Detailed Explanation of Key Points for Wild Duck Cage-Bed (Net-Bed) Farming Technology
1. Selection of duck house: Choose a place with dry terrain, quiet surroundings, abundant water, good ventilation and lighting, and convenient transportation. Under the net frame inside the house, a semi-sloped cement floor can be laid to facilitate washing and cleaning of duck manure. The building area is determined by the scale of raising; for example, to raise 1000 ducks, the brooding room needs 8 sq m, with a utilization rate of 80% and a brooding density of 15 ducks per 1 sq m of net; the growing and adult duck house needs 240 sq m, with a raising density of 5 ducks per 1 sq m of net-bed.
2. Breed selection: It is advisable to use Beijing ducks, Digao ducks, Cherry Valley ducks and Furong ducks; 6 to 8 batches can be raised per year.
3. Net-bed setup: The brooding room net-bed and the growing and adult duck net-bed are 70 cm high and 3 to 4 wide, and their length equals the length of the duck house. Either single-row or double-row style can be used. The net-bed uses a wooden frame, and the net is laid with moso bamboo strips (moso bamboo split into strips 2 cm wide and equal to the net-bed width). The bamboo strip spacing of the brooding net-bed is 1 cm, and the bamboo strip spacing of the growing and adult duck net-bed is 2 cm. A railing of about 50 cm is set on the outer side of the net frame. The railing spacing is 5 cm, and water troughs and feed troughs are set on the inner side of the railing. If conditions permit, the net-bed can also be woven with No. 8 or No. 10 iron wire, with a mesh diameter of about 1 cm.
4. Raising of ducklings: Before the ducklings enter the house, the brooding room and brooding utensils must be disinfected; inside, benzalkonium bromide can be used, and for the outdoor ground, lime milk can be used. Outsiders are strictly forbidden to enter. Within 24 hours after hatching, ducklings should drink two-ten-thousandths potassium permanganate water for intestinal cleansing and disinfection. After drinking, they can begin to be trained to start feeding. Attention must be paid to keeping warm. At 1 to 3 days of age 35 degrees C, at 4 to 7 days of age 32 degrees C, at 8 to 14 days of age 30 degrees C, at 15 to 21 days of age 28 degrees C, at 22 to 28 days of age 25 degrees C. In the early brooding period (1 to 10 days of age), the nighttime temperature should be 1 to 2 degrees C higher than during the day. Humidity requirements: at 1 to 10 days of age relative humidity 70%, at 8 to 14 days of age 65%, at 15 to 28 days of age 60%. Ducklings at 1 to 10 days of age are given 24-hour full-day lighting (natural light during the day, supplementary light at night). After 11 days of age, natural light is used during the day; at night, except when the lights are turned on for feeding and drinking, the rest of the time is dark or given dim light, preferably red light. Ducklings at 1 to 10 days of age are given water 8 times a day, once every 3 hours. At 11 to 28 days of age, water is given 6 times a day, once every 4 hours; note that feed should be given before drinking water.
Feed formulas: (1) Corn 60%, barley 10%, soybean cake 15%, fish meal 10%, grass meal 3%, bone meal 1.7%, salt 0.3%. (2) Corn 50%, barley 10%, soybean cake 20%, wheat bran 5%, rice bran 5%, fish meal 8%, bone meal 1.7%, salt 0.3%. (3) Corn 50%, barley 6%, rice bran 10%, wheat bran 5%, fish meal 10%, pine needle meal 2%, soybean cake 10%, No. 4 flour 5%, bone meal 1.7%, salt 0.3%. Because feed varieties and prices differ from place to place, the proportions can be increased, decreased or adjusted against the above 3 formulas.
Epidemic prevention methods: at 1 to 5 days of age, use 2% potassium permanganate for drinking water; at 6 to 8 days of age, use two-ten-thousandths furazolidone for drinking water; at 9 to 13 days of age, again use two-ten-thousandths potassium permanganate for drinking water; at 14 to 16 days of age, again use two-ten-thousandths furazolidone for drinking. If the weather is cold, it is best to add 8% sugar to the drinking water of ducklings at 1 to 7 days of age to increase the ducklings' heat. In addition, the manure on the net-bed must be cleaned twice a day, and the manure under the net-bed must be removed once every 3 days. Outside the brooding room, lime should be used for disinfection once every 7 to 10 days.
5. Raising of growing ducks: When ducklings are transferred at 28 days of age to the adult duck net-bed, sick, paralyzed, disabled and smaller ducks should be culled, and the raising density is 5 to 7 ducks per 1 sq m. Natural light is used during the day, and supplementary light is used when eating at night. Except in severe winter, doors and windows can be opened all day during the day; at night and in severe winter, doors and windows should also often be opened for ventilation. Growing ducks are given water 6 times a day, once every 4 hours; the feed is dry-wet material, and drinking water is supplied all day.
Feed formulas: (1) Corn 48%, barley 15%, wheat bran 8%, rice bran or rice flour 10%, soybean cake 10%, fish meal 5%, pine needle meal 2.2%, bone meal 1.5%, table salt 0.3%. (2) Corn 55%, barley 5%, sorghum 8%, wheat bran 7%, soybean cake 12%, grass meal 4%, fish meal 7.8%, bone meal 1%, table salt 0.2%. In addition, in each of the above two feed formulas, add 1 to 2 kg of grit per 100 kg of feed.
Epidemic prevention and hygiene: around 35 days of age for growing ducks, mix 2 mg of olaquindox per kg of body weight of the duck flock into the feed daily and feed continuously for 3 to 5 days, which can prevent and treat duck cholera. The duck net-bed should be cleaned once every 2 days, the manure under the bed once every 7 to 10 days, and lime should be used for disinfection outside the duck house once every 10 days.
6. Fattening of adult ducks:
1. Artificial force-feeding for fattening. Meat ducks become adult ducks at 6 weeks of age. If the feed formula is changed and the same feeding method as for growing ducks is continued, that is also acceptable, but the weight-gain speed is not ideal. The best method is force-feeding for fattening of adult ducks. Meat ducks after 6 weeks of age enter the force-feeding stage. Before force-feeding, cull paralyzed, disabled and sick ducks and ducks that are too small in weight, and divide the ducks into large, medium and small categories according to body weight, with an average raising density of 5 ducks per sq m.
Force-feeding formulas: (1) Corn 60%, wheat bran 10%, rice bran 10%, grass meal 4%, soybean cake 4%, rapeseed cake 5%, fish meal 5%, bone meal 1.7%, table salt 0.3%. (2) Corn 58%, barley 8%, sorghum 5%, soybean cake 10%, fish meal 5%, wheat bran 7%, grass meal 3%, pine needle meal 2%, bone meal 1.7%, table salt 0.3%. In each of the above two formula feeds, add 2 kg of sand per 100 kg. Force-feeding method: either manual force-feeding or mechanical force-feeding can be used. When force-feeding, drive gently, catch slowly and put down slowly; the force-feed uses wet mixed material, and the ratio of water to feed is 1.2:1. The force-feeding amount should depend on the individual size, nutritional status and digestion of the meat duck; generally the starting amount is 0.25 to 0.3 kg per duck per day, and in the later force-feeding period 0.4 to 0.5 kg per duck per day. Meat ducks are force-fed 4 times a day, once every 6 hours. Water should be stopped for 30 minutes before force-feeding, and at other times sufficient clean drinking water should be supplied. When force-feeding in summer, feed less during the day and more at night; for individual ducks with a small starting intake and indigestion, feed less or stop force-feeding, so as to avoid “force-feeding disease” (that is, paralysis, disability or death from illness).
2. Free feeding for fattening. In order to reduce the labor consumed by force-feeding, the whole raising period of rapid net-raised meat ducks can use the free-feeding method.
The feed formula ratio for 1 to 21 days of age is: corn 58.8%, soybean cake 18%, blood meal 3%, wheat bran 9%, bone meal 0.3%, oyster shell meal 1.1%, table salt 0.3%, fish meal 9%. Add to each t of compound feed: poultry multivitamin 150 g, manganese sulfate 200 g, zinc sulfate 200 g, ferrous sulfate 100 g, copper sulfate 20 g, sodium selenite 0.1 g, kuaiyuling 25 g, methionine 100 g. The feed formula for 22 to 49 days of age is: corn 66.7%, soybean cake 9.5%, blood meal 3%, wheat bran 13%, bone meal 1.5%, oyster shell meal 1%, table salt 0.3%, fish meal 5%. Add to each t of feed: multivitamin 100 g, manganese sulfate 200 g, zinc sulfate 200 g, ferrous sulfate 100 g, copper sulfate 20 g, sodium selenite 0.1 g, kuaiyuling 25 g, 70% lysine 500 g, methionine 400 g.