 |
| Stressed broiler bird |
Simple Practical ways to manage heat stress in birds during hot weather seasons.
So far so goo d, even though some parts of the country has started seeing some bits and pieces of rain, 2018 has been a very hot and dry weathered year as the heat has really taken its toll on most farmers' flock.
Whether you are rearing broilers or layers , no thanks to global warming over the past few years there is every possibility that you would be affected by this uninviting heat that we have all been experiencing of recent.
Those who have young chicks would most likely experience some form of watery droppings around the vent of their chicks that dries up to form what we call pasty vent. Well, this is as a result of the fact that your chicks are drinking much more quantity of water to re-hydrate themselves since they can not control their body temperature at that stage of their early life.
While poultry farmers with young chicks are battling with pasty vent as I talked about above, some other farmers with matured birds that are either broilers or layers are also not finding it easy to cope as the heat we experience in this part of the world is far above the thermoneutral zone (22 – 28C) that the birds body temperature would perform optimally (Egg production for layers, adequate FCR for broilers)
However in the midst of all these inconveniences, there are simple practical ways by which farmers can adopt to reduce the negative impact of heat stress on our chicken. By trying a combination of almost all the techniques described below or trying a combination of some depending on your resources available I bet you , heat stress would be the least of your problems whenever the annual hot season wahala comes calling.
Adequate Stocking Density
Rule of thumb one....The standard stocking density should be adhered to!
This will prevent cases of overcrowding in the pen which might automatically increase the temperature of the pen house where your birds are stocked as a result of heat generated by the body system of the birds especially during feeding. So in other words, do not overstock your pen houses no matter the temptation during this heat period! The negative consequences far out weigh the positives.
Iceblock in water at noon with Vitamin C.!
Try to observe when the weather temperature usually gets hot at noon, once you notice that time of the day when your birds are beginning to pant coupled with an increasing weather temperature put the ice blocks an hour or so before then in their storage water tank. If you want to further alleviate the effect of the heat stress, give them vitamin C as well in the cold water and watch your birds literally celebrate with joy when they drink their cool vitamin supplemented water.
Well Ventilated pen
Hey.. this is another straightforward approach. Clean your net and ensure it is dust free especially during the harmattan seasons when the dust is always trying to coat your pen net, remove every probable obstruction to the smooth flow of air within the pen.
In addition, Good air flow is needed for the breakdown of ingested feed, elimination of ammonia and carbon mono oxide from the pen. When your ventilation is poor the needed oxygen that is required for metabolism wont effectively stimulate food metabolism leading to poor growth.
Reduction of Crude Protein Content In Feed
It will surprise you to know that protein content in feed contributes to heat stress effects than from that of energy . Adjusting the intake of protein is important because the body heat produced by protein digestion or metabolism is the greatest among the energy and fatty nutrients .In other words, minimize the crude protein level in the diet. By doing this you are minimizing nutrient density instead of nutrient digestibility.
Increase Of Oil content in diet
In most situations you are always told to reduce the energy level of your feed to counter the effect of heat stress. But while you are reducing energy content, the proportion of the total feed energy provided by added oil should be increased. The addition of oil may, in certain instances can be as high as 4.5% of the ration. Inclusion of oil is a good source of energy rich in linoleic acid that can help in improving the size of the egg as well as liver health. Sources of oil which include soya bean oil can be used for this purpose.
Addition Of Vitamin C
The beneficial effect of Vitamin C cannot be overemphasized herein. Vitamin C also known as ascorbic acid ameliorates heat stress induced problems such as poor immunity , feed intake, weight gain, oxidative stress, weight gain, carcass weight. While in parent stock birds it helps in semen quality and fertility. I will write a comprehensive write up on the wonders of vitamin C and how beneficial it can be to poultry farmers.
Serve During The Cooler Period of the Day
During the early part of the day when the weather is cool , it is advisable to take advantage of the cool weather to serve the birds ,because as the environmental temperature increases and get hotter the birds generate more heat from their body, so feeding them during the hot weather would only compound the problem as they wold generate more heat while consuming the feed and also during digestion. Servings can be done later in the early evening around 5pm upwards.
Provision of Midnight Flash light
This is more applicable to birds that are laying. It is recommended that while rearing your birds around 8 weeks and above , midnight/flash lightening of about 1hour to 1:30 minutes (12 pm midnight to 1am/1:30am) should be provided to stimulate feeding at the night. This wont in any way affect the normal lightening program that the farmer is implementing.
This encourages feeding at midnight when the birds are in their laying period and it also easily enhances the adsorption of calcium nutrients from the diet in the bone marrow of the birds which can be very helpful in calcification of the egg shell.
Use of Asbestos roof VS Iron roofing sheet
This is one factor that you should consider during the construction of your poultry pen. We all agree that corrugated iron roofing sheets (popularly called PAN) are cheaper than slate , but in the long run the farmer's economic losses due to heat stress on the birds every hot season would be much more discouraging.
The iron roofing material attracts , retains and conducts more heat than asbestos. If you try to save cost by using pan(iron roofing sheets) you would end up with more losses from your under performing heat burdened birds. In other words , take the bull by the horn and buy slate when you are planning to set up your pen. Poultry farmers should get it right from the beginning to avoid future losses at the end of the day.
Palm fronds on the roof of the pen
This is a straightforward approach. If you have access to palm frond leaves, you can use the leaves as a protection against the sun by placing them on the roof of your pen. Instead of the rays of the sun to reflect directly on the roof of the pen, the palm frond leaves would instead absorb the sun rays to an extent, thereby reducing the effect of the heat. This would be more practicable if your pen isn't so lengthy or you can as well contract it out to someone to get it done.
Plant trees/shrubs (never too late)
Many people underestimate the wonders that a tree surrounding your pen can do. Mere sitting down under a tree during the hot weather will let you understand and appreciate the importance of such natural heat alleviators. In one word, when planning to set up a poultry house from scratch, plant trees around as part of your set up plan.
They may take time to grow above your pen height but in the long run they would greatly reduce the impact of the hot sunny weather coupled with the ventilation/breeze/air flow that they produce during the day.
From personal experience, pens with trees/shrubs planted by the side usually experience lower pen temperature during the day. Moreover these trees greatly reduces/alleviates panting by the birds the most common behavior exhibited by heat stressed birds. Teak tress and some other trees with long life span can be planted.
Flushing of water line in the afternoon
In most cases when the weather is hot, the waterlines would contain hot/lukewarm water .It is advisable to open the other end of the drinker line to allow the hot water in the pipe to flow out for some minutes so as to enable cooler water in the tank to replace it...And that reminds me, try to ensure that your water storage tank is inside the pen and not outside the pen house to avoid direct sunlight from heating the water inside the storage tank thereby causing more heat stress wahala for your birds.
Use of Industrial Fans.
I didn't want to add this option because of the fact that getting an industrial fan might financially beyond the reach of most poultry farmers. But I believe that some farmers wouldn't mind going to the extent of getting an industrial fan up and running if they feel that it would have a cost benefit that would be favourable to the farmer in terms of returns based on the overall improved performance from the birds when raised in an industrial fan erected pen.
Use of Humidifiers/sprayer
Some big farms actually use humidifiers. If you can afford humidifiers, get one , if not you can manually use sprayer to spray your birds with cool water. Ensure that the droplets are large enough to have a cooling effect on the birds. Also make sure your litter isn't wet as a result of this activity ...although in most cases, the litter would quickly dry up when the weather is hot especially in the afternoon.
Do you have any simple practicable means of managing heat-stressed pen environment during the hot season in your farm? Kindly share with everyone let us learn from you too.
Comments