from 12-14 days and then larger pellets (3.2mm diameter) from 400g if cut short or 500g if not cut short, rising to 4-4.5mm pellets for birds from 800g if not cut short (JA757 – 21-28 days). Gloucestershire first generation producer and NFU poultry board member Charles Bourns has two sheds, rearing 38,800 Hubbard JA87 birds per cycle at 12.4 birds per m2
(30kg/m2
). Birds are reared to 2.4-2.5kg at 49 days with no
thinning and are currently on 50% maize rations. He said that the birds were more flighty than conventional broilers but ap- peared more resilient and could grow through minor issues. Among the benefits were not needing to provide anti biotics and fewer veterinary products, lower water consumption and reduced podo and hock marks. “There are benefits and chal- lenges but a price premium is needed to cover the costs and the system now needs better promotion to the consumer,” he stressed. Additional costs must be factored in as slow grow- ing birds result in one crop fewer per year due to a longer cycle, higher overheads per bird and more gas is needed for brooding due to lower stocking.
On-farm hatchery developments With Crown moving to 100% on-farm hatching and produc- ers benefitting from welfare improvements and consistent performance, delegates heard from Erik Hoeven, general manager at NestBorn, who highlighted a number of stress points for day old chicks in traditional hatcheries (delayed ac- cess to feed, water and light, waiting time in hatcheries, hatchery handlings and transport to farm and tipping boxes).
Hoeven said that the NestBorn system means that no invest- ment is needed by the farmer. The hatchery machine places on litter 18-day-old pre-incubated and candled hatching eggs with chicks hatching over three days and unhatched eggs and hatchery culls collected. Analysis has shown there is an improved hatch, with less early mortality and 1% more chicks. Intestinal health is better due to early feeding and the absence of hatchery-related stress, there is a reduced use of antibiotics, along with better growth and feed conversion, as well as significantly fewer footpad le- sions. He highlighted the lower level of the enzyme diamine oxidase (DAO) in NestBorn birds compared to conventional hatched chicks. DAO is released into the blood when intesti- nal cells are damaged or develop insufficiently – the lower the DAO-values in the blood, the less intestinal damage. Poultry producer Thomas Wornham said he felt on-farm hatching helped reduce turnaround time between batches, reduced work in the first few days of egg placement and he noticed that the birds were also calm and very quiet. Worn- ham said he felt the benefits included a low mortality rate – his four crop average has been 2.4% – while he has seen an increased growth rate with birds reaching 2.4kgs at 36 days. Challenges have included reduced time for maintenance, ex- tra heat required to stimulate hatching and the need to focus on water quality due to low consumption. “The extra heat at the beginning of the batch is offset by a day less feed require- ment. What’s really important is for motivated and intuitive stockmen to get the best performance out of the birds.”
▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 5/6, 2021
Reducing emis- sions can be done in many ways. Emissions can be reduced by up to 3% by covering the manure storage.
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