Prevention and treatment of fatigue in caged laying hens

Fatigue of caged laying hens, also known as osteomalacia, is caused by the deficiency or imbalance of vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus in the feed of laying hens. it is one of the most serious skeletal diseases in caged laying hens, which often occurs in the peak period of egg production. The following pro-agricultural network will take you to know about this disease and related prevention and treatment measures.

Symptoms of the disease

After the onset of fatigue in caged laying hens, it will cause paralysis, death and decline in egg production, resulting in losses in many aspects, and will also affect the slaughtering and processing of hens. When the disease first laid soft-shell eggs and thin-shell eggs, the damage rate of eggs increased, but there was no significant change in appetite, spirit and feathers. After that, there are difficulties in standing, bending claws and dyskinesia. If it is found in time and appropriate treatment measures are taken, most of them can recover in 3-5 days. Otherwise, the symptoms will worsen gradually, resulting in lameness, inability to stand, sunken sternum, broken ribs and paralysis; autopsy can find that wing bones and leg bones are fragile.

Second, the cause of the disease

Previously introduced that the cause of the disease is due to insufficient nutrition or proportion imbalance of feed, in fact, there are other reasons that will cause the disease, pro-agriculture network summed up the following points:

1. The content of calcium in the diet of caged laying hens is seriously insufficient, and there is an imbalance between calcium and phosphorus.

two。 The over-crushed stone powder and bone powder are absorbed and excreted quickly in the stomach and intestines of chickens, resulting in a decrease in the utilization rate of calcium.

3. Low activity of caged laying hens can also cause laying hen fatigue.

4. During the breeding period, layers are attacked by parasites, as well as management reasons may cause the disease.

III. Preventive measures

The prevention of fatigue in caged laying hens is based on the etiology of the disease. In addition to ensuring a balanced diet, it can also provide layers with a thicker source of calcium. The specific preventive measures are as follows:

one. Ensure full-price nutrition and scientific management, so as to achieve the best body weight and body condition when breeding chickens are sexually mature.

two. The special pre-production feed containing 2%-3% calcium was fed 2-4 weeks before the start of laying, and when the laying rate reached 1%, the laying hen feed should be changed in time.

three. The content of calcium in the feed of caged high-yield laying hens should not be less than 3.5%, and the appropriate ratio of calcium and phosphorus should be guaranteed, adding more than 32000 international units of vitamin D32000 per kilogram of feed.

four. Coarse granulated stone powder or shell powder is provided to laying hens, and the coarse granular calcium source can account for 3% of the total calcium. The calcium source particle is more than 0.75 mm, which can not only improve the utilization rate of calcium, but also avoid calcium graded precipitation in feed. In the hot season, coarse calcium particles are evenly scattered in the trough every afternoon according to about 1% of feed consumption, which can not only provide sufficient calcium sources, but also stimulate the appetite of chickens and increase food intake.

five. Usually to do a good job of blood calcium monitoring, when found to produce soft-shell eggs should do blood calcium test.

IV. Treatment measures

As can be seen from the above etiology, the causes of fatigue in caged laying hens are various, so the treatment does not want to be the same. When diseased chickens are found, they should be picked out from the cage and raised separately on the ground, supplemented with bone particles or coarse calcium carbonate, so that the chickens can eat freely, and the sick chickens can recover within a week. For discontinued chickens raised alone, and to ensure their normal drinking water, food, generally no more than a week can recover on their own. For the same group of chickens with low blood calcium, 2%-3% coarse-grained calcium carbonate was added to the feed, and 2000 international units of vitamin D3 per kilogram of feed was added after 2-3 weeks, the blood calcium of the chickens could rise to the normal level, and the incidence rate was significantly reduced. Coarse-grained calcium carbonate and vitamin D3 supplements last about a month. If the disease is found later, it will take about 20 days to recover, and individual seriously paralyzed chickens may die.

The above is the introduction of fatigue of caged laying hens, including symptoms, etiology, prevention and corresponding treatment measures, hoping to provide some reference for laying hen farmers.