Settlement of day-old chicks

The fattening cycle on the farm begins with the settlement of one-day-old chicks. It is very important that settlement is carried out efficiently and correctly – in already prepared facilities. The preparation of buildings has already been discussed in previous chapters, and during settlement, special attention should be paid to the following:

• Time the delivery of the chickens to the farm and be ready to unload and house the chickens as quickly as possible
• Do not delay bringing in the chicks, as dehydration and other problems can occur
• Weigh and count the chicks in a number of boxes (5%) to determine the average weight of day-old chicks and their number in the sample
• Boxes with chickens should be distributed evenly along the facility immediately after entry. Boxes with chickens must not be stacked on top of each other in the building, as this can lead to overheating and suffocation of the chickens.
• Empty the boxes by shaking them carefully on the mat and arrange them around the feeders and waterers.
• Dead and emasculated chickens are removed, and samples must be sent for analysis to a specialist veterinary institution.
• Check availability of food and water
• Check the temperature of the mat and the air in the chicken movement area
• When moving in, in order to reduce stress and calm the chickens, it is recommended to reduce the light intensity, and after moving in all the chickens, the light intensity should be returned to a higher intensity (30-40 lux).

The first 7 days of a chick’s life are the most important for its later development and progress. At this stage of life, it undergoes very violent changes because it comes from the incubator to the farm, changes the environment, starts to feed, is sensitive to low temperatures, develops its immune system, etc. If we make mistakes and omissions in the first 7-10 days, they cannot be compensated for later. That is why chickens must be taken special care of, regularly visited and controlled. Every, even the slightest signal that something is wrong, should be reacted to immediately.

The main things you should check are the following:

• After 1-2 hours, check the water, food, temperature and air quality and make corrections if necessary
• Observe whether the chicks have started consuming water and food
• Observe the behavior of the chicks and the distribution of the chicks, as this is an excellent indicator of any potential problems with the feeding, watering, ventilation and heating system (happy chicks are happy and evenly spaced)
• Check after a few hours if the chickens are comfortable in terms of temperature

Chickens that are temperature-matched will be evenly spaced, will peck, consume feed ivodually, and rest.

• After a few hours of the chicks moving in, do a leg and leg test

The chicken test is done by checking a minimum of 100 chickens from different places in the facility. With your fingers, you then feel the stomach to see if there is food or water in it.

• Chickens should have full and soft roosts that contain food and water. If you do the test 8 hours after moving in, 85% of the chickens should have full udders, and 24 hours after moving in, at least 95% of the udders should be full and flexible when examined.

The leg test is done 3 hours after moving in by placing the chicken’s legs against the cheek or neck and assessing whether they are warm. If they are cold – find out the reasons for cold feet, and they can be:

• Bad transport conditions and slow unloading
• Insufficient temperature in the facility
• Cold and damp floor; insufficiently heated mat
• Insufficient insulation
• Poor ventilation, drafts
• Open windows and doors, poor insulation, openings through which air passes and cools the chickens