Three production cycles Three consecutive production cycles were run using eggs and chicks from young breeder flocks between 28 and 31 weeks old. Per cycle 13,860 Ross 308 broilers were placed in twelve pens. There were four pens per hatching system and each pen contained 1,155 animals (±20.5 chicks/m2


). A standard


four-phase diet was fed with up to 40% wheat mixed in. The pens were thinned on day 32 and the remaining chicks were sent to the processing facility on day 40 for data capture. On the day after arrival at the experimental farm various chick quality parameters were determined, such as weight and na- vel quality. In addition, 50 animals per pen were weighed weekly. The mortality per pen was recorded daily. Water and feed intake were recorded as well. Several welfare indicators,


such as soiling, footpad lesions and locomotion, were meas- ured at set times. The slaughter yield of 18 males and 18 fe- males per pen was determined and breast fillet abnormalities were scored (wooden breast and white striping).


Heavier chicks The chicks that hatched in the poultry house and those that were fed in the hatchery were heavier on the day of arrival than the conventionally-hatched chicks (see Table 1). How- ever, the navel quality was worse in the on-farm hatched chicks and they also had more red hocks compared to the the birds from the other two hatching systems. This was also found in a previous study and may indicate that the tempera- ture during hatching was a bit on the high side, or that the


Table 1 – Technical results from 3 hatching systems. Conventional, no feed/water


Bodyweight day 0 (g) Bodyweight day 39 (g) FCR 0-40 days


Mortality first week (%) Mortality full cycle (%)


36,9c


2.634b 1,46 1,83 3,27


Feed/water in hatchery 43,4b


2.718a 1,46 2,43 4,39


Researchers cap- tured essential performance data on a daily basis to be able to compare con- ventional hatch- ing with systems that provide ac- cess to feed and water.


In-barn hatch with feed and water 46,6a


2.750a 1,48 1,59 3,2


P-value* <0.001 <0.001 0,28 0,32 0,17


▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 1, 2022 23


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