Winter Rearing Experience and Feeding Management Methods for Meat Ducks

1. Long brooding period. When the ducklings arrive, the room temperature must be kept at 32°C, and calculated at a daily decrease of 0.5-1°C, it takes a relatively long time until they are off heat. 

2. Humidity control is difficult. Ducklings drink a lot of water and their droppings are loose; combined with poor ventilation, this easily makes the duck house damp. In a damp environment, ducklings consume more heat energy, and pathogens also survive longer in the environment, increasing the chances of ducklings becoming infected and sick, which is not good for duckling growth. Therefore, in management, special attention must be paid to keeping the brooding environment dry. 

3. Keeping ducklings warm during brooding is relatively difficult. In cold winter and spring, it is quite difficult to keep the brooding room at 32°C within 1-2 days after the ducklings arrive, and during the growing stage it must also be 18-25°C. If the temperature is insufficient or there are drafts, ducklings are prone to catching colds. Only after the ducklings' contour feathers have grown in do they have better cold resistance. 

4. Large amounts of droppings accumulate on the exercise yard. In winter, ducks mostly rest on the exercise yard. Therefore, there is relatively more manure on the ground, and together with the lower temperature, pathogenic bacteria survive longer, and the ammonia gas volatilized from the manure is also stronger, easily affecting the growth and health of the duck flock. Therefore, in winter and spring, cleaning must be frequent and disinfection increased. 

Feeding key points 

1. Select good ducklings. Choose ducklings that hatched at the same time, have large bright eyes, a strong body, agile movement, glossy feathers, a soft abdomen, good yolk absorption, a well-healed navel, plump and moist webbed feet, struggle strongly when held, have warm feet, a loud call, a strongly contracting cloaca, and are moist and clean. Weak and small ducklings are often crushed to death by piling on top of each other during brooding. 

2. Pass the brooding stage well. The brooding period in winter is long, and management of the 1-7 day old stage must especially be handled well. There should be fairly spacious brooding housing, with thickened litter, placing about 20 ducklings per square meter so the ducklings have more room to move. Heating work must be done in advance, maintaining 32°C when the ducklings arrive, then lowering by about 1°C every 2 days until they are off heat. The principle for temperature control is that the ducklings do not huddle together. With suitable temperature, feeding ability is strong, individuals are uniform, and weight gain is fast. Duck keepers need to observe the flock often, and drive apart huddled ducklings, doing so once every 20-30 minutes. Attention must be paid to ventilation, and there should be no irritating odor indoors, to prevent gas poisoning and ammonia poisoning. On sunny days, drive the ducklings to a sheltered place for grazing or sunning. Promptly sort out the smaller and weaker ducks into a separate group for enhanced feeding, so as to raise the survival rate and the uniformity of the flock. 

3. Use raised-net brooding. Because raised-net brooding is easy to clean, keeps feed and water hygienic, and gives ducks little contact with manure, the ducks are less likely to get sick. After the ducklings are raised on the net for 5-7 days and their bodies are strong, they can be moved from the net to the ground for further rearing. 

4. Provide clean drinking water. Ducklings should drink water 24-26 hours after hatching, preferably deep well water or relatively warm tap water, and medication can be added to the water to prevent disease. When raising on the ground, it is best to use flowing water for brooding. 

5. Pay attention to feeding hygiene. They can start eating 1 hour after drinking water, and after starting to eat they can feed freely. Do not suddenly change feed. Feed at fixed times, do not feed moldy feed, control the amount of free feeding, and frequently scrape away moldy feed from the corners and bottom of the trough (especially during long periods of rainy weather). 

6. Strengthen management and prevent stress. At all times remember to create stable transitional environmental conditions for the ducks. Provide dim light at night so they can eat and rodents are deterred, and it is best to have someone watching over them. Duck keepers should frequently come into contact with the flock, call to the flock, and train the flock. Adapt them to water release gradually; the first few times, release to water for 10-20 minutes each time, then gradually extend it. During the day, graze and release to water; at night, drive the young ducklings indoors or keep them warm in small groups on the exercise yard, to prevent the ducklings from piling up and pressing each other for long periods during the cold at night and dying. Playing music for the ducklings can induce them to graze or return to the pen, and can also reduce stress caused by sound. In addition, attention should be paid to rodent control and preventing harm from animals. Rats, dogs, weasels, hawks, and others will prey on ducklings, causing the ducks to stampede and spreading disease. In winter the field crops have been harvested, and when rats have no grain they migrate; large numbers of field rats may gather in the pasture, so they should be caught or poisoned. 

7. Make full use of sunlight. In winter, sunlight should be fully utilized. Winter sunlight can raise body temperature, save energy, increase appetite, kill pathogens, and improve disease resistance. It is best to use a sheltered site for grazing or sunning, which can reduce blood stasis in the ducklings' legs, benefit flock hygiene, and also help weight gain. 

8. Create a good activity environment. Create a good environment in which the flock sleeps and rests after eating its fill. 

① Clear debris from the ducks' activity area, fully exposing the activity area, and use sun exposure to achieve disinfection and cleaning. 

② Tidy the exercise yard, including filling in low-lying areas, clearing standing water, and repairing the water-entry slope. Because water waves and the activities of ducks and fish gradually erode or collapse the earthen slope, making it inconvenient for ducklings to come ashore to feed. Therefore, the water-entry slope needs to be repaired frequently. Some people pave it with red bricks, which works well (especially for steeper slopes). 

③ Clean manure frequently. Accumulated manure easily pollutes the exercise yard and affects duck health. Clean manure frequently: sweep before rain and rinse after rain to keep the ducks' activity range clean. The exercise yard is best chosen or built on a 5-35 degree slope, so that rainwater does not accumulate and it is easy to clean. 

④ Reduce stocking density. There are two ways to reduce stocking density. One is to raise fewer per unit area; the other is to enlarge the exercise yard, naturally reducing the number per unit area. 

⑤ Collect animal carcasses promptly, and promptly put dead rats, dead fish, dead ducks, and other animal carcasses from the site into a carcass pit or bury them deeply. 

9. Promptly drive back strayed ducks so that every duck can get feed in time. 

10. Promptly cull worthless sick, weak, and disabled individuals, and harmless treatment must be carried out when culling. 

11. Pay attention to epidemic prevention. In particular, do a good job of prevention and immunization against duck hepatitis, serositis, influenza, and aspergillosis. Do not purchase poultry and their products from outside. Strengthen the disinfection of vehicles and personnel, especially strengthen the disinfection of the duck flock and cages, and immediately carry out thorough disinfection of the site after work is completed. 

12. Market in time. The winter rearing period for meat ducks is 43-47 days, and when body weight reaches 3.1-3.4 kg, this is the best marketing period, when meat ducks have the best growth performance and the lowest feed cost. At marketing, it is best to carry out all-in, all-out. After the flock is stressed, it will reduce feed intake or even refuse to eat, seriously affecting meat duck weight gain and economic benefits. Therefore, during the rearing process they must not be startled, and at sale they should be sold all at once.