by Brian Sitali, Technical Advisor of Tiger Animal Feeds
A layer is a commercially viable egg producing bird. Eggs are in great demand because of their nutritional value, easy and quick preparation time and as co-ingredient in a wide variety of applications (household and commercial), hence layer farming has gained importance as one of the fastest-growing industries in the livestock sector of Zambia.
Housing and management of layers
A comfortable, easy to clean and well-managed house, which provides sufficient room for the comfort of the birds, is essential for obtaining optimum growth and production in layer farming.
Diseases
Layers are affected by different diseases which may be caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, et cetera. Some of the common diseases affecting layers are:
Viral diseases
Newcastle disease symptoms:
- Affects all the birds on the farm
- Difficult breathing
- Nasal discharge
- Anorexia
- Greenish diarrhoea
- 90 to 100% mortality
Infectious bronchitis disease symptoms:
- Drop in egg production
- Increase in the number of deformed eggs or eggs without pigment
- Eggs with soft shells and watery egg whites
Egg drop syndrome symptoms:
- A rapid drop in egg production
- Failure to reach peak production
- Irregularly shaped eggs
- Soft-shelled eggs or eggs without shells
- Depigmentation of eggs
Bacterial diseases
Salmonellosis symptoms:
- Chalky white diarrhoea
- Sudden death
- Pasted vent
- Affects all age groups
- Depression and loss of weight
Treatment:
- Use effective antibiotic
- Recovered birds act as a source of disease and it is better to cull them
Biosecurity measures on a layer farm
Biosecurity is a practice designed to prevent the spread of disease onto your farm.
Biosecurity has three major components:
- Isolation
- Traffic control
- Sanitation
Bio-security measures: Fencing
- Keep visitors to a minimum
- Limit visits from other poultry farms
- Keep all animals and wild birds out of poultry houses
- Practice a sound rodent and pest control programme
- Inspect flocks daily and recognise disease symptoms
- Good ventilation and relatively dry litter
- No exchange of feed and equipment
- Disinfection and sanitisation of poultry house and equipment
Available feeds for layers
Tiger Animal Feeds produce the full range of pullet and layer feed for various stages of growth. The feed is of the highest quality, yielding optimum performance, provided sound management principles are followed. Tiger Animal Feeds also produce concentrates and custom rations for those farmers who already have more cost-effective raw materials.
For more information, contact Rowena Blanco at +260-96-7991-847 or +260-96-7790-404, send an e-mail to rowena@tigerfeeds.com.zm, or visit the website at www.tigerfeeds.com.
The post This is the road to a successful layer chicken farm appeared first on ProAgri.