Research supports low-temperature brooding
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Poultry scientists have been
selecting broilers for a
number of years on the basis
of rapid growth potential. So
researchers at the Maryland
Agricultural Experiment
Station recently ran ex
periments to see if this
selection process has af
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fected other traits in young
chickens.
To find out, Dr. Wayne J.
Kuenzel, associate professor
of poultry science at the
University of Maryland in
College Park, conducted two
experiments on body tem
peratures of broilers.
Dr. Kuenzel knew that
AGRI-
broilers have a lower rate of
metabolism and gain weight
twice as fast as chickens
selected for egg production.
So he hypothesized that their
body temperatures might
also be lower. If so, broilers
could be expected to direct
more energy toward true
growth and expend less for
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body maintenance than their
egg-laying cousins.
The first Maryland ex
periment measured body
temperature from one day to
eight weeks of age - the
normal life-span of broilers.
Checks were run to see if
there were any significant
differences between the
Lancaster Fesnihg, Saturday, October 28,1978-
body temperatures of males
vs. females or broilers vs.
Leghorn laying chicks.
Research data indicated
no differences in body
temperature due to sex. But
it did reveal a tendency for
broilers to have lower body
temperatures than layers.
In the second experiment,
sets of chicks were placed in
varying environmental
temperatures for one-hour
periods prior to measuring
their body temperatures.
The environmental tem
peratures were 0, 10, 20, 25,
30 and 35 degrees C. (32 to 95
degrees F.)
' Chicks exposed to the 10
degree C. (40 degrees F.)
environment were found to
have body temperatures
significantly lowered.
The data also showed that
it takes broilers about six
days longer than it does for
layers to reach the point
where they can regulate
their own body temperatures
at a normal level. Broilers
reached this point at 16 days
of age, while layers reached
it m only 10 days.
Results from these ex
periments support the
concept that lower brooding
temperatures maximize
growth response in broilers,
according to Dr. Kuenzel.
The Maryland poultry
scientist supports a modem
broiler management
practice of starting chicks at
30 degrees C. (95 degrees F.)
for the first week of their life,
and then lowering tem
peratures to 25 degrees C.
(77 degrees F.) for the
Fuel, energy saved
with no-till farming
NEWARK, Del. -
Delaware plants about
400,000 acres of com and
soybeans each year. Large
quantities of these crops are
consumed by Delaware’s
broiler industry - 36 million
bushels of com and 11
million bushels of soybeans
annually.
reduced the power required
for tillage, and thus the fuel
consumed in tilling the land.
The chisel plow has replaced
the moldboard plow in over
half the state’s crop acreage.
The chisel plow stirs and
loosens, but does not turn
over the soil. It uses from 15
to 35 per cent less energy per
acre than the moldboard
plow. In Delaware’s sandy
soils the savings is one
gallon per acre; in the clay
soils the savings is 0.5
gallons per acre.
The other energy-saving
machine is the no-till
planter. This machine tills
only a narrow strip where
the seed is deposited. The
remainder of the field is
untouched. This once-over
system saves fuel because
the plowing and disking
operations are eliminated.
Crop yields are equal to or
greater than conventional
systems, but planting speed
is slower and chemical weed
control is a must.
No-till planters are used on
15 to 20 per cent of
Delaware’s cropland, with
savings of 4.5 to 7 gallons per
acre, depending on sod type
and the conventional method
of tillage previously used,
according to Delaware
second week. During the
third and all successive
weeks, temperature can be
maintained at 20 degrees C.
(68 degrees F.).
These .data also support
past research which in
dicates that low
temperature brooding will
eliminate the problem of
unabsorbed yolk sacks found
in the abdominal cavities of
some broilers at processing
plants.
Up to one-half of one per
cent of all broilers are
condemned by government
inspectors at poultry
processing plants because of
unabsorbed yolk sacks, Dr.
Kuenzel reports.
Every chick is bgm with a
yolk sack, he explained. It is
the yolk of the egg enclosed
in the chick’s body, which
furnishes nutrition until the
chick is old enough to start
eating.
Under former conditions
of brooding broiler chicks at
high temperatures and
forcing them to start eating
as soon as possible, a
situation was sometimes
created under which chicks
had no need to absorb
nutrients from the yolk sack.
Thus, it was not absorbed
into the body as nature in
tended.
But, when broiler chicks
are placed in a low
temperature brooding en
vironment, the extra stress
induces their bodies to utilize
the yolk sack for energy
purposes, even though feed
is readily available.
Extension power and
machinery specialist
Thomas H. Williams.
Williams cites University
of Delaware research which
sows that no-till uses one
fifth the energy, one-sixth
the fuel, and one-third the
labor of minimum or con
ventional tillage methods of
planting corn. At the same
time, com yields have been
equal to or greater than
yields obtained by con
ventional tillage methods in
comparisons at the
University of Delaware’s
Georgetown Substation over
the last nine years.
Over the last three years,
no-tillage outyielded chisel
plowing by six per cent on
loamy sand, and eight per
cent on silt loam. In 1976, no
tillage performed
significantly better on both
soils. Over the three-year
period, com yield was 94
bushels per acre using no
till, and 89 bushels per acre
using chisel plow on loamy
sand.
On silt loam, the com
yields amounted to 127
bushels per acre using no
till, 118 bushels per acre
using chisel plow.
To leam more about
energy savings in
agriculture, one can visit
Sussex Energy Expo on
November 3 and 4, at
Delaware Technical and
Community College,
Georgetown. The program,
which is free and open to the
public, will run from 10 a.m.
to 7 p.m. on Friday, and
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on
Saturday.
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