Northern Egg Duck Confinement Rearing Techniques and Precautions
I. Basic Requirements for the Duck House
In northern regions, the seasons are distinct, and both annual and daily temperature differences are large, especially in winter, when the climate is cold and dry. Compared with the north, southern regions are warm and humid, with relatively small temperature differences. Therefore, in terms of duck house construction, southern houses are tall and spacious and pay more attention to ventilation and air permeability, while northern houses are best oriented with a south-facing front and a high degree of airtightness; attention must be paid both to ventilation and air permeability and to measures for raising and maintaining temperature.
II. Properly Adjust Temperature and Humidity in the Early Brooding Period
1. Characteristics of tracheal mucosa growth and yolk absorption in ducklings. The trachea is the passage for gas exchange; relying on the beating of mucosal cilia and the moisture attached to them, it moistens and cleans the air entering the lungs, and it is also an important site for regulating body temperature through evaporative heat loss. In newly hatched ducklings, the mucosal surface of the trachea is underdeveloped, cilia are sparse, moisture-retention capacity is weak, the ability to clean and remove foreign matter from the air is low, and water is easily lost. As they grow and develop, by the 2nd week the mucosal cilia gradually cover the surface, and function gradually becomes more complete. After hatching, some yolk remains in the yolk sac in the abdomen of the duckling; digestion and absorption require 3-5 days, which can provide nutrition for ducklings in the early brooding period, so no feeding is needed within 24 hours after hatching. The normal body temperature of ducks is 41.5-42.5 C; ducklings have sparse, short down, a large body surface area per unit, and the body temperature of newly hatched ducklings is about 2 C lower than that of adult ducks. Their thermoregulatory function is not fully developed, and their ability to resist cold and heat is poor; only after 15 days of age can they regulate their own body temperature. Suitable temperature and sufficient drinking water can promote yolk absorption, strengthen the ducklings' constitution and disease resistance, and increase the survival rate.
2. Temperature, humidity, and ventilation management during the brooding period. According to the physiological characteristics of ducklings, in the first week of brooding in northern regions, stable and suitable temperature and humidity should be created in the house. The temperature at the height of the ducks' backs is generally:
(1) 1-7 days of age. 34-32 C, relative humidity 65%-75%. If the humidity in the house cannot be reached, sufficient drinking water should be ensured. Temperature regulation should be “tested by the ducks”, with the standard being that ducklings do not huddle and are evenly distributed when resting. If the temperature in the house is low or fluctuates greatly, yolk absorption will be poor, the ducklings' resistance will be reduced, and bacterial diseases are likely to occur. Higher humidity can keep the tracheal mucosa of ducklings moist, maintain normal mucosal development, and at the same time avoid dust flying in the house. If the humidity in the house is low, ducklings are prone to dehydration, manifested as dry, shrunken beaks and toes, affecting growth; if it is excessively dry, moisture in the ducklings' tracheal mucosa evaporates quickly, the mucosa becomes dry, ciliary development is affected, and dust in the house easily flies up, irritating the ducklings' respiratory tract and inducing respiratory diseases. However, brooding temperature and humidity must not be too high; if too high, brooding heating costs are high, ducklings have difficulty dissipating heat, feed intake decreases, growth is affected, and in severe cases elevated body temperature can cause heatstroke and death. Therefore, in the first week of brooding egg ducks in northern regions, attention should be paid to heat preservation and moisture retention, especially in winter, when the brooding house should be closed to prevent drafty wind. Although ducklings in the early brooding period have a high intensity of respiratory metabolism, because they eat little, excrete little, and produce few harmful gases, management should focus mainly on heat preservation with ventilation as a supplement, mostly using regular short periods of ventilation to keep temperature and humidity stable in the house.
(2) The second week and afterward. Temperature and humidity should be gradually reduced. The temperature at the height of the ducks' backs in the house is generally: 8-14 days of age 31 C-29 C, then decreased by 2-3 C each week, and the relative humidity in the house reduced to 55%-65%. As the age of the ducklings increases, their thermoregulatory function gradually improves, and the protective function of the tracheal mucosa gradually strengthens. At this stage, ducklings gain weight rapidly, respiratory volume increases, excretion increases, dust increases, and harmful gases such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide produced by fermentation of manure in the house are abundant; if not removed in time, they will irritate the eyes, nose, and respiratory tract and induce respiratory diseases. In the relationship between ventilation and temperature and humidity, this should gradually shift to focusing mainly on ventilation with heat preservation as a supplement, keeping the air in the house fresh.
III. Ensure That Body Weight Reaches the Standard at 5 Weeks of Age
Egg ducks grow quickly in the early stage, and body weight at the end of 5 weeks is about 12 times the birth weight. Body weight at 5 weeks of age is positively correlated with the main performance indicators during the laying period, that is, the higher the body weight at 5 weeks of age, the higher the various laying performance indicators; in northern regions, it is best to reach 110% of the standard body weight. At this stage, egg ducks have a relatively high demand for dietary protein and good utilization efficiency, so a relatively high protein level should be provided when formulating feed, and a complete formula feed should be supplied. When the ducklings are introduced, strong and weak ducklings should be raised separately, and sick and weak ducklings should be culled in time to improve the uniformity of the flock. At the same time, light, feeding, and drinking water management should be done well to ensure the target body weight is reached.
IV. Pay Attention to Management Before the Laying Period
In the early laying period, the body of the egg duck bears the dual tasks of laying and growth, and only by 35 weeks of age does the body mature, with body weight basically reaching its peak. The focus of the early laying period is to closely monitor the rising trends of laying rate and egg weight, and timely adjust feeding amount or feed quality to promote the laying rate to rise rapidly to a peak and egg weight to reach the standard.
1. Reasonably determine the protein-to-energy ratio. Egg ducks eat to meet energy needs and maintain a relatively stable requirement for energy. Energy requirement mainly depends on body size, environmental temperature, laying rate, and egg weight, while the requirement for nutrients such as protein relative to energy is less affected by environmental temperature. In northern regions, temperatures vary greatly among seasons, and the feed intake of the same fixed-formula diet varies greatly among seasons, which can cause insufficient or excessive intake of other nutrients, thereby affecting laying performance and economic benefits. Therefore, feed formulas need to be adjusted in different seasons, and the protein-to-energy ratio adjusted according to environmental temperature, so as to continuously provide sufficient, comprehensive, and balanced nutrition for egg ducks. The suitable environmental temperature for adult ducks is 5-27 C, and the most suitable temperature for laying ducks is 13-20 C; at this time, laying rate and feed conversion efficiency are best, and the suitable egg-to-energy ratio is 15-17 g/MJ. In northern regions, conditions should be created as much as possible to achieve the best production performance.
Egg ducks have a strong ability to tolerate coarse feed and a wide adaptive range for dietary energy levels. Feed ingredient supply differs between the north and south; in northern regions, self-mixing farmers should choose feed ingredients nearby according to local conditions to reduce breeding costs, and must not continue to use southern feed formulas. Under normal conditions, during the rising stage of laying, the body weight of egg ducks should remain unchanged or increase slightly; a relatively large increase or decrease in body weight indicates a problem with the feed. If body weight increases too much, the current feeding amount can be maintained or the energy level slightly reduced; as the laying rate rises, after body weight reaches normal, the nutritional level can then be adjusted appropriately. At this stage, body weight must absolutely not be allowed to decline; if body weight declines, the cause should be analyzed in time and energy increased; otherwise, egg ducks will suffer from laying fatigue and weakened constitution, causing problems such as slow rise in laying rate or a short duration of the peak laying period.
2. Scientifically adjust the dietary energy level. It has been reported that the laying rate of poultry is not greatly affected by metabolizable energy, while average egg weight increases significantly with increased metabolizable energy. In actual production, in the early laying period, as energy feed increases, egg weight shows an increasing trend, eggshell quality also improves, and the increase in laying rate is even more obvious; when energy feed is added to a low-energy-level diet, the effect of increasing the laying rate is more significant. After energy feed is added to a certain amount, the trend of increasing laying rate gradually weakens. Energy determines the laying rate; the dietary energy level during the laying period is generally 11.30-10.88 MJ/kg. If the laying rate fluctuates, or even declines, the first thing to consider is whether there is a problem with dietary energy supply; check whether the feed formula is stable or whether the quality of feed ingredients meets requirements, adjust in time, and appropriately supplement oils such as cod liver oil, which has a very good recovery effect.
3. Scientifically adjust the dietary protein level. When the dietary energy level reaches a certain level, the duck flock can maintain a certain laying rate. As the dietary protein level increases, egg weight gradually increases, while the rise in the flock's laying rate is not obvious. Protein determines egg weight; the suitable dietary protein level during the laying period is about 17%-19%. If egg weight increases slowly, egg weight fluctuates, or the egg contents are thin, it indicates that the dietary protein level is low, and the amount of protein feed should be increased or high-quality protein used. When increasing the protein level, cost accounting must be carried out; if too high, profit decreases.
4. Strictly control lighting during the laying period. During the initial laying period, light duration should gradually increase. Artificial supplemental light should be increased each time by 0.5-1 hour on the basis of natural light, once every 7 days, until daily light duration reaches 16 hours. Supplemental lighting is carried out twice daily, morning and evening; generally, lights are turned on at 5 a.m. and turned off at sunrise, and turned on at sunset and turned off at 21:00. Duck farmers with conditions can install automatic control equipment to switch lights on and off automatically. After light duration is stabilized, it must not be increased or decreased at will; on cloudy and rainy days, lights should also be turned on during the day. This is the main measure to ensure high and stable production. For lighting, 25-watt or 40-watt bulbs are better, at a height of 2 m from the ground, evenly distributed, 2 watts per sq m of duck house, so that light is evenly distributed. Bulbs are best equipped with lampshades, which should be wiped frequently to maintain light intensity. This point is mostly neglected in egg duck farming in northern regions. If weak light is used throughout the night, emergency response lights and lighting should be prepared. Sudden power outages at night and the intrusion of other small animals into the duck house will disturb the flock, causing trampling injuries and inducing yolk peritonitis.
5. Prevent “wet feather” syndrome in laying ducks. In winter, because northern regions are cold, duck houses are closed. Due to the large temperature and humidity differences inside and outside the duck house, moisture in the house easily penetrates deep into the ducks' feathers, and condensed water from the roof also drips onto the ducks and is not easy to evaporate; in foggy weather it is even harder to dry in time, resulting in the “wet feather” phenomenon, which mostly occurs in flocks with weak constitution and poor nutrition. In “wet feather” ducks, the feathers lose their oiliness, heat preservation capacity is poor, the body is wet and cold, energy consumption is high, constitution declines rapidly, and production begins to drop after 2 days. When ducks are released for activity, they are unwilling to enter the water; after entering the water, the water easily soaks the feathers, and in severe cases a “sinking” phenomenon occurs. When building duck houses in northern regions, a layer of anti-condensation film should be laid on the inner wall of the roof to prevent water mist condensation. Winter management should balance ventilation and heat preservation, keep litter dry, and regularly drive the flock gently in circles in the house to practice “noisy ducks” 2-3 times a day, 5-10 minutes each time, to improve the ducks' cold resistance. When releasing ducks out of the enclosure for activity, all doors and windows or the plastic sheeting surrounding the duck house should be opened to remove damp, turbid air from the house. If “wet feather” occurs, releasing ducks for bathing should be stopped, and cod liver oil, electrolytic multivitamins, and preventive drugs should be added in time. Strengthen ventilation in the duck house, replace litter, keep duck bodies clean, release more and confine less, prevent drafty wind, and wait until the feathers are dried and smooth before allowing them into the water for bathing.
Precautions for raising egg ducks in northern regions:
Rearing of ducklings
Temperature: for 1-day-old ducks, temperature 36 C; 2-7 days of age, temperature 36-28 C; 8-14 days of age, temperature 28-21 C; 15-30 days of age, temperature 21-16 C.
Temperature: brooding temperature should not be too high; relative humidity in the first week is 70%-75%, and afterward maintained at an average of 55%-60%.
Air: on the basis of ensuring room temperature, expand ventilation as much as possible to keep the air in the house fresh.
Lighting: within the first week, 24 h lighting; after the second week, gradually reduce light intensity and duration; from the third week onward, use natural lighting. At night, use weak light for all-night illumination.
Density: 1 week of age, 35-25 birds/sq m; 2-4 weeks of age, 25-20 birds/sq m; 5-8 weeks of age, 20-15 birds/sq m; 9-16 weeks of age, 8-5 birds/sq m; laying ducks, 8-5 birds/sq m.
Feeding: provide water about 24 h after hatching, and an appropriate amount of brown sugar can be added to the water. After providing water, start feeding, using parboiled rice as feed. For ducklings within 10 days of age, feed 6 times/d; at 11-20 days of age, 4-5 times/d.
Feeding and management of young egg ducks
Management points: appropriately increase exercise to promote development and prevent excessive fattening; have more contact with the flock to increase their boldness and prevent flock panic; use weak light for all-night illumination in the house; strengthen disease prevention and control work; establish a stable daily routine, with a fixed management procedure every day.
Feeding: young egg ducks grow quickly, have a large feed intake, and have a relatively strong ability to utilize green and coarse feed.
Factors affecting egg production in egg ducks
Breed factors: laying rate, laying cycle, duration, and egg weight are all directly related to breed. Therefore, selecting and raising fine egg ducks is the prerequisite for achieving high production.
Nutritional factors: the nutritional requirements of laying ducks are higher than at all previous stages; therefore, sufficient nutrients must be provided in the diet.
Environmental factors: during the laying period, the lighting in the duck house is 1.5 watts/sq m, at a height of 2 m, and bulbs generally should be chosen at 60 watts or below. The suitable environmental temperature for adult ducks is 5-27 C, and the suitable environmental temperature for laying ducks is 13-20 C.