A Comparative Study on the Efficiency of Locally Made Low Cost Brooders for Brooding Chicks

An experiment was carried out with day-old "Sonali" (♂RIR$\times$♀Fayoumi) chicks to investigate the efficacy of locally made low cost brooders for brooding chicks in rural areas. Three types of indigenous brooders viz. charcoal, haricane and sawdust brooders were used for brooding chicks throughout the experimental period of 28 days. The efficiency of the brooders was observed in respect of their ability to maintain temperature, fluctuation in temperature during operation and cost effectiveness. Following initial trial of temperature maintenance for 48 h, the chicks were put under the brooder stoves and brooded up to 28 days. The experimental birds were fed on chick starter diet. Maintenance of temperature with sawdust brooders was found satisfactory and optimum for brooding the chicks at different stages of brooding and at the same time involved least cost for brooding in comparison with charcoal and haricane brooders which did not perform well in generating heat necessary for brooding and were not economically feasible for poor farmers. On the other hand, performance of charcoal brooders was better in respect of temperature maintenance during initial stage (when the brooder was started) but the temperature fluctuated rapidly, whereas fluctuation of temperature was gradual in sawdust brooders. Body weight gain and feed conversion were best in sawdust brooders. Survivability was highest in sawdust brooders and lowest in haricane brooders. Sawdust brooders may be appropriate for brooding chicks in rural areas, where electricity is not available.