To achieve efficient poultry farming, all eight of the following are essential: healthy chicks, nutritionally complete feed, careful management, coordinated operations, a suitable environment, reliable disinfection, effective immunization, and proper health care. Today, we will discuss careful management only; we hope to share the other aspects with you one by one in the future and help with your farming.
I. Points to consider before chick placement
The focus before chick placement is to ensure that preparations for the poultry house have been checked, including the following:
1. Cleaning and disinfection during the downtime between flocks. Focus on developing cleaning and disinfection procedures, monitoring each step, and monitoring disinfection effectiveness. The effectiveness of cleaning and disinfection should be evaluated through bacterial culture: this is especially necessary for large-scale broiler farms. The specific method is to expose 5 culture plates at the four corners and the center of the poultry house for 5 minutes before cleaning and disinfection, then incubate them in a bacterial incubator and count the total bacteria per square meter. After cleaning and disinfection, repeat the same procedure; comparing the results before and after shows the disinfection effectiveness. Acceptance criterion: the total bacteria count per square meter must not exceed 60.
2. Whether the operating condition of the feeding equipment can meet the needs of providing broilers with a comfortable growing environment, including preparation of equipment for heating, ventilation, water supply, and feed lines. In particular, ensure an adequate supply of warm drinking water for the first week (note: use boiled water that has been allowed to cool naturally, not boiling water mixed with cold water). Drinking-water temperature is directly related to the mortality rate during the first week. Farm validation has shown that drinking water at 26.8 degrees results in the lowest mortality rate during the first week.
II. Points to focus on at 1–7 days of age
The key focus for the first week on a large-scale broiler farm is body weight at the end of the week.
A target is to reach a body weight of 200 grams after removing the crop at the end of the first week. Anyone raising white-feathered broilers knows the saying, “The weekend determines the lifetime”: body weight at the end of the first week determines the broilers’ market weight; if body weight at the end of the first week exceeds 1 grams, market weight increases by 10～15 grams. To achieve an ideal body weight at the end of the week, the five key factors in raising broilers—temperature, ventilation, stocking density, lighting, and humidity—must be managed well. However, these factors have no fixed standards and must be adjusted according to factors such as equipment, climate, and chick weight.
1, cull weak chicks.
During the first week, 1%～3% can be culled forcibly. If chick prices are low, more can be culled. If the chick price is as high as 4～5 yuan/chick, 0.7%～1% can be culled.
2, extend the period of maternal antibody protection.
The only source of maternal antibodies for chicks is the yolk. In our poultry farming, we worry that the yolk will not be absorbed or will be absorbed too slowly; we wish it could all be absorbed in just one day. This is because poor sanitary conditions in the past led to yolk spoilage and yolk inflammation, among other problems, and this has resulted in a mistaken belief. In fact, normal yolk absorption takes 12 and a half days to reach 90%. The yolk contains maternal antibodies. If maternal antibodies disappear too quickly before antibodies from the new vaccine have developed, an immune gap of 3 to 5 days can occur, making atypical Newcastle disease and avian influenza more likely.
3, the issue of starter medication, which is another factor affecting the health of chicks.
Truly healthy farming means using scientific methods. The first principle in medication is safety, not efficacy. Therefore, starter medication should be selected appropriately according to the chicks’ condition. Medication should not affect body weight at the weekend, should support basic health, should not affect the development and growth of the body’s organs, and should help reduce various forms of stress.
4, immune antibodies and stress.
In immunization, the vaccine strain is very important. Be sure to choose a vaccine suitable for the strains circulating in the local area. For the route of immunization, inject when injection is required, administer orally when oral administration is required, and administer intranasally when nasal administration is required. Pay attention to systemic antibodies (obtained through injection of inactivated or live vaccines) and mucosal antibodies (mainly in the respiratory and digestive tracts, obtained through spraying, eye drops, nasal drops, drinking water, or oral administration). Monitor vaccine reactions, especially respiratory reactions after spraying or administering eye drops. Pay attention to the key husbandry and management priorities during the immunization period: stress must be minimized, not induced—for example, by raising the house temperature before immunization.
Three. Focus points for days 8–14 of age
The focus this week is to gradually increase the ventilation rate. Pay attention to the trade-off between ventilation and temperature, and to controlling stress after Newcastle disease immunization.
1, gradually lower the temperature inside the house according to the animals’ physical condition and the season;
2, aim to bring the humidity up to the required standard;
3, increase ventilation appropriately according to the season, and pay attention to where the ventilation is directed;
4, adjust the timing and light intensity to reduce sudden death syndrome;
5, adjust the density according to the season.
Keep these five points in mind: the basic principle is to ensure a smooth transition in the internal environment and reduce stress responses.
At this stage, focus on controlling mycoplasma disease and excessive immune stress; monitor for intestinal reactions or symptoms such as diarrhea; watch for proventriculitis and gizzard inflammation caused by mold or immunosuppressive diseases; and pay attention to the intestines. The intestines are the body’s largest immune organ, and the integrity of the intestinal mucosa determines feed conversion and absorption, so disease must be prevented from entering through the mouth.
Regarding immunity, the focus at this stage is infectious bursal disease, including the selection of vaccine type (a live attenuated vaccine must be used) and immunization route (oral drops are preferable), immunization methods and results, precautions, and key management tasks during the immunization period. The bursal immune reaction should disappear within 72 hours; otherwise, the body’s resistance is too low or the strain is too virulent.
Four, 15–21 days of age: points to watch
After 15 days, pay attention to ventilation, including how the ventilation method should be changed. Be sure to monitor the chickens’ perceived temperature. Record the temperatures inside the front, middle, and rear sections of the poultry house, wind speed at the chickens’ backs, wind direction, and humidity. If ventilation is poorly managed and temperatures fluctuate between cold and hot, respiratory symptoms will appear within 3 days; air sacs will become cloudy within 3 days; within 10 days, prepare to cull them. The immune blank period for Newcastle disease in broilers is at 10–15 days of age, and for avian influenza at 21–28 days of age. Therefore, pay attention to how to protect the birds during the immune blank period, as this determines whether they are healthy in the fourth week. During this period, also focus on the immune response to infectious bursal disease and minimize immune stress as much as possible.
Five. Focus points for 22–28 days of age
The core task in the fourth week is to find the right balance between ventilation and temperature control. This period is also an immunity gap for avian influenza, so be sure to manage the conflict between ventilation and temperature, maintaining stable transitions and avoiding major fluctuations. Even a temperature difference of 5℃ can trigger an outbreak of disease. Whether management this week is adequate will determine whether the birds have to be sold at 35 days of age.
Six. Focus points for 29–35 days of age
This week is the red-alert stage. If management was poor earlier, losses are likely to emerge during this period. Some large-scale poultry farms can achieve a survival rate of 99% in the first 21 days, but if problems arise at this point, they can cause very substantial losses. Flocks often become ill because conditions have given pathogens an opportunity. This week, the main areas of focus are avian influenza, Newcastle disease, and the chickens’ perceived temperature, as well as preventing feed passage and diarrhea.
The most important thing 35 days ago was ventilation, with particular emphasis on controlling the chickens’ perceived temperature, which is determined by factors such as temperature, humidity, and air speed at the chickens’ backs. To raise chickens well in winter, the direction of airflow must be considered. Many farms have problems with excessive air speed or the wrong airflow direction, causing air to blow directly onto the chickens and resulting in cold stress. At the same time, if the temperature changes after ventilation, adjustments should be made accordingly.
Seven. Key points to watch from 35 days of age until market.
From 35 days of age until market, attention should be paid to preventing and controlling intestinal diseases. For example, measures should be taken to prevent harm from mycotoxins and Clostridium perfringens. At the same time, growth efficiency should be monitored: for every 0.05 difference in the feed-to-meat ratio, the difference per chicken is 0.8 yuan. A mycotoxin adsorbent can be used to prevent feed from passing through undigested, promote feed conversion, and lower the feed-to-meat ratio. In addition, sudden incidents must be guarded against. Standardized farms are especially vulnerable to power outages: a half-hour outage could kill four or five thousand chickens.