Effects of relative humidity during the last five days of incubation and brooding temperature on performance of broiler chicks from young broiler breeders

Broiler hatching eggs were subjected to one RH condition (53% RH) from 0 to 16 d and switched to one of three different RH conditions (43, 53, or 63%) from transfer at 16 d to pull time at 21.67 d of incubation. The broiler breeder ages were 27, 29, and 31 wk for Trial 1, and 26, 28, and 30 wk for Trial 2 in Experiment 1. For both trials, BW at hatch, BW at pull, hatch time, and chick weight loss between hatching and pull were measured. All unhatched eggs were opened and examined macroscopically. Experiment 2 was conducted using the chicks produced in Experiment 1. The chicks were immediately placed after pull and randomly distributed by sex into brooding pens by RH treatment in Trial 1, and by sex, RH, and brooding temperature in Trial 2. Two brooding conditions, warm and cool, were used in Trial 2. Body weight at placement, BW gain to 12 d, feed conversion, and mortality were recorded. There was no effect of RH treatment on fertile hatchability. Body weight at hatch, pull, and placement increased with hen age. Mortality was higher for the late-hatching chicks in the warm brooding conditions in Trials 1 and 2 of Experiment 2, whereas mortality was significantly greater for the early-hatching chicks and those chicks hatched at 43% RH under the cool-brooding temperature conditions. Relative humidity treatment had no effect on chick performance in the presence of warm brooding conditions. Warm brooding conditions improved BW gain to 12 d compared with cold brooding conditions. Overall, optimal chick performance was achieved at 53% RH. Chick quality problems that may be due to high or low RH during incubation can be ameliorated by proper brooding conditions.