Four Must-Dos for Duck Farming: Getting These Four Points Right Is Crucial
Duck disease is the greatest threat to large-scale meat duck production. Therefore, duck farmers must do a good job of duck disease prevention and control to ensure the healthy development of duck production.
Do a good job of disinfection. Disinfection scope: inside and outside the duck houses and duck sheds, all duck production equipment, exercise yards, manure storage areas, etc. must be thoroughly disinfected, leaving no dead corners. Disinfection methods: the inner walls and spaces of duck houses and duck sheds can be disinfected by ultraviolet lamp irradiation and chemical fumigation; duck beds and exercise yards can be disinfected by spraying with strong disinfectants such as 2-4% sodium hydroxide solution; production equipment such as feeders and drinkers can be soaked, washed and disinfected with low-toxicity, strong-effect medicinal solutions; duck manure can be disinfected by piling it up for fermentation and spraying disinfectant liquid on the surface of the manure pile. Disinfection timing: some duck farmers do not promptly clean up manure and tidy the environmental sanitation after the ducks are sent to market, but instead hurriedly clean up the environment and carry out disinfection work just before a new batch of meat ducks is about to be brought in. This is a very bad habit. The correct approach is: immediately after the meat ducks are sent to market, clean up the environmental sanitation and do a good job of disinfection, leave the house or shed empty for 20 days, and only after disinfecting again can a new batch of ducklings be received and brought in. In addition, disinfection work should be done well during the duck-raising period. Duck-raising equipment should be frequently washed and disinfected. After clearing manure and bedding material from the duck bed, disinfect the duck bed immediately. Do a good job of immunization. Large-scale meat duck production involves large numbers, high density and frequent sending to market, making infectious diseases extremely likely to occur. To ensure the safety of duck production, it is necessary to systematically and purposefully inject vaccines into duck flocks not infected with disease, also called preventive inoculation. Which vaccine to use should be determined according to the epidemic situation in the local area and neighboring areas. For any duck infectious disease that has occurred locally or in neighboring areas, the corresponding vaccine must be injected. Expired vaccines or vaccines stored improperly cannot be used; inject vaccines strictly according to the dosage and method specified on the vaccine label. If an infectious disease occurs in the current flock or neighboring duck flocks during the meat duck raising period, emergency vaccination or injection of hyperimmune serum should be carried out. Through these measures, the epidemic of the disease can be rapidly controlled. Do a good job of handling dead and sick ducks. Some duck farmers do not isolate and raise sick ducks, and throw dead ducks around at will. This practice is not good for their own duck production and may also harm ducks raised by others. This phenomenon must be eliminated. When sick ducks are found, they must immediately be picked out from the flock, raised in isolation, and a veterinarian should be asked to diagnose and treat them or they should be handled according to requirements; dead ducks must be deeply buried or incinerated, and must not be processed and sold or eaten on one's own. Do a good job of scientific medication. Scientific medication is an important means of doing a good job of duck disease prevention and control. In the practice of duck production, drugs used can be divided into preventive medication and therapeutic medication. Preventive medication refers to adding a certain drug to feed or drinking water before the duck flock becomes ill, so as to effectively prevent or reduce the occurrence of duck disease in advance. For example: feeding gentamicin to a duck flock can control the occurrence of colibacillosis; feeding anticoccidial drugs can prevent the occurrence of coccidiosis, and so on. Therapeutic medication refers to targeted feeding of drugs after the duck flock has become ill and has been definitively diagnosed, so as to achieve the purpose of treating the disease and controlling the disease situation.