Still On Day 1 activities
Summary of activities ….Vaccination, medication, Seromonitoring , weighing
Back to our farm , we ensured th the feed had already been served and also vitamins had been introduced in water to stimulate the appetite of the chicks . Some thousands of female parent stock of Isa brown layer breeder Chicks with about 11 percent male ratio to the female(though we will need just 9-10% cocks at the time they start mating around 15-16 weeks when they start developing secondary sexual characteristics)
Despite the fact that there was a great distance between the farm and the hatchery, we still recorded a very few number of mortality rate which was only two in number .
On landing the farm, we weighed the birds to know their weight at day old stage and their average body weight was 40 gram for the females and 40 gram for the male as well…It will surprise you to know that as they grow, you might be having heavier females than males until probably when they reach around 6-8 weeks…So if you are a first timer, dont be worried!
As is expected of us, the first day of vaccination was carried out on arrival. Based on seromonitoring screening, aerosol vaccination with ma5clone 30 and IB491 against infectious bronchitis was done.
We also medicated the birds for the next five days using antibiotics.
Blood samples (Seromonitoring/blood sample screening at day old) were also collected (pix attached). This would be used to design the vaccination schedule for the next 16 weeks that would be administered to the birds while they grow.
Now I want you to understand that it is necessary to observe the chicks behavior in other to ensure that they spread properly on the floor to avoid overcrowding at the side walls or under the heat source.
You as a stockman will need to closely monitor the chicks to have a good crop fill their if they are feeding and drinking. Try to have a very good start, this would definitely reflect on the body frame of the birds and as a consequence the future day old chicks that the parent stock would produce. Do not overlook the chicks overnight and go to bed.
Observe them even if it is through out the night staying with them. These chicks are expensive and should be taken care of with luxury.(Remember..happy chicks, makes a happy farmer and vice versa).Unlike commercial pullets, parent stock day old chicks are very expensive and so you have to protect your investment if you don’t want to end up having poor performing birds in terms of egg size, egg production, egg shell quality, fertility and so on.
In parent stock farming, record keeping is very important. A lot of parameters are going to be recorded for future reference purposes.
At the end of 24 hrs , out of about 3000 birds,we recorded around 2 female mortalities and 1 male mortality.
PS
In summary, these are the events and practices that are necessary to ensure a good chick start and most importantly raising good quality parent stock birds . They are parent stock birds and they are very expensive to buy from the hatchery so , please don’t treat them with care.
Thanks for reading and see you in my next post…. Day Two
