CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to manage young broiler ducklings?

How to manage young broiler ducklings?

When purchasing ducklings, you should choose a duck farm with high production management level, strict hygiene and epidemic prevention system, excellent duck breeds, and healthy and disease-free breeding ducks. Do not buy from duck farms that have suffered from infectious diseases such as viral hepatitis and duck plague. Ducklings hatched from duck farms are often infected with these diseases. When purchasing ducks, choose healthy individuals with vigorous energy, golden feathers, and well-healed navels. Do not buy weak or disabled ducks.

Provide good environmental conditions:

1. Temperature. Ducklings under 3 weeks old have poor thermoregulation and cannot adapt to changes in the external environment, so they must be provided with a suitable temperature. In the first two days of brooding, the temperature in the brooding room should reach 33°C to 35°C, and the temperature should not be lower than 29°C, otherwise it will affect the survival rate of the ducks. After 3 days of age, the temperature in the duck house should gradually drop to normal temperature by the 15th day of age. Generally, it is best to keep it at around 20°C.

2. Humidity. The humidity of the duck house should be between 50% and 75%. Too dry or too humid will be detrimental to the growth of ducks.

3. Ventilation. Meat ducks grow fast, have a vigorous metabolism, and excrete a lot of waste. Pay special attention to the ventilation of the duck house to keep the air fresh and ensure the healthy growth of the ducks.

4. Lighting. Lighting can promote the feeding and exercise of ducks, which is beneficial to the growth of ducks. A large number of experiments have shown that using 23 hours of light, 1 hour of darkness, and a light intensity of 10 lux (the light is 2 to 2.5 meters from the ground, and there should be 3 watts of illumination per square meter) can achieve better breeding results.
Adjust the density in time. Generally, 20-25 ducks/m2 are raised on the ground for 1-7 days old, and 25-30 ducks/m2 are raised online. 8-14 days old, 10-15 ducks/m2 are raised on the ground, and 15-15 ducks/m2 are raised online. 20/m2; 15-21 days, 7-10/m2 on the ground, 10-15/m2 online. For middle-aged ducks, 2-3 ducks/m2 are raised on the ground, and 3-5 ducks/m2 are raised online.

Scientific feeding:

1. Feed and drinking water must meet quality requirements . Feed should be complete pellet feed that meets the growth and development requirements of meat ducks. Drinking water must be tap water or deep well water that meets drinking water standards. Tap water, surface water, and pond water that do not meet standard requirements may contain a large number of pathogenic microorganisms, parasites, or toxic and harmful substances, which are very harmful to the health of ducks.

2. Drinkers and feed trays should be evenly distributed. The distance between the two should be about 1 meter to ensure that the meat ducks can eat and drink water at any time. The upper edge of the water tray of the water dispenser should be consistent with the height of the duck's back to prevent the ducks from playing in the water and wetting their feathers and bedding.

3. Sufficient clean drinking water should be provided to ducks from the time they enter the farm to the time they are slaughtered. If the water supply is interrupted, the feed should be removed immediately to prevent the ducks from suffocating.

4. After the ducklings arrive, do not rush to start feeding. Let them drink water first. An appropriate amount of antibiotics and health care drugs should be added to the water for the first time. For weak ducklings or ducklings transported over long distances, 5% to 8% glucose or oral rehydration salts should be added to the water when they drink for the first time. Feed water after 2 to 3 hours to clean the ducklings. It can clean the stomach and intestines, eliminate meconium, promote metabolism, and speed up the absorption of egg yolk.

5. Feed changes should be a smooth transition. Use the second stage feed. At 19-20 days of age, add 1/3 of the brooding fertilizer to the brooding feed according to the daily feed intake. At 21-22 days of age, add 1/2 of the brooding feed and brooding fertilizer. At 23 days of age, 1/3 of the brooding feed plus 2/3 of the brooding fertilizer, and after 24 days of age, all brooding animals are fed with brooding fertilizer. Feeding of the third stage feed should also be done in the same way. Sudden changes in feed will produce a stress response due to changes in taste, affecting growth.

Management must be procedural and institutionalized. Meat ducks are sensitive, timid and fearful. Once the environment changes or regular management is lost, they will have a stress response, resulting in a decrease in growth rate and resistance. Therefore, the " five fixed " must be implemented in management, namely fixed personnel, fixed time, fixed feed, fixed equipment positioning, and fixed behavior rules. In addition, the duck's morphology, behavior, feeding, drinking water, feces, breathing, etc. must be observed frequently, and corrective or preventive measures must be taken in a timely manner if abnormal conditions are found.