CARE OF COMMERCIAL POULTRY DURING RAINY SEASON
By Dr Vinay Prasad, Senior Manager,Tech.&Sales ,Srinivasa Farms
With the arrival of the mansoon in India there is regular complain of poultry producers regarding CCRD,recurent mortality and the litter and manure management become the key thing in commercial chicken rearing as we consider certain measures very seriously to avoid diseases and also to get the maximum out of the chickens in terms of production, growth, mortality and FCR. The most important job in commercial poultry farming is the proper management of litter.The litter is the main source through which infection in the commercial poultry birds take place leading to poor production, high fcr n intermittent mortality in the flock.
LITTER MANAGEMENT
Litter is where the chickens spend all their life, in floor rearing system, from the time they are housed until they are marketed. Litter is the bedding for the birds and the material selected for this purpose should have qualities that make up to a good litter. That means what we put in as litter should make a comfortable bedding for the chicken until they leave their abode! The litter should be highly absorbent, light in weight with medium or small particle size and dry rapidly. It should absorb effectively moisture, dilute the concentration of droppings, help insulate floor from the ground moisture and create a stimulus in the birds to scratch and dust bathe.
Condition of the litter —
The fact is that if the surface is moist and the air is humid a good litter absorbs moisture. If the air is dry it releases moisture into the air. Normally the ideal moisture content of the litter should be between 25% and 30%. If the moisture contents falls to say 20% the litter becomes too dusty, not good and if the moisture goes up to say 40% the litter gets wet and caked up, not good at all. The best way to assess the management of deep litter rearing can be summarized in the statement: “If you are around any chicken rearing operations and happen to smell chicken manure, you actually smell mismanagement” In a poorly managed litter wherein the litter is wet and caked up, the microbial germs grow very fast. The infection may enter the chicken through their feet, which may get irritated, cracked and easily then get infected in a dirty caked up litter. Ammonia build-up is high in a wet and caked up litter. More than 20 ppm of Ammonia in the air close to the birds is bad news! Ammonia irritates the eyes and by inhalation it damages the inner lining of the respiratory track of the birds exposing them to infections. It also inactivates the effect of free chlorine in the chlorinated drinking water. If the litter is too dry, on the other hand, the air becomes quite dusty and the respiratory system gets irritated and then easily invaded by microbes, in the process, the resistance against respiratory diseases goes down tremendously. Moreover, the vaccine response to disease such as Newcastle will have to be compromised due to the damage caused by the microbes on the epithelial lining of the respiratory system.
Litter material ————-
Selecting a good litter material is the first right step! As mentioned earlier, we need to emphasize that the litter should be good absorbent, soft, non-dusty, quick drying, noncake forming, free from offensive odours and non-toxic to chicken and avoid of sharp objects. Various materials such as wood shavings, laddy husk,cut sugar cane bagasse, hulls of cotton seed, soy bean and sunflower seed, crushed maize cobs, maize bran, chopped straw or chaff, dried leaves and grass, can all be used depending on the availability. Among these materials, wood shavings undoubtedly are considered as the best litter material. Others do not effectively help ‘oxygenate’ the litter, break down the litter as fast as possible and avoid caking up and anaerobic conditions in which some pathogenic bacteria may grow.
Managing litter –——–
Properly stored dry litter material is spread rather thinly, say about 5cm thick on the floor before the chicks are placed. Fumigation is done with the litter spread on the floor Make sure that the litter material does not come from a contaminated source or treated with toxic chemicals. Never remove the litter during the grow- out period unless it is necessary. If the litter is quite wet and caked up in certain areas of the chicken house only that litter it can be removed and replaced with new litter. Normally once the litter is placed on the floor before the chicks arrive it can be replenished periodically. For instance in the case of broilers during third week and fifth week more litter can be added and forked into the existing litter. By fifth week the ideal thickness of the litter should have 12 –15cm. For the general health and for the strength of the legs of the birds, keeping proper depth and looseness of the litter forms an essential management function. Constant monitoring of litter such as removal of wet litter, breaking of caked litter, raking or forking the litter (if the litter is already caked up please do not disturb it!) with out creating too much dust and ammonia and periodic addition of fresh litter should become part of routine work of a successful poultry man.
If a handful of litter sticks together when it is squeezed and then released, the indication is that it’s too wet. We should be able to assess and adjust temperature, ventilation and drinker management to achieve an odour-free litter. We should check litter regularly for wetness. With clean litter, we can get birds with clean feathers in broiler and clean eggs in layer operations. Proper ventilation becomes critical and becomes the most important component to make sure that the litter is kept right. Right ventilation becomes the corner stone for right litter where in the ventilation helps remove excess moisture, gases and keep the litter as dry as possible. Remember, wet and caked litter becomes a breeding ground for all sorts of germs, predisposes the chicken to infections such as Coryza, Coccidiosis, Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD), fungal infections, intestinal parasites etc. Among them Coccidiosis is purely a management issue. It affects intestine, caused by protozoan parasites called Eimeria. Eimeria tenella, E. acervulina, E. maxima, E. nicatrix , E. mitis and E. bruneti are the major species affecting poultry. The sporulation takes place in the litter when the temperature and moisture go up in the litter. Birds ingest sporulated oocysts of the parasites and get infected. The sporulated oocysts can be found in litter and contaminated feed and water. The germs after sporulation multiply rapidly, intestinal wall is ruptured, the released oocysts shed in the droppings and the cycle is repeated. If not controlled on time with anti-coccidial drugs it may end up in diarrhea with blood in the droppings and mortality. The key in prevention of Coccidiosis lies in managing the environment- litter, ventilation, temperature, leakages, litter disposal etc as explained in this write up. Another disease condition commonly noticed during summer and at the onset of and during rainy season is that due to the conducive atmosphere of high temperature and humidity for bacteria and other germs to multiply enormously causing infections to chicken. For instance, E-coli, opportunistic bacteria, can do havoc in poultry causing production drop, diminished growth and mortality during this period. One major source is found to be contaminated water or chicken manure that is spread near the water source. During summer and at the onset of rains the ground water table is also reduced, as a result the concentration of contaminated water in the bore well or any other open water source can be high. Wet litter is also a result of defective ventilation, over crowding and loose droppings. Faulty drinking system can cause wet litter, so can a leaking roof! High levels of salt and sometimes high protein and high fiber diets tend to cause wet litter. More over, during rainy season the humidity (the moisture levels) in the atmosphere is already high and keeping the litter dry is a herculean task. The poultry men should be aware of this phenomenon especially during rainy reason in India. Apart from keeping the exhaust fans in poultry house, toping up the litter with fresh dry litter will help in containing the moisture levels in the litter. Please make sure that the over hangs are placed if necessary, on the sides to prevent any direct rain water from entering poultry house. This has to be done carefully not to block aeration. Leaks on the roof have also to be worked on before the rainy season. Foggers can not be used to reduce the heat inside since they can increase the humidity inside poultry house on rainy days. If high moisture level in the litter still persists treat the litter with slaked lime (lime wash) at the rate of one kilogram (1kg) for every ten square meter of the floor area. Fork it into the litter and rake the entire litter. This can be done only if the litter is sufficiently thick (10 – 15cm at least) and loose. Lime acts also as a disinfectant; helps destroy most of the coccidial oocysts, eggs of intestinal worms and other germs harboured in the litter. In order to minimize the ammonia level by reducing the pH of the litter there are some litter acidifying agents which are being used more frequently in the developed countries.
Disposing litter (chicken manure) ———
Care should be taken to remove and dispose the litter after the grow- out so that the biosecurity precautions are observed strictly. Our main objective here is to see that the litter contains the least number of pathogenic organisms and that while disposing it and no cross contamination at the farm takes place by wind or mechanical means. While removing the litter, after the birds are removed, keep the poultry house closed (Side curtains, door). Gather the litter and keep in heaps in the poultry house. Cover these heaps with used empty jute or feed bags. The litter in those heaps starts decomposing faster and in the process produces heat. During this process germs are being destroyed. In order to get the decomposition speeded up slaked lime mixed with water can be poured over the heaps of litter. The germ load, in this case will also tremendously be reduced. The lime treated litter will be a better feed (for cattle) or fertilizer material. The treated litter can be removed within 3 to 4 days and disposed far away from the farm or sold.
Aftermath! ‘Every creature’s waste is a priceless resource for some other creature’ Properly kept and managed litter can be fed to cattle or used to fertilize the soil. The quantity of litter from say 1,000 layer deep litter rearing system is about 25 – 30 metric tone per annum where as 1,000 broilers yield about 1.2 – 1.7 metric tone of litter. Mainly in developed countries layer manure has been made into pellets, good for fertilizing and conditioning the soil. It helps the layer farms to have more efficient anmd problem free operations. Poultry manure is a valuable source of Nitrgen, Phospherous and Potassium and rich in trace elements. As commercial fertilizer price soars every season, it is high time our farmers took more interest in livestock manure, especially chicken litter for fertilizing their crops. Poultry litter has a high level of Non-Protein Nitrogen (NPN). The ruminant digestive system can convert NPN sources into amino acids that are essential to cattle. Poultry litter with straw can also be used to prepare silage for feeding cattle. Finally, in a nut shell, we should take care of the litter. Rainy season is quite tricky as well. Our intention is to give utmost comfort to our Chickens.
Management of the house in the rainy season——-
Under the influence of the rainy season of battery cage for layers, the humidity in the chicken house is increased, the litter is moist, the feed is mildewed, some production units cannot obtain clean drinking water, etc., which may lead to coccidiosis, E. coli outbreak, and elevated ammonia concentration. The risk of mycotoxin poisoning and respiratory disease infection increases. To do this, we should do the following rainy season management:
1. Repair the house before the arrival of the rainy season to clear the drainage ditch around the chicken house. When it rains, close the doors and windows or let the curtains open to prevent rain from entering the house and prevent the chickens from getting cold or other problems.
2. Reserve enough dry padding. The thick padding should be turned over and keep the padding dry. The wet agglomerated padding should be cleaned out of the house and reduce the ammonia concentration in the house.
3. Prevent the feed ingredients from getting wet, and the amount of feed should not be too much. The compound feed in the house should be placed on the platform above the ground to prevent the feed from regaining moisture and mildew in your battery cage for sale.
Most Important Poultry Farming Tips In Rainy Season.—––————–
Many Poultry farmers are asking what changes we should to in rainy season in our poultry feed,Water & Poultry management. So That Poultry farm Performance would be better.
Tip- 1-– Very simple but very important tip.
many poultry farmers got huge lose because of a mistake.
many times poultry farmer have poultry feed’s stock & in rainy because of transportation issue feed was not managed on time.
Many farmers transportation vehicle got accident or caught somewhere & without poultry feed some poultry farmers suffer around 10-50 % mortality in their Poultry farm.
So Poultry feed must be available 4-5 days extra stock prior to your poultry farm.
Tip- 2 – Many time it also been observed rats made hole in Roof & at time of rainy season leakage of water can make all litter Wet.
It cause ammonia & other disease like coccidiosis , which can cause huge lose to poultry farmers.
Take Precaution & have eye on every hole near boundary wall of poultry Shed.
Coccidiosis & entritis can effect your poultry farm easily & if Coccidiosis & entritis effect your poultry farm,than definitely you profit is almost gone.
The Lantern ( Area Outside Roof ) of your poultry shed must be 4-5 feet ahead to shed to cover rain ( Not to affect inside of Poultry farm.)
When it rain it can make Litter wet as well as to Poultry Feed in Feeder.
Litter Some Poultry Farmers change but Feed in feeder get ignored resulting Fungus.
The fungus can cause fungal infection to birds, so Feeder must be away from rain effect to stop fungal infection & The most important.
tip is only beneficial in rainy season but also will help you in all season.
but remember avoid this tips near vaccination prior 2-3 days & after 2-3 days.
never use this tips with antibiotic, sometime it been observed with antibiotics it can reduce the effect of Antibiotics,But if not using Antibiotics & vaccine This Tip is Very wonderful.
Use only 2 Gram Bleaching powder in 1000 liter of water,But it must be of best quality.
It kill the harmful bacteria & Virus in Water & Your Bird will get Clean Water.
Dos And Don’ts Of Poultry Farming In Rainy Season—-
Poultry farming is one of the fast-growing businesses across the globe. Like any other business, poultry farming in rainy season could be very tormenting. I know farmers that gave up on poultry farming all because they could not cope with the effect of rainy season on their production. It was obviously not encouraging.
Several factors can threaten the productivity of a poultry farm; nutrition is very crucial, the housing system is also very important but the environmental factors play the most prominent role in the productivity of a poultry farm. Rainy season is part of the variations in the environment; as a poultry farmer, it is imperative you learn how to operate your poultry farm in the rainy season.
Poultry farmers find it difficult to cope with is the change in weather conditions. Weather conditions play a prominent role in the success and productivity of a poultry farm. Rain is not an adverse weather condition as most farmers presume; it is a natural phenomenon. The inability of the farmer to manage the farm during the rainy season makes it an adverse weather condition. A well-structured poultry house is one of the tools to mitigate the detrimental effects of rain.
How to manage the effects of rainy season in poultry farming—————
There are certain period poultry farmers must be cautious about and how to maintain the productivity level of their farm during this period is the key to the success of your enterprise; one of these periods is the rainy season. During the rainy season, poultry farmers experience a lot of challenges in their production. There are certain conditions or occurrences that are endemic to this season.
Several threats surface, ranging from a drastic drop in egg production, epidemics of poultry diseases, the high cost of production, low utilization of feed, etc.; I have garnered several occurrences common to poultry farming in rainy season and likely solutions to mitigate or curb such threats.
1. Reduction in the length of the daylight (photoperiod)
During the rainy season, you would observe the day length, I mean the duration of sunlight, is reduced. Chickens are stimulated to lay eggs by day length; long days and increasing daylight encourage egg production. Laying chickenrequires about 16 hours of daylight to aid sound production. During the rainy season, the daylight is reduced as everywhere becomes cloudy; the laying chickens are left with little or no daylight to allow their activities.
Solution: This effect could be alleviated by providing florescent light to mimic the daylight, fluorescent light is the best to use. With this, the production level would be sustained.
2. Chickens change their feeding habit
Chickens feeding habit changes because the weather is cooler. Chicken needs a high-energy diet during this period. Their feed consumption increases in order to satisfy their energy requirement.
Solution: During the rainy season, chicken requires rich energy source such as fats, to meet their energy requirement.
3. Molting occurs during the rainy season
Molting is when the chickens shed their old feathers for new ones to grow. This phenomenon takes place at shorter days and cooler temperatures. This process occurs every year when the days get shorter. During molting, chicken typically stops laying and use this period to build their nutrient reserve.
Solution: Even though they are not laying, the chicken should be fed a high-quality diet.
4. Chicks get cold easily
You should expect this if you are brooding; hence, an adequate brooding facility has to be provided to salvage the chicks. The brooder house temperature has to complement the environmental temperature to enable the chicks to eat well.
5. Prevalence of Diseases
Rainy season favors poultry disease conditions a lot. It is a medium for transportation of pathogens; there are several outbreaks of poultry diseases during the rainy season.
Common poultry disease symptoms during this season include respiratory distress, stained or colored waste, diarrhea, nervousness, loss of appetite, ruffled feathers, swollen face, and prostration. These symptoms may be associated with several diseases making it quite difficult to identify the particular disease. Majority of farmers identify these symptoms as signs of Newcastle disease. The following are diseases prevalent during rainy season:
i) Infectious Bursal Disease (Gumboro)
ii) Fowl Pox
iii) Fowl Cholera
iv) E-Coli and Salmonella
Solution: Ensure you keep the pen dry always, do not serve caked feed; give antibiotics routinely during the rainy season to boost the chickens’ immune system.
6. Mud-Balls on the Chicken feet
This is very common in deep litter system where chickens are allowed to walk on wet floors. Because of the scratching behavior of chicken, soil and manure tend to augment on the chicken’s claws and ends of their toes. If allowed to grow bigger, they can deform the walking posture of the chicken and can result in broken toes.
Solution: The poultry floor must be kept clean and dry always with the aid of litter materials.
Conclusively, poultry farmers have to be well prepared during the rainy season. Adequate hygienic measures have to be put in place to curb the outbreak of any deleterious poultry disease.
The extent of disease occurrence, morbidity and mortality rate during the rainy season in poultry farm is majorly a determinant of the type of management practice and vaccination status of the farm. Hence, poultry farmers are implored to adopt hygienic management practices during the rainy season.
Poultry business is very lucrative and dynamic; hence, a good poultry farmer must be willing to manage the dynamics of poultry farming in rainy season to maintain a reasonable yield.
The new technology has come up now a days to covert the poultry litter material including poultry waste to profitable items hence making it value addition.one such technology is with Dhopeshwar engineering of Hyderabad.our innovative farmer’s are using such technology to cope with the present competition in the poultry sector.
