Check your housing and equipment!

Overstocking and competition result in stress and losses among the male birds. Avoid high stocking density, especially in rearing. After the brooding period, do not exceed 6 birds per square meter up to 6 weeks of age and 4 birds thereafter.

Give them a good start!

A good quality male needs a good start. Pay attention to the details: well organized housing, evenly spread litter, adequate light and heat, pre-heating of the housing, feed availability, extra drinkers etc.

Make the grade for 6-weeks bodyweight!

Frame size is very important. Body weight at 6 weeks must meet the standard with excellent feed quality. Start feed restriction early to control growth, but do not restrict so severely that skeletal development is impaired.

Make an early start on uniformity!

Ensure you have the right feeder space (min 12cm per bird) and feed distribution (max 4-5 mins) to ensure high uniformity. Reduce feed density to be able to feed more grams, which improves uniformity. Start grading early – not later than 4-5 weeks. Grade continuously throughout the rearing period. If the cull numbers are not excessive, grade by culling all under-developed or small-framed birds.

Keep control over the body weight!

From 4 to 20 weeks, growth should be linear: it is essential to be on but not over the target weight at 20 weeks. Never allow growth to stop or bodyweight to fall. Refer to the growth rates of the previous two weeks to determine weekly feed increments. These should increase smoothly and gradually, avoiding big jumps.

Avoid stress and loss of quality at mixing!

After transfer to the production house, make sure that the male birds get used to any new feed systems or water supply, and to the slats. If there are likely to be problems in this respect, move the males some days before the females. Make sure that the males are at least 500-600g. heavier than the females at mixing.

September 2006