Chick Nursery Coop

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 99, Issue 5, 16 November 1959, Page 443

Chick Nursery Coop

DAY-OLD chicks are raised by the battery brooder system by most poultry farmers in the Blenheim and Nelson districts, where the favourable climate makes it possible to transfer chicks outside at an early age straight from this type of brooder.

THE chickens are transferred from the batteries at three to four weeks, which is too young for the use of the large open range arks commonly favoured in most districts. Consequently a special type of coop, or nursery, as some poultry farmers term it, has been evolved to suit these young birds. It hardens the chickens off completely and acts as an intermediate stage before the young birds are placed in ark houses. In this article P. JOSLAND, Poultry Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Wellington, describes this type of chicken nursery. It was designed by Mr G. L. A. Smith, poultry farmer, Blenheim, and has been used by him successfully for several years. Design The design of this chick nursery corresponds in layout to the average battery brooder. The sleeping compartment is at one end, the water at the other, and the feed trough down one side. It is because of this similarity that the easily manoeuvrable nursery is most valuable. Chickens that have been reared in a battery brooder are not accustomed to searching far for feed and water, which are always within easy reach. Consequently when battery chicks are subjected to a complete change of environment such as moving from the brooder to a large open ark house, they can have difficulty in finding food and water, particularly in bad weather. When this happens the chicks receive a setback from which they seldom

completely recover. Their constitutions are affected so that the natural resistance of the chicks to a disease such as coccidiosis is seriously lowered. The illustrations at the bottom of page 443 show the similarity of feeding arrangements of a chick battery and the coop.

Construction

Detailed plans for the chick rhrsery are available on application to the Poultry Instructor, Department o f Agriculture, Wellington.

The cost involved is about £4 10s. a nursery. The ends are covered in with boxwood which most stores give away and there is no waste with the galvanised flat iron used, as the measurements are such that each coop takes two sheets. A sheet is used to cover one side of the run and the other is used to provide the roof for the sleeping compartment and off-cuts from it for the drinking trough and some 2 in.-wide strips are used for flashing to prevent draughts in the sleeping quarters. The floor of the sleeping compartment is made of wooden slats, which have been found superior to wire netting in colder months. The top of this compartment is detachable so that the sleeping quarters can . be exposed to the sun as shown at right. It would be an added advantage to have the wooden slats constructed as a removable frame to ■ simplify cleaning. The coop is 11 ft x 4 ft, 8 ft x 4 ft comprising the outside run and 3 ft x 4 ft the sleeping compartment; The coop tapers to a 4 in. x 1 in. ridging board at an over-all height of 27J in. The ridging board is extended 18 in. over the water trough end and 6 in. at the other end. Management The chicks are transferred to the nurseries at four weeks of age in the cold months and at three weeks in warm weather. In cold weather as

many as 70 chicks have been housed in one nursery. However, they must

be graded down to 20 to 30 by six weeks. At seven to eight weeks they are removed to ark houses, where they remain, until brought into the laying sheds. fl The chicken nursery is suitable in all weathers. It was severely tested on a bad day last rearing, season with a wind. of gale force and driving rain from the north-west- The chicks had been in the nurseries for three days, having been put out at two and a half weeks of . age. The.-, protected side of each shelter was . turned into the wind so that it faced south. The chicks were let out for an hour at a time and though wet when chased inside, they soon dried out and were, eager to get out again. In frosty weather the chicks are not allowed on to the run until the frost is off the ground. They are chased inside about an hour before sunset. It has been found that about an hour a day,, is required to manage 800 ’ chicks. ■ The nurseries are shifted to a fresh area of ground each day, either by using a set of trolley wheels under one end and pulling lengthways or by lifting one end at ‘ a time sideways. This can be done by one man and is usually carried out while the chicks are shut in the sleeping quarters. When the nurseries are shifted daily ground recovery is rapid and the light covering of manure left by the chicks greatly improves the pasture.

.Failure to move the chicks on to clean ground regularly may result in an outbreak of caecal coccidiosis. Though the coccidia are not infective when first expelled in the droppings, after two days in favourable conditions infection is possible. By moving the chicks daily coccidial reinfestation is avoided. ■ Battery brooded chicks have not developed a natural resistance to the disease, as they are kept from contact with the droppings and are thus highly susceptible. Moving the chickens to fresh ground daily is therefore of great value as a protection against a possible coccidiosis outbreak. Feeding No change is recommended in the diet while the chicks are in, the nurseries. The battery brooder mash should be fed and the protein content of the diet held at 20 per cent. The change from a chick mash to a growers’ mash is made gradually after the chicks have been transferred to the ark houses. A growers’ mash is similar to the chick mash except that the protein content is reduced to 16 per cent by the introduction of grain into the ration. The following chick mash is used at the Department’s Poultry Demonstration Plant, Upper Hutt, in battery brooders with success.

lb Bran . . ... . . ... 6 J Pollard . . . . . . . . 10 Coarse ground wheat .. .. 50 Maize meal .. .. .. 10 Meat meal (50 per cent protein) 12 Milk powder .. .. .. 6 Dehydrated lucerne . . . . 4 Oyster shell dust or ground limestone ... . .... . . • 11 Manganese salt .. .. .. j Vitamin A and D ; > should be supplied as recommended by the manufacturers. Manganese sulphate is premixed with the salt portion of the mash at 6 oz per ton and then remixed into the remainder. This ensures an even distribution of manganese. No grain is used with this mash, but a small amount can be introduced into the ration as a token scratch feed at five to six weeks. By eight to nine weeks the chickens should be on a mash/grain diet. This will reduce the protein content of the diet to the desired level without any alterations having to,® be made to the mash formula. At the same time it is necessary to feed free choice oyster shell or lime grit and a hard insoluble grit. With good management, attention to detail, and a properly balanced diet the chick nurseries produce solid, well feathered pullets for transfer to ark houses and, equally important, a healthy, vigorous perching pullet that is easily caught and graded for dispatch. ?

Saving Mature Feed for Hoggets

A COMMON form of ill thrift in ** hoggets occurs in the North Island aftei’ autumn rains when the hoggets are kept on what looks like the best of short, fresh, high-quality feed. This fresh autumn growth is not good for them; they eat little of it, go off in condition, and are unable to resist the attack of internal parasites. With the onset of colder weather, however, the feed hardens and those hoggets that are not too far gone to survive the winter pick up in condition. Where this type of ill thrift occurs, the saving of a sufficient, area of summer growth to provide mature feed for the hoggets from March to April and sometimes into May is recommended. Research work on the problem of hogget ill thrift caused by the autumn flush of grass has shown that hoggets transferred to paddocks which have been closed in December and early January do quite well, making satisfactory weight gains each week, though not growing as fast as they did in January and February.

Area to Close About 1 acre to each four to five hoggets should be enough to provide the right kind of feed for some eight to ten weeks. This feed should not be used until it is required, but no time should be lost in getting the hoggets '• on to ’it immediately warm autumn rains start a fresh flush of feed on the grazed areas. The area to be saved should be closely grazed before shutting up to get as much clean, fresh summer

growth as possible before the soil dries out. In the wetter districts top growth should be controlled by cattle; in the drier districts, though the saved grass will dry out, it is still much better feed for the hoggets in March and April than new growth on closely grazed areas. — W. B. H. SMITH, Fields Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Masterton ■

Wool Sales , The dates and venues of wool sales up to the end of February are: 18 and 20 November: Napier. 25 November: Wellington. 4 December: Christchurch. 9 December: Invercargill. 14 December: Dunedin. 18 December: Timaru. 13 January: Wanganui. 18 and 20 January: Auckland. 25 and 27 January: Napier. I and 3 February: Wellington. 15, 17, and 19 February: Christchurch. 24 and 26 February: Invercargill.