{"id":13736,"date":"2022-03-28T15:16:17","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T19:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mtechsystems.io\/?page_id=13736"},"modified":"2022-03-28T17:03:02","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T21:03:02","slug":"innovations-in-the-hatchery-early-feeding-benefits","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mtechsystems.io\/es\/show\/agcelerate\/innovations-in-the-hatchery-early-feeding-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"AGcelerate: Innovations in the Hatchery: Early Feeding Benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Innovations in the Hatchery: Early Feeding Benefits\u00a0<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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[00:50]<\/span> welcome everyone, this is M take accelerate. My name<\/span> is Ni<\/span>k<\/span>ola<\/span>y<\/span> Shchetikhin<\/span>, and I have Jim Johnson with me. And of course, we have a guest here. As you can see, we have Ron <\/span>Meyerhoff<\/span>. <\/span>How<\/span> you doing, guys?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

[01:25] So<\/span> Ryan, we were <\/span>really excited to talk to you today. You’re an independent broiler breeder hatchery, consultant, you, you’ve been in the industry for a long time, you travel the world, you’ve got experience of, you know, reproduction in the poultry industry across<\/span> the globe. And that’s some of these subjects we’d love to speak to you about today.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

[01:48] Yep, yep. Yeah. And really happy to have <\/span>you<\/span> R<\/span>on. And before we go into the topic of today’s <\/span>AGc<\/span>elerate<\/span>, which will be latest developments in the hatchery technology,<\/span> we want to hear a little bit about your story, how you started with, with the chickens, and you know, a little bit of your path and why you still here,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

[02:10] like anybody <\/span>in the industry <\/span>you start by coincidence, I don’t think a lot of people really choose to w<\/span>ork with chickens, but you get trapped into it, and then you never leave. <\/span>So<\/span> I started in 1987, or 98, something like that, because I wanted to do research. And the only job available was research with chickens for a temporary job. And then your boss leave<\/span>s and you take his position, and then your new boss leaves and you take his position. And then 30 years later, you find yourself still being in industry for 35 years later. <\/span>S<\/span>o<\/span> I started in research. And then I found out that<\/span> be<\/span>ing a<\/span> scientific <\/span>researcher with a <\/span>bachelor<\/span> degree was not very sufficient. <\/span>So<\/span> then I did my PhD on egg storage, because storage and incubation because that was very short term experiments and not the 60 weeks that you do in broiler breeders, which was really my job. I nee<\/span>ded something <\/span>go quick. That was incubation. And even next door it goes even quicker than that. And then from that I moved first habit for one year and no two years, and then I moved to <\/span>h<\/span>y<\/span>brow<\/span>. And then when <\/span>h<\/span>y<\/span>brow<\/span> was sold, I moved to <\/span>h<\/span>atch<\/span>t<\/span>ech<\/span> fo<\/span>r two years. And then after hedge tech I decided that the only boss I really wanted was my wife. <\/span>Later on<\/span>, I found out that my daughter would be the <\/span>boss also<\/span>. <\/span>So<\/span> but okay, that’s my story. And then <\/span>12 years ago, I started my own company as a consul<\/span>tant. And here I am.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

[03:51]\u00a0So interest<\/span>ing<\/span> journey, isn’t it? Yeah. that the real reason that we wanted to explore some of <\/span>the this<\/span> discussion, there’s this <\/span>AG<\/span>celerate<\/span> episode with <\/span>you Ron<\/span> was to get your take on some of the newer technologies or new practices<\/span> being adopted in the, in the hatchery environment for poultry. And you <\/span>know, it’d be quite good to get your take and just talk through and describe what some of these terms mean. <\/span>So<\/span> the first one that we want to talk about is really early fee<\/span>ding<\/span> this thi<\/span>s kind of, it’s not really new practice now, because it’s been out there on the market for some time. But <\/span>but<\/span>, you know, what’s it all about? What’s your take on this whole early feeding of chicks in the hatchery?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

[04:41] Indeed, it’s not something new. So <\/span>already there for quite a while. And of course, we are feeding birds during transport already for a long time. So that’s one thing but that’s mainly for long term transport breeders and so on. And then a couple of years ago We realized that when you feed t<\/span>he birds directly after hatch, you give them a sort of a <\/span>head start<\/span> that might be beneficial for performance. And then somebody came up with the bright idea that if you give that feed, already, during <\/span>hatching<\/span> you even get a head start earlier than then that<\/span> you feed them during as soon as possible. You that <\/span>hatching<\/span> period. Now, that can be done in two ways, you can either bring the fe<\/span>ed<\/span> to the <\/span>hatchery, the <\/span>feed<\/span> and<\/span> the water, of course, to the <\/span>hatchery<\/span>, because that’s a very important thing. That’s one of the firs<\/span>t mistakes I made with my first couple of first trials that I did with it, I basically was feeding <\/span>something<\/span> and it didn’t work at all, until I got a student that had no idea about chickens. And she said, but how do you get them to water? <\/span>Oh<\/span>, no<\/span>w<\/span>, okay, tha<\/span>t’s why it doesn’t work. But <\/span>when you give them feed or water, either separate or as a mixture, in the <\/span>hatcher<\/span>, then that gives you a head start. And the other option is, of course, bring the eggs at 18 days of incubation, bring them to the farm, and<\/span> place them in the litter or above the litter and let them hatch. During after <\/span>in the farm<\/span> of course, the moment they jump out of the egg, then they can find food and water. Now that has been picked up, especially from a welfare point o<\/span>f view. And then the idea was that if it’s beneficial for welfare, and it’s beneficial for the bird, and it’s beneficial for the farmer, then it really is a win <\/span>win<\/span> situation. And everybody should be happy. Of course, there are some consequences with i<\/span>t. There are some<\/span> negative sides, nothing is all positive, nothing is always only hallelujah. But in this case, that could be quite positive. And the idea, the first idea was that if you give those birds feed and water during hatching, then in a norma<\/span>l hatch window of let’s say, 36 hours, the first chick hatching until let’s say until <\/span>p<\/span>ulling plus, let’s say 10 hours from starting to <\/span>pu<\/span>ll until arriving on the farm and being unloaded, then you talk about 48 hours, two days of no feed and water. And if <\/span>you give that bird feed<\/span> and<\/span> water, perhaps the welfare and the dehydration of that bird and so on, will be less and that bird will make a <\/span>better start.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

[07:47] Of course, the bird has a residual yolk sac. Because Mother Nature cannot guarantee that that c<\/span>hick <\/span>from the mother hen<\/span>, finds feed and water like a calf does with a cow. I mean, <\/span>mother hen <\/span>still <\/span>is<\/span> not, <\/span>not giving milk. <\/span>So<\/span> there’s quite a little bit difficult to <\/span>ensure<\/span> that it gets that feed<\/span> and<\/span> water. <\/span>So<\/span> mother<\/span> nature of <\/span>course <\/span>not being stupid provided <\/span>that bird with a yoke. And that works. But of course, if you give that extra feed and extra water, perhaps it gets even better than that. In 2017, there was a quite a big survey being done, where a lot of literature was <\/span>processed<\/span> and a lot of literature wa<\/span>s being put together. And it showed that when you do give that earlier feed and water compared to at<\/span> hatch<\/span> or <\/span>compared<\/span> to a<\/span>t<\/span> arrival on the farm or compared to even delaying access to feed and water on the farm, then indeed, you have a better growth. And the<\/span>y compared it as a percentage. And if you have a certain number of hours that a bird <\/span>do<\/span> not get feed and water, then compared with a standard, then you have only 90% or 80% or 95% depending how you do it off the off the gro<\/span>wth<\/span> that you normally will have. S<\/span>o that would indicate that that bird? Yes, it does benefit. Yes, it grows faster. Yes. It’s <\/span>really beneficial<\/span> for <\/span>that bird and it will not suffer that much. Until you take a little bit closer look into the data. Yes, when you deprive that bird from feed a<\/span>nd water for a period, it will not have the end weight. At the end. There will be only let’s say, depending on how you do it. But let’s say 90% or 95% of the <\/span>end weight<\/span> that you would normally get until you calculate the number of hours that the bird has acce<\/span>ss to feed and water. Because the trick is they compare the same slaughter moment <\/span>But<\/span> then did not give the birds feed and water for 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours after that hatch. <\/span>So<\/span> the bird had literally 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours less time to consume,<\/span> feed and water. And if you compare the percentage of time that a bird has access to feed and water, with the percentage of gross that they realized in that period, is completely identical. That basically means that when you give that bird, only 90% Time t<\/span>o eat, it’ll also only grow 90% of the final bodyweight. <\/span>So<\/span> it basically indicates that the bird doesn’t change that much that doesn’t say anything about welfare. Perhaps it suffers in that period, I don’t know. And that’s not my area of expertise. But the<\/span> the<\/span> benefit, beneficial effects <\/span>seems<\/span> to be more for, let’s say, the farmer, because of course, when you start your birds earlier, you reach the finish line earlier as well. If you are a <\/span>driver, and you can start 100 meters ahead of the rest,<\/span> you probably will make it to the finish line also a little bit quicker than the other ones, not because you go faster, but simply you start earlier. And that’s <\/span>actually the<\/span> situation with early feeding. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. That doesn’t mean it’s s<\/span>omething that should not be done. But of course, if it’s <\/span>really beneficial<\/span> in that way, for the word birds, <\/span>well being<\/span> for the performance of the bird, they don’t grow faster, they only grow earlier. And that’s of course a benefit. But that’s not necessari<\/span>ly something that is beneficial for <\/span>the<\/span> bird. You do see positive effects from early feeding, although it’s not, it’s too young to really say that you have, let’s say proven beneficial effect, because there’s still a lot of research that needs to be done, it<\/span>‘s a little bit too young to read expect a lot of data on that subject. But one thing what people claim or what people see. And I, I think I agree with it, because I’ve done it several times myself. And I have the same experience. When you do give early fe<\/span>e<\/span>d and<\/span> water, you see that the bird seems to be more stable, it seems to be that you need a little bit less<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

[08:47] And if I may add about Asia, like you said, there’s a big growth and companies are growing, and many companies are growing through acquisition. And again, once you collect many different companies in one big company, ther<\/span>e is a need to standardize everything across the board. Otherwise, it might not work. Otherwise, there is no control. And again, if you don’t have control, it’s <\/span>really hard<\/span> to predict the growth or organize the growth.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

[12:38] antibiotics that you know a little bit you need less antibiotics, you have more it’s not that the mortality goes down that much. But you see t<\/span>hat birds seems to be a little bit <\/span>more healthy<\/span>. And that’s blamed or that’s given as a benefit for feed and water. Now, being a scientist, you always wonder how things are happening. And the one thing what you do with early feed and water is you’re given <\/span>them early feed and water. But you also change the hatching environment. If you if anybody who works in <\/span>the hatchery<\/span> if you ever open a hatchery, or <\/span>hatches<\/span>, sorry, let’s say 70% of the <\/span>hatch<\/span>, and you look at those chicks in the boxes, you know it’s crowded, it<\/span>‘s a lot of dust, it’s a lot of moisture, it’s a lot of stress, it’s a lot of one thing, if you give feed and water in the hatchery, you will have to give the birds more space for the simple reason. If you don’t give the birds more space, they cannot move <\/span>and<\/span> find feed and water. So that’s exactly what you see if you have the commercial systems available at this moment, you see that they are having a lower density, much lower density and giving more space to those birds simply to be able to move to the sides<\/span> to find feed and water. And <\/span>also<\/span> when you when you ha<\/span>tch<\/span> those birds in the farm. <\/span>So<\/span> you bring them the eggs with the farmer day the days and you wait for three days until they’re hatched. The density is much lower. They don’t grow over each other they don<\/span>‘t inhale all the dust and bacteria and that high density let’s say environment that we are having in a <\/span>normal h<\/span>atches<\/span>. <\/span>So<\/span> the question is, if we find a more stable bird with a better gut flora, and a better stability of the intestinal tract, is it or an im<\/span>mune system or whatever it is causing it? Is it because of the early f<\/span>eed and<\/span> water? <\/span>Or is it perhaps also a little bit or a lot because the birds <\/span>has<\/span> more space and is now not affected so heavily with all that bacterial load. We did some trials with early <\/span>feed<\/span> and<\/span> water system without feed<\/span> and <\/span>water. And you basically see that the effect is also there. <\/span>So<\/span> it’s not only <\/span>feed and<\/span> water, it might also be part of it, or a lot of it, I don’t know. But part of it might also be the environment that you l<\/span>et them hatch<\/span>. A<\/span>nd that’s quite important. Because if you need a system with feed <\/span>and<\/span> water or without <\/span>feed and<\/span> water, logistically speaking, there’s quite a big difference.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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