Raising Techniques and Precautions for Confined Egg Ducks

Confined Egg Duck Techniques:

1. Management of ducklings (1-30 days of age)

Before brooding, prepare the brooding room and transport boxes and disinfect them, and have ready duckling complete compound feed, drinkers, feed troughs, wet-and-dry bulb thermometers, etc.

1. Brooding temperature In the first few days, ducklings have a very poor ability to regulate their body temperature; the temperature standard for the first three days is 33-35°C, then gradually lowered. In practice, you can judge whether the temperature is suitable from the ducklings' activity. If the flock is evenly distributed, lively and active, with a strong appetite and normal droppings, it shows the temperature is normal; if the ducklings crowd as close to the heat source as possible, it shows the temperature is low and you must raise it immediately; if they stay away from the heat source, gasp with open bills and drink large amounts of water, it shows the temperature is too high.

2. First feeding and rearing They should be started on feed within 24 hours after hatching. In the first few days, ducklings have poor digestion, so you can crumble cooked chicken or duck egg yolk into the feed; after three to five days you can feed duckling complete compound feed. Pay special attention that vitamins are mixed in and fed the same day, use high-quality fish meal that does not contain too much salt, and never use spoiled ingredients, because ducklings are very sensitive to feed quality. Ducklings are prone to drug poisoning, so do not feed drugs blindly, and do not feed chick feed. The feed should be mixed wet before feeding; ensure they always have drinking water and feed is never lacking.

3. Pay attention to hygiene The litter for ducklings should be unmoldy long wheat straw, rice straw or dried green grass; fine, spoiled litter will cause indigestion if the ducklings peck at it. The litter must be changed daily and kept dry; damp filth soaking the down will make ducklings sick. It is best to use raised wire-floor brooding.

4. Lighting For the first three days, use a 60-watt bulb for 21-24 hours of lighting; from the fourth day of age, gradually reduce light intensity and shorten lighting time. For spring ducklings, mainly use natural light and use a dimmer lamp at night.

5. Drinking water Water is essential for ducks' growth; from hatching to culling they must never be without water for a moment. Provide water before feed. Generally clean water is fine, at a water temperature of about 20°C; if the water temperature is too low it affects the ducklings' body temperature, and if too high the ducklings tend to climb into it. When raising a large flock, provide one drinker per 200 ducklings; the drinkers should be placed evenly, with water-absorbing stove ash underneath to prevent the litter from getting wet. In short, ducklings should always be able to drink clean water, yet not jump into the water, so their bodies stay dry and the floor stays free of running water.

The confined method does not use large water areas for rearing, but it must supply water for them to wash their heads; usually place a 20 cm-high water basin and keep it full of water for a long time, so the ducks wash their heads in the basin, keeping their nostrils from drying out and also washing off fine feed and mud stuck to their heads. Dry, cracked nostrils make them prone to illness, and if the feathers on the head and around the eyes are rubbed off, they cannot keep their heads warm. Ducks cannot secrete saliva when eating; after eating feed they need to drink a mouthful of water to help swallow, so the water basin should not be too far from the feed.

2. Management of young ducks (31-20 days of age)

The management goal for young ducks is to develop a robust, good body shape.

1. Increase exercise

Every day drive the ducks slowly around the exercise yard a few laps, or drive them out slowly to graze, to strengthen their constitution; people should have more contact with the ducks to make them bolder, so that during the laying period they will not be afraid of being startled.

2. Feeding of young ducks

Young ducks are at the stage of growing frame and muscle. The nutritional principle for the growing stage is: better low than high; the feed principle is: better coarse than fine. Do not use too much fine feed; let them eat more green feed to strengthen their digestive ability. Make the raw material varieties in the feed as diverse as possible to train the ducks' omnivorous habits. Supply sufficient vitamins, trace elements, calcium, etc. In short, the management principle for young ducks is to make them adaptable to all kinds of different feeds and environments; before laying begins, body weight should be 1500-1750 grams.

3. Management of laying ducks

1. Early laying period (151-200 days of age) and early stage (201-300 days of age). Continuously improve feed quality and increase feeding frequency, feeding 4 times a day, 150 grams of feed per duck per day. Gradually increase lighting to 16 hours. In this period egg weight increases and the laying rate rises; body weight should be maintained at the standard of the start of laying, neither falling nor increasing.

2. Mid laying period (301-400 days of age). This period is the laying peak and is relatively difficult to manage; a little carelessness will cause a drop in laying and molting. Nutrition must be guaranteed to meet requirements, with protein level reaching 20%; feed an appropriate amount of green feed or add multivitamins, and keep daily lighting stable at 16 hours. Daily management should remain relatively stable and avoid all sudden changes; the temperature in the shed should be between 5-27°C. If a drop in laying or a delay in laying time occurs, find the cause that same day and immediately take corrective measures. If the cause cannot be found for more than three days and no effective measures can be taken, continuous decline in laying will occur, and no matter how hard you try it will be very difficult to restore the previous laying level.

3. Late laying period (401-500 days of age). The laying rate begins to decline. During this time, determine feed quality and quantity according to body weight and laying rate. If body weight decreases and the laying rate is around 80%, add more animal protein; if body weight increases and they become fat while the laying rate is still around 80%, reduce the metabolizable energy in the feed or feed more green feed, keeping protein at the original level; if laying has dropped to around 60%, lower the feed level, since at this point even adding good feed cannot bring laying back up. At an 80% laying rate, maintain 16 hours of lighting; at 60% laying, increase it to 17 hours. Increase exercise more and prevent sudden stimulation.

Precautions for confined egg ducks:

1. Pay attention to the feed mix. Egg duck feed is mainly grain, accounting for 50%-60%; appropriately add 10%-20% cake-type feeds, 10%-15% fish meal, 1% shell powder, as well as salt, multivitamins and additives for feeding. The amount of fish meal can be appropriately increased or decreased according to the laying rate. Feed 4-5 times a day. The daily feeding amount per duck is about 125 grams-150 grams; during the non-laying period, feeding twice a day is enough.

2. Pay attention to timely start of laying. If egg ducks start laying too early they tend to age prematurely, and if too late it affects economic returns. The start of laying should be controlled around 150 days of age. At 100-120 days of age, control feed quality and let them eat half compound feed and half green coarse feed, to stretch and enlarge the stomach and intestines; after 120 days of age, gradually increase the amount.

3. Pay attention to inducing mating. The stronger the ducks' sexual desire, the more eggs they lay. A certain number of drakes should be included in the flock. For duckling rearing, keep 1 drake per 100 female ducks; for large-flock rearing, keep 1 drake per 2000 female ducks. The ratio for egg-type breeder duck flocks is 20:1-30:1. During the non-laying and molting periods of egg ducks, isolate the drakes to avoid harassment.

4. Pay attention to lighting. During the laying period, pay attention to supplemental lighting: turn on lights for 3-4 hours at night and again for 1 hour before dawn, so that day-and-night lighting reaches 14-16 hours, to promote the activity of the ducks' glands.

5. Pay attention to calcium supplementation. From 15 weeks of age, egg ducks should be given calcium supplementation. The calcium supplementation amount should be 2.5% of the daily ration, and gradually increased thereafter. When the laying rate of egg ducks is below 65%, the calcium content in the daily ration should be 2.5%; when the laying rate is 65%-80%, the calcium content should be 3%; when the laying rate is above 80%, the calcium content should reach 3.5%.

6. Pay attention to litter. The duck house floor should use rice husks, rice straw or wood shavings as litter, adding a layer once a day to cover the duck droppings, and put it thicker at the laying spots. Combine this with ventilation of the duck house and heat prevention and cooling, to keep the duck house clean and dry.