What to do about a high egg breakage rate? Sharing effective reduction methods

Broken eggs account for about 6-8% of total egg production, bringing considerable losses to laying hen production. Below are methods to reduce egg breakage.

1. Meet nutritional needs, especially calcium and vitamin D3 levels, while keeping phosphorus at an appropriate level and managing the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio well, generally around 3.4-4.6:1.

2. Increase the frequency of egg collection, avoid eggs colliding with each other, especially during peak laying hours, and handle eggs gently when collecting and moving them.

3. In hot seasons, appropriately increase the calcium content in the diet to between 3.7-5%, never exceeding 5%, and supplement the drinking water with baking soda (0.25% sodium bicarbonate replacing 0.2% salt) and vitamin C (50-100 mg/kg), which can both reduce the hens' heat stress and improve eggshell quality.

4. The number of nesting boxes per 230 laying hens must be sufficient, and the cage floor should be covered with clean, soft bedding; for cage-raised hens, the cage floor should not be too steep and the wire should not be too thick. To buffer the impact force on eggs, use buffer pads on the inner side of the egg trough edge and at the turns of the sloping egg collection line.

5. Starting from 50-60 weeks of age, carry out a short-term fast of 3-7 days; egg production is the same as in the non-fasted group, eggshell strength increases significantly compared with the non-fasted treatment, and the broken egg rate drops greatly.

6. Keep the flock healthy and free of disease; many diseases not only reduce the laying rate but also lower eggshell quality, causing an increase in the broken egg rate.

7. Raise brown-shell laying hens, which have good eggshell quality; the breakage rate of brown-shell eggs is lower than that of white-shell eggs.

8. Reduce the occurrence of stress factors and keep the environment inside and outside the poultry house quiet and comfortable.