The Importance Of Appetite Development In Young Broilers

Appetite development is the most important priority for every broiler grower during the first 72-96 hours of the chick’s life. Start by establishing a healthy flock from day one. This requires giving sufficient nutrients to develop the different physiological systems – cardiovascular, pulmonary, alimentary tract and immune – as well as protecting skeletal growth and feather cover.

At hatch, the chick can be compromised by immature or poorly developing tissues and requires a rapid transition to proper tissue growth to achieve the best economic return. A day-old chick (DOC) possesses a yolk sac that contains different nutrients including carbohydrates, lipids, protein, maternal derived antibodies, vitamins, minerals and water, connected to the mid gut via the yolk stem. This allows the chick to be nutritionally self-sufficient.

The yolk stem is only open to the gut prior to hatch and until approximately 48 hours afterwards. A consumed yolk sac will be clearly shown by the presence of The Meckel's diverticulum, as seen during post mortem examination of the chicks. Unabsorbed/retained yolk sac can be caused by poor brooding management practice and/or infection. At the start, yolk lipids provide the only energy source for the chick. A first priority during brooding is the successful transition from endogenous energy source (yolk lipid fat) to exogenous energy source, which is the carbohydrate from the feed within the first 72-96 hours.

Chicks that have not developed appetite within the first 72-96 hours become slow feeders and can never achieve economically optimal growth.
The chick can only develop appetite within the first 72-96 hours.
Temperature and ventilation are of equal importance during the first days of brooding.
 

Young chicks initially have no idea that the broiler starter feed is actually food. They only possess an instinctive pecking behavior for interesting particles. This may be coarse particles (i.e. any article that gives shadow), which can be feed particles if the brooding condition is satisfactory, or wood shavings in the event of insufficient feeding space.

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Chicks develop an appetite when sufficient ‘interesting material’ is consumed. This occurs when their crop is full of feed and water, which allows digestion and absorption to take place and ultimately provide sufficient nutrient level in the bloodstream to stimulate the appetite center in the brain. Typically this happens about 30 hours after feed consumption (i.e. full crop) occurs. Only at this stage do chicks recognize feed material as food.