AgSpeak Blog

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Water consumption vs water usage Broiler chickens consume roughly two pounds of water for every pound of food consumed, making water the nutritional backbone of broiler performance. Having palatable, plentiful drinking water is always important, but perhaps even more so during periods of heat stress, when consumption increases to help regulate body temperature. Water consumption…

ASPECTS OF LIGHT FOR POULTRY PRODUCTION: Birds sense light via the eyes and via the pineal gland, and through deep encephalic photoreceptors in the hypothalamus. Therefore, their circadian rhythm is controlled by changes in day length and light intensity. Successful farmers use this to manipulate the environment to maximize productivity. Breeders: Light stimulation is critical…

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Management Minute - Broiler Weight Monitoring Broiler weight is an important parameter when growing broilers.  After all, the end goal of raising broilers is to get as many birds to market as possible, using the least amount of feed, and producing the greatest amount of meat. With pressures on the industry to reduce antibiotic usage,…

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How Proper Humidity Control Helps You Raise Healthy Poultry Raising and looking after poultry is a strenuous process that demands patience and dedication, regardless of whether you’re bringing up broilers or not. However, with the help of incubators, we can at least get embryos and hatchlings off to a good start. They have precise environmental…

Why Humidity is “Relative” to flock management Temperature and air quality go hand in hand with humidity, and all three directly result in a healthy flock, egg production and egg quality. However, humidity gets the least attention in the industry. Most, if not all growers, farmers, managers, and helpers directly related or responsible for a…

Caged vs Cage Free Egg Laying Systems The two common types housing used in the egg laying industry are Caged and Cage Free. Up until recently, the most common style in the United States has been the caged system. This system was efficient and a proven method to produced table eggs, but because of public…

Chain Tension and Feed Depth for Broiler Breeder Hens Chain feeding has been in use for decades. Typically, they require little maintenance, but can be a problem if the tension of the chain in the loop or the feed volume is not right for the birds and equipment. Chain Tension There is a certain tightness…

Tips for Organic Bird Operations Organic chicken has gained popularity over the last few years for consumers. The grain that the feed is made from comes from certified organic farmland which follows strict guidelines on growing grain, such as how and what can be put on the fields for fertilizer and weed prevention.  These fields…

Fan maintenance for efficient ventilation Now that the warmer weather is upon us and temperatures are dictating the ramping up of our ventilation stages, it is a great time to check a few easy wear points of our barn fans to make sure they are still working at the efficiency we expect and count on.…