Broiler weight table by day, instructions for calculating weight gain
Broiler weights are monitored day by day. This procedure helps to eliminate problems if the chicks are not gaining weight well. This breed belongs to meat, it is grown for industrial purposes and for sale. To get a good weight gain, it is necessary to create optimal living conditions.
Content
- 1 Best breeds
- 2 Weight gain by day
- 3 Broiler growth
- 4 Growing phases of a bird
- 5 Growing conditions
- 6 Broiler weight by week: table
- 7 What is the mass of chickens at birth
- 8 How to determine the weight of a chick
- 9 Reasons for poor weight gain
- 10 What to do with poultry if broilers are not gaining weight
- 11 Slaughter weight of broilers
Best breeds
Broiler is a meat chicken breed. They are grown for the purpose of being processed into meat. Therefore, the intensity of weight gain plays an important role. The most popular types of poultry include:
- Cobb - 500 - by the 6th week of life, chickens have a mass of 2 - 2.5 kg, They have a wide chest, a powerful large body. The meat acquires a yellowish natural color after cutting.
- Ross - 308 - the average weight of an adult bird is 2.5 kg, maximum 6 kg, they have good egg production. The breast is large, the meat is light, tender.
- Ross - 708 - chicks quickly gain weight, by the end of the first month the average weight is 3 kg, they also have good egg production. The meat of an adult has a yellowish tint.
- Cross Hubbard - the breed has a high survival rate. The chicks have strong immunity. Average body weight at a young age is 2.5 - 3 kg, maximum 8 kg.
After birth, the chick reaches its maximum weight after 3 months. To do this, you need to regulate the nutrition of the chicken, control weight gain, and carry out daily weighing.
Important! There is no point in raising broiler chickens for longer than 70 days. By this time, slow growth is observed, the use of feed becomes unreasonable.
Weight gain by day
Weight gain in chicks is monitored daily. This indicator has its own norms. Deviations from it speaks of improper care and feeding.
Increase in body weight of chickens by day
Age, days | Weight, g |
42 | |
1 | 52 |
2 | 66 |
3 | 82 |
4 | 100 |
5 | 120 |
6 | 142 |
7 | 166 |
8 | 193 |
9 | 223 |
10 | 256 |
11 | 293 |
12 | 334 |
13 | 379 |
14 | 427 |
15 | 478 |
16 | 532 |
17 | 589 |
18 | 649 |
19 | 712 |
20 | 778 |
21 | 846 |
22 | 916 |
23 | 988 |
24 | 1062 |
25 | 1137 |
26 | 1213 |
In the first week of life, the chicks gain 10-20 g. Starting from the second week, weight gain increases from 30 to 50 g per day. The next 7 days, the chicks add 50-60 g. Over the last days, the chick is gaining from 60 to 100 g per day.
Broiler growth
The bird grows every day. They gain weight from 20 to 100 g per day. This is their feature.
10 days
By the 10th day after birth, young individuals weigh about 200 - 250 g. It should be borne in mind that females are always slightly less than males, although they feed on an equal basis with them. Feeders are placed next to the chickens to provide less active movement and to aid weight gain. And also restrict their movement around the pen or chicken coop.
1 month
At 30 days of age, chicks weigh from 1500 - 1600 g. Such an individual can be sent to the slaughter. But with proper further care, the body weight is increased to 2 - 3 kg.
2 months
On day 60, the weight gain cycle comes to an end. By this time, the chickens weigh 2 - 3 kg. After reaching this weight, further maintenance of broilers is pointless. They continue to consume the same amount of food, but gain weight very slowly. Over time, the amount of body fat increases, not muscle mass. The quality of the meat also decreases.
Growing phases of a bird
Broiler development is divided into 4 phases. They allow you to calculate the amount of feed for each period. Allocate:
- Prestart. Age from birth to 5 days. Each individual consumes 15 - 20 g of feed.
- Start. The duration of the period is from 6 to 18 days of development. On one chick they spend 25 -90 g of compound feed.
- Fattening. Duration from 19 days to 1 - 2 months of age. Feed consumption is 90 - 160 g for each chick.
- Finish. Comes to 3 months of age. At this time, the mass gain stops. One broiler eats about 160 - 170 g.
Growing conditions
Chicks are transferred to the chicken coop from two weeks of age. Before settling in, the place of stay is disinfected, cleaned, drinkers and feeders are installed. The chicken coop is treated with lime or formalin.
Important! After disinfection, young chickens are not allowed there for several days.
Then it is worth providing heating. The room temperature must be at least 26 ° C. For this purpose, an oil heater or infrared lamps with a green or blue filter are purchased. Stove heating is also suitable. A wall thermometer is placed in the room to monitor the conditions for keeping chicks.
High humidity in a chicken coop contributes to the development of infectious diseases and a decrease in immunity. Therefore, the room is ventilated daily. During the warm season, chickens are taken out into the fresh air.
For feeding, special feed for broilers is purchased. They contain all the essential nutrients and vitamins.
For the prevention of diseases, vitamin complexes and antibiotics are mixed into the feed. Use supplements as directed.
Broiler weight by week: table
The weight of young females is also monitored weekly. Their weight gain must comply with certain generally established standards. If there are slight deviations from the indicators, approximately 20 - 30 g, then this is considered the norm.
Broiler weight by week
Age, week | Chicken, g | Rooster, g |
1 | 98 | 102 |
2 | 190 | 210 |
3 | 350 | 410 |
4 | 580 | 660 |
5 | 840 | 940 |
6 | 1080 | 1260 |
7 | 1310 | 1590 |
8 | 1590 | 1880 |
These are average values. If the bird gains less than the specified norm by 100-200 g, then measures must be taken. Most likely, the diet does not meet the needs of the breed.
What is the mass of chickens at birth
Broiler chicks are born with the highest body weight of any chicken species. One chick on average weighs 40 g. Larger individuals are 42 - 44 g. Outwardly, they are easy to distinguish from other breeds. They have powerful large paws and large size.
How to determine the weight of a chick
Chick weights are checked weekly or every day. Weighing yourself daily helps you better track your weight gain and spot the cause of your underweight. A certain time is set for the procedure and is carried out before the first feeding. In order not to get confused in the chickens, they hang colorful tags or with marks on their legs.
Electronic or mechanical scales are used to determine body weight. Each chicken is placed in a container. Tara is weighed before the start of manipulation. Then they put it on the scales with the chick. The weight of the container is subtracted from the result obtained and a note is made about the weight gain.
Reasons for poor weight gain
In some cases, the chick weight gain does not meet the specified standards. There are reasons for this:
- low calorie content of feed;
- inconsistency in the quality of chicken feed;
- low temperature indicators in the room where the chickens are kept, part of the energy is spent on heating;
- lighting duration less than 11 hours;
- lack of vitamin supplements;
- large corral, the chicken spends a lot of energy when walking;
- infection with infections or helminthiasis;
- lack of a diet schedule, which disrupts metabolic processes in the body.
What to do with poultry if broilers are not gaining weight
If the increase in body weight is not appropriate, then the first step is to determine the cause of such a reaction. Then several manipulations are carried out:
- replacing feed with a fresh and balanced one;
- reducing the area for walking chickens;
- add vitamin supplements to food;
- increase lighting with electric lamps;
- ultraviolet lamps are installed in the hen house for disinfection;
- set the diet by the hour, every 2 hours.
Slaughter weight of broilers
Usually, the slaughter of birds is carried out 50 days after hatching. Sometimes these terms are shifted. It makes no sense to grow a chicken for more than 70 days, since from that time it stops gaining weight.
Important! Broilers are slaughtered better when they are well feathery and easier to pluck.
By the time of processing, chickens reach 2.7 - 3 kg. Especially meat breeds increase their weight up to 5 kg. 20% of the meat is on the breast, 10% on the thighs, 6% on the drumsticks. The rest is skin, bones, wings and entrails.