You’ll know by Day 7 if your broilers are on target, or not.
It’s not the entire race, mind you. The finish line is most surely processing day (circa 42-49 days)…
That said:
The first 7 days are like the first 25 meters of a 100m dash.
All the momentum for the race ahead lies within the foundation work laid down between the blocks and getting fully upright.
Let’s take a look at this in detail and data:
Mortality
The biggest speed bump to overcome within the first 7 days of rearing day old broiler chicks is mortality.
As seen in the graph above, your chicks are at their most fragile within the first 7 days of life. In fact, the first 4 days represent the steepest (and most alarming) rate of mortality within the entire rearing cycle.
- poor access to feed and water
- overheating
- underheating
- poor ventilation
- disease
…are all common causes…
But the underlying accelerant behind that climbing mortality rate is simply their age.
And no matter how good your stockmanship, expect to see a similar rate of mortality within those 1st four days.
However, right on cue, there should be an equally rapid drop off between Day 4 to Day 7.
Growth
On the flipside of the cautionary tale of mortality is the exponential growth burst of broiler chicks between Days 1-7.
Although the table above looks quite plain, take a close look at the data…
Chicks come in weighing roughly 42g Day 1 from the hatchery…
…and in only a matter of 3 days they’ve doubled their body weight!
That’s astonishing growth by ANY measure.
By Day 7, they are 5-times Day 1 body weight.
This is the trajectory you are aiming to optimise as broiler farmers to reach the target weight at the processing date.
It’s the first 7 days that set the pace.
The rest is switching through the gears, keeping form and staying focused for the remainder of the race.
How good are your first 7 out of the blocks?
Are you 5 times Day 1 body weight?
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