REARING OF CHICKENS

Taranaki Daily News, 15 September 1934, Page 24 (Supplement)

REARING OF CHICKENS

THREE SYSTEMS EXPLAINED SMALL UNIT OUTDOOR BROODER. (By Geo. H. Ambler.)

The small unit outdoor brooder system, although old-fashioned, nevertheless has advantages over modern methods. It necessitates the use of a number of wellconstructed and reliable outdoor brooders, the number depending entirely upon how many chickens are required. For early broods it is essential to have them well-built and capable of producing a temperature of 80 deg. to 90 deg. Fahr, during severe weather; unless one can rely on this, there will be a heavy percentage of deaths during the early rearing period. There must be plenty of floor space, together with good ventilation and light. It should be possible to secure the desired temperature without having to block up the ventilation holes. If this has to be done, then the growth and general health of the chicks are affected adversely. With this particular system, small units are advised, for, as most rearers admit, they do much better than the larger flocks. A brood of 100 or so will make more headway than twice the number, and there is less risk of disease. While the system may involve greater expense, the extra chicks will compensate one for the additional outlay. Pros and Cons.

Unfortunately with this, as with other systems, one cannot have the advantages without the disadvantages. In most of the outdoor brooders, space is limited; and this is a great drawback during cold or rainy weather, when protection in some form or other is essential. A certain amount of attention to the lamp and brooder is necessary every day, and this task becomes an unpleasant one during a spell of cold weather. . I have overcome the difficulty many times by erecting a temporary shelter round the brooders, consisting of ordinary wooden hurdles covered with straw or old sacking and driven in to form an enclosure. It is sometimes possible to accommodate one or two brooders in part of a shed; and a little short chaff sprinkled about the floor will provide the chicks with exercise and make matters more comfortable for the attendant. There is often a tendency to overcrowd the brooders, with fatal results. Those of 100-chick capacity may be large enough to accommodate that number for a few days; but with ordinary luck, the chicks soon fill out the space and then the overcrowding starts. Eighty chicks will be ample for the 100-chick size, and it is not often that one secures more than this number from 100 eggs. The system offers an opportunity for allotting fresh ground for rearing purposes whenever desired. The brooders are portable, and easily moved to any part of available ground, and frequent moving is to be recommended. Adaptable Indoor Hovers.

Another system is that of the adaptable hover, which provides for the small unit of about 100 chicks. The hover, or indoor brooder, as it is often termed, is square, with a pyramidal roof hinged to open upwards. It stands on four short legs, which are adjustable, and in the centre provision is made for the lamp and chick-guard. Short curtains are hung around the hover square, providing a certain amount of motherly comfort. The hover is constructed solely for indoor rearing, and this means that a properly constructed house must be given over to it. On many poultry farms small houses are specially built for the purpose, the size varying to suit the object in view. A house 6ft. by 6ft., with either span or lean-to roof, will be quite large enough to accommodate a 100-chick hover, and will provide double the amount i?f,floor space found in the outdoor rearers. This is a great advantage during the early months, when, as previously mentioned, protection is needed. , A point in favour of this system is that one can often utilise existing houses or buildings for rearing purposes. I have frequently seen the movable colony house fostering a hover and brood; and when the system can be practised there is a saving in appliances. Unless one requires to use the house again for a similar purpose, the hover can be removed when the chicks are old enough to do without heat, and the brood allowed the run of the whole house. When the birds are about 10 weeks old the cockerels or pullets can be removed, and provision is made for a percentage of the chicks for several weeks. When ordinary outdoor brooders are used it means the provision of housing accommodation as soon as the chicks are old enough to leave the brooder. This expense is avoided when the hover system is employed, although the initial outlay may be heavier. When permanent brooder houses are erected for accommodating the adaptable hover, there is no chance of changing the ground; but there are so many ways of treating the soil to keep it sweet. Three or four of the 100-chick size hovers would certainly provide sufficient accommodation for the average farmer poultry-keeper; and he might do worse than adopt this system. The Large Unit or Colony System. -. The third system of rearing is by the use of the coal or oil burning stoves, and is generally known as the large unit or colony system. It is intended for those who breed and rear extensively—in other words, it is the leading commercial system. Special brooder houses are required, and for accommodating one stove of 250<;hick capacity it is essential to have a 10ft. by 10ft. house, the stove being placed in the centre of it. It can be made in sections, so that it can easily be moved to fresh ground. There is no doubt that this plan is far better than the old-fashioned one of erecting a single long house to hold a number. This system is usually associated with mass-production, and it certainly does require a fairly large output of chickens to fill the brooder houses. One can, of course, place a much smaller number in them, but it is impossible to reduce the fuel, and the cost of rearing is thus increased. From a labour-saving point of view, however, the system scores over the others mentioned, as one can attend to 250 birds as quickly as to 100; and the actual work in connection with the management of the brooder is, if anything, lighter than that involved in the use of the hover or outdoor brooder. The chief disadvantage lies in the risk of disease through running large flocks together. An outbreak of coccidiosis is very difficult to cope with at any time, and the risks are increased with large units. It would, however, be impossible for the large breeders, many of whom rear up to 5000 head per year, to produce by any other '.system; apart from anything else, the labour problem would decide the matter. . \

I think that one brooder of about 250chick capacity will be\ found extremely useful on the general £arm. It enables the smaller types of brooders to be relieved of their chicks at a period when every day means so much to those who are hatching against time. I have frequently used the small houses for a week or 10 days, and then, just before the appearance of a further batch of chicks, have amalgamated two or three lots and placed them in care of a canopy brooder. By this time the chicks have “found their feet,” and, although they may differ a little in their ages, it has no detrimental effect on them,