On Day 12, the entire poultry shed is opened to the flock. Removing all remaining brooding curtains and partitions achieves final target stocking density (typically 12–15 birds/m² depending on target harvest weight and climate). Concurrently, farm staff must audit litter moisture across all zones to prevent caking, footpad dermatitis, and ammonia spikes.
•Opening full house without pre-heating the cold end, causing severe thermal shock and flock chilling.
•Failing to purge airlocks from newly connected outer drinker lines, leaving birds without water in the expansion zone.
•Allowing wet litter cakes to remain under drinker lines instead of removing them immediately.
•High litter moisture (>30%) combined with warm ambient temperature (25°C) creates the ideal incubation environment for coccidial oocysts and bacterial proliferation (Clostridium perfringens / necrotic enteritis).
•Veterinary Escalation Threshold: If more than 5% of birds exhibit footpad dermatitis lesions or if wet litter covers >20% of shed floor with diarrhea, consult your poultry veterinarian for a gut health audit.
•Do the 'Knee Test': kneel on the litter for 10 seconds in your regular work pants. If your knees come up wet or damp, the litter is too wet for your broilers, even if the top surface looks dry.
•Ensure light intensity is completely uniform down the entire shed length; birds naturally avoid dark corners and crowd brightly lit areas.
By Day 11 to 12 in tropical and subtropical regions, the full house should be opened to achieve target final stocking density (30–35 kg/m² at harvest) and prevent early growth retardation.
Take a handful of litter from 3–5 cm below the surface and squeeze it tightly in your fist. It should hold shape loosely but crumble easily when bounced in the palm. If it remains a solid wet ball or oozes moisture, it is over 30% moisture and requires immediate corrective action.
Target weight is approximately 385g with a daily feed intake of 94g/bird and water intake of 169ml/bird.
Tomorrow, your operation reaches Day 13. The primary management objective will be:
Weigh 100 sample birds to calculate flock uniformity (target >80% within ±10% of mean), evaluate growth trajectory toward 435g target, and separate culls/runts into a special care recovery pen.
