Poultry Husbandry Training Module

1. Poultry Husbandry Training Module Adapted from “Guide for the care and use of agricultural animals in research and teaching”, 3rd ed, Federation of Animal Science Societies, 2010

2. Housing types • Conventional housing • Furnished Cages • Littered floor systems • Multi-Tier systems • Free range

3. Housing concerns • Multi-tier (aviary) • Keel bone injuries • cannibalism • Conventional Housing systems • Battery cages (layer industry) • Poor foot health and keel bone deviations • Susceptible to Osteoporosis • Feather picking, cannibalism

4. Housing concerns • In Free range birds • Increased risk of bacterial disease, parasites, and cannibalism • Environmental factors such as weather and predators

5. Feeding • Meat-type bird breeders are allocated a limited amount of feed to allow them to grow at a controlled body weight gain • This reduces skeletal problems • Increases activity and improves livability • Adequate space for feeding is required for each bird to eliminate competition

6. Feeding • “skip a day” feeding programs insure uniform access; birds are fed larger amounts every other day (e.g. 4 days per week). • Separate sex feeding • Different diets fed to males and females to match nutritional needs (females require more calcium). • Wire grills prevent males from feeding from the female troughs (their combs are too big to fit through) and the male feeders are raised high enough off the floor that the females can’t reach them.

7. Water-drinker space • Egg-Laying Chickens (Max. No. Bird/device) • 0-6 wks Females: 18-22 Males:14-17 • 6-18 wks Females: 14-19 Males:9-14 • >18 wks Females:10-15 Males:8-11 • Meat-type chickens (Space/bird²) • Commercial Broilers • 0-4 wks, 0.2 in • 4-8 wks, 0.5 in • Broiler Breeders • 0-8 wks, 0.5 in • 9-16 wks, 0.6 in • 16-23 wks, 1.0 • >23 wks, 2.0

8. Husbandry-Temperature • For Chicks 90 to 95°F initially, decreasing 4.5°F weekly to 68°F • For Poults 95 to 100°F initially, decreasing 5°F weekly to 75°F • For Ducklings 80 to 85°F initially, decreasing 6°F weekly to 54°F

9. Husbandry - humidity • Chicks and poults should be started at 60% humidity (temperature should be adjusted appropriately if humidity falls significantly above or below this).

10. Husbandry • Cages for birds should allow birds to stand comfortably without hitting their heads on the top of the cage. • Poultry may be kept on either solid floors with litter or in cages or pens with raised wire flooring of appropriate gauge and mesh dimension. • In Multi-Tier housing littered areas allows for dust bathing but does not reduce the incidence of cannibalism and feather pecking.

11. Husbandry • Housing Systems facilitate cleaning to keep the ammonia levels balanced inside the houses, they should be kept below 25 ppm and not exceed 50 ppm of atmospheric ammonia. • Managed with ventilation and moisture control • Perching space for all hens and a nest and dust bath area, with minimum available space per hen of 750 cm² per bird

12. Lighting • Lighting is important for the management of egg laying (both table eggs and broiler breeders). Chicks should be started on 22 hours of light or an intermittent lighting program (alternating 4 hours light, 2 hours dark) for the first week, decreasing to 10 hours of light by 10 weeks of age. • Maintain until the pullets are sexually mature and ready for light stimulation (~18 weeks for Leghorns, 20 weeks for broiler breeders). Day length should then be increased to 12 hours slowly reaching 16 hours of light by 30 weeks of age. • This day length should be maintained for the remainder of the production cycle and NEVER DECREASED. • Lower light intensity can be used to reduce feather pecking.

13. Standard Practices • Beak Trimming • Infrared method at factory • Hot blade at 7 to 10 days • Toe Trimming • Pinioning - rare • Induced Molting – fasting or non-fasting • The hens are feed restricted and fed a high fiber, low sodium diet for ~17 days. This is done in conjunction with increased housing temperature and reduced day length (6-8 hours of light).

14. Chickens • Excessive fighting and mounting may occur in groups of mature males in floor pens. • Chickens kept for meat production can be kept safely in large groups of several hundred or thousands without aggression as long as sufficient food and water space is provided. • Housing laying hens in large groups prevents the establishment of a “pecking order” and can lead to increased incidence of feather pecking and cannibalism • Egg-laying and meat type male to female ratio is 1 to about 13

15. Turkeys • Tom Turkeys are prone to excessive aggression as they age • Breeder toms are housed separately from breeder hens using artificial insemination to produce fertile hatching eggs

16. Ducks • Ducks, being very social, do not perform well in isolation. Therefore individually caged ducks require some means of interaction such as wire partitions. • The male to female ratio should not exceed 1:5 • Open water needed to immerse heads

17. Quiz Question #1 • Which is NOT a type of housing for Poultry? • a. Free Range • b. Crates • c. Furnished Cages • d. Littered floor systems

18. Quiz Question #2 • Poults are kept at what temperature for the first week? • A. 95-100° • B. 80-85° • C. 75-80° • D. 90-95°

19. Quiz Question #3 • What are appropriate ammonia levels in housing facilities? • A. Below 50 ppm • B. Below 75 ppm • C. Below 25 ppm • D. All of the above

20. Quiz Question #4 • Turkeys are bred via artificial insemination? • True • False

21. Quiz Question #5 • Ducks perform well in isolation? • True • False