Is early feeding beneficial to broiler chicks? The answer is uncertain.
It has been suggested that early feeding of broiler chicks can increase growth rate, enhance development, improve chick welfare, increase hydration and reduce chick mortality, according to Ron Meijerhof, an independent incubation specialist at Poultry Performance. He explained to the audience at the Early Feeding Seminar, held March 12, 2019, prior to VIV Asia in Bangkok, Thailand, that the multiple variations of early feeding being implemented have complicated researchers' attempts to document the claims of benefits.
Why early feeding?
The hatch window for broilers in a commercial hatcher is 36 hours, according to Meijerhof. This means the first chicks hatch 36 hours before the last ones. If you include the additional 12 hours that can be required for pulling the hatch, processing the chicks and then transporting them to the farm, then the first chicks hatched using traditional hatching and transport systems wouldn’t be on feed and water until 48 hours after hatch.
Providing feed and water to the chicks before they are placed on the farm can allow them to utilize the protein in the egg yolk for development rather than for energy. The yolk contains lipids and protein, but no carbohydrates. If a bird is fed early after hatch, it can burn the carbohydrates in the feed along with the fat in the yolk and save the yolk protein for growth. Meijerhof said that if chicks aren’t fed early then yolk protein is wasted to provide energy.
Providing water and feed can help prevent dehydration of the chicks. But, he said, that dehydration normally shouldn’t be an issue if hatchers, chick storage areas and chick transport vehicles are operated so that the chicks don’t get overheated. For instance, the water in the yolk can be sufficient to keep chicks from dehydrating if their body temperatures stay at 40º Celsius (104º Fahrenheit) during transport, but that chicks can get dehydrated if their body temperature rises to 41.1º C (106º F) and they have to pant to cool down.
Meijerhof said that so far, the science doesn’t support the argument that early feeding is better for chick welfare, but he said that some companies have successfully used the inference that early feeding is better for welfare in the marketing of processed chicken.
5 early feeding options
Meijerhof said that early feeding, done either during hatching or directly after hatching, is being done commercially in Europe five different ways:
- Hatching the eggs in the broiler house
- Feeding in the hatchery directly after pulling chicks out of the hatcher
- Hatching in a special hatcher with feed and water provided
- Feeding in a conventional hatcher with special baskets
- Feeding during transport to the broiler farm
Operations that decide to try one of the early feeding options need to realize that other aspects of their system for delivering poults or eggs to farms will need to change. For instance, Meijerhof said chicks fed at the hatchery, whether during hatch or after processing, will produce more heat. This means either transport vehicles will need additional cooling or ventilation or that not as many chicks should be placed in the chick boxes and fewer chicks would be transported per truck.
If an operation shifts to on-farm hatching, special consideration needs to be given to how the eggs are transported to the farm. The egg shells are not as strong at 18 days of incubation as they are when first set in the incubator, so they are easier to break. Meijerhof said that if 18 day of incubation eggs are transported directly out of the incubator in boxes, the embryos will overheat and die. He suggested letting the eggs cool down to 25º C (77º F) prior to transport. This shuts down development of the embryo, which prevents overheating, but it does extend the time before the eggs will hatch on the farm.
The importance of proper conditions
Gerrit van der Linde, a senior poultry specialist at Heering Holland, said that you need really good temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide control in the truck if you deliver the eggs to the farm straight from the incubator. If you feed in the hatcher, you should give feed and water in the truck, and if you don’t, then you need to get the chicks on the farm and on feed and water within four hours. You always need to provide light to stimulate the chicks to find the feed and water, whether in the truck, hatcher or on the farm, he added.
Gerrit van der Linde said that if you if you feed chicks in the hatcher, you should also provide feed and water in the transport truck. (Terrence O'Keefe)
Meijerhof stressed that early feeding isn’t as simple as putting feed and water on the sides of a hatcher basket. Chicks that hatch in the middle of the basket must be able to move through egg shells, unhatched eggs and other chicks to make it to the side of the basket to find food and water. It is a smaller version of the challenges growers face and getting chicks to get up and find the feed and water in the broiler house.
