High-yield captive management of breeder ducks

? Master the timely start of production

There are several principles to master the first laying period: after commercial egg ducks or egg breeder ducks are raised to the age of 90 to 100 days, the ducks grow more and more neatly, weigh 1.3 to 1.5 kilograms, have long and shiny feathers, loud calls and lively movements. When the female ducks with the above performance account for the majority, the concentrate in the feed can be gradually increased, the coarse feed can be reduced, and the animal feed can be supplemented in time, and the level of crude protein in the diet can be raised to 16%-18% so that the egg production peak can be reached in about 2 weeks after the start of laying.

? Feed full-price feed to meet the needs of egg production

Laying ducks in captivity should be fed with full-price feed in order to meet the feeding standard of laying ducks. In compound feed, it is necessary to ensure the diversity and relative stability of feed varieties, and to prepare full-price feed with different nutrition levels according to different climatic conditions and egg production levels, so as to meet the nutritional needs of egg production. In summer, due to the high weather and temperature, the intake of ducks decreases, and the level of protein consumed by ducks also decreases. in order to meet the nutritional needs of laying ducks, it is necessary to increase the content of protein in the diet and increase the ratio of protein to energy. the protein level can be increased by 1% to 2%, that is, about 18%. At the same time, the amount of vitamin additives in the diet can be increased by 30% to 50%, so as to supplement the insufficient vitamin requirements of captive laying ducks in summer. In winter, it is necessary to appropriately increase the energy level of the diet, which contains 12.0 to 12.5 megajoules per kilogram of feed, and increase the supplement of amino acids and vitamins to ensure the nutritional requirements of egg production.

? Strengthen feeding and management

Feeding and management in the circle. When the laying rate of the female duck reaches 30% to 50%, it is fed four times a day; when the laying rate is more than 50%, it is fed five times a day. The last feeding at night is a little more, with no leftover material. There should also be enough sand near the enclosure for ducks to feed freely. In the process of feeding, raising laying ducks too fat or too thin is not conducive to laying eggs. After eating, ducks can bathe in the pool 2-3 times a day in spring and autumn, each time 15-30 minutes; there is no limit on the number of daily activities in summer, but heatstroke should be prevented. When you go ashore, you should dry your feathers and rush into the enclosure to have a rest. When you can't go out in heavy rain or winter wind and rain, yell ducks in the enclosure 6-8 times a day for 2-3 minutes each time, so that the ducks can get proper exercise. Laying ducks are very sensitive to environmental changes, and are prone to crowding, swooping, barking and other uneasy phenomena after being frightened, resulting in the reduction of eggs or the production of soft-shell eggs. In case of shock, the breeders should immediately call the ducks to calm down as soon as possible.

Winter management. The suitable temperature in the duck house is 10-20 ℃. When the temperature is below 0 ℃, the egg production of ducks will decrease greatly, and when the temperature rises above 28 ℃, the feed intake of ducks will decrease. If the heat prevention and cooling work is not done well, ducks will stop moulting. In winter, in order to reduce the heat emission of the duck house and prevent the attack of the cold north wind, the north windows can be sealed with bricks and mud. In cold areas, heating equipment should be provided in the duck house in winter to increase the temperature, warm water and warm food should be given when feeding, and the energy level in the diet of laying ducks should be properly increased to ensure the nutritional needs of laying eggs. In addition, it is also necessary to reduce the amount of time ducks spend on the playground.

Reasonable lighting. In order to prevent disturbance and rodent damage, so that laying ducks can better rest and lay eggs at night, lighting equipment must be equipped. Each duck house should be equipped with six 40-60 watt lights for night lighting, but the light intensity should be roughly the same. Too bright or too dark will cause noise to the ducks, requiring an illumination of 3 to 3.5 watts per square meter. Turn on the lights every morning and evening to keep the light and sunshine at 14-16 hours a day. The supplementary lighting time should not be long or short or the illumination should stop or stop, otherwise, it will lead to adverse consequences. In the cold winter, after artificial supplementary light, ducks can also obtain considerable egg laying rate as long as they can strengthen nutrition and keep warm at the same time.

? Artificial forced molting

It takes 3 to 4 months for laying ducks to moult naturally. In order to shorten the molting rest time, reduce the feeding cost, and improve the laying rate and breeding egg quality, female ducks must be forced to molt manually.

The method of forced molting. When the laying rate of female ducks drops to 20: 30%, some of the main wing feathers of female ducks have begun to fall off, so forced molting can be carried out. On the first day, the ducks were changed from grazing to captivity, stopped bathing, stopped lighting at night, halved concentrate on the second day, stopped feeding animal feed, continued to cut and stop feeding grain feed on the third day to stop production and molting, and stopped drinking water on the fourth day. On the fifth day, in the early morning or dusk, quickly pull out the unexfoliated main wing feather and tail feather, if it is easy to pull out and the root of the feather has dried up, it can be pulled out one by one without bleeding, otherwise it should be pulled out again every 2-3 days.

Feeding and management during molting. Before forced molting, we should first carry out individual nutrition and health investigation on ducks to eliminate weak and thin ducks in time, so as to avoid excessive death and unnecessary economic losses during forced molting. Secondly, one or two weeks before artificial forced molting, ducks without various vaccination were injected with duck plague, avian cholera and other vaccines, and repellent and lice were removed in order to adapt to the payment caused by artificial forced molting and maintain the health of ducks in the next egg-laying year. During molting, except for some or all restrictions on drinking water and food for ducks during the first 5-10 days, the normal feed and drinking water supply should be restored after that, especially the animal protein feed rich in sulfur-containing amino acids such as methionic acid and cystine, such as fish meal, feather meal, etc. In addition, some vitamins and commonly used trace elements should be added to the diet, especially the minerals that contain more calcium. However, the calcium content in the diet should be 70% to 80% lower than that in the laying period, and the dietary calcium content should be about 0.8%. Male and female were raised separately during molting, and feeding management and disease prevention were strengthened respectively.