Key Points for Raising and Managing Goslings and Methods for Disease Prevention and Treatment
Geese have high nutritional value and are deeply loved by people. Raising geese is a skilled job: raise them well and they bring you profit; raise them poorly and you will lose your entire fortune. Any creature that eats whole grains can get sick, and geese are no exception. The thing goose farmers fear most is influenza and plague. So how do you prevent disease in geese? How should you manage them so that geese stay healthy and grow without getting sick? Let's take a look!
Raising and Management of Goslings
1. Choose good gosling stock. Goslings are goose chicks from hatching to one month of age. Goslings should be selected from the offspring of mother geese that have been injected with goose plague vaccine. Choose goslings that are strong in constitution, larger in body size, well absorbed in the abdomen, with no bloody or hard navels, clean mouths, noses and vents, and lively and active in spirit. Weak and inferior ones should be culled or raised in isolation as early as possible.
2. Preparation of the brooding room. The brooding room must be thoroughly rinsed, cleaned and disinfected. Disinfect the floor and walls with 10% fresh limewater; scrub utensils with 2% caustic soda water. Repair doors and windows and do a good job of insulation.
3. Cold prevention and warmth retention. Goslings have very strict temperature requirements; temperatures that are too high or too low will cause goslings to fall ill and die. Therefore, during the gosling raising stage, supply heat according to the suitable temperature for gosling growth and development. 1-5 days of age is 28-30°C [uncertain]; 6-10 days of age is 26-28°C; 11-15 days of age is 24-26°C; 16-20 days of age is 20-22°C, after which room temperature is maintained above 18°C. When the temperature is too low, goslings huddle together, curl up and call out, which can easily cause death. Above 35 degrees, goslings open their mouths and pant, squeal and sweat, and if suddenly exposed to cool wind, they are prone to catching cold. The litter in the goose house should be changed frequently and kept clean and dry at all times. At the same time, keep the air in the goose house circulating and fresh.
4. Drinking water and first feeding. Goslings have a very urgent need for water, so they should drink before they start eating. Within 24 hours of hatching, 0.02% potassium permanganate water should be placed in small basins and containers; press the goslings' heads down and train them a few times, and they will drink freely. At the same time, feed green fodder. Chop the green fodder into shreds and scatter it on the goslings' backs to guide them to eat. Feed concentrated feed such as rice soaked in water or broken rice soaked in boiled water mixed with green fodder, scattered on clean objects so the geese can eat freely, adding more as they eat.
5. Group feeding. Hatched goslings should be grouped and raised according to their physical strength. During brooding, feed and manage them carefully to increase the survival rate during the brooding period.
6. Guard against enemies. In the early stage of brooding, goslings have no ability to defend against or escape from predators. Rats are the most dangerous enemy of goslings. Therefore, carefully check the corners, doors and windows of the brooding room and plug rat holes. Strengthen night duty, stay alert, and take effective defensive measures.
Methods for Preventing and Treating Gosling Diseases
1. Gosling plague. There is no specific treatment for this disease, so prevention is the priority. About 1 month before the breeding geese lay eggs, inject the gosling plague vaccine twice in succession for advance immunization.
2. Goose white diarrhea. This disease is mainly caused by Salmonella infection. Take an appropriate amount of chili powder and ginger, mix them and stir-fry in a pot, then mix in rice bran and stir-fry again. After the rice bran is cooked, let it cool and feed it; it will cure the disease after 2 consecutive days of feeding.
3. Goose influenza. This disease mainly occurs in goslings and is mostly caused by sudden temperature changes. Sick geese are listless, have poor appetite, huddle together, have runny noses and shake their heads. The course of the disease is 3-5 days, and if treatment is not effective it can cause death. Inject penicillin into the muscle of sick geese, or orally administer sulfadiazine tablets, while also paying attention to keeping warm.
4. Fowl cholera. This disease is an acute septic infectious disease caused by Pasteurella avium. Acutely ill geese stand still with eyes closed, are listless, have no appetite, and have diarrhea with grass-green droppings; body temperature is 41-43°C, and they die 2-3 days after onset. Inject a mixture of penicillin and streptomycin into the muscle for 3-4 days, twice a day, and add 0.02% compound sulfamethoxazole to the feed to control the disease.
5. Coccidiosis. This disease mainly harms geese from 3 weeks to 3 months of age. Therefore, prevention should be focused on 20-90 days of age. Add 50 mg of chlorobenzoguanide per kilogram of feed (the treatment dose is 100 mg) and use continuously for 10 days.
6. Parasites. Deworm for the first time when goslings are 1 month old. Administer bithionol at 150-200 mg per kilogram of body weight in the evening; it has a clear deworming effect on tapeworms, flukes and nematodes.
7. Soft leg disease. This is mainly due to a lack of minerals and vitamin D in the feed. Treatment: feed 10 mg of vitamin D per bird each time, twice a day, for 3-5 consecutive doses.
8. Poisoning. Pesticide residues are often present in the green fodder fed to goslings, which can cause poisoning, and if not rescued immediately, it can cause death. At this point, use your hands to pry open the goose's beak, promptly pour in 10-15 grains of dry urea, then give water, and put it into a river for grazing so it can drink freely; after 2 hours the poisoned goose will gradually return to normal.
What Temperature Requirements Do Goslings Have During Raising
Because goslings have poor body temperature regulation, temperature has a great influence on gosling growth and survival rate. For large-group raising, coal stove heating or radiator heating can be used, with density controlled at 20-30 birds/sq m. 1-25 days of age: temperature 26-28°C, humidity 60%-65%; 6-10 days of age: 24-26°C, relative humidity 65%; 11-15 days of age: 22-24°C, relative humidity 65%-70%; 16-20 days of age: 20-22°C, relative humidity about 70%. After 10-20 days of age in this way, choose clear weather to put the goslings out for grazing.
How to Select Goslings
1. Look at the source, mainly the source of the goslings. The goslings should be the offspring of healthy, disease-free breeding geese that grow fast and lay many eggs, and the goslings should conform to the characteristics and traits of the breed.
2. Look at hatching time. Choose goslings that hatch on schedule; any gosling that hatches early or late has abnormal embryonic development and will have adverse effects on later growth and development.
3. Look at the navel and vent. Goslings with big bellies, bloody navels, or unclean vents indicate poor health.
4. Look at the down. The down of goslings should be thick, dry and glossy; any that is too fine, too sparse, damp, or even stuck together and lusterless indicates poor development and a weak constitution, and is not suitable for selection.
5. Look at body posture. Resolutely cull goslings with abnormal appearance such as blindness, crooked heads or lame feet.
6. Look at vitality. Strong goslings move actively, can hold their heads relatively high, respond quickly, and have loud calls and strong vitality.
Farmers all hope their poultry will get better and better, so they must care for them carefully and manage them conscientiously. They cannot be negligent or careless. Every small animal has life, and every small life deserves respect. If you raise them, raise them well and raise them healthy. Both prevention and treatment are important.