Planning for pullets can’t start early enough

Good quality pullets are the cornerstone of a successful egg enterprise, so what do producers need to consider when sourcing their future flock? Olivia Cooper reports

Buying thousands of pullets that will become the sole source of income for the next year and a bit is no small investment.

So egg producers want to be sure that they are going to perform as well as they possibly can. And the key, according to pullet rearer John Moore, is to start paying attention to detail long before the birds arrive on farm.

Speaking at a recent training course organised by the West Country Layers Association in Devon, Mr Moore said producers should plan their purchase well ahead of time. “Whether you’re buying them as day-old chicks to rear yourself, or as 16-week-old pullets, you need to give the hatchery or pullet rearer as much notice as possible.”

Chick production was based on breeding from two pure grandparent lines, to produce suitable parent lines, said Mr Moore. Those hens would then take 28 weeks to produce their first chick, with each pullet producing 90 females on average, assuming 100% egg use. “It is quite an involved system – you can’t just dial the birds up.”

Having decided what breed they want, and how many pullets they need, producers should liaise with their pullet rearer to ensure the birds will ultimately be fit for purpose, he added. “What chick treatments do you want? There is in-ovo vaccination, vaccination at point of hatch and infra-red beak treatment to reduce pecking damage.

“If you have a complex disease situation on the home farm, there may be a case for housing pullets earlier, or home-rearing them completely so they build up some immunity,” said Mr Moore. “However, you need to have very high biosecurity to protect them against Marek’s disease in the first four weeks. And if you’re buying pullets in, make sure they’ve come from a single age site.”

Although many rearers are interested in mixing their own feed, the variable harvest meant chicks would get greater consistency from a bought-in ration, he added. “Chicks should be fed textured feed from day-old to two weeks, then change to meal with a fine grist, and moving to a coarser grist as they age.”

Pullets should be reared in the same conditions as on the home farm – whether multi-tier or single tier – and with the same layout and style of perches, laying boxes, drinkers and feeders.

The flock should be uniform in size, and reared for optimum development of their digestive system, skeleton and reproductive organs, said Mr Moore. “They should be free from bacterial and viral diseases, and from intestinal or external parasites. You should know what diseases are on your farm so the birds can be vaccinated appropriately.

“There are so many vaccines, and each one costs money, stresses the bird and checks their growth rate. We can produce a Rolls-Royce pullet, but do you really need it to be vaccinated against everything?”

Another important consideration is the light programme, which will affect target egg weights. “Day-old chicks should get 20 hours of light. Most rearers reduce that steadily to 10 hours by six weeks, and keep it at that level until they want to bring them into lay. The slower you reduce the light, the heavier and fewer the eggs produced.”

However, hens destined for free-range sites, or houses with considerable light leakage, especially during the summer, may be better with more daylight hours during the winter simulation. “It’s the level profile that’s most important.”

Rearers should install light baffles to prevent light leaking through fan ducts and air intakes, said Mr Moore. “There is a derogation for rearers so they don’t have to adopt dawn to dusk lighting. It can cause the birds to smother, so we prefer snap on, snap off lighting instead – dawn to dusk generally works better on multi-tier sites.”

Egg producers should ideally use a rearer local to their farm, so they can visit the site and check on the pullets. “There should be monitoring procedures for blood titres, bodyweight and uniformity – and you should decide what your rejection criteria are and how any rejected birds will be replaced.”

Transport arrangements to the laying farm were also critical. “The transport time should be kept to a minimum, so that the pullets are not dehydrated or stressed on arrival. Chickens are creatures of habit – they should arrive on farm at the same time as lights would normally come on in the morning, so that they will be looking for food and water as soon as they arrive.”