ABSTRACT
It is proposed to evaluate the influence of microclimatic conditions of the lairage time in the hatchery chicks room on the final quality of one day-old chicks, that came from different ages of breeders. The mass of 1440 fertile eggs was divided into three batches of 480 eggs each, according to the age of breeders (46, 54 and 64 weeks). After birth, the chicks were selected, sexed and divided into the three ages of breeders and three lairage times (0, 14 and 28 h). Dataloggers were also installed in the lairage room and in the chick’s boxes to monitor the air temperature, relative humidity, specific enthalpy. A completely randomized design was used in factorial scheme of 2 x 3 x 3 with 50 repetitions. The analysed response variables were: body mass of chicks, cloacal temperature, average surface temperature and respiratory rate. The lairage time and the microclimatic conditions of the hatchery chick’s room influenced the thermal comfort of the chicks. The best lairage time was 0 h. The highest percentage of weight loss due to the lairage time was observed in chicks from breeders with 54 weeks of age.
Key words:
poultry; thermal comfort; day-old chicks; post-hatchability; fasting
