Just like humans, poultry birds are feeling the current heat stress induced by the rising temperature and humidity across Nigeria. Poultry farmers are therefore faced with the onerous task of managing and maintaining the health of their flocks. Understanding the impact of heat stress and how to mitigate it is key to maintaining a healthy flock.
Understanding Heat Stress
Unlike humans, Poultry birds do not have sweat glands, so they rely on the mechanism of panting and flapping of wings or feather movement and increased water consumption. Panting helps birds enhance evaporative cooling through shallow but frequent breathing allowing increased evaporation from the respiratory tract.
The impact of heat stress can be reflected in reduced feed consumption, a drop in egg production, poor eggshell quality, slower growth and development, reduced fertility in males, and a lower hatchability rate. It can also increase cannibalism, mortality, and immunosuppression.
Sources of heat for poultry can be from the ceiling, sidewalls, light sources, and the birds.
Strategies for Mitigating Heat Stress
Heat Stress can be mitigated via feeding and environmental strategies.
Feeding Strategies.
Pellet, crumble and mash feeds are most preferable during the hot season and enable the birds to take all the nutrients in the feed. Livestock Feeds has all the categories of poultry feeds you can explore for your birds.
Nutritional manipulations such as feed withdrawal to reduce metabolic heat production and adding fats to diets can be very helpful. For example, restricting feeding during the hotter parts of the day and feeding in the cooler parts of the night.
Also, adding electrolytes to their drinking water will aid in replenishing lost sodium which is in anticipation of a temperature rise.
Supplements such as Vitamin C can reduce negative consequences related to the rise in plasma corticosterone. Probiotics aid in the establishment of healthy gut bacteria, such as lactobacillus can prevent harmful bacteria from entering the body. Phytogenic feed additives are beneficial as they possess anti-inflammatory properties.
Water Management – Clean water must be available always. Adding ice blocks can be beneficial to the chickens.
Environmental Strategies
Bird density should be reduced, and the pen should be well-ventilated if the temperature is higher than 32 degrees.
Avoid direct sunlight on the birds. Planting trees around can improve air speed and increase convective heat loss.
Using fans can help in removing additional heat from the mass of birds.
At Livestock Feeds Plc., we ensure you get the right feed to maintain a healthy flock.
