D Tadelle, A Getinet, D Solomon
In Ethiopia, chicks are raised by broody hen, the success of which depends on the prevalence of predators. Hay box brooder was successfully used to raise layer type chicks. In this study, a total of 270 cobb, 500 broiler chicks were used to evaluate the brooding performance of electric, modified and existing hay-box brooders of 30 chick’s capacity, in completely randomized design. Chick mortality, growth, economic return and weight of internal organs were used as evaluation parameters. The results showed that, 98% of each of the electric and modified hay box groups survived to an age of 56 days. The electric, modified and existing hay box groups attained body weight of 2.3, 2.1, and 1.6 kg/head, respectively at an age of 56 days. It was calculated that Birr 74, 71 and 96 was required to raise day old broiler chicks to an age of 56 days with the use of electric, modified and existing hay box brooder respectively. The in-put and out-put analysis indicated net profit/head of Birr 51, 37 and 2.6 for the electric, modified and existing hay box groups respectively at an age of 56 days. The results obtained clearly showed that modified hay box brooder is equally productive as an electric brooder in raising broilers in Ethiopia where there is no electric power. However, study into setting up of proper input supply system (feed, vaccination, market linkage etc) is the future direction of research in the area of initiation of household broiler production with the use of hay box brooder.
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