The Causes of Early Chick Mortality and 14 Ways to Reduce it.

 The Causes of Early Chick Mortality and 14 Ways to Reduce it.

Chicks are very frail, especially during the first few weeks of their life. Hence, it is imperative to have sound management to keep your flock healthy.

Moreover, irrespective of the quality of the chicks supplied/procured and the robustness of management, early chick mortality cannot be avoided entirely. 1-5% of mortality is normal in a poultry farm; however, anything higher than this should be taken seriously.

A high mortality rate is indicative that something is wrong with the flock, and it demands the poultry owner’s immediate intervention and appropriate action to stop further losses as failure to do so may lead to huge losses.

Many factors cause early chick mortality, such as genetic, management, disease, and nutritional causes. Here in this post, we are sharing about the cause of early chick mortality and ways to reduce the chick mortality.

▪What causes early chick mortality?

There are a number of causes of early chick mortality. However, the most common factors are:

1.Genetic causes.

2.Management causes.

3.Nutritional causes.

4.Disease causes.

Let’s discuss all four mortality causes gradually.

Genetic Causes:

There are around 21 lethal gene mutations in birds. Most of these lethal genes lead to chicks’ death during the incubation period. However, congenital tremors and congenital loco cause the death of chicks within a week of hatching.

Management Causes:

Another most important cause of early chick mortality is Poor management. Sound management is indispensable for keeping flocks healthy and alive. Chicks reared in poorly managed poultry won’t be able to manifest their full genetic potentials. Some of the management blunders include.

A.High Brooding Temperature:

High brooding temperature is dangerous for your flock. Too much heat makes chicks dehydrated due to which they consume more water rather than feed.

Due to their reduced feed intake, their growth is drastically affected, leading to their death. Besides, it also causes pasted vent (i.e., feces stalked around the vent area block the vent, ultimately resulting in chicks’ deaths because of their inability to pass out waste from the body).

B.Low Brooding Temperature:

Low brooding temperature causes chilling, and prolonged exposure to cold can directly impact the immune system of the flock, thereby making birds vulnerable to diseases.

Besides, flock tends to huddle together when exposed to too much cold to keep themselves warm. Huddling causes suffocation in the flock, thereby resulting in chick mortality.

C.Poisoning:

The mortality rate due to poisoning is also high in early chicks. It, however, depends on the type, dose, and duration of exposure. Poisoning mortality could be sudden and deadful.

The reason for poisoning could be any from feed to excessive salt intake, herbicides to insecticides, and disinfectants, etc.

D.Litter Contamination:

Another most crucial cause of chick mortality is -contaminated bedding materials. Some farmers use sawdust for brooding, which could be really harmful to chicks.
Chicks can mistake sawdust for feed, and in the process, they consume it in good quantity, which leads to gastrointestinal impaction and ultimately resulting in death.

E.Starvation:

Starvation is another cause of chick mortality because young chicks do not have fat storage to fulfill body needs during starvation, resulting in death.

F.Injuries:

It is important to handle chicks carefully during vaccination, sexing, dubbing, de-beaking, transportation from brooding farm to rearing farm, etc.; otherwise, it can cause injuries and ultimately result in death.

G.Inadequate Feeders and Drinkers:

Using wrong feeding and drinking equipment can also cause chick mortality. Inadequate feeders and drinkers affect flocks’ performance. It also leads to feed wastage and water spillage that results in the wet litter, which is a suitable condition for disease outbreak. Less feeder and drinker, on the other hand, cause starvation, ultimately leading to death.