Facility Requirements and Key Feeding Management Points for Laying Duck Farms

What exactly are the facility requirements for a laying duck farm? How should feeding and management be carried out? Below we provide a systematic and comprehensive analysis.

I. Requirements for the Duck Farm and Facilities

(I) Site Requirements

1. Within 500 m around the duck farm there should be no other poultry farms or slaughter and processing plants; it should be far from main traffic roads, at a distance of more than 500 m from residential areas; it should be conducive to animal health and epidemic prevention and to the harmless treatment of waste.

2. There should be a certain body of water near the duck house, with a water depth of more than 1 m, and the water should be clean and free of pollution.

3. The duck house should have an exercise yard, with one end connected to the house door and the other end connected to the duck beach (the place where ducks enter and leave the water). The area of the duck beach should be similar to that of the exercise yard, about 2 m to 3 m wide, with a slope of 20 degrees to 30 degrees.

(II) Layout and Facility Requirements Within the Farm

1. The production area and the living area should be strictly separated, with the living area located upwind.

2. There should be a dedicated road connecting to the outside. Within the farm area, clean roads and dirty roads should be set up, and the two should be strictly separated.

2. The living and management area should have a main gate and a disinfection pool. Within this area, living and office facilities, as well as production support facilities that are in close contact with the outside, such as a veterinary room, feed warehouse and garage, should be built.

4. A disinfection pool should be set up at the entrance of the production area. Within the area, there should be a disinfection changing room or shower room, and disinfection pools should be set up between each area and at the entrances of poultry houses.

5. Bird-proof, insect-proof and rodent-proof facilities should be installed at doors, windows and other ventilation openings or openings of poultry houses, as well as around the exercise yard and water pool.

II. Health and Epidemic Prevention Requirements

(I) Sanitation Requirements

1. Before introducing ducks, the duck house and surrounding environment must be strictly and thoroughly disinfected, and disinfectants conforming to the provisions of the Veterinary Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China should be selected to disinfect feed troughs and water troughs, then rinsed with clean water, sun-dried and kept for use. The duck house should be disinfected at least 2 times per week, and the surroundings of the duck house should be disinfected once every 2 to 3 weeks. Litter should be changed frequently, and good ventilation inside the house should be maintained.

2. A disinfection pool and disinfection room should be set up at the entrance of the duck farm. People and vehicles entering the farm should be disinfected in strict accordance with the requirements of GB/T 16569-1996, and the disinfectant solution should be replaced regularly. Outsiders should not enter the production area at will. Under special circumstances, they may enter only after strict disinfection and wearing protective clothing.

3. Workers should be in good health, and before entering the duck house they should change into clean work clothes and work shoes. A disinfection pool or disinfection basin for disinfecting workers' shoes should be set up at the entrance of the duck house. The inside of the house and the land and water exercise yards should be disinfected at least once per week.

(II) Immunization of Laying Ducks

1. Immunization work should be carried out well according to the immunization program formulated by the local animal epidemic prevention supervision department.

2. Recommended immunization program: inject duck viral hepatitis vaccine at 1 day of age; inject avian influenza vaccine at 8 to 14 days of age; inject duck plague vaccine at 20 days of age; inject duck plague vaccine and fowl cholera vaccine at 60 to 90 days of age.

III. Feeding Methods

Use floor rearing or raised net rearing. For floor rearing, wood shavings, sawdust, rice husks or straw should preferably be selected as litter.

IV. Feeding Management

(I) Feeding Management During the Brooding Period (0 to 6 weeks)

1. Introducing ducklings: Ducklings should be healthy ducklings from qualified breeder duck farms that have passed quarantine.

2. Selection of ducklings: Select ducklings that hatch on time, have prominent and spirited eyes, glossy beaks and claws, fluffy down, good yolk absorption, and are lively and active.

3. Feeding of ducklings

① First drinking: "first drinking" refers to the first time ducklings drink water. When the ducklings' down is dry, they are turning around, and one third of the ducklings stretch their heads and necks in a posture resembling foraging, they can be given "first drinking".

② First feeding: First feeding should be carried out within half an hour after first drinking. Special starter feed for laying ducklings should be used for first feeding, scattered on plastic sheeting, straw mats or bamboo mats; while lightly scattering the feed, gently train the ducks to peck at it.

③ Feeding frequency: at 1 to 7 days of age, feed 6 times per day, including 4 times during the day and 2 times at night; at 7 to 21 days of age, feed 5 times per day, and the frequency can gradually be reduced afterward. During feeding, they should be divided into batches and groups, with 250 ducks per group being appropriate. The feeding principle is "from fine to coarse, from cooked to raw, from soft to hard, from less to more".

4. Management of ducklings

① Temperature: When the ducks are resting and at night, the temperature inside the duck house at 20 cm above the ducks' backs should reach: 32 degrees C at 1 day of age, 31 degrees C to 28 degrees C at 2 to 7 days of age, 28 degrees C to 25 degrees C at 8 to 14 days of age, and remain at 25 degrees C to 20 degrees C after 15 days of age. During the day and when the ducks are active, the temperature inside the house may be 2 degrees C to 3 degrees C lower. Special attention should be paid to heat preservation on rainy days and at night, and attention should be paid to smooth air flow, dryness and no drafts.

② Density: 25 to 30 birds/ m2 at 1 to 7 days of age, 20 to 25 birds/ m2 at 7 to 14 days of age, and 15 to 20 birds/ m2 at 15 to 28 days of age. Appropriately reduce in summer and appropriately increase in winter.

③ Humidity: the relative humidity at 1 to 14 days of age should preferably be 60% to 65%, and after 14 days of age the relative humidity should be 65% to 75%.

④ Light: 24 hours at 1 to 3 days of age, then reduce by 0.5 hours per day after 4 days of age until natural light is reached.

⑤ Exercise and water play: after 5 days of age, ducklings can be trained to enter water; in batches and at scheduled times, slowly drive the ducklings into shallow water to move about for 3 to 5 minutes, then exercise them in the sun when there is no wind. Do this 1 to 2 times per day, increase to 3 to 4 times per week after one week, 5 to 10 minutes each time, and gradually extend the time afterward. The water temperature should preferably be no lower than 15 degrees C. If ducklings are found trembling when entering water, stop immediately and dry their feathers. After 7 days of age, when the temperature difference between inside and outside the duck house is less than 5 degrees C, about 20 minutes of exercise is needed.

(II) Feeding Management During the Growing Period (7 to 16 weeks)

1. The transition from brooding feed to growing feed should preferably take 5 days, with a replacement ratio of generally about 20% per day.

2. Feeding should follow the principles of feeding less but more frequently, fixed times and fixed amounts, and controlling the total amount.

3.. After laying ducks enter the growing period, sick, weak, injured and disabled ducks should be culled in a timely manner.

4. During the growing period, the ducks should be weighed once every weekend, and the proportion of ducks weighed should be 5% of that batch of laying ducks, generally no fewer than 60 birds.

5. During the growing period, laying ducks should use only natural light, with weak light for illumination throughout the night. The light intensity should be between 3 Lux and 5 Lux. (Lux: lux)

6. Daily observation items: duck flock activity, breathing, and the shape and distribution of feces, to understand whether drinking water and feed intake are normal. If sick ducks are found, send them for inspection, identify the cause, and handle them promptly.

(III) Feeding Management During the Laying Period (17 to 72 weeks)

1. Two weeks before laying ducks begin laying, introduce a small number of drakes, at a ratio of 2% to 3%.

2. According to the different breeds of laying ducks, grasp the onset of laying at the appropriate time. The body weight at the onset of laying should be required to be 1400 g to 1500 g.

3. Starting from the early laying stage (100 to 120 days of age), according to the rising trend of the laying rate, continuously increase feed nutrition, raise the crude protein level, and appropriately increase the number of feeding meals. Feed 3 times during the day and add 1 more feeding at 9 to 10 p.m.

4. From the time the laying rate reaches 60%, compound feed for the peak period of laying ducks should be supplied. The feed transition time should be controlled, generally preferably 5 days, with a daily replacement ratio of 20%. The daily feed intake per duck should be controlled at about 150 g.

5. Use free drinking water, and ensure that the drinking water is clean and hygienic.

6. Do a good job of heat prevention and cooling in summer and cold prevention and warmth preservation in winter.

7. The indoor relative humidity should preferably be 60% to 75%.

8. Reasonably determine the rearing density according to the breed of laying ducks and the area of the duck house. Under normal circumstances, 8 to 9 birds/ m2.

9. Change natural light to artificial supplementary light. The average daily light time should gradually increase to no less than 14 hours; each time artificial light is increased, add 1 hour, increasing once every 7 days, until the daily light time reaches 16 to 17 hours. After the light time is stabilized, it must not be increased or decreased. Use weak light for illumination throughout the night, with a weak light intensity of 3 Lux to 5 Lux.

10. During the middle laying stage, continuously select and remove stopped-laying ducks, low-yielding ducks and cull ducks.

11. Deworm once each in spring and autumn, including roundworms, duck lice, etc.

12. Collection of duck eggs:

① Egg boxes or egg trays used to hold duck eggs should be disinfected.

② Collect eggs at fixed times; when collecting eggs, store broken eggs, sand-shelled eggs, soft eggs, extra-large eggs and extra-small eggs separately.

③ After collection, duck eggs should immediately be fumigated and disinfected with formalin, and after disinfection sent to the egg storage for preservation.

V. Waste Treatment: The litter and manure cleaned out of the duck house should undergo harmless treatment; the treatment of dead diseased carcasses should conform to the provisions of GB16548 (Regulations for the Harmless Treatment of Diseased Livestock and Poultry Carcasses and Their Products).

VI. Records: Establish production record files, including the date of introducing ducklings, the number of ducklings and the duck house number, and the feeder; daily production records include date, age in days, inventory, number of eggs laid, temperature, humidity, immunization records, disinfection records, feed amount, duck flock health status, number of deaths, and cause of death. Records should be kept for more than two years.