Implications of Climatic Changes on Poultry Production
Prachi Singh1*, Shruti Bhatt2, Balbeer Singh3
1M.V.Sc, Department of Veterinary Microbiology, DUVASU, Mathura,
Email-singhchinki 97@gmail.com
2Ph.D, Department of Veterinary Medicine, DUVASU, Mathura,
Email- shrutibhattt95@gmail.com
3Principal, Tagore Animal Husbandry Diploma College, Kathumar, Alwar,
Email- dr.balbeersinghgurjar.vet@gmail.com
*Corresponding author-
M.V.Sc, Department of Veterinary Microbiology, DUVASU, Mathura, Email-id: singhchinki97@gmail.com
Abstract
In India poultry industry is one of the fastest growing segments amongst all the livestock industries. Poultry not only provides meat/eggs as food but also act as an important income source for millions of people all over the country. It provides with employment, livelihood and income to the weaker sections of our society. As climatic changes and production are complementary to each other, several problems associated with environmental conditions challenges poultry performance by imposing severe stress affecting behavioural and physiological patterns of birds resulting in the reduced growth of the poultry industry. It was reported that if the ambient temperature is increased to 34˚C, mortality due to stress will become higher in broilers (8.4%) and if feed consumption reduction occurs from 108.3 g/bird/day to 68.9 g/bird/day at 31.6 ˚C, egg production is effectively reduced by 6.4 %. The birds can thus tolerate an optimum temperature that is contributed to production related factors. This article aims to review the seasonal fluctuations and detrimental effects on poultry production systems.
Keywords– poultry, climatic changes, seasonal fluctuations, production
Introduction
Poultry industry in India is the fastest growing industry of recent time. India ranks 3rd in egg production and 8th in meat production according to economic survey done in 2021-2022. The annual per capita availability of egg has increased to 90 eggs and meat to 6.52 kg per annum but still below the recommended level of 180 eggs and 11.5 kg meat/annum (ICMR). Thus, there is a need to uplift poultry industry by alleviating the problems associated with environmental stress, their accommodation, nutrition etc. India becomes one of the vulnerable places of climate changes due to the demographic pressure on natural resources and poor ability to deal with it. Dynamics driving climatic change includes the following flowchart as shown in Figure 1.
Figure1: Major changes driving climatic changes (Bett, 2013)
How birds deal with temperature changes?
Generally, the body temperature of the bird ranges from 106˚F to 108˚F that is considerably higher than the mammalian livestock and human (97˚F to 102˚F). Birds do not have the sweating ability to dissipate body heat thus during hot and dry season, the production decreases drastically. In order to compensate, birds use other ways like radiation, conduction, convention and evaporation. It is observed that proportion of heat loss due to seasonal variation depends upon temperature difference between birds and its environment.
Seasonal fluctuations
High environmental temperature may affect the commercial birds and when combined with humidity factor shows more severe effects that includes decrease feed intake, production efficiency, negative impact on growth rate, etc. When temperature increases to 80˚F birds began to pant that helps them to cope up with the stress. Sometimes this situation may lead to the development of chronic stress that has deleterious effect on birds’ health thus affecting production traits. In breeders, generally increase temperature results in decrease fertility rate and low hatchability (Ahaotu et al., 2019). Due to increase global warming and other factors, seasonal variation has become a worldwide problem, especially affecting broiler and layer production in poultry industry.
Symptoms seen in stress condition
The symptoms may include decrease food consumption, more water drinking and panting behavioural changes. Birds spread their wings far apart from body to promote cooling by reducing body insulation. Sometimes they even splash drinking water on their combs and wattle in order to increase cooling phenomenon.
- Effects on growth– Decrease feed intake by the birds alters the concentration of growth hormone affecting metabolic problems.
- Effect on production-It involves behavioural, physiological and immunological changes that disturbs their performances and ultimately affecting their productivity. Hot climate stress has severe impact resulting in stunted growth, decreasing production efficiency, high mortality, decreased immunity and reproductive failure (Ahaotu et al., 2019)
- Effect on egg production-reports reveals that under high environmental temperature layers respiratory rate increases from 20 cycles/min to 100 cycles/min (above thermoneutral zone) approximately, resulting in hypoventilation (decrease carbon dioxide blood levels) and loss of egg production to 12% (Ahaotu and Agunanne 2017). Carbon dioxide is responsible for eggshell quality improvement as it may cause acidosis thus having impact on kidney intake of bicarbonate. Thus, reduces egg weight, egg shell % and egg specific gravity.
- Meat quality deuteriation– Climatic variation effects organ and muscle metabolism thus affecting the meat quality. It increases risk of pale, soft, exudative type of meat in turkeys and dehydration in many species. It has been reported that chronic environment stress negatively affects fat deposition and is breed dependent effect especially broilers.
- Effect on reproductive performance– Seasonal changes leads to reduced egg thickness and increase egg breaking also effecting semen production in breeder cocks. Although high temperature stimulates testicular growth thus increases semen concentration and volume but at the same time expresses seminiferous epithelial cell differentiation that is decreases semen quality and quantity with time.
- Effect on embryo development– Uzoma et al. in 2019 proved that overheating of fertile egg affects different tissue growth at different incubation stages leading to altered skeletal development in early and later stages.
- Effects on immunity– It lowers the relative weight of primary lymphoid organs in laying birds resulting in the immune compression due to seasonal variation.
- Disease incidence– As due to seasonal variation, birds under immense stress will alter global disease distribution. It increases insect vectors, transmission cycle factors thus affecting biodiversity, distribution and migratory pattern of birds. Example include avian influenza highly pathogenic organism is the direct effect of seasonal variation transmission.
Prevention
- To maintain air velocity, proper ventilation of house should be maintained that helps the birds to cope with the heat variation of climate. Once the temperature reaches 77 ˚F, heat loss method in birds become from sensitive to evaporation type.
- As the day length increases, daylight stimulates egg production generally, thus artificial lightening can be used to improve production. At night times, 2-3 hrs lightening can increase egg production by 30% according to a report. Thus, effective lightening period should be provided in laying birds
- Use of probiotics also proved to be effective in acute heat stress.
Conclusion
As we have seen in above content that climatic changes may have the potency to adversely affect poultry production in several ways like productivity, egg quality losses and even mortality to greater extent. The main reason of these changes is global warming which can even results in disasters that we are facing in recent times. Thus, there is the need to intensify the awareness campaign to make poultry farmers aware about the problems associated with climatic changes and also provide them the possible ways to deal with the upcoming problems. Various steps should be taken by different professionals in order to help poultry farmers, ultimately improving India’s economy by upliftment of poultry industries.
References
Ahaotu EO and Agunanne UT. 2017. Egg Production Pattern in Anthony Patience Farms, Atta-Ikeduru, Imo State, Nigeria: Influences on The Phase of Production and the Estimated Period of Oviposition. Proc. 6th ASAN-NIAS Joint Annual Meeting. Sept 10-14,pp 375-380.
Ahaotu EO., et al. 2019. Climate Change in Poultry Production System – A Review. Acta Scientific Agriculture 3.9: 113-117.
Ahaotu, EO, Nwafor C, Onyebuchukwu PA, and Okpara O. 2019. Carcass, Organ Weights and Egg Quality Characteristics of Guinea Fowl Layers Fed Varying Levels of Butterfly Pea Leaf (Centrosema Pubescens) Meal. Sustainability, Agri, Food and Environmental Research. 7(1):37 – 51.
Bett B. 2013. The challenge of climate-related infectious livestock diseases in undermining social entrepreneurship development for rural communities. Presentation at a National Museums of Kenya-DAAD high-level forum on climate change and biodiversity, Nairobi, Kenya, 17-19 July 2013. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.
Uzoma UF, Ahaotu EO, Olowo P and Nyako HD. 2019. Response of High Dietary Energy Profile Meal from Processed Maize Products on Performance Parameters and Egg Quality of Shaver Brown Laying Birds. International Journal of Research in Agriculture and Forestry. 6 (1): 29-37.
