Day-old chicks are unforgiving of small mistakes. Temperature, ventilation and water access in the first 21 days decide the fate of the whole batch.
Ask any poultry farmer where their money disappeared and the answer is almost always the same: the brooding period. Chicks that survive the first three weeks in good condition tend to go on and perform. Chicks that are stressed early never quite recover, and they carry that gap all the way to market weight.
Temperature, and then temperature again
A day-old chick cannot regulate its own body temperature. Your brooder is doing that job for it.
- Week 1: around 33–35°C at chick level
- Week 2: reduce to roughly 30–32°C
- Week 3: roughly 28–30°C, then step down to ambient
Do not trust the thermometer alone — read the birds. Chicks huddled tightly under the heat source are cold. Chicks pressed against the walls of the ring are too hot. Chicks spread evenly and making a soft, contented noise have got it right.
Ventilation without draught
Fresh air removes ammonia and moisture; draught chills birds directly. The distinction matters enormously. Air should move above the chicks, not across them. If your eyes sting when you enter the house in the morning, ammonia is already damaging respiratory tracts and you are behind.
Water before feed
Place chicks on water first and make sure every single bird drinks within the first hours. Dehydration at day one shows up as poor uniformity at week six. Use shallow drinkers a chick cannot drown in, clean them daily, and keep water at room temperature rather than cold.
Litter and space
Dry litter, 5–8 cm deep, turned regularly. Wet litter breeds coccidiosis, and coccidiosis will cost you more than the entire brooding operation. Expand the brooder ring as the birds grow — crowding causes pecking, and pecking causes losses that have nothing to do with disease.
Vaccination discipline
The starter programme exists because the diseases it prevents are the ones that empty poultry houses. Newcastle disease and Gumboro do not negotiate. Follow the schedule your supplier provides and do not improvise on timing.
Let someone else carry the risk
Brooding is labour-intensive and unforgiving, which is exactly why we offer it as a service. We take day-old chicks into temperature-controlled brooding houses, run the full starter vaccination programme, report mortality honestly, and hand back strong, feathered birds ready for your pens. For many farmers, that is simply better economics than learning this lesson with their own money.
Need healthy livestock for your farm?
We supply vet-supervised cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, poultry and more across Nigeria — and we are happy to talk through what suits your setup before you spend anything.
