Name: Infrared thermometer
Cost: around $85
Available at pharmacies
Intended use
An infrared thermometer device is used to measure body temperature.
Standard body temperature in day-old chicks
Chick body temperature is the most critical factor for bird health and performance. Young chicks depend mainly on their environment to maintain body temperature at the desired level. After 3 to 4 days of age, chicks can regulate their body temperature within certain limits by increasing or decreasing heat production or feed intake. Monitoring body temperature in young chicks helps environmental temperature management in the first week. The average navel temperature for a day-old chick is 39.5 to 40.5 ˚C (103.1 – 104.9 ˚F), and this value for the rectal temperature is 40 – 40.5 ˚C (104.0 – 104.9 ˚F). Body temperature can be measured with an infrared ear thermometer at the navel of young chicks or in the cloaca with a small rectal thermometer.
How does it work?
An infrared thermometer measures the infrared heat generated by the chick’s navel (blow away the down) and surrounding tissues. Operators can hold the probe tip in their fist for a few minutes to warm it up to a temperature close to the chick’s body temperature to avoid inaccurate temperature measurements. When the device is placed in the navel area, it continuously monitors the infrared energy. When the thermometer detects that an accurate temperature measurement has been taken, the measurement will finish scanning, displaying the result.
Using the device
To use an infrared thermometer (e.g. ThermoScan) to measure a chick’s temperature, follow the following steps:
- Separate the device from the case or cap
- Press the Power button
- Attach lens filter
- Place the filter in the chick’s navel area
- Press the Start button
- Read the temperature
- Eject and dispose the lens filter
Mohammad was the PIP team Research Associate (2021-2024) with extensive experience in poultry nutrition. He wrote science articles for newsletters and worked on developing adaptations and recommendations to support the adoption of new managerial tools, products, services, and practices by the poultry industry.
Looking at his poultry industry perspective, Mohammad has been serving the poultry industry through his extensive experience in feed formulation as an animal nutritionist over the past ten years. He was also a university lecturer for 10 years. Mohammad was a member of the Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC) at the U of A. Mohammad graduated with a Ph.D. degree in Animal Science from the University of Alberta with a Postdoctoral fellowship before moving to his Research Associate position with the PIP team. Serving the poultry industry as an animal nutritionist for more than a decade, Mohammad loves teaching and worked as a university lecturer in Iran and a teaching assistant at the U of A. Mohammad was inspired by Dr. Frank Robinson, practicing the inquiry-based learning method when working as a TA in his “Principles of Animal Agriculture” class. “I have a strong passion on poultry nutrition and have always loved to help poultry producers with optimizing the poultry systems. The challenging part of working with live animals is that you need to be on call even as a nutritionist. However, the joy of seeing healthy animals and help with their welfare overcome the challenging part.”
