Welcome folks; hope you having a good time? Hope you have
been able to read our last article on broiler production.
This time around, we want to talk more on layers, as some of
us know, layers are birds raised majorly for their eggs. We do have a lot of
breeds, but the most common is the Isa Brown, we also have, Bovan Black, Bovan
Brown, Hyline and a host of other great breeds.
In this article, we want to deal with the reasons why your
laying birds might not be giving you their best. Asides the fact that the
production of birds dwindle as they advance in age, and the issue of theft in
some strange circumstances, some other factors might be responsible. We have
highlighted 10 of them, enjoy as you read:
·
Quality/Quantity
of feed: Quality has to do with the richness of the feed, does it
contain all the essential micro and macro nutrients in the right proportion?
Quantity on the other hand, talk about the amount of feed they eat, birds have
specific nutrient requirements, they also have a range of feed requirement, if
you feed them less than expected, quantity/quality wise, don’t expect the best
from them. I will suggest you periodically take your feed to the laboratory for
tests if you make your feed yourself.
·
Brooding/Rearing phase: The brooding
phase lasts between 3-4 weeks, at this time you have to give additional light
for warmth to the birds, the heat requirement of the birds reduce as they age,
but a temperature of 32-34 degrees celcius is good for them when they arrive as
day old. The Rearing/growing phase as I put it is the period after the brooding
phase. For your birds to deliver to you when they start laying, you must ensure
they eat well when they are at these stages, they are devoid of diseases and
parasites and most especially you have to ensure that their
medication/vaccination schedule was strictly adhered to.
·
Litter
management: Litter has to do with the excreta of the birds which might
have mixed with the feed and some other stuffs, if you allow it to accumulate
in the pen especially if you use the battery cage system, it will lead to build
up of ammonia and even parasites like lice and mites, these can greatly reduce
their performance.
·
Ecto/Endoparasites: Ecto
parasites are parasites/harmful insects that live outside the animal, while
Endo parasites live inside the animal. Example of Ectoparasites are Lice,
Mites, example of Endoparasite is Tapeworm. The ectoparasites feed on the blood
of the animal making them restless, reduced in weight and might lead to poor
feed consumption and feed conversion ratio. The Endoparasites, disturb the animals
from within, the animal eats and has nothing to show for it. You must make sure
you deworm them from time to time.
·
Disease
outbreak: in poultry there are quite a number of diseases, some caused
by Bacteria, Protozoa, Fungi, Virus and such the like, one thing a disease
surely does is that if it does not kill the animal, it will reduce the
performance of the animal for that time it was infected till when the animal
recovers. Be sure you don’t try to cut corners when raising your birds, it
might be very costly. Some of the major poultry diseases include: Newcastle,
coccidiosis, Gumboro (younger birds), egg peritonitis (laying birds),
Colibacillosis, salmonellosis and Fowl Cholera etc. They can be contacted
through the feed, water or from the environment.
·
Pecking: A simple as
it sounds, it can be very deadly and costly if left unattended to, the birds
can peck just any part of the body leading to bleeding and even death, be sure
you don’t put a new bird to a new flock.
·
Mycotoxicosis:
I should have added it to the discussion on feed quality, but I decided
to make it a different discussion. Aflatoxin is found in some major feed
ingredients like maize, wheat offal and some others, if the feed is moldy or
not properly dried, it can cause havoc, it causes what we call mycotoxicosis. You have to be sure the
Aflatoxin level in your feed does not exceed 20ppb or if it does, it might be
slightly over 20ppb (20ppb is the acceptable level of Aflatoxin in the feed of
poultry). Please ensure you use the right amount of toxin binder in your feed.
·
Prolapse: It is the
protruding of the vents of birds when they try to lay eggs. Poor management of
the growing phase of birds can cause this and poor management of the laying
phase can also cause this. Top dressing limestone on the feed of the birds at
the onset of laying can greatly help to reduce this.
·
Weather: It is note-worthy
that most poultry birds need a temperature between 20-24 degrees Celsius for
optimum production, if the temperature is much higher than this, it will
greatly affect their performance. Thus great care you be taken whenever the
weather gets harsh.
·
Feeding
management: When, how you feed your birds matter a lot, the most
important feed you can give to laying birds is that which you feed them before
9am, by 9am, they start dropping really fast for the day. When the weather is
hot, early morning feeding might help, when the weather is extremely cold, you
might need to increase their feed as birds eat extra 1.5g of feed for every 1
degree drop in the temperature below 20 degrees.
We hope
this article was a bit helpful, please let us get your feedback, and comments.
You can also share for other to get some information.
Till next
time……. Stay out of trouble.
NERA WHITE LAYERS
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