A method for breeding broiler chickens

Abstract

A method for breeding broiler chickens comprising a step of placing chicken eggs in an incubator (1) in order to be incubated therein until the hatching of chicks, said method being characterized in that it further comprises the following steps of: transferring the chicks from the incubator (1) to a chick breeding house (2) and maintaining them therein until the chicks reach an appropriate weight for being safely transferred to a poultry house (3), and transferring the chicks from the chick breeding house (2) to the poultry house (3) and maintaining them therein until the chicks reach an appropriate weight for harvesting.

Description

[0001] A METHOD FOR BREEDING BROILER CHICKENS

[0002] DESCRIPTION

[0003] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0004] The present invention generally relates to the technical field of breeding broiler chickens and specifically refers to a method for breeding broiler chickens.

[0005] THE STATE OF THE ART

[0006] A prior art method for breeding broiler chickens consists of a step of placing chicken eggs in an incubator (1) in order to be incubated therein until the hatching of chicks and of a subsequent step of transferring the chicks from the incubator (I) to a poultry house (3) and maintaining them therein until the chicks reach an appropriate weight for harvesting (see Figure 1).

[0007] More particularly, the chicks are maintained in the poultry house (3) for approximately 45 days until they reach an appropriate weight for harvesting. Apart from the above mentioned time of 45 days, there is also a time of approximately 10 to 15 days required for cleaning and for preparing the poultry' house (3) for receiving the next batches of chicks for breeding and thus the poultry house (3) is used for a time period of 55 to 60 days in total and the chickens production capacity of the poultry house (3) in this time period rises to 45-60 kg / m2. After the end of the time period of 55 to 60 days, the poultry house (3) receives the next batches of chicks for breeding and thus the poultry house (3) is capable of receiving six batches of chicks for breeding per year and the chickens production capacity of the poultry house (3) reaches 270-360 kg / m2per year. However, there is still a need to optimize the productivity in the breeding of broiler chickens and to reduce the energy consumed during the breeding of broiler chickens. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] It is an object of the present invention to optimize the productivity in the breeding of broiler chickens and to reduce the energy consumed during the breeding of broiler chickens.

[0009] The present invention discloses a method for breeding broiler chickens comprising a step of placing chicken eggs in an incubator in order to be incubated therein until the hatching of chicks.

[0010] The aforementioned method of the present invention is characterized in that it further comprises the following steps of: transferring the chicks from the incubator to a chick breeding house and maintaining them therein until the chicks reach an appropriate weight for being safely transferred to a poultry house, and transferring the chicks from the chick breeding house to the poultry' house and maintaining them therein until the chicks reach an appropriate weight for harvesting.

[0011] The above mentioned method of the invention optimizes the productivity' in the breeding of broiler chickens and reduces the energy consumed during the breeding of broiler chickens due to the fact that after the hatching of chicks in the incubator, instead of transferring the chicks directly to the poultry house as it is the case in the prior art method, the chicks are initially transferred to a chick breeding house that is considerably smaller in size than the poultry' house and the chicks are maintained in the chick breeding house until they reach an appropriate weight for being safely transferred to the poultry house resulting in that the time that the chicks are maintained in the poultry house is reduced by the time required for the chicks to reach the appropriate weight for being safely transferred to the poultry house. Due to the above mentioned time reduction, the poultry house is capable of receiving more batches of chicks for breeding per year than the poultry house in the prior art method and thus the productivity in the breeding of broiler chickens is optimized. Also, due to the fact that the size of the chick breeding house is considerably smaller than the size of the poultry house, the energy requirements (heating, air conditioning etc,) of the chick breeding house are less than the energy requirements of the poultry house. Thus, the energy consumed during the breeding of broiler chickens with the above mentioned method of the invention is less than the energy consumed with the prior art method.

[0012] It is to be noted that in order to be safely transferred to the poultry house, the weight of the chicks must be such that they are grown enough before their transfer from the chick breeding house to the poultry house for not being in danger by the presence of adult chickens in the poultry' house since the adult chickens might sometimes be aggressive with the chicks.

[0013] According to an embodiment of the above mentioned method of the invention, the chicks are transferred from the incubator to the chick breeding house when their weight is approximately 42 gr and the chicks are maintained in the chick breeding house before being safely transferred to the poultry house until they reach a weight between 450 gr and 500 gr. It is to be noted that the above mentioned embodiment provides the best results in terms of optimization of the productivity in the breeding of broiler chickens and in terms of reduction of the energy consumed during the breeding of broiler chickens.

[0014] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The Invention will be best understood by those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Figure 1 illustrates a schematic representation of the transfer of chicks from an incubator to a poultry house according to a prior art method for breeding broiler chickens. Figure 2 illustrates a schematic representation of the transfer of chicks from an incubator to a chick breeding house and the subsequent transfer of the chicks from the chick breeding house to a poultry house according to an embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0015] As shown in Figure 2, the method for breeding broiler chickens comprises a step of placing chicken eggs in an incubator (1) in order to be incubated therein until the hatching of chicks. It is well known that the average weight of a newly hatched chick is approximately 42 gr.

[0016] Furthermore, as show in Figure 2, the method for breeding broiler chickens comprises a step of transferring the chicks from the incubator (1) to a chick breeding house (2) and maintaining them therein until the chicks reach an appropriate weight for being safely transferred to a poultry house (3). According to an embodiment, the chicks are transferred from the incubator (1) to the chick breeding house (2) when the weight of the chicks is approximately 42 gr and the chicks are maintained in the chick breeding house (2) before being safely transferred to the poultry house (3) until they reach a weight between 450 gr and 500 gr.

[0017] Also, as shown in Figure 2, the method for breeding broiler chickens comprises a step of transferring the chicks from the chick breeding house (2) to the poultry house (3) and maintaining them therein until the chicks reach an appropriate weight for harvesting. It is well known that the average weight of a broiler chicken for harvesting is approximately 2 kg.

[0018] It is to be noted that the period required for the chicks to reach a weight between 450 gr and 500 gr is approximately 15 days and the fact of maintaining the chicks in the chick breeding house (2) for 15 days results in a corresponding reduction in the use of the poultry house (3) by 15 days. Thus, along with the days required for cleaning, the cycle of use of the poultry house (3) is reduced from 55-60 to 40-45 days and therefore, the poultry house (3) is capable of receiving eight batches of chicks for breeding per year (instead of six batches per year in the case of the prior art) and the chickens production capacity of the poultry house (3) reaches 360-480 kg / m2per year (instead of 270-360 kg / m2per year in the case of the prior art). Accordingly, there is an increase of 33% in the productivity of the poultry' house.

[0019] Also, taking into account that the chicks are maintained in the chick breeding house (2) until they reach a weight between 450 gr and 500 gr that corresponds to a size considerably smaller than the size of the adult chickens of the poultry house (3), the size of the chick breeding house (2) is considerably smaller than the size of the poultry house (3) (the size of the chick breeding house (2) is approximately one fourth of the size of the poultry house (3)) and thus, the energy requirements (heating, air conditioning etc.) of the chick breeding house (2) are less than the energy requirements of the poultry house (3). Also, it is to be noted that due to the fact that the chicks are maintained for approximately 15 days in the chick breeding house (2) and 30 days in the poultry house (3), a single chick breeding house can serve more than one poultry houses.

[0020] It is to be noted that the above description of the invention has been made by reference to preferred embodiments to which it is not limited .

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method for breeding broiler chickens comprising a step of placing chicken eggs in an incubator (1) in order to be incubated therein until the hatching of chicks, said method being characterized in that it further comprises the following steps of: transferring the chicks from the incubator (1) to a chick breeding house (2) and maintaining them therein until the chicks reach an appropriate weight for being safely transferred to a poultry house (3), and transferring the chicks from the chick breeding house (2) to the poultry house (3) and maintaining them therein until the chicks reach an appropriate weight for harvesting.

2. The method for breeding broiler chickens according to claim 1, wherein the chicks are transferred from the incubator (1) to the chick breeding house (2) when their weight is approximately 42 gr and the chicks are maintained in the chick breeding house (2) before being safely transferred to the poultry’ house (3) until they reach a weight between 450 gr and 500 gr.

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