The Bulletin is a publication of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station

Potter, Lawrence M.

Ringrose, R. C.

English

UNH Scholars' Repository

University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository NHAES Bulletin New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station 6-1-1953 Growth and feed standards for New Hampshire, Station Bulletin, no.401 Potter, Lawrence M. Ringrose, R. C. New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/agbulletin Recommended Citation Potter, Lawrence M.; Ringrose, R. C.; and New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, "Growth and feed standards for New Hampshire, Station Bulletin, no.401" (1953). NHAES Bulletin. 363. https://scholars.unh.edu/agbulletin/363 This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in NHAES Bulletin by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu. Mxhriivp Xf£H'QxxtulivLve^Ixtbcral HxtslapfEchnotoiggHs««K^;: ':'r'z;-*«>*fei»»Growth and FeedStandards forNew HampshiresBy Lawrence M. Potter and R. C. RingroseFASAcknowledgementsThe authors wish to express their appreciation to Pro-fessor W. F. Henry, Chairman of the Department of Agri-cuhural Economics, to Professor W. C. Skoglund. Chairman ofthe Department of Poultry Husbandry, to Mr. Richard War-ren, Extension Poultryman. and to Mr. John C. Holmes, Re-search Assistant in Agricultural Economics, all of the Uni-versity of New Hampshire, for their assistance.UNH LIBRARY3 ^tDD DDblfl MSDfiGrowth and Feed Standards forNew HampshiresLawrence M. Potter and R. C. Ringrose*IntroductionAsA RESULT or continuous progress in breeding, feeding, and manage-ment of broiler flocks in a highly specialized poultry industry, thereis need for up-to-date standard figures for weight, growth, and feed con-sumption for various ages of broilers. With such figures available the broilergrower will be better able to determine how his flock compares to a stand-ard flock as to growth and feed consumption at any age. Using this informa-tion as a reference he may make certain calculations on his flock to deter-mine when to sell in order to take advantage of greater profits.Tremendous changes have taken place in the last 20 years in the rateof growth of New Hampshires for broilers. For example, in 1934 it took20 weeks to raise a flock of chickens of mixed sexes to average five pounds.Now, it takes only 14 to 15 weeks. In the Maine Production and BroilerTest the average weight of all chickens raised in 1951 was one pound heavierthan the chickens raised in 1947. an increase from 3.96 pounds at 14 weeksto 4.95 pounds at the same age.The days of easy profits in the broiler business during the years im-mediately following World War II are apparently over. The broiler pro-ducers are now more nearly supplying the demand. Reasonable income forlabor and management in the broiler business is realized only by the morekeen operators who make best use of their breeding, feeding, and manage-ment abilities.The standards presented in this bulletin are to be used as a goal toattain or surpass. They are not absolute values for all broiler flocks. A largenumber of factors may influence the rate of growth of broilers. There arevariations among breeds, strains within a breed, feeds, feeding systems, sea-sons of the year, management factors, environmental conditions, disease out-breaks, as well as many other factors. The standards presented here are alittle better than the average in the broiler industry. However, if a broilergrower is to realize a reasonable income for his labor and management inorder to improve his financial position, he must obtain a larger chicken onless feed and in less time than the average broiler grower.ProcedureData for the first ten weeks of growth were taken from five pens of 300straight-run New Hampshires in the First New Hampshire Broiler Test.Mr. Potter is a Graduate Assistant in Poultry Husbandry at the Universitv of New Hampshire.Dr. Ringrose is Professor of Poultry Husbandry and Poultry Nutritionist, New Hampshire AgriculturalExperiment Station.-aVX-acc-D(1>-DcOcoQ.E3D<U0)Zoc5oOThese data consisted of average weights for each sex and average feed con-sumption for the mixed sexes. Through recent experiments at this Station,the feed consumption for the mixed sexes was recalculated and tabulatedby sexes by two-week periods from one-day-old to ten weeks of age. InSeptember of 1951. a sample of 20 ten-week old males and a sample of 20ten-week old females were selected at random from each of these five pensof New Hampshires. Thus a pen of 100 males and a pen of 100 femaleswere obtained for further study, each pen representing five different strainsof New Hampshires. By this procedure stock was obtained which would morenearly represent the average for the breed.From 10 to 20 weeks of age. body weights and feed consumption datawere collected by sexes at weekly intervals because of the great economicimportance of such information. The body weights and feed consumptionfor the two sexes were averaged to obtain figures representing mixed sexes.The chickens were fed a high efficiency type ration which was supple-mented with pellets after two weeks and also with scratch grain after 13weeks of age.ResultsThe results of the weekly weighing of the chickens and accumulative feedconsumption are presented in Table 1. These growth standards are also pre-sented in the graph in Figure 2. The results show that both the males andthe females consumed moie feed progressively each week until the 15thweek. At this time consumption dropped off slightly for the rest of the ex-periment except for the 20th week when the pullets started to lay. Thefeed consumed was utilized by the chickens at a continually poorer rate asthe chicken grew older.Figures collected from broiler growers indicate that this growth stand-ard is better than the growth obtained on many commercial farms in thatit results in a larger chicken on less feed at any given time. However, somecommercial flocks grow equally well. A typical mixed sex growth curve forNew Hampshires raised on commercial broiler farms is shown in Figure 1.This growth curve is a composite of data obtained from more than 60 differ-ent flocks raised in 1951. In comparing this curve with the standard curve,il is apparent that more feed is required to reach a given weight for thecommercial broiler. This points to the improvement broiler growers canmake in the growth and feed efficiency of broilers which in turn results ingreater return over cost.Feed EfficiencyThere are many factors which influence the profit from raising broilers.Among these are the cost of feed, chicks, hired labor, fuel, litter, and likeitems; the final feed efficiency of the chickens or the number of pounds offeed to produce each pound of live weight; disease and mortality; and theprice received per pound when sold. To realize the most profit for laborand management the broiler grower must know which factors have the mosteffect on profit and how to make these factors operate in his favor.The cost of a ton of feed cannot be influenced by a broiler grower,except as he buys for cash or credit. However, he can influence his over-allCDroro(NJroOro00(NJCDcvjCJOJCD- CD- CD- ^- (NJ3COLlI><33<NJ O— O<O ^z3OCLcoQ.Eozuoa:•*: 0)-a -oc 0)n 0)(/IX-DX a)i Socost in producing a pound of broiler by obtaining better feed efficiency.There is a large range in feed efficiencies obtained. For example, in the First. New Hampshire Broiler Test, there was a feed efficiency difference of 2.49and 2.77 for two strains of chickens when they reached a 3.00 pound aver*age weight. The importance of this feed efficiency difference may be ex-pressed in the following calculations. Comparing two flocks with feedefficiencies of 2.49 and 2.77. respectively, a difference of 0.28 pounds offeed is used to produce a pound of broiler. If a broiler grower has 10,000chickens which average three pounds and feed costs five cents a pound, thisdifference of 0.28 in feed efficiency results in a decreased feed cost of aboutS420 for the mor.? efficient flock. This is an out-of-pocket saving of about$40 per week.Among the factors which affect feed efficiency are the age of the chick-ens, the breed, the strain within a breed, the feed, the ability of the oper-ator to prevent feed wastage, and the season of the year. If the broilergrower is to profit from better feed efficiency, he must understand how thesefactors affect feed efficiencv and he must capitalize on their favorable aspects.Cost of Chicks — Moles vs. FemalesThe cost of chicks is the second largest cost in producing broilers. InTable 1, it will be noted that the male chickens have a better feed efficiencyand are considerably larger at any age than the females. It may also bepointed out that at times male chicks are available at a lower price thanfemale or straight-run chicks. These facts point to greater profit in raisingall male chickens. Due to the fact that male chickens have a better feed effici-ency and growth rate than female chickens, a 10,000 flock of 12-week oldmales would net about S500 more than would a straight-run flock of thesame number at the same age. This is calculated under 1952 conditions andassumes male chicks and straight-run chicks were purchased for the sameprice. This would indicate that the broiler grower could afford to pay upto five cents more for male chicks than for straight-run, provided the chickswere all from the same strain.On the other hand, if pullets are raised to more than a four and one-half pound average, many times during the year a higher price per poundmay be obtained for females than for males. At least three cents more perpound must be received for four and one-half pound pullets than for fourand one-half pound straight-run flocks in order to make raising pullets formeat as profitable as straight-run flocks under 1952 conditions.Prices Received for BroilersThe price received for broilers is perhaps the largest variable affectingbroiler profits. Assume a broiler grower has 10,000 chickens which averagethree pounds. An increase of one cent in price received would amount toabout $300 additional income. This is an increase of about $30 per week.A few cents difference in the price received for broilers often determines theprofit or loss to the broiler grower.Figure 3 indicates the price received on New Hampshire farms foichickens at various weights by weekly intervals for 1951. The importantpoint to be noted is that a large price spread between weights prevails atsome periods while a small price spread exists at other periods. This chartPOUNDSBIRD WEIGHT85 -4 -3 -2 -I-2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16POUNDS FEED CONFigure 2. In this chort bird weighthas been plotted against feed consumption for males,mixed sexes,averaging 5.4 lbs. per chicken which consumed 19lbs. ofj•••:MalesMixed SexesFemales1 1 1 1 1 1 l_i IJ 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36ED PER BIRDnies. Any point on the straight lines indicates the stated feed efficiency. Example: Assume a mixed sex flockt'feed efTiciency will be 3.5 as indicated by the straight line.

Growth and feed standards for New Hampshire, Station Bulletin, no.401

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Growth and feed standards for New Hampshire, Station Bulletin, no.401

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