Breeding, Brooding, and Flock Health

This unit develops skills in reproductive management, hatching and brooding, daily chick and adult care, and maintaining flock health and welfare. Students will learn incubation and mating methods, feeding and housing requirements, disease recognition and treatment, pest and predator control, egg handling, and humane considerations that prepare them for processing and advanced production topics in the next unit.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze breed selection, mating methods (natural and artificial), and incubation strategies to design a reproductive plan that meets targeted production goals
• Apply brooder setup, feeding, watering, sanitation, and stress-reduction protocols to raise healthy chicks through the starter period
• Demonstrate procedures for recognizing common diseases, administering medications safely, and implementing integrated pest and predator control measures to protect flock health
• Evaluate egg collection, cleaning, storage, and quality assessment practices and prepare a humane, timed checklist for pre-slaughter/processing readiness