterns

• Use hatch of fertile%

Hatch Of Fertile By Age Of Breeder Flock

Hatch Of Fertile

25-33 wks 90.8%

34-50 wks 91.8%

51-68 wks 89.6%

Example: 86.4% Hatch \ 96% Fertility = 90% Hatch Of Fertile

HATCHABILITY OR HATCH OF FERTILE

HATCHERY

A

B

C

HATCH OF FERTILE

88.66

90.11

89.36

FERTILITY

97

91

94

HATCH

86

82

84

Egg Age

• FERTILITY DOESN’T CHANGE

• PROLONGED STORAGE REDUCES HATCH

• ALWAYS DIAGNOSE THE HATCH LOSS

WHAT HAPPENED?

FLOCK FERTILITY EGG AGE HATCH% HOF%

999 95 4 86 90.5

999 95 9 84 88.4

Infertile or Fertile ?

Infertile

Fertile

Infertile or Fertile?

Infertile Fertile

Day 2

Embryo Size

Day 1

Day 14 • Embryo turns head towards large

end of egg

Day 15 • Intestines are drawn into

abdominal cavity

Day 17 • Amniotic fluid decreases

• Head is between legs

Day 18 • Growth of embryo nearly complete

• Yolk sac is still on outside of embryo

• Head is under the right wing

Day 19 • Yolk sac draws into body cavity

• Amniotic fluid gone

• Embryo occupies most of space with

in egg(not in the air cell)

Day 20 • Yolk sac drawn completely into body

• Embryo becomes a chick(breathing in air cell)

• Internal & external pip

“Incubator Assessment”

Incubator Assessment Incubator # 3 7 11 17 Total % Standard

Flock # 387 343 396 404 x x

Flock Age 37 61 39 29 x x

Chick Count 100 101 100 100 100.25 x

Activity Level loud loud loud loud x x

Red Hocks 2 8 6 3 19

Red Beaks 0

Culls 2 2

Dehydrated 0

Navel Large 1 7 2 3 13

Navel Small 43 59 63 51 216

Wicks 2 2

Leaky 1 23 7 31

Good 56 18 29 45 148

7 or 14 Day Mortality?

Look at the mortality patterns!

Chick Quality

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Days

Mortality

Normal Daily Mortality

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Dehydration

Mortality

Days

Chick Quality

“Dehydration” Post Hatch

0 512

0 508

0 504

PULL

Pull Times

Dehydration • All birds start dehydrating after hatch

• Post Hatch • Try to squeeze a few more (popcorn) • Timing from Ready to Delivery • Logistics, Labor, Trucking, Bottlenecks

• Pull early • Open navels • Not thirsty?

• Produce Good Quality • Compromise after hatch • Proper chick hold space • Farm distance, 20 min to 6 hours

Hydrated

Dehydrated

Dehydrated

Dehydrated

Dehydrated

Dehydrated

Dehydrated

Dehydrated

Dehydrated

Comfortable

Pre-Pull

• Hatch Window, Hatch Spread

• 30 hours or less (hatch starts)

• 23 hours- 30%

• 12 hours- 70 to 80%

• Check Chick Temperatures before pull

• Lower Temperature in hatcher • Timing is important (step down before chick overheats) • Take temperatures at pre-pull and at pull times

Remember! Step programs are designed to keep chicks from overheating

Not to cool down

Step Programs

Clean Residue

Dirty Residue

Chick Holding

• Chick Holding Locations Hatcher

Separator or Pull Room

Chick Room

Transport

Separator Room

Loading and Transport

Dehydration Scale

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

Pull and Hold Time

Hatcher Delivery

Stress In The First 5 Days

Yolk Sac

The Yolk Sac

• Contains essentials

– Nutrients (25% protein, 25% lipids) This is just for maintenance, the yolk itself doesn’t provide

enough alone for growth.

– Water (50%)

– Antibodies

• Absorption of yolk

Stress In The First 5 Days

Baby chicks were split between 5 groups: • A,B,C,D, and E

– Group A: stress high temperature

– Group B: stress low temperature

– Group C: control group

– Group D: placement without feed/water first 12 hours

– Group E: placement without feed/water first 24 hours

Stress In The First 5 Days

• All the baby chicks were of the same breeder

flock, 45 weeks old

• Same egg weight and incubated in the same

setter/hatcher machine

• Pulled at the same time

Age

(Days)

Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E

1 95*F 80.5* 89.5* 89.5* 89.5*

2 94.1*F 79.7*F 88.7*F 88.7*F 88.7*F

3 93.2*F 78.8*F 87.8*F 87.8*F 87.8*F

4 92.3*F 77.9*F 86.9*F 86.9*F 86.9*F

5 91.4*F 77*F 86*F 86*F 86*F

Stress In The First 5 Days (Temperature Variation )

Age

(Days)

Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E

1 41.7gr 41.7gr 41.7gr 41.7gr 41.7gr

2 54.2gr 42.2gr 57.6gr 52gr 37.2gr

3 65.6gr 65gr 67.4gr 61.2gr 55.8gr

4 77.9gr 82.4gr 85.6gr 77.9gr 66.5gr

5 101.6gr 99.6gr 129gr 93.2gr 84.3gr

Stress In The First 5 Days (Body Weight)

Uniformity

C A B D E

Uniformity

C

D A B

E

Intestine Size

$ 858,000

Feed Conversion Advantage

Cost / Kg. Live Change in Profit $0.0074

Target Live Weight x 2.25 Kg

Cost / Bird Change in Profit $0.0165

Number of Birds / Week x 1,000,000

Change in Profit / Week $16,500.00

Number of Weeks / Year x 52

2 points FCR Advantage in Profit:

FCR Advantage Advantage of 2 points of FCR ($332/ton Feed Cost)

Thank You Scott Martin

SCOTT MARTIN, LLC.

scottmartinllc@att.net