How to Improve Chick Survival Rate? These Are the Methods Poultry Farmers Must Master

Chicken brooding is the key to success or failure in the poultry industry; it directly affects the health status, survival rate and feed-to-meat ratio during the growing and finishing stages. Most rural specialized farming households do not pay enough attention to the success or failure of the brooding stage. Barn disinfection: before introducing chicks, the brooding house must be thoroughly and completely disinfected. First wash the floor, walls, doors and windows clean with laundry detergent water, then open the doors and windows to let the natural wind dry them, spray and disinfect thoroughly with a 0.5% Baidusha solution, and finally spray and disinfect with about 10% caustic soda solution (where conditions permit, quicklime water can be used for spraying and disinfection). After disinfection is completed, wash the drinkers, feed pans and other utensils clean with disinfectant water and put them inside the brooding house, close the doors and windows tightly, and fumigate with 30 ml of formalin plus 15 g of potassium permanganate per cubic meter of space for about 24 hours. This is to prevent early infection with Marek's disease. Chick selection: due to the continuous development of the poultry industry, the brands of the same type of chicken breeds have also become diversified, and the price of chicks of each brand is also different, so when selecting chicks, you must identify the brand and price of the chicks to prevent passing off inferior goods as good ones or passing off imitations as branded ones, causing unnecessary economic losses. When introducing chicks, choose early morning or late afternoon in hot weather and noon in cold weather; the vehicle transporting the chicks must have good air circulation. When receiving the chicks, choose healthy chicks with bright and glossy down, liveliness, cheerful chirping, bright eyes, quick responses, clean vents, well-absorbed umbilical cords, and no deformities in the beak, eyes, legs or claws. Weak chicks have a low survival rate and slow growth, and are also likely to bring in viruses, so it is best to raise weak chicks separately, and cull early those weak chicks with no rearing value.

Drinking water and first feeding: place the purchased chicks, together with the box, in the brooding room to rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then place them on the floor or on the wire netting. Promptly give the chicks warm boiled water with an appropriate amount of broad-spectrum antibacterial medicine as their first drink, in order to disinfect the gastrointestinal tract and clean out the bacteria inside the gastrointestinal tract. Afterwards, switch to drinking 10% to 15% glucose water or physiological saline. When 2/5 of the chicks show foraging behavior, they can be started on feed. Spread the feed evenly on the padding board. Because chicks have a small digestive tract volume and poor digestive function, they must not be overfed; overfeeding will cause indigestion and make digestive tract diseases likely to occur. The requirement is to give small amounts frequently and provide enough space for the chicks to eat freely (to prevent chicks from crushing each other to death). The feed is required to be rich in nutrition, with fine particles (crumbled feed), and crude protein should not be lower than 20%. Chicks grow and develop quickly and have a vigorous metabolism, so sufficient free drinking water and feeding must be ensured. Because chicks are in a high-temperature environment, intermittent drinking water will make the chicks thirsty and cause them to fight over water, leading to excessive drinking and death; lack of water also easily causes dehydration and death. Temperature and humidity control: to improve the chick survival rate, temperature and humidity must be well regulated. Low temperature easily causes colds, diarrhea, Salmonella, ascites and pullorum disease. High temperature easily causes scorched down, stunted growth and development, and death from dehydration. Humidity: keep it at about 75% in the first week and about 60% in the second week.

Temperature: keep it at about 35°C in the first week (it can be regulated according to the ambient temperature). After that, lower it by 2°C to 3°C each week until the chicks can adapt to the natural environmental temperature. Temperature can also be regulated according to the state of the chicks: if the temperature is too high, the chicks will move away from the heat source, open their mouths and pant, reduce their appetite, and increase their water intake. If the temperature is too low, they will often crowd together and huddle in piles; if the huddling lasts too long, large numbers of chicks will be crushed to death. Under normal temperature conditions, the chicks eat and drink normally, are lively and energetic. Light, density and ventilation: from the first to the tenth day, chicks require 24 hours of light so they can become familiar with the environment and eat. Hang one 40-watt light bulb every 15 sq m at a height of 2 m above the ground; afterwards, a 25-watt light bulb and natural light are enough. Light should not be too strong. First, this can reduce the formation of feather-pecking habits; second, it can let the chicks develop regular times for movement, eating and sleeping, which is beneficial for the absorption and conversion of nutrients after feeding in the growing and fattening stages. Too strong light easily causes mutual pecking of the cloaca, feathers and toes. Density should be moderate. High density wastes labor, while low density easily causes chicks to crush each other when eating and drinking, and weak chicks cannot get water or food. There is also no suitable space for movement. Chicks in a high-temperature growth environment need attention to ventilation and air exchange to avoid triggering respiratory diseases and other diseases too early.

Experience summary: when chicks are raised for 5 to 6 days, select the weak chicks and care for them carefully; the temperature can be increased by 2°C to 3°C (until it is the suitable temperature for the weak chicks). Add an appropriate amount of broad-spectrum antibacterial medicine and vitamin C to the drinking water for 3 consecutive days, then add an appropriate amount of a multivitamin premix to the drinking water for 3 to 5 consecutive days, and after the weak chicks are strong and healthy, mix them into the flock. Vaccinate in good time. Newly hatched chicks must be injected with Marek's disease vaccine within 24 hours to prevent infection with Marek's disease. At 3 to 5 days of age, give the first vaccination against infectious bronchitis nephrosis. At the same time, do a good job with vaccinations for infectious bursal disease, Newcastle disease, avian influenza, mycoplasma and laryngotracheitis.