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ABSTRACT In the Dutch poultry meat production which 482 broiler farms voluntarily recorded FWM of
chain, first week mortality (FWM) of the chicks is an 16,365 flocks of broiler chicks over the years 2004, 2005,
important measure to quality and is therefore highly and 2006, were analyzed. These represented 79% of the
related to the price of the chicks that the broiler farm total number of day-old chicks delivered to separate
has to pay to the hatchery. Therefore, next to the total broiler farms. First week mortality was significantly re-
number of broiler eggs produced per hen and hatchabil- lated to breeder age, egg storage length at the hatchery,
ity, this figure is often used as a measure of efficiency season, strain, feed company of the breeder farm, year,
in the breeder-hatchery-broiler production chain. In and hatchery. Furthermore, FWM differed significantly
this study, factors that are related to chick mortality in between chicks originating from eggs of different breed-
the first week at broiler farms were investigated. Field er flocks and which were kept for grow-out at different
data obtained from 2 commercial Dutch hatcheries, for broiler farms.
Key words: broiler, first week chick mortality, management
2009 Poultry Science 88:798–804
doi:10.3382/ps.2008-00292
798
FIRST-WEEK CHICK MORTALITY 799
able to establish a healthy appetite with good feeding Factors such as rearing season (Imaeda, 2000), ship-
and drinking behavior quickly to maximize their oppor- ping distance and delivery route (Chou et al., 2004),
tunity for growth. Therefore, the mortality rate during stocking density, flock size, feeding management, drink-
the first week can be an indicator of the performance of ing system, ventilation, and floor insulation at the
the flock during the rearing period. broiler farm (Heier et al., 2002) are related to FWM.
Different factors affect the survivability and perfor- According to Heier et al. (2002), for example, the mor-
mance of broiler chicks at the broiler farm. The perfor- tality of large flocks and flocks with a high stocking
mance of a chick at the broiler farm depends on quality density was significantly lower than in small flocks and
of the chick that is delivered, the daily management, flocks with small density. In addition Chou et al. (2004)
(31% of the data set). In this case, more records (mul- hatcheries, and season were taken as explanatory vari-
tiple origins breeder flocks per barn) were included but, ables in the fixed part of the model.
in the model, a variable percentage of chicks delivered
per breeder flock per barn was calculated for correc- Statistical Model
tion.
The data set included the following: flock code, Initially, all of the variables and interaction terms
breeder age (wk), length of storage at the hatcheries until the 4-way interactions were included in the so-
(d), number of eggs set, date of set, the age of the hens called full model. A stepwise selection procedure was
at first delivery, strain, feed company of the breeder applied, starting to exclude nonsignificant 4-way inter-
FWM =
# Dead chicks
× 100%. [1] ë 365 ( û) ë ( 365 )
+ b9 éê sin 2p × d ùú + b10 éê cos 2p × d ùú + b11H ×YR + e,
û
# Housed chicks
flock had an age between 37 and 44 wk, the difference Furthermore, this study has the advantage of utiliz-
decreased to 0.26%, whereas it increased to 0.31% if ing an extremely large field-based data set, with conclu-
breeder age was 60 wk. sions being based on significant relationships discussed
in the light of experimental literature to suggest causal-
ity and to indicate where knowledge is lacking.
DISCUSSION First week mortality is, in addition to other produc-
tion criteria, an important performance measurement
In this study, FWM was analyzed from data col- of the broiler farm. The potential of the chicks to sur-
lected by commercial Dutch hatcheries. The data were vive the first week is directly related to the quality of
Figure 1. A) Increase in first week mortality (FWM) in relation to egg storage length at the hatchery. B) Difference in FWM between chicks
originating from 2 hatcheries in years. C) The difference in FWM among strains. D) The difference in FWM within strains in years. E) The dif-
ference in FWM in relation to different feed-providing companies of the breeder flock. F) The seasonality of FWM.
FIRST-WEEK CHICK MORTALITY 803
at the breeder farms, which influence the performance that storage of eggs affects egg quality (Decuypere and
of the chicks at the broiler farms. These management Bruggeman, 2007; Fasenko, 2007), which subsequently
protocols concern nutrition and growth profiles related affects the quality of the chick and depresses the rela-
to photo stimulation (Renema et al., 2008). The signifi- tive growth during the first week at the farm (Tona et
cant influence of breeder management suggests that the al., 2004).
broiler farmer needs information about the origin of the First week mortality differed between broiler flocks
chicks to optimize management at the farm. that originated from the 2 hatcheries. Heier et al.
In addition, a significant difference in FWM was (2002) also found a significant difference in mortality
found among broiler farmers. This can be due to the between flocks originating from various hatcheries in
son). On-time information exchange and analysis of the Kidd, M. T. 2003. A treatise on chicken dam nutrition that impacts
production result and feedback from each chain partici- on progeny. World’s Poult. Sci. J. 59:475–494.
Latour, M. A., E. D. Peebles, S. M. Doyle, T. Pansky, T. W. Smith,
pant to the partners is very crucial. Therefore, a good and C. R. Boyle. 1998. Broiler breeder age and dietary fat influ-
information exchange system is recommended for the ence the yolk fatty acid profiles of fresh egg and newly hatched
chain to take timely measures and avoid probable man- chicks. Poult. Sci. 77:47–53.
Lourens, A., H. van den Brand, R. Meijerhof, and B. Kemp. 2005.
agement mistakes to result in a maximal chain profit. Effect of eggshell temperature during incubation on embryo de-
For this to be realized, good quality production data velopment, hatchability, and posthatch development. Poult. Sci.
should be kept, analyzed, and interpreted to support a 84:914–920.
better management decision at each level of the chain. Maiorka, A., A. V. Fischer da Silva, and E. Santin. 2004. Broiler