Broilers Flashcards
(40 cards)
what is #1 state in broiler production?
Georgia
What are the Advantages of Poultry Production VS other species
- High Feed Efficiency
- Fast return of Investment
- Income Spread throughout the year
- High return compared to feed and energy costs
- Low land requirements
- Adaptability: small to very large operations
- Integration with feed producing and processing plants: know-how access
- High levels of mechanization –low labour costs
What are the Disadvantages of the Poultry Industry
- Sensitive to diseases and parasites –Potential for high losses
- High levels of management skills
- Large Operations need large amounts of start-up capital
- Careful control of product quality
- Careful marketing
- Problems with water disposal and manure management: High environmental costs
- In Many countries poultry compete with humans for feedstuffs, particularly cereals
What is the origin of the chicken?
red jungle fowl (india/SE Asia)
What are chicken bred for?
- meat production
- layers
- dual purpose
- ornamental breeds
What are the important breeds of chicken?
- White Leghorn (mediterranean)
- White cornish (english)
- Australorp (australian)
- plymouth rock (american)
- New Hampshire (american)
- Rhode Island Red (american)
What was the white cornish used for?
Used in the development of modern meat industrial crosses
What chicken is particularly well adapted to the tropics?
Australorp (australian)
What was the Plymouth Rock (white) used for?
important influence in development of broiler strains
What strains were used to create broiler strains?
- Plymouth Rock (American)
- New Hampshire (american)
- Rhode Island Red (american)
- White Cornish (english)
What is the organization of the poultry industry?
- typical pyramid organization
- Genetics/Selection farms (primary breeders)
- Reproduction Farms (breeders + hatchery)
- Production farms
What has made the improvement of performance of broiler chickens possible?
- Genetics –Optimized growth strains
- Improvement in feeding and nutrition
- Improvement in health management
- Improvement in equipment and facilities design and building
- Environmental control
What are the general characteristics of management in broiler production?
• Animals are raised in a “All In All Out” System
• Process begins with the arrival of 1 day old chicks brought in from the
parent farm
• Process ends when animals reach market weight and are removed from
the farm and transported to the processing plant
• The whole process takes about 6-7 weeks and facilities are sanitized
between the two flocks
What are the characteristics of housing facilities for broilers
- Enclosed housing
- Limit exposure to disease-carrying wild birds and animals
- Exclude predators, pests (rodents and insects)
- Provide a source of heat for brooding and ventilation to supply oxygen and remove carbon dioxide, moisture, and ammonia
- Well insulated
- Well ventilated
- Build with metal, wood or a combination of both
What is stocking density?
Refers to the number of animals (or weight of animals) per area
•Varies with species, weight/age of the animal
•Combine animal productivity and animal welfare
•Is defined by local, state, national animal welfare regulations
What feeder systems are used to feed broilers?
•Fully automated, consisting of a line that transport feed from an outside deposit through a metal tube containing an auger into a bin and a series of pans of about 12 inches in diameter (feed 45-80 birds).
What drinker systems are used in broiler production
- Until the early nineties open water systems were used (bells, cups, etc.) –not very hygienic
- Presently, closed water systems are preferred
What are the advantages of the closed water systems?
- Less prone to contamination
* Less leakage
How do closed water systems work?
- Closed water systems dispense water when the chickens peck at a metal trigger or nipple;
- Movement of the trigger up and down or side-to-side allows water to flow from the water line pipe to the nipple.
Why are lighting systems so important for broilers?
- Light intensity and photoperiod directly influence the time broiler chickens spend eating along with the general health
- A period of darkness improves feed efficiency due to reduced metabolism during darkness and complements normal diurnal rhythms of bone mineralization and digestion
What is the recommended lighting system?
4-6hrs dark / 20-18hrs light
What lights are used on broiler farms?
incandescent/fluorescent light bulbs
What are heating and ventillation systems critical to poulty production?
- Inadequate temperatures may lead to heat/cold stresses –high mortality, insufficient weight gain, poor conversion rates
- Ventilation is essential to provide adequate oxygen to support the metabolic needs of the chickens, control relative humidity to maintain litter conditions, and remove carbon and monoxide (CO), dusts and ammonia.
What does the bedding used for broilers do?
•Bedding dilutes excreta, absorbs faecal moisture, promotes drying of manure, provides a cushion for breast muscle and feet, and insulates the floor during cold weather;
