luii Poi Penn State Poultry Pointers MAXIMIZE YOUR POULTRY’S WEIGHT GAIN! Dr. Michael Hulct, Ph.D. Associate Professor Poultry Science Weight gain (weight of bin! divided by days of age) is a way of determining how fast your birds are growing. Fall is the ideal time for the growth of poultry. In fact, for most growers, the time required for commercial poultry flocks to reach market weight is decreased or the time required is the same and the mean body weight is increased Why? Have you ever considered the factors that maximize growth? Are they factors that a producer can control, or are they simply related to the season? Let’s look at some major envir onmental factors to see how they STRIKE IT RICH! SELL IT WITH A LANCASTER FARMING CLASSIFIED UNI-HYDRO IRONWORKER 35 to 120 Tons Selling: Scotchman Uni-Hydra Mubea BENDER OAVD S. KING 873 S. Railroad St. Myerstown, PA 17067 Anawarlng Sarvtca (717) 866-6556 change with the season and how their changes affect performance. If 1 were to list the critical pro duction factors affected by season al changes they would be 1) venti lation; 2) temperature, and 3) environmental challenge. Ventilation is the most critical element of production for main taining weight gain. The elements of ventilation involve air direction, air speed, and air exchange. Dur ing the summertime, air is typical ly directed toward the birds in order to reduce the effects of high temperature. With no means of cooling other than with air velocity and fogging systems, summer ven tilation is used strictly for tempera ture control. On the other hand during the wintertime, ventilation controls minimize air flow. This practice tends to allow air quality to become borderline for air fresh ness, with increased ammonia, and in some instances, dust All these 0% • 12 Moi. s Month! 4.9% •24 Mot. OR Walvor Of 7.9% • 36 Mot. Flnancat ...Now Available On Moat Badger Equipment! 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We should be willing to use some gas and run fans when needed to provide adequate venti lation in our houses. Houses that have curtain sides and no exhaust fans cannot be adequately ventilated during the winter months. It is almost impos sible for producers that depend on natural ventilation to maintain temperature without reducing or restricting air exchange. This strategy makes air quality poor and reduces growth, perfor mance, and flock uniformity. This is especially true for flocks of tom turkeys or heavy broilers that have a tendency to develop respiratory problems. Many producers have recognized the inadequacies of natural ventilation systems during the winter and are trying some combination of curtains and air inlet vents to increase air exchange and moisture removal while main taining temperature. BN 2054 540 RPM FORAGE BLOWER Badgtr Foragt Box«s ft Running Qmt... flit Right Combination For Your Form! I’m not advocating constantly running fans during the winter without regard to temperature, but maintaining minimum ventilation to control ammonia and dust. Appropriate fan running time and running a sufficient number of fans to promote good air speed, direc tion, and volume are essential. If you can obtain a static pres sure of 0.08 or 0.10 inches of water column with one fan, that is terrif ic. If it takes two, then these fans need to be synchronized to run at the same time or be allowed to operate on one timer control. During wintertime, static pres sure is used to produce adequate air velocity to allow mixing in the house. Proper direction of air vol ume. at the velocity that would allow air to reach the middle of the house, mix with ambient air and pick up moisture from the litter, and then remove ammonia and dust from the house is what is desired to promote growth by opti mizing the birds’ environment. The next critical factor for opti mizing weight gain is temperature. As you noticed, maintaining prop er temperature is inextricably asso ciated with ventilation. Brooding temperature for poul try is usually set at 88 to 90 degrees F for the first day. This may how ever. be adjusted due to the size and quality of the chick. Baby chicks and poults lack the ability to maintain their own body tempera ture for the first 10 days. This High throw capacity with an affordable pricol Blow 'em high and blow ’em big Badger's 540 rpm Blower can take all you give it For forage or gram, this is the best performing, best priced blower you can buy. Check out these features' ■ Cupped pad die design for high throw capability with minimum horsepower ■ High-strength Cor-Ten steel band ■ Shear bar design prevents feed carryover ■ Simple trouble-free shaker pan-fewer moving parts Uncartf Ftnrtng, Saturday, Dtcambar 11. IM3C3 ® EMPLOYEE-OWNED. QUALITY DRIVEN. Bsdger Belt or Single Chain Conveyors... w 0% - 12 Mot. 4.9% ■ 24 MM. 7.9% > 36 MOt. OR S Months Wahrer Of Financol ■ 54" high capacity fan ■ Hopper magnet option removes tramp metal means that the temperature during this critical age must be main tained carefully to avoid large fluc tuations (2-3 degrees F). Tempera ture should be gradually reduced and correlated with increases in ventilation rate to allow for adequ ate air flow, removal of carbon dioxide and moisture, and early stimulation of appetite. Maintenance of too high brood ing temperatures and too low ven tilation rates (increased carbon dioxide) causes dopey and letharg ic birds that don't start or gain as fast Room temperatures should gradually be reduced to reach between 68 to 70 degrees F by the fifth week of age. Fall is clearly an ideal time to drop temperature to comfort levels and maintain them by minimal use of heater and adequate ventilation rates. Although temperatures of 68 to 70 degrees F have been shown to maximize growth for turkey hens and broilers, temperatures as low as 55 degrees F have been shown to be commercially efficient for turkey males more than 14 weeks of age. The lower temperature stimu lates feed consumption and increased air flow associated with the lower temperatures lowers mortality. With die combination of proper temperature and adequate ventilation, litter moisture should be maintained at between 25 and (Turn to Pago C 4) See Your Local Badger Dealer HONESDALE SPREADING SERVICE INC. SOS Cliff St. Honatdalt, PA 18431 (717) 253-2410 CHIDESTER FARMS RD 2, Box 75 Kingsley, PA 18826 (717) 289-4260 MELVIN G. MILLER RT 2, Spring Mills, PA 16875 (814) 422-8279 PIKEVILLE EQUIPMENT INC. RT 2, Oley, PA 19547 (215) 987-6277 BHM FARM EQUIP. INC. RR 1, Annville, PA 17003 (717) 867-2211 SHOW EASE STALL CO. 573 Willow Rd. Lancaster, PA 17601 (717) 299-2538 DEERFIELD AG & TURF CENTER, INC. RO 2, Box 212 Wattontown, PA 17777 (717) 538-3557 HEFLIN SALES & SERVICE 12312 Oak Hill Rd. Woodsbore, MD 21798 (301) 898-3233 CHAMBERSBURG FARM SERVICE 975 S. Main St. Chambersburg, PA 17201 (717) 264-3533 SOMERSET BARN EQ. RD #5 Somerset. PA 15501 (814) 445-5555 McMILLEN BROS. RD 1 Box 134 Loysville, PA 17047 (717) 789-3961 HESS' EQUIPMENT Sales & Service RR 3, Mlfflmburg, PA 17844 (717) 966-2720 966-1998
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