Signals from manure

Contents

Introduction

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1 Seeing more by looking more closely 8 Picking up the signals 9 Using the signals 10 Farm records show objective signals 12 Analysis criteria for egg production 14 Inspection outside the house 15 Inspection in the poultry house 16 Paying attention to the hen 17 Bird behaviour 18 Anatomy 20 Respiratory system 22 Senses 23 Checking individual birds 24 First impressions 25 A closer look 26 Signals from manure 29

2 The hen and her environment 30 Differences between husbandry systems 31 Open sided or closed poultry houses? 32 Climate management in high temperatures 33 Ventilation 34 Assessing ventilation in the poultry house 35 Climate under control 36 Effective temperature (wind chill factor) 37 Air 38 Light 39 Dust 40 Why free-range? 42 Covered range or winter garden 43

3 Rearing hens 44 A good start is half the battle 45 The early days 46 Quality of day-old chicks 47 Comfort signals in day-old chicks 48 Temperature 49 Weak chicks 50 Cage rearing 51 Floor rearing 52 From 6-15 weeks 53 Weight and condition 54 Development of feathering 55 Training good behaviour in aviaries 56 From rearing to laying: 16-25 weeks 57 Light 58 Light during rearing 59 Moving from rearing to laying house 60 Vaccinations 61 The right way to vaccinate 62 Good vaccination - a science in itself 64 Keep the use of antibiotics to a minimum 65 From small to adult in 18 weeks 66 Feather pecking during rearing 68 Beak trimming 69 Methods of beak trimming 70

4 Laying hens 72 Schedules aren’t written in stone 72 Moving in 73 The ideal curves 74 Gear management towards nesting peak 75 Feed selection 76 Feed and light 77 Deficiency signals: eating feathers 78 Feeding when temperature is low 78 Feeding when temperature is high 79 Drinking 81 Water output from the nipples 82 A second laying period? 84 Pecking, feather pecking and cannibalism? 84 Difficult to reverse 85 Feather pecking 86 Cannibalism 87 5 Egg signals 88 A fresh egg? 89 Internal egg quality 90 Shell abnormalities caused before laying 91 Finding abnormal eggs 92 Shell abnormalities caused after laying 93 Cracks and breaks 94 Quality report from the egg wholesaler 97 Egg production problems 98 6 Health 100 Disease signals 101 Biosecurity outside the house 102 Biosecurity in the house 103 What seems to be the trouble? 104 Gastrointestinal problems 105 Respiratory diseases 106 Disorders in the locomotive organs 108 Sudden increase in mortality 109 Summary of the main diseases 110 Viruses 110copyright protected Bacteria 113 Internal parasites 115 Coccidiosis 116 Worms 117 Red mites 118 Index 120