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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JULY 2019
The fine art of raising commercial poultry Attention to detail absolutely critical to maximize flock production
by DAVID SCHMIDT
ABBOTSFORD—Getting chicks off to a good start is critical, whether you are a hatching egg producer, a table egg producer, a broiler grower or a turkey grower. That was a key message emanating from the fifth annual BC Poultry Symposium in Abbotsford on May 15. Organized by Canadian
Poultry Consultants with the support of over two dozen sponsors, the seminar attracted more than 100 poultry producers and related industry professionals. Over a dozen speakers from across North America provided insights and advice on a full gamut of poultry production issues.
FLAWS
The key to production depends on providing adequate FLAWS: Feed, Light, Air, Water and Space, Hyline International regional sales manager Bill Snow told producers. While space was not addressed, Snow and other speakers zeroed in on the other four aspects. Snow encouraged
producers to start chicks on paper and hand feed them for the first seven days to encourage feed consumption. Aviagen nutritionist Benton Hudson did not go that far but did tell producers to “be
present at feeding time.” He said the best
production comes from having a uniform flock, saying underweight birds get too much feed while heavy pullets don’t get enough. While heavier pullets may start laying earlier, most also stop laying earlier. Most flocks reach
uniformity by 30 weeks of age but by that time it’s too late. “The critical period is five
to 15 weeks of age,” Hudson states.
He says the key to flock
uniformity is uniform feed distribution. He advocates reducing nutrient concentrations in pullet feed so the feed can be distributed faster. “Calorie levels in pullet
feeds are trending downward, so use more fillers such as soy hulls, rice hulls and oat hulls, especially if you feed every day,” Hudson says, noting that will also decrease feed costs as hulls are incredibly cheap. Nelson Ward, senior manager of enzyme technical services for DSM Nutritional Products advocates enzymes as feed additives, saying they provide a multitude of benefits. First marketed in 2002, phytase is now in 99% of poultry feed. It enhances or even replaces more expensive phosphorus and calcium in the diet. “Two hundred grams of
phytase replaces 5,291 grams
of phosphate and 400 grams of limestone in a metric tonne of feed,” he says, saying that alone will save producers $8/tonne. It also reduces the amount of phosphorus excreted in the manure, an important consideration in the Fraser Valley. While enzymes can dramatically increase the usable energy in corn and soybean meal, they are ingredient specific, so grains (corn) and oilseeds (soybeans) require different ones. Jefo Nutrition director of
research and development Elizabeth Santin also advocates the use of enzymes, saying they reduce the substrate which microorganisms feed on. “This improves digestibility, gut health and rate of feed absorption which equals improved feed conversion.” Snow reminded producers
to increase the particle size in their feeds as the flock ages. Starter feeds should be 100% fine; that should change to a 50-50 mix of fine and coarse particles at prelay and move to predominantly coarse particles for 63-week and older birds.
Light
Snow advocates an intermittent lighting program for young chicks, saying having lights on for four hours and off for two is preferable to leaving them on
for 16 hours and turning them off for eight hours. To be most effective, producers need to control the amount of light seeping in through fans and vents. He notes cage-free systems
result in better birds than cage systems simply because of their improved lighting. He encourages winchable lighting systems so light levels can be adjusted as poultry age. Chicks need three to five-foot candles of light, pullet barns should use 5,000-watt LED lights while laying hens perform best under 2,700-watt LED lights.
Air While most people think of
ventilation when they think of air, they also need to think about temperature and relative humidity. The key to optimal
performance is to keep birds in a “thermal comfort zone,” says Skov technical services engineer Matthew Hicks. For baby chicks, that means keeping them within .06° of optimal. What the optimal temperature is depends on the breed and overall climatic conditions. “Young birds can’t maintain their body temperature until they are 10 days old,” Hicks points out. He recommends producers pick up 20 birds to determine their temperature. “If two to three birds are a
little cold and/or two to three birds are a little warm, it’s okay,” he says. Any more and there’s a problem. Santin encouraged
producers to sample 100 chicks about four to six hours after placement, checking the temperature of their feet, which should be 36°C. They should also check to ensure the birds’ crops are full of feed.
While getting heat in is
important during the first 10 days, taking it out becomes more important after day 10. “Birds remove 60% of their
heat by breathing, compared to only 30% by people,” Hicks pointed out, making them more susceptible to humidity. Both he and Snow stress
relative humidity is hugely important with Hicks telling producers to keep air below 70% relative humidity. Too much moisture is not only bad for birds – especially young birds – but often results in wet litter and rusty equipment. Snow says stir fans are
great but must be situated so they don’t actually blow on the birds.
Water Water is the most critical
ingredient. “Over half of your product
GENTLE HANDLING, MINIMAL LEAF LOSS
is water,” Neogen water quality specialist Jesse McCoy reminded producers in the day’s most entertaining and informative presentation. “We’re in the water business; we just produce chicken.” Snow urged producers to test their water at least once a year, saying the quality of the water affects feed formulations. While that’s a good start,
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it’s only a start, McCoy says. He pointed out that the birds do not drink water at the source but only after it comes out of the nipple, then showed them graphic images of water pipes clogged with biofilms which both reduce the water flow and decrease its quality. He urged producers to use sand and charcoal filters and to clean their lines between flocks. He says peracetic acid, silver-stabilized peroxide and PerQuat are the only things that clean water lines. He recommends chlorine dioxide, saying it “kills everything,” is easy to use and much cheaper than hydrogen peroxide. He told producers not to use bleach, saying it does not kill campylobacter, e-coli, or pneumonia. He said water should be slightly acidic (between 5.5 and 7 pH), contain few solids and disinfected “if it smells.”
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