A Detailed Guide to Beginner Chicken-Raising Techniques: Common Questions Answered in One Go
Currently, more and more people in China are raising chickens, but every year more and more people give up too. They do not have a good enough grasp of chicken-raising techniques, are full of confusion about whether it will be profitable, face competition from peers, market factors, insufficient preparation work, and problems they encounter that they cannot solve. In fact, there are some practical little tips that can solve many common small problems.
1. Effectively achieve thorough cleaning of water lines
Q: Suanwaiwai can clean water lines just by adding it to drinking water, but the brush I bought for cleaning water lines can do that too. Can you tell me how yours is different?
A: Both clean water lines, but Suanwaiwai also sterilizes, cleans nipples, inhibits the growth of algae and microorganisms, reduces the ammonia smell in the chicken house, and most importantly leaves no residue.
2. Rales
Q: Today the chicks are 28 days old, and I found a few with rales. What should I do? Should I give them some medicine?
A: If there are only a few, pick them out separately and observe whether it develops further, along with ventilation and management. If it does develop, you can use lung-clearing medicine.
3. Is there medicine to induce laying in laying hens?
Q: Do you have medicine to induce laying in chicks? My chicks are not laying eggs.
A: Chicks normally start laying gradually at 110--120 days. If they are later, is it because their body weight has not reached the standard, or because of earlier disease? It is best not to use egg-inducing products, as they will affect the egg size of the chicks, the peak laying time, and eggshell quality.
4. How to administer infectious bursal disease vaccine
Q: Can infectious bursal disease vaccine be given by injection?
A: No, there are two ways to administer infectious bursal disease vaccine,
(1) Eye or mouth drop
(2) Drinking water
Infectious bursal disease vaccine is absorbed through the intestinal mucosa to produce antibody protection.
5. Rice-water-like droppings
Q: The chicks are 7 days old, and there are rice-water-like droppings, yellow unformed droppings, and diarrhea. What is going on?
A: Based on the picture of the droppings, it can be considered that the chicks have proventriculitis and gizzard erosion, and Salmonella infection.
6. How do you check humidity?
Q: How do you observe the humidity in the chicken house?
A: You can buy a hygrometer. The theoretical humidity is between 65--75 degrees, but this humidity is very hard to achieve. You can judge by how your body feels. When you enter the chicken house, your breathing is smooth and the air is moist.
7. Is timidity related to disease?
Q: My chicks are 14 days old today. They run back and forth, are afraid, and are very prone to flock panic. Their droppings are also not good. What is going on?
A: This situation means there is a problem with the digestive tract, with intestinal inflammation and disorder. Consider that the chicks have intestinal toxemia syndrome.
8. Ankara disease
Q: Today more than 10 chickens died. I dissected a few chicks and saw yellow fluid in the heart, a lot of it, and the liver was also enlarged. What is going on?
A: Hello. The situation you described can be considered Ankara disease. Ankara disease is a type of adenovirus. When treating it, in addition to using Ankara medication, it is best to use it together with antiviral medicine and a diuretic kidney medicine, such as (Yishenshu), used at night for 8 hours, which can speed up recovery from the disease.
9. What kind of chicks are considered good?
Q: What kind of chicks are good chicks?
A: Full of energy, agile in movement, round and clean eyes, bright and lively, eating normally, looking lively. These are good chicks.
10. How should you choose the source for purchasing chicks?
Q: What is the quality of chicks related to?
A: The quality of chicks is directly related to the breeder chickens. If the breeder chickens have high antibodies, the chicks' resistance will naturally be higher. Therefore, it is recommended to choose chicks from manufacturers with a good reputation and good rearing conditions. Of course, we must also do a good job in feeding and management.
11. Protect the kidneys
Q: For 30-day-old chickens, how much baking soda should be used?
A: One part per thousand to three parts per thousand, in drinking water for about 6 hours is enough.
Note: With baking soda, you must get the dosage right. A slight mistake will cause diarrhea in the chicks. The kidneys need protection, and it is best to use some traditional Chinese medicine that protects the kidneys.
12. Is injection better or oral medicine better?
Q: You said the chicks are sick. Is it better to use medicine or to inject?
A: Treatment is carried out according to different diseases, taking into account the severity of the condition. Generally, injection is chosen because it works faster, but injection requires proper technique, drug proportions, and dosage. A slight mistake can cause secondary infection in the chicks, and can also cause stress in the chicks, affecting their growth.
13. When making oil emulsion vaccine, can cephalosporin be added?
Q: When doing the oil emulsion vaccine injection at 7 days, can a few doses of cephalosporin be added?
A: Yes, one bottle for 200 chickens.
Key point: Cephalosporin has an obvious effect against Gram-negative bacteria.
14. The chicks caught a chill
Q: The chicks are 3 days old. It snowed yesterday and they caught a bit of a chill. When I dissected the chicks, I also found proventriculitis and gizzard erosion. What should I do?
A: Raise the temperature, use multivitamins plus cod liver oil. For proventriculitis and gizzard erosion, Weikangling can be used. It is recommended to pick out the droopy chicks and raise them separately.
15. Unable to raise the head
Q: The chicks are 35 days old, and some cannot raise their heads. What is going on?
A: For chicks unable to raise their heads, consider the following two points:
(1) Viral diseases. For example, different strains of influenza disease show different external symptoms.
(2) Clostridium botulinum poisoning. Clostridium botulinum often appears in current farming. Through media such as food and drinking water, it is transmitted to the body. The body is infected by the toxin, causing the chicks' necks to become weak and unable to raise their heads.
16. How to use gypsum
Q: I raise free-range chickens. Recently the chicks have been pecking each other a lot, and many have been pecked until they bleed. Teacher, is there any good method?
A: You can use chicken glasses. You can also give the chicks some gypsum, which is very cheap, mixed into the feed at 2% for all-day use, and then apply some gentian violet to the pecked and injured chicks.
17. Dosage of cod liver oil
Q: What is the dosage for human cod liver oil?
A: One 500ml bottle, mixed into 300 jin of feed. Cod liver oil has the effect of repairing the intestinal mucosa and is suitable for intestinal toxemia syndrome. Used together with intestinal toxemia medicine, the effect is obvious.
18. Acute death
Q: More than 50 of my chicks died yesterday. Today the technician came to dissect them and said it was bronchial blockage, but the chicks were fine before?
A: Bronchial blockage is an acute death disease. Bronchial blockage is not a single disease; multiple diseases cause systemic infection, caused by stress, temperature changes, ventilation, feeding management, and so on.
Key point: When using medicine, you must consider everything comprehensively to avoid secondary infection and cause other diseases.
19. Diarrhea and loose droppings
Q: The raised chicken flock has the problem of diarrhea and loose droppings.
A: Consider that it is caused by mycotoxin intake. You can consider using Jianchangbao, and usually pay more attention to mold prevention and protection of the feed.
The above are some practical beginner chicken-raising techniques compiled by the editor. Many small problems require rich chicken-raising experience to judge; otherwise, even if abnormalities appear, they cannot be discovered in time. But as long as you are attentive and work hard to learn chicken-raising techniques and adopt suitable methods, you will definitely be able to obtain the expected returns!