What are the precautions for raising laying hens in autumn?

1. Cull old and weak hens, and adjust the young and old flocks. According to the spring and summer laying records of the hens, low-yielding hens and old and weak hens should be culled. Generally, laying hens can only be used for 1 to 2 years, that is, after one laying cycle, they are culled before the molt in the second year. Some high-yielding hens (such as Starcross 238) can be kept for about 1 year. If old hens are kept year after year, economic returns will decline. Hens to be culled should be selected before culling, kept separately in individual pens, and given extra feed before molting; the daily ration formula should use the formula for hens at peak production, namely 50% corn, 10% barley, 5.6% sorghum, 12% soybean cake, 8% fish meal, 6% bran, 5% minerals (oyster shell powder, eggshell powder), 2.5% bone meal, 0.5% salt, 0.04% trace element additive; increase daily light to 12 to 16 hours, so that the culled hens delay molting and extend the laying period. When the hens generally molt and the laying rate drops below 60%, they can be sold and disposed of.

2. Manually control feeding to promote synchronized molting. In autumn, adult laying hens stop laying and molt. Under natural conditions, the molting period of hens is long and uneven, so feeding must be manually controlled to promote synchronized molting in the hens, achieving the goal of fast, uniform molting and consistent resumption of laying. The method of forced molting for a flock of hens is: reduce light from 14 to 16 hours per day during the laying period to less than 8 hours (or switch to dim light), stop feeding compound feed, feed coarse feed such as rice husk powder and straw powder instead, and add 1% to 1.5% calcium sulfate (raw gypsum) to the feed to replace mineral feed. After 7 to 8 days, a large number of laying hens will successively shed feathers; after 10 days, switch to feeding grain, sorghum and other feed, and give each chicken an additional 50 to 100 grams of green vegetables or pumpkin per day; after 3 weeks, gradually restore compound feed and artificial lighting. Generally, after 4 weeks the new feathers can gradually grow in fully, and at 7 to 8 weeks the flock begins to lay. But note that when laying hens undergo forced molting, some hens with poor resistance will die due to the manual feeding control, with a mortality rate of about 1% to 3%.

3. Do a good job of epidemic prevention and vaccination, and prepare well for overwintering. After a peak laying period, laying hens have relatively poor constitution by late autumn and are prone to infectious diseases. At this time, in conjunction with autumn epidemic prevention, chickens must be injected once each with Newcastle disease attenuated strain I vaccine and fowl cholera vaccine. Also do a good job of deworming: administer 0.15 to 0.25 grams of piperazine per kilogram of body weight by oral drench; or grind the same dose into fine powder and mix it into the feed, giving it once in the evening; or fry 15 grams of pumpkin seeds and 15 grams of betel nut until yellow, grind them fine, and give once. Within 5 to 7 days after the chickens take the medicine, thoroughly remove the chicken manure and spread quicklime powder for disinfection.