Key points for raising and managing caged broilers?

Cage raising broiler chickens is also a common way for us to raise broiler chickens. What technical points should we pay attention to when raising broiler chickens in cages? So let’s take a look at what I carefully recommend for everyone. I hope can be helpful to you.

1. Preparation before serving the chicken

1. Check the water line: Make sure that the pipes do not leak or seep, and that every outlet is intact to ensure water supply.

2. Check the cages: Make sure that each cage door can be opened and closed freely, and that the bottom and four walls of each cage are well closed with bottom nets to prevent chickens from getting out of the cage.

3. Temperature test: Check whether the boiler, radiator, temperature control computer and water pipeline are intact. Place the temperature control probe on the horizontal line of the chicken's back on the second floor. Then close the skylight and all vents and start the fire to heat up. Observe how long it takes for the room temperature to reach 30 degrees. At the same time, according to the structure and layout of the shed, place accurate thermometers and hygrometers on the left, right, front, back, middle, upper, middle and lower floors to check the temperature of each part. Be aware of the difference between the actual temperature and humidity and the temperature control computer and keep records.

4. Check the lighting: The light is required to be soft and bright, able to reach all parts, and there should be no dark corners.

5. Check the electrical circuits: All electrical circuits must be carefully checked to prevent leakage connections. There is a lot of metal in chicken cages, and the consequences of leakage will be disastrous.

6. Disinfection: Close the chicken house one week in advance for fumigation and disinfection for 24-48 hours. After 2-3 days of ventilation, spray and disinfect. The disinfectant should be a product that is not corrosive to metal.

2. Brooding

The room temperature should reach about 30 degrees before the chicks are put in. After the chicks are put in, the room temperature gradually rises to about 33-35 degrees. Cage-raised broilers are generally brooded on the top floor, with 27-30 broilers per cage. Open the small food tray, fill it with feed in advance and place it in the cage. Add water to the water tank in advance so that the pre-warm temperature is consistent with the indoor temperature. When the chicks arrive, quickly move the chick boxes indoors, place them evenly, and then count them into the cages. 3-5 days before brooding, the following should be added to the drinking water: glucose, electrolytic multivitamins, antibacterial drugs, and astragalus polysaccharide. The purpose is to relieve stress, restore physical strength, kill vertically transmitted diseases, promote the development of immune organs, and improve the disease resistance of chickens. Three days before brooding, strong light should be provided 24 hours a day to facilitate the chicks to quickly adapt to the environment and drink water and feed as early as possible.

3. Feeding management

It is better to feed the animals every morning, and the automatic feeder feeding three times a day is ideal. If feed troughs are used, manual additions must be made evenly and in a timely manner to prevent hungry chickens from stampeding due to food troughs. The breeder must check whether there are empty feed troughs every afternoon, and feed them in a timely manner. Feed. Technicians should check the feeding situation of the feed trough every day. If there is a lot of leftover food, they should promptly determine whether there are any of the following conditions: 1. Whether the chicken is short of water; 2. Whether there are fewer chickens in the cage, and they should be replaced in time. 3. If there are any sick cases, they should be picked out in time for elimination or individual treatment. 4. If there is insufficient lighting, adjust it in time.

4. Drinking water management

Except for the need to control water due to medication or seedling making, normal water supply should be ensured 24 hours a day. The water line should be checked frequently to see if it is blocked. This problem is a headache for every chicken farm. Early detection and early repair are very important. *** Water leakage is very annoying. The water flowing out not only wastes medicine, but also enters the feces collecting tray, dilutes the feces and eventually flows into the feed trough. First, it wastes feed and secondly, it may cause intestinal diseases.

5. Timely removal of manure

Timely removal of manure is very important, especially in chicken farms that use manure trays. Excessive accumulation of chicken manure will ferment and produce ammonia, which is one of the causes of respiratory diseases. Excessive accumulation of chicken manure will ferment and produce heat that fumigates the chickens. If the manure is suddenly cleared, once the chickens lose this heat, they will become relatively cold, which often causes colds. Another thing to note is that when pushing manure outdoors, one door at both ends of the chicken house should be closed and the two doors open. The draft is strong, which is an important reason for the chickens to catch colds. I believe there is no farmer who is not afraid of catching a cold. Furthermore, some feces will fall to the ground when cleaning. You should sprinkle some water to prevent dust from flying when cleaning. Having an automatic manure scraper will save a lot of trouble.

6. Temperature Management

The highest state of temperature management is "constant and smooth transition".

The brooding temperature is generally controlled at 33-35 degrees. Based on this, as the chickens age, it will drop by two degrees per week. Hot and cold is a taboo in raising chickens. Breeders and technicians should pay close attention to the weather conditions, keep track of the outside temperature at all times, and adjust the ventilation appropriately according to the required temperature; the boiler should ensure that the boiler works normally without any omissions during this period. To prevent high temperature and heat stroke when raising chickens in summer, especially for chickens after 30 days, it is very important to activate the wet curtain in time. When the ambient temperature exceeds 33 degrees, a water spray cooling device must be provided. Suitable temperature is the guarantee for the rapid growth of chickens. Generally, the higher the temperature, the faster the growth.

7. Ventilation management

Ventilation is the top priority in the breeding process. Dare to ventilate, and only if you know how to ventilate can you raise chickens well. Cage chicken houses generally need skylights, side windows, and longitudinal fans, which are the basic conditions for good ventilation. The purpose of ventilation is to: 1. Exhaust harmful gases in the house in a timely manner, 2. Input fresh air to provide oxygen and oxygen, 3. Moderately adjust the temperature inside the house. Caged broilers are raised in three-dimensional culture, with more chickens and higher density. Poor ventilation can cause hypoxia, which is a cause of ascites in the later stage. Ventilation starts from the first week. The skylight is partially opened, some side windows are opened appropriately, and the air vents are pointed upward at a certain angle. While ensuring the temperature, the ventilation volume should be large rather than small. As the chickens grow older, the ventilation volume gradually increases. When they are close to 20 days old, the ventilation volume of the side windows can no longer meet the needs, and the longitudinal fan needs to be turned on. According to the season, outside temperature, indoor air quality, and required ventilation volume, a speed regulator should be installed. The fan speed and time will vary depending on the situation to prevent colds caused by excessive air volume. When using the wet curtain in summer, the air inlet must be blocked, and cold wind is strictly prohibited from blowing directly on nearby chickens. When the weather changes suddenly and strong winds arise, the side windows should be temporarily closed.

8. Humidity management

Don’t ignore humidity management during the breeding process. Too dry air will cause flying dust. Bacteria and viruses are usually attached to the dust. Flying dust entering the upper respiratory tract can cause respiratory diseases. It can also cause dehydration in chickens, especially those within one week of age. Infection of chicks leads to dryness of the upper respiratory tract mucosa and reduced natural barrier function. Excessive humidity will reduce the wind speed in the house, affecting the heat dissipation of the chickens, which is the main cause of heat stroke in summer; excessive humidity is conducive to the reproduction of bacteria and coccidia. Under normal circumstances, the humidity should be controlled at about 65%-70% during brooding, and then the humidity will gradually decrease to about 60%. It is easy for caged broilers to have insufficient humidity indoors, especially where the boiler chimney passes. It is a good way to disinfect the chickens with warm water spray. If the humidity is high, it is necessary to increase the temperature and increase the ventilation.

9. Timely separation of chickens

It is better to separate cages for the first time at 7 days of age. If cages are separated too late, the chickens will grow unevenly and the weak ones will often be squeezed to death. Caging too early is not conducive to growth due to the low temperature of the bottom layer. The first cage separation requires 13-15 birds to be separated from the upper layer to the middle layer. The second cage separation requires 9-10 birds to be separated from the middle layer to the bottom layer, and then 4-5 birds to be separated from the upper layer to the middle layer. As for when to divide the groups, it is not too strict and can be flexibly controlled according to the growth conditions of the respective chicken groups.

10. Timely select the sick and disabled, eliminate or treat them individually

This work is very important and cannot be ignored. Chicken flocks will inevitably continue to have some weak chickens. These individuals are targets for bacteria and viruses, and will eventually become the source of disease infection. Timely selection will greatly reduce the chance of large flocks getting sick.

11. Disinfection Management

Regular spray disinfection of chickens is an important means to prevent and control the occurrence of infectious diseases. When disinfecting chickens, you should choose an odorless and less toxic disinfectant, and use several ingredients alternately. Under normal circumstances, it is done once a week in winter, twice a week in spring and autumn, and once a day in summer. One thing to note here is that the disinfectant water should be used after the chicken house is preheated. The effect of disinfection is best when the room temperature is around 25 degrees. The purpose of disinfection is mainly to kill bacteria and viruses in the air, so the finer the spray droplets are, the better. Do not understand that spraying on chickens is disinfection. Another function of disinfection is to purify dust particles in the air, so just for this function, you must also disinfect.

12. Technicians and breeders should do "one note, two listen, three look, and four observation".

"One Record": Record the daily feed intake of each chicken house, record the number of dead chickens in each chicken house, record the daily weather conditions, indoor temperature and humidity.

"Second Listening": Go to the chicken coop every night to listen to the breathing and defecation sounds of the chickens.

"Three observations": Observe the chicken's feces every morning, including its status and color.

"Four Observations": Go to the cluster several times a day to observe the activities of the cluster, the color and status of the feathers and external exposed organs.

Doing the above four aspects well will help you discover problems in advance, avoid delaying the disease, and nip problems in the bud.

***This article comes from the Internet. The author found is veterinarian Jia Cuili - Zhengda Hongfu ***Editor***

12. Medication management

< p>At present, poultry diseases are very complex. Old diseases are new, new diseases are emerging, strange diseases are common, and there is no effective and fixed program. Going forward five years, I can offer you a medication prevention program that will ensure your chicken raising satisfaction. Now I can only write down some medication intentions based on the current disease status for your reference. Preventive medication can focus on the following aspects:

1. Promote the development of immune organs, improve the body's immunity, and protect the external mucosa. The drugs that can be considered are as follows: Ve, VA, levamisole, astragalus polysaccharide, glycoterin, etc. This medication can start from the first week and be completed within two weeks, with two courses of treatment, each lasting 3-5 days. This program has good effects on preventing and controlling certain immunosuppressive diseases*** such as infectious anemia***.

2. Brooding. Drugs with less toxicity should be chosen, such as norfloxacin, sarafloxacin, ampicillin, gentamicin, etc. At present, yellow diarrhea is common in chickens, and the use of penicillin sodium can be considered.

3. Control vaccine reactions. Broiler chickens are currently generally vaccinated with three live vaccines. The resulting vaccine reactions are very nasty and we need to take strict precautions against them. The drug containing tylosin can be used six hours after vaccination, once every night for 3-4 days.

4. Take preventive measures against intestinal coccidia. It is more appropriate to choose this medication around 10 days of age. Drugs that can be considered: diclozolile, penicillin, toltrazuli, etc.

5. Prevention and control of E. coli. Escherichia coli is an opportunistic pathogenic bacteria. Eliminating the conditions for the onset of Escherichia coli, that is, good feeding and management, and controlling primary diseases such as mycoplasmosis, avian influenza, etc., are the most effective means to prevent the disease. At present, the most effective drugs are: cefotaxime sodium, ceftriaxone sodium, florfenicol, amikacin, levoofloxacin, etc. Under normal circumstances, it is necessary to prevent the disease once after taking a moderately virulent bursal vaccine. There is one thing that needs to be reminded: pericardium and pericardium are not necessarily colibacillosis. If the above drugs fail to work after repeated attempts, please do not continue to be stubborn. First, the primary disease such as avian influenza, Newcastle disease, etc. must be cured first. After confirming that there is no viral disease, we need to find a new way. I have a trick, I don’t know if you believe it or not.

6. Pay attention to mild avian influenza throughout the process. It can be said that there is no rule to follow when mild avian influenza will occur. When it will occur is determined by the epidemic situation and incentives. The disease occurs regardless of age, and every effort must be made to treat it when it occurs. Options to consider: phytohemagglutinin, Shuanghuanglian, and rimantadine. For severe respiratory symptoms, add Ephedra Guizhi Decoction or cough-relieving and phlegm-reducing drugs. Also don’t forget to control triggering infections.

7. Prevent airborne Newcastle disease. The prevention of Newcastle disease mainly depends on vaccination, and drug prevention is futile. The first dose is preferably double the dose or eye drops, and neck injection of the new two-part inactivated vaccine is necessary. The second exemption is to drink 3-4 times the amount of water concentratedly. Here is one thing that everyone must pay attention to: during the second vaccination against Newcastle disease, if signs of mild avian influenza are found, the vaccine must not be administered, otherwise the consequences will be endless. To treat this disease, high-dose interferon, nucleic acid, phytohemagglutinin, or certain traditional Chinese medicine preparations that clear away plague and eliminate toxins have certain effects.

8. Glandular gastritis and myogastritis are new diseases. Let’s discuss them. The cause and mechanism of this disease are not very clear yet, but one thing is certain, that is, fungi and their toxins derived from plants are one of the causes of this disease.

9. At present, the phenomenon of liver and kidney swelling in meat-eating chickens is relatively common, and the reasons cannot be explained clearly in a few sentences. Longdan Xiegan Powder can be considered for treatment.

10. Various emergency situations will inevitably occur during the entire feeding process. It is well known to everyone that timely addition of electrolytic multivitamins is very necessary.