Monitoring crop fill is a critical practice in poultry production, as it indicates whether newly placed chicks are accessing enough feed and water to support early growth and helps farmers detect problems that could affect appetite, growth rates and overall flock performance.
Animal specialist at EL Ganado Consultancy, Nqobani Manyabi, said crop fill is one of the most reliable early indicators of chick management.
“Crop fill is an important tool in measuring birds’ access to feed and water,” Manyabi said. “If adequate crop fill is not achieved, appetite development will be depressed, early growth rate will be compromised, feed conversion ratio, average daily gain and skeletal development will be below desired levels, and flock uniformity will be affected.”
He outlined a simple method farmers can use to assess crop fill.
Using a catching frame, farmers should collect between 30 and 40 chicks, sampling about 10 chicks at a time from three to four different areas of the fowl run.
“Handle each chick with care and gently feel the crop using your thumb and forefingers,” Manyabi said. “Record what you find under three categories.”
The first category is “full, soft and rounded”, indicating that chicks have found both feed and water. The second is “full but hard”, meaning chicks have eaten feed but have not accessed enough water. The third category is “empty crop”, showing that chicks have not found feed or water.
After recording results, farmers are advised to calculate the percentage of chicks in each category and compare them with recommended targets.
“The guideline shows that after two hours, target crop fill is 75%; after four hours, 80%; after eight hours, more than 80%; after 12 hours, more than 85%; after 24 hours, more than 95%; and at 48 hours, 100%,” he said.
Manyabi stressed that successful broiler production depends on more than simply supplying feed and water.
“The role of a broiler farmer is to create a conducive environment for chicks to feed and drink so that they grow to their full potential and give the farmer a positive bottom line,” he said.
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