Tag Archives: health

Week 5 - Adequate Spacing and Numbers of Feeders and Drinkers

Brooder Week 5 – Learnings and Look Ahead

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The chicks are now 5 weeks in the brooder, with a mortality rate of 0.4%, weights less than the management guide (which are based on environmentally controlled conditions) but within range and closing fast, weight uniformity distribution of over 70% and improving.

This post is about lessons learnt in this flock and what we have done differently:

  1. Hired brooding services from a poultry focused service provider who provided a worker for the brooder and a vet who visited regularly: 3x per week in the first two weeks, 2x a week later, currently at 1x per week
  2. The vet provided also supervised and carried out vaccinations as per the recommended schedule
  3. Focused on building immunity in the first 3 weeks, now growth and development of the pullets
  4. Weighed the birds to provide benchmarks for the growth, but only used the data for tracking so did not adjust diets to bring up the weights
  5. Adjusted the chick and duck mash formula, to provide the necessary energy levels and texture for easy feeding.
  6. Provided recommended levels of feeders and drinkers to reduce bullying and contention for deed
  7. Bio-security improvement: started leveraging powdered construction lime for initial disinfection and at entrance to the brooder, disinfectant spraying every week on the premises and proactively spraying inside the brooder with a high mist disinfectant (selected not to have any major side effects for the birds)
  8. Collecting data on feed and water consumption on a day-to-day to better understand the changing patterns – increase in feed consumption is at 4g per bird per week

As always a selection of shots from brooder:

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Q and A: Newcastle Vaccines – Thermal Stable or Cold Version

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Question: I have been using the “cold” Newcastle vaccine for my birds, however I am thinking of moving to the thermal stable version. Being paranoid knowing that it is important to stay consistent for a flock – does it make sense for me to move at this time to the thermal stable version

Answer by Dr. David Omoding of Quality Chemicals (U) Ltd

Your fears and apprehension are understandable. However, be assured that moving to the thermal stable version would be the right move for the reasons below:

  1. Vaccine failure is a major issue for any “cold” (thermolabile) vaccine from point of manufacture, thru transit, to storage at the pharmacy premises, transportation to your premises etc. Wipe that uncertainty away by using a thermostable vaccine.
  2. The Thermostable strain is called I2 and it offers quicker, stronger, longer lasting immunity to poultry as compared to the cold La Sota, Clone, R2 strains. It might be bit more expensive but surely worth every penny. More can be found from http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/ac802e/ac802e04.htm.

In extensive systems (free range), one application is sufficient for the life of the bird including local birds while In intensive systems we advise one application every 3 months.

Layer Health Management

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One of the biggest challenges facing poultry farmers is ensuring that the productivity of the birds stays high without having to spend alot on drugs to maintain immunity of the birds. Like all other businesses the factors controlling profitability are keeping productivity high and operational expenses low. The major expenses are feed, labor (cannot be altered much without significant capital investment), and medication.

The medication regime we are following is two fold:

  1. Added to feeds – regular
    • Acidomix
    • Methionine
    • Toxen Binder (Toxibab)
  2. Immunity booster – monthly with 1 day spacing
    • Deworming in drinking water 
    • New Castle in drinking water 
    • Vitamin booster for 3 days 

This helps us maintain immunity levels to lengthen the period of productivity while keeping costs within range.

What do you do to maintain the health of your layers?