Poultry lab

• Water must be provided to the chicks immediately upon arrival to prevent dehydration
• It is best to teach the chicks to drink first before they eat
• For the first six weeks of brooding chicks must be fed ad libitum.
• Chicks should be given feed without delay upon their arrival in the farm
• Giving feeds upon arrival allows proper gut development, promote better health and growth of the birds.
• Feed offered should be restricted in the first day until the third day in order to prevent vent pasting
• Vent pasting is a condition wherein the chick suffers from early diarrhea.
• Vent pasting can be avoided by providing some cracked corn or wheat, as part of their first feed
• The birds should be offered starter diet from day 1 to 6 weeks of age
• The birds should be offered grower diet from 6 to 12 weeks of age
• The birds should be offered developer diet from 12 to 17–18 weeks.
• Weight of birds should be monitored regularly starting at 5 weeks of age and continued weekly until after peak.
• Excessive weight gain at 12–18 weeks of age of the birds should be avoided; if it does happen, feed should be restricted.
• Proper development of the medullary bone is a fundamental aspect of pullet nutrition.
• It is recommended that grower/developer diet with 1% calcium should not be used after the appearance of first egg from the flock and to .50% egg production at the very latest
• Pre-lay diet is used primarily to condition calcium metabolism of the pullets.
• Pre-lay diet is fed from 16–18 weeks of age.
• Characteristically, the pre-lay diet contains 17% CP, 2850 kcal ME/kg and 2.0% calcium.
• Also increase linoleic acid (>1%), protein/amino acids (especially methionine) at pre-lay diet for early egg size is recommended.
• The current practice of feeding layers is phase feeding using layer rations I and II.
• Layer ration I is usually fed to layers at the start of egg laying up to 5–6 months of the laying period.
• Layer ration I diet contains higher CP (17–18%) with 3.0–3.5% Ca.
• layer ration II is usually fed after the first months or when the layers have reached post peak production.
• Layer ration II contains lower CP (16–17%) but higher Ca (3.5–5.0%).
• Egg size increases as layers mature, which require higher amount of Calcium for bigger egg size.
• The laying egg-type chicken should be fed to receive the following daily amount of nutrients: 17 g crude protein, 280 kcal metabolizable energy, 640 mg methionine + cystine, 720 mg lysine, 3.5 g calcium, 0.40 g available phosphorus, and 0.18 g sodium.
• A ration of 100g/bird with a dietary specifications for layer will suffice for the amount of nutrients needed to be taken
• With early small egg size being undesirable for market, a pre-pause feeding program can be practiced
• Pre-pause feeding is done by withdrawing feed or feeding low nutrient dense diet at the time of sexual maturity (at 1% egg production) to effect a “pause” in the normal maturation and at the same time stimulate greater egg size when production resumes after about 10–14 days after applying the program.
• When egg size is a primary factor for the market, dietary manipulations should be practiced to enhance egg size
• Egg size is influenced by the birds intake of energy protein linoleic acid and amino acids particularly methionine as well as isoleucine and threonine.
• Heat stress reduces feed intake of the birds and consequently decreases the amount of nutrients for egg production.
• During hot days, a high energy diet is recommended.
• Vegetable oil should be a part of the diet; such ingredient produces less heat increment and also increases palatability of the diet.
• Feed the birds during cooler times of the day (early day feeding or midnight feeding) when temperature is lowest and birds are more inclined to eat.
• Wet feeding can also be practiced but care must be taken that rancidity does not occur.
• Increasing synthetic methionine and lysine in the diet is recommended to maintain total daily intake of approximately 360 mg and 720 mg, respectively.
• Excess in dietary crude protein should be avoided since such causes extra heat production which will add stress to the birds.
• The addition of sodium bicarbonate to the diet or drinking water, increased levels of vitamin A, D3 and E,
• Phase feeding is performed by reducing the protein and amino acid levels in the diet as the bird progresses through a laying cycle.