9 Ways to Maximize Your Flock Potential — AQAI

Keeping a close eye on details and checking various factors like good nutrition, medical care and support from vets is key to ensuring that you brood a healthy flock. You probably already do a great job in ensuring that your investment is well looked after. But implementing certain key birds and coop management systems will go a long way in giving your flock, the opportunity to reach their best capacities.

FLAWS, an acronym for feed, light, air, water and sanitation plays pivotal roles. These are augmented by best practices in litter control, space management and staff training. When all of these aspects come together, it serves as a comprehensive check to enhance brooding and the life period of the flock. But this is not exhaustive.

Here are 9 ways that you can maximize your flock potential:

1.Biosecurity

Clear and easy to follow biosecurity measures during the broiler production period is very important for increased production. It helps in hygiene, checking insects, pests in farms, controlling the spread of disease inside a coop and to other coops nearby.

2.Brooding management

It is important to have constant checks during the time of brooding as it is crucial for growth of bacteria and other organisms inside the intestine for good digestion, health, production and overall future development of the bird.

3.Litter management

The litter condition and quality have to be checked right from the hatching of the chicks to the last stage of growth as birds keep moving, lying on and pecking at it constantly which can affect the bird’ s health.

Wet litter will produce and spread bacteria as well as viruses leading to intestinal problems that can develop to fatal diseases. Too dry and dusty litter, which signals that the birds need more water, also leads to respiratory issues in the birds.

4.Water management

Water is the most crucial factor for the growth of the birds as they drink more water than eating feed. A bird’s daily need of water is met mainly through drinking water so availability of plenty of clean water will reduce problems and improve the flock potential. The important points for water management are availability, quality, pressure of water. Cleaning, flushing drinking water lines before placing the birds inside and at time of production needs to be done. Regular cleaning of biofilms, mineral sediment and maintaining drinker equipment is also important.

5.Feed management

Quality feed free of mycotoxins must be easily available for all the birds by keeping the height of the feeder line appropriate to the height of the birds thus reducing feed wastage, mixing with litter and by following the suggestions for the maximum number of birds allowed for one feed pan or feeder line. Unnecessary feeding of litter by birds can be prevented by checking and stocking feed bin levels regularly.

6.Keeping an eye on equipment

All equipment needs to be checked regularly by walking around to see that it is in working condition.

7.Mortality checks

Infected and dead birds should be removed at the earliest to prevent spread of bacteria and other fatal organisms.

8.Flock health management

Regular visits by a vet should be arranged to monitor the flock’s health.

9.Communication and teamwork

Proper understanding, communication and working together between all staff is important for efficient working of the coop and ensuring good health of the birds.

Originally published at https://www.aqai.in.