Coping measures of cold stress in laying hens in winter

Winter temperature changes, laying hens are prone to cold stress, so we should do a good job of cold insulation work, careful to prevent "cold stress". The optimum temperature for laying hens is 18~23℃. When the temperature is lower than 7℃, the body weight decreases, and when the temperature is lower than 4℃, the activity becomes dull, and the laying rate decreases obviously, or even production is stopped. Because the low temperature environment, the level of estrogen and progesterone decreased, affecting the production of eggs; At the same time, the thyroid activity of chickens is enhanced, so that the appetite, feed intake, digestive function is increased, and the economic benefits of feeders are reduced. Therefore, in low temperature, chickens need more energy to maintain and feed consumption increases, but the feed utilization rate decreases, which still cannot maintain the need for egg production, so that the body uses the internal reserves, resulting in weight loss, production level decline, population quality decline and feed conversion rate decrease. 

In order to reduce losses, maintain high production performance of chickens and prevent the occurrence of cold stress, the following four aspects should be done.

First, do a good job of chicken house insulation

Pay attention to the weather forecast in advance. After seeing obvious cooling weather, the longitudinal ventilation intake and wet curtain should be closed in advance to avoid cold air suddenly entering the chicken house and causing cold stress. At the same time, the side of the chicken house near the wet curtain, should close the air deflector, in order to reduce the cold air to the stimulation of the chicken body. In addition, we should pay attention to observe whether there are other gaps of air leakage in the chicken house, and close the gaps in addition to the air intake, especially can not ignore the shelter of the cesspit. For small breeding scale of the breeder, should increase the chicken house insulation layer according to the actual conditions. The windward side of the north side of the chicken house should increase the insulation hanging shed, with plastic sheet to increase the insulation layer; And check the four walls and roof at any time, repair all holes and cracks in addition to the replacement of pores, Windows; The cesspool should be installed with a plug plate to keep out the wind and cold; At night, he hung heavy curtains at the Windows and doors to keep them warm. If necessary, add extra heat source to keep the chicken house warm.

Two, do a good job of ventilation

In order to keep warm in winter, many farmers often keep their coop in a closed state to reduce the invasion of cold air. However, due to the high metabolism of laying hens, it is easy to make the air in the closed coop become cloudy, which increases the concentration of harmful gases such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, causing respiratory diseases and affecting the health of the chickens. To combine cold insulation with ventilation organically, the standardized chicken coop generally sets the automatic operation of the fan according to the target house temperature and the minimum ventilation volume in the house. But feeding managers should also pay attention to the influence of wind and other bad weather on ventilation in the house.

Third, improve the dietary energy level

Different seasons will have different Sherwins, the body energy requirements will be different. In winter, special attention should be paid to the quality and quantity of various amino acids as well as the proportion of feed. Protein content should be reduced appropriately and high energy raw materials should be added to meet the needs of chickens for low temperature heat energy. When the temperature drops in winter, if the chickens have insufficient energy intake, they will preferentially consume energy to resist the cold. It is difficult to maintain the normal level of egg production, so feed intake should be adjusted. At the end of winter, the temperature warms up, and then the original feeding quantity is restored.

Four, add anti-cold stress substances

The addition of high dose of VE has good anti-stress effect. The supplementation of 3-6 times higher than the required amount of VE in the diet can improve the disease resistance of chicks. VE can improve the cold resistance of the body through the anti-lipid peroxidation effect. Under cold stress, the vitamin synthesized in the body can not meet the needs of body metabolism. Supplementing certain vitamin C can resist cold stress, promote body growth, improve egg production and eggshell strength. Choline can enhance the resistance of livestock and poultry to stress factors, and increasing choline supply can promote the growth and improve the survival rate at lower than the appropriate temperature.