Lohmann Hatchery Guide

46 LOHMANN TIERZUCHT › MANAGEMENT GUIDE 46 PROCESSING OF CHICKS maintain the right environment for the whole delivery time. The day-old chicks have a natural equipment, that is “the residual yolk percentage in correct parameters”, and this makes the chicks comfortable without food and water for the first 48 hours. It is of primary importance that the tem- perature stays under control inside at the chicks’ box. A clear indicator of good cli- mate conditions is when the chicks are breathing calmly through closed nostrils and are spread out within all box sur- faces; this allows for the conservation of humidity and the avoidance of stress, as the chicks don’t have to use energy for thermoregulation of the body and they therefore have more energy to use for live- ability. Of course, the temperature set-point of transport is relative to the air flow velocity inside the truck: the higher the air velocity the higher the temperature set-point, and vice versa. › › Optimise the delivery in consideration of transport time, truck climate capacity and condition of roads. › › Remember that a strong air flow can help in critical temperature conditions. › › Use a data logger to record conditions and place it in the right place in the chicks’ box; count and control the loose chicks. › › Load and unload quickly; in a normal truck there is no good ventilation in this phase and boxes aren’t well distributed. › › Adjust the number of chicks/box in relation to the climate conditions (sea- son-size) and the previously scheduled hours of transport time. › › Use proper food and hydrate food for chicks in the case of extra-long delivery. › › The truck driver should be trained and should have professional motivation for taking care of live chicks and for opti- mising time and transport. QUALITY ASSURANCE Implementing a basic quality assurance system in hatcheries Quality assurance is a complex systemwhich includes different interrelated programmes. It has the aims of keeping quality at high lev- els by preventing any hazards and defects, and of satisfying customers. Together with other quality functions like quality policy, quality design, quality control and quality improvement, quality assurance closes the circle of a complex quality system that can help companies to comply with changing requirements both from customers and from regulatory governments. Quality assurance systems include docu- ments that describe operations and activi- ties that directly relate quality and safety, and should be followed by people inside organisations. In companies that operate with quality management systems, the quality assurance activities are integrated into the quality management systems.