Management tips to optimize egg production

Dr Paul Grignon Dumoulin

Bangkok – 12/03/2013

25 years of evolution : management must adapt to the birds

1981 2003 Change

Egg number 263.6 319.6 + 21 %

Shell Weight (g) 6 6.5 + 9 %

Shell produced at 72 wks 1580g 2077g + 31 %

Calcium secreted at 72 wks 590g 775g + 31 %

Live Body Weight (g) (brown) 2200 1900 - 16 %

Calcium secreted per kg of BW 268 408 + 52 %

Shell formation duration (hours) 14 12 - 17 %

Calcium secreted per hour 160 mg 202 mg + 25 %

Birds are producing more calcium in a shorter time than before with probably less calcium coming for the bones : feeding rules must be adapted to the evolution of the birds

Criteria defining high quality pullets

• A flock of pullets is measured by 6 criteria:

• Bodyweight profile during rearing (5 wk and at transfer)

• Uniformity of the flock

• Quality of beak trimming (where applicable)

• Feed intake capacity

• Age at sexual maturity

• Health status and immunological competence

The productivity of a flock depends to a large extent on the successful attainment of key targets during rearing

Note:

Rearing is the Investment Phase in Layer Production

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Age (wks)

Bo

dy

we

igh

t (g

)

Key anatomical and developmental stages (1) Understanding the Basics (example of the development of Brown Layers)

Key anatomical and developmental stages (2) Time-line in Changes of Growth and Body Components of Pullets

Increase in Calcium

Pre lay

feed

Reproductive organ

development

Medulary

bone

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Frame

Muscles

Organs

Age (weeks)

Growth

Fat

Influence of pullet quality on laying performance

Bodyweight at 5 weeks old

Bodyweight at 10 weeks old

Uniformity at 16 weeks old

Sexual maturity

% prod between

20 - 24 weeks

+++

0,63

+++

0,59

0

% prod between

68 - 72 weeks

+++

0,82

0

++

0,46

Egg number at 60 weeks old

+++

0,83

++

0,30

+++

0,54

Egg number at 72 weeks old

+++

0,93

0

+++

0,72

Liveability at 72 weeks old

+++

0,71

0

++

0,40

Brooding conditions for best start of day-old chicks

• For a good start the day old chicks should : • Not be stored inside the chick box in the heated house.

Use an infra-red thermometer to check chick temperature (104oF) • Move easily • Have enough space • Be in the best conditions (temperature and humidity) • Have easy access to drinkers and feeders :

• Use specific starter drinkers and feeders during the first 2-3 days • Apply a good distribution of the equipment in non cage houses • Manage correct height of all equipment

• Good light intensity and duration (relation with feed intake) • Feed must be easy to eat (crumbs) to encourage feed intake and growth

- Removal of ’’starter’’ drinkers should be done gradually - Any delay in growth during the first weeks of life will be difficult to recover - Good brooding conditions will help to get a good uniformity later on

ISA Stocking density-, water- and feed recommendations during the brooding period

ISA Temperature- and relative humidity recommendations during the brooding period

10

1. The 3 parameters allowing an increase of heat losses are :

Air speed

Air temperature

Relative humidity

1. Approximative relation between these 3 parameters could be:

1°C # 4,5% RH # 0,35 m/s

RELATION TEMPERATURE, HYGROMETRY, SPEED

LIGHTING PROGRAM

12

INFLUENCE OF STEP DOWN LIGHTING PROGRAMME ON GROWTH

Age Lighting duration (hours / day )

From 4 - 7 days 20 202

nd week 16 16

3rd

week 12 154

th week 8 14.5

5th

week 8 146

th week 8 13.5

7th

week 8 138

th week 8 12.5

B.W at 56 days (g) 678 731 (+ 8%)

24è R.S.T. Eikelborn

A slow step down program will improve the bodyweight in end of rearing

20

25

30

35

40

0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24Hours of the day (h)

Temperature in house and lighting programme

=

=

=

=

Night

Night Night 10h under 30°C – 2 feeding periods

6h under 30°C

HOT CLIMATE : TEMPERATURE AND LIGHT

Light on 6 am – light off 10 pm

Light on 3 am – light off 7 pm

Recommendation : give artificial light in the morning and not in the evening

14

Slow step down Lighting Program – Open-side House (12th week)

15

MIDNIGHT FEEDING

1. INSTALL NO LATER THAN ONE WEEK AFTER TRANSFER, CAN BE DONE IN

SECOND HALF OF REARING

2. MIDNIGHT FEEDING PERIOD OF 1H30-2H. THIS WILL ALLOW ALL BIRDS THE

OPPORTUNITY TO EAT, NOT JUST DOMINANT BIRDS.

3. MUST START 3-4H AFTER LIGHT OFF

AFTER 1 WEEK OF USING M.N.F., THE CONSUMPTION RATE WILL STABILIZE. M.N.F. WILL

NOT LEAD TO INCREASES IN AVERAGE CONSUMPTION RATES GIVEN NORMAL

CONDITIONS, I.E., TEMPERATURE. HOWEVER IT IS VERY USEFUL TO INCREASE

CONSUMPTION DURING EXTREME HEAT.

15L

4D

DS

T

DD

Dd

dd

DD

DD

N

2L

3D

16L

3D 2L

3D

Feed consumption during night lighting

Period Consumption Ratio

water/Feed

in g % g / h

4h30 – 8h35 8h35 – 14h20 14h20 – 19h45 0h – 1h30

20 27 50 18

17 23 44 16

4,6 4,7 9,3 11,9

1,9 2,9 1,7 0,6

Total 115 100 6,4 1,83

2 hours light during night allows the birds to feed

during the more fresh period of the day and limits

feed low consumption due to high temperature

EFFECT OF NIGHT LIGHTING ON SECONDS DURING LAY

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Egg Shell Defects Total Seconds

Without MNL With MNL

NIGHT LIGHT MAY REDUCE SECONDS FROM 20 TO 30%

UCAAB 2001 – 2002

53-60 weeks of age

Rough end shell depending on night light and particle size

Percentage of rough end shells at 56 and 61 weeks

Night lighting 1 to 2 mm 2 to 4 mm

Without 3,39 a (100%)

2,81 b (83%)

With (1h30) 2,01 c (59%)

1,86 c (55%)

P Joly , C Alleno , 2003

• In general, light stimulation is given at start of lay (3-5% lay) in hot countries.

• Possible to stimulate birds sooner but : •Flock must have good bodyweight and good uniformity

•While lay starts earlier, average egg size will be lower

•Possible to start light stimulation at 1350-1400g in brown layers

• Decision of light stimulation must be adapted to the flock. Do not hesitate to delay in case of bad uniformity otherwise, you may have some other technical problems (prolaps).

How to get early production ?

FEEDING AND FEEDING TECHNICS

Management of the digestive capacity of the pullet from 5 weeks of age

• Gizzard development will be stimulated by provision of coarse feed particles, addition of fiber and supplementation of insoluble grit

• Weighing the bird weekly will help to fine-tune the feed allocation without applying an (unwanted) feed restriction

• Feed types are introduced according to the actual BW development and the targeted for sexual maturity based on desired minimum egg weight

Feed specifications can help achieving good BW growth

GOOD BW & TEMPERATE CLIMATE

Pre Starter Feed

Grower Feed

Developer Feed

Pre Lay Feed

LOW BW & HOT CLIMATE

PRE STARTER GROWER DEVELOPER

4 5 10 16

PROGRAM A

PROGRAM B

PRELAY

IMPACT OF THE USE OF A STARTER FEED ON YOUNG CHICKS

Quantity of pre-starter

feed (g)

Bodyweight at 4 weeks (%

of standard bodyweight)

Flock A 0 86%

Flock B 300 95%

The use of a good starter feed in the young chicks will improve the early bodyweight

24

3 to 4 h

Time of empty feeders

Empty Feeder Management

1 2 3 4 5

2 meals a day

Ad Libitum

• Study compares:

- A) Meal feeding [ 2 x day; one in morning, one in afternoon

- B) Ad libitum feeding

Effect of “meal feeding”

Flock B Flock A Diff B/A

Bodyweight at 8 weeks (g) 580 617 + 6 %

Bodyweight at 12 weeks (g) 1005 1061 + 6 %

Bodyweight at 17 weeks (g) 1340 1435 + 7 %

Uniformity 17 weeks (%) 83 87 + 4 %

Consumption at 119 d (g) 5780 5947 + 3 % ISA 1995

« Essential to empty the feeders once a day

and to adapt the timing of feed distribution in

order to encourage appetite, growth and

rapid feed intake »

26

FEEDING TECHNIQUE - FIELD TEST

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700

1800

1900

2000

2100

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Age en semaines / Age n weeks

Po

ids c

orp

ore

l -

Bo

dyw

eig

ht (g

)

2 meals

a day

Ad

libitum

Meal feeding encourages

feed intake and optimise

feed efficiency

Brown layers experiment

NATURAL FEEDING BEHAVIOUR

% de la consommation journalière

White layers - Kersharvaz 1998

60% of the feed is ingested in the last 6 hours of the day

28

10 to 12 hof light at plateau

3 to 4h

Time of empty feeders

• Feed distribution 3 or 4 h 00 before light out :

• To take profit of natural behaviour of the bird :

• Ability of the bird to eat reserves before light off • Hungry when light on (digestive tract is empty) • Important to provide calcium at the right time during lay

Influence of feed presentation

Influence of feed particule size on performance etween 23 and 51 weeks

Particle size Correct low Difference %

< 0.5 mm 9 % 31 % > 3.2 mm 10 % 0 %

0.5 to 3.2 mm 81 % 69 % > 1.6 mm 65 % 21 %

Lay, % 93.9 90.7 - 3.4

eggweight, g 63.3 62.7 - 0.9 Eggmasse, g/j 59.41 56.85 - 4.3

Consumption, g/j 118.1 114.2 - 3.4 FCR. 1.989 2.008 + 0.9

Bodyweight at 33 weeks

1.930 1.883

30

Calcium and Available Phosphorus feeding GROWING PERIOD -with proper calcium ( 1 % minimum) and available phosphorus (0.45-0.5 %) feeding in growing PRELAY PERIOD - through feeding a prelay feed with at least 2-2.5% calcium ( prelay or layer feed ). - The prelay feed rich in calcium must be given at least 2 weeks ( 14 days) before first eggs to maximize the calcium reserves in the bones and optimize shell quality (16 – 18 weeks) LAYING PERIOD - use 4 to 4.5% calcium level in layer feed - Use higher available phosphorus levels until 40/45 weeks old and then reduce available phosphorus in layer 2 feed - Use Midnight feeding program after the maximum hours of light is achieved

31

Time of change to 3.5% Ca Tibiotarsus Ash (%) Tibiotarsus Ca (mg/g)

20 wk

18 wk

17 wk

16 wk

15 wk

14 wk

53.5

55.7

59.3

58.9

58.4

57.9

182

187

202

199

197

196

TABLE 1: Diet Calcium and Bone Characteristics of Young Layers in

Response

To Prelay Diet CalciumAdapted from

Keshavarz(1989)

PRELAY DIET OR LAYER DIET BEFORE ONSET OF LAY IMPROVE CALCIUM RESERVE

32

OPTIMUM CALCIUM EFFICIENCY

PRELAY FEED

50% - 50%

LAYER FEED

60% - 40%

SANGRE

FECES

Calcium in

particles

(2 – 4 mm)

Calcium in

powder form

Intermediate

Calcium form

(0,3 – 1,5 mm)

GIZZARD

INTESTINES

BLOOD

BONES UTERUS

Origin of Calcium

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0,08 0,53 1,06 2,12 3,75

% of Calcium in the FEED

% o

f C

ALC

IUM

CO

MIN

G F

RO

M T

HE

BO

NE

S

20-30 % of Calcium comes from Medulary

Bone

Importance of : Optimum Calcium reserves at start of lay

Correct Calcium Level in the Feed

If possible mix of fine particle and big particle of calcium

Farmers PS 1986

34

EFFECT OF THE WATER TEMPERATURE

Effect of the water temperature on layer performance during a heat

stress period

air temperature Water Temperature

27 – 35 °C 27 °C 18 °C

Before heat stress Feed consumption (g/d) Body weight (kg)

1051.64

1061.65

During 4 weeks (of the heat stress period )

Feed cosumption (g/d) Water consumption (g/d)

Body weight (kg)

84.32611.54

87.52791.56

DRINKING WATER TEMPERATURE EFFECT ON FEED CONSUMPTION

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

sem 0

T:22°C

week 1

T:27- 35°C

week 2

T:27- 35°C

week 3

T:27- 35°C

week 4

T:27- 35°C

week 5

T:22°C

week 6

T:22°C

Water temperature:27°C

Water temperature:18°C

……………..Temp.de l'air : 27-35°C………………..

Providing fresh water during hot period improve feed consumption

Managing water supply Water: the most important nutrient!!

• Flush water lines: - Prior to arrival: no residual disinfectant is left

• Positioning equipment correctly: - Nipples on eye level of the chicks; round drinkers on the floor

• Use paper: - Attracts chicks; add extra feed; assists in finding water

• Check functionality of drinkers and nipples: - Always water in round drinkers - Hanging water drop on nipples

• Correct water temp: - First 2 days: 25o-30 oC; not too cold or too warm

• Supplemental starter drinkers: - Effective; remove gradually but not before they use remaining

system • Monitor water consumption:

- Assists in maintaining litter quality, avoidance of water spillage is a very important parameter for feed intake and health status.

• Apply strict water sanitation: - Use sanitizer; apply daily cleaning first 2 wks then 1 x per wk

Feeding behaviour • Take advantage of natural behaviour of the bird :

• Birds eat highest amount of feed before “lights off”

• Hungry when “lights on” (digestive tract is empty)

• Apply “empty feeder” technique during the middle of day from

4 to 5 WOA onwards

• Feed presentation target: apply uniform grind size

• Too many fine particles lead to low consumption

• Too many large particles lead to selective eating

Rapid & adapted feed intake during rearing

period leads to increased feed consumption at

transfer time and onset of lay

AGE AT TRANSFER IN PRODUCTION HOUSE, EFFECT OF HOUSING

SYSTEM

Effect of housing system on feed intake changes from rearing into production

• TARGET :

Rearing: Production:

- floor cages + 33% *

- cages cages + 41 %

- floor floor + 50 %

<< Key is that feed intake increases sufficiently after transfer from

one housing system to another

<< If feed intake is too low after transfer and no management faults can be identified, feed density may have to be

increased at least temporarily

* Peak feed consumption

40

EFFECTS OF DELAYED TRANSFER POST MORTEM ANALYSIS - 26 to 40

weeks

1 6 W E E K S

1 8 W E E K S

2 0 W E E K S

N E P H R IT IS

R U P T U R E D F O L L IC L E

C a D E P L E T IO N

0.04

0.064

0.085

0.027

0.042

0.053

0.006 0.013

0.036

0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

0.09

AG E AT T R AN S F E R

W EEKLY

BY

CAUSE

T YP E O F

L O S S

.07% .12% .18% T O T AL

M O R T AL IT Y

41

IMPACT OF A LATE TRANSFER

• Avoid in any case a late transfer in production farm!

• In fact a transfer made at start of lay (2-10%) will cause the break of ovarian follicles, on 70% of the animals with as consequence: abdominal lay, E.coli, peritonitis, stress of the flock, and mortality (80% of the mortality in the first 8 weeks of lay is due to a early maturity with late transfer).

Bodyweight control

Monitoring body weight development

• Weekly control of the growth is a must

• Early detection of abnormal weight gain is of extreme importance to determine corrective action.

• Late attempts to correct low body weight are not efficient at improving body composition and frame size.

• Monitoring body weight is essential to calculate the appropriate quantity of feed to be issued

- requirements vary

• energy level of the diet

• house temperature

• health status of flock…

Weighing frequency and bird numbers per weighing

• From 0 and 4 weeks of age individual weighing of 100 birds each week

- Uniformity is very difficult to measure during this period - Sample size must be big enough to be accurate - Weigh at multiple locations:

• Example cages: Front, middle & back; top and bottom • From 4 weeks a sample size of 60 birds is minimum (100 optimum)

- Multiple locations

• Continue weighing as follows: - Weekly individual weights from 4 till 26 weeks - From 26 till 35 weeks old, weigh every 2 weeks - From 35 weeks old, once a month

• Weigh multiple locations

Target in rearing : bodyweight at 5 weeks and uniformity

• The bodyweight at 5 weeks has a direct impact on the productivity in laying (production, livability, persistency)

• Uniformity at 16 weeks has also a big impact on those caracteristics

• Conclusion : people must adapt their management to reach a better bodyweight and uniformity. Very often, people check for average bodyweight but not for uniformity…

0

0,05

0,1

0,15

0,2

0,25

0,3

0,35

0,4

10

Uniformity is the % of birds which have a bodyweight 10 % +/ - of the average bodyweight of the flock

-10% +10%

How to manage a good uniformity and what it means ?

Uniformity evaluation

Uniformity (at 17 weeks)

Evaluation

> 80%

Good

75-80%

Acceptable

< 75%

Poor

Reasons for poor uniformity?

• Dehydrated, weak or infected DOC at arrival • Poor brooding conditions

- Insufficient heat, ventilation, crowding, litter-, ammonia - Non-functional feeder and drinker systems - Inadequate feed & H2O equipment during rearing period - Challenges in adapting management to new alternative

housing and/or cage systems • Incorrect beak trimmings • Too high stocking densities during rearing

- Excessive competition for feed and water space - Litter-, ventilation problems

• Inadequate feeding management • Disease challenges and stress levels (vaccination pressure)

How to maintain uniformity during rearing • Uniformity depends on :

- Feeding space/bird

- Drinker space/bird

- Complete access to all equipment throughout the house

• Potential problem in alternative systems

- Frequencies of feeding times/potential for selective feeding

• Fewer feedings bigger meals less selective feeding

• Feeding time adaptation to production period requirements

- Train birds for feeding schedule in lay (starting at 5 weeks)

- Forward training if differences in housing system exist between rearing farm and production farm

Field examples

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700

1800

1900

2000

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Bo

dy

We

igh

t in

g

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Mo

rtality

in

%

Bodyweight std BW mini std BW maxi Cumulative mortality

ISA BROWN REARING CHART

Friday July 4, 200851.200

6, cages

Name :

Hatch date :

Number of pullets :

Rearing farm :

House number :

Birds started in 2 tiers; At 6 WOA, ½ transferred into rest of cages over-crowded

Field examples: Crowding in rearing

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700

1800

1900

2000

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Bo

dy w

eig

ht

in g

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Un

ifo

rmit

y in

%,

Mo

rta

lity

in

%

Bodyweight std BW mini std BW maxi Cumulative mortality Uniformity

BOVANS BROWN REARING CHART

Friday 23 October, 200930.200

2

Name :

Hatch date :

Number of pullets :

Rearing farm :

House number :

Problems with grower feed 1; Not enough BW gain Poor uniformity; By 7-8 wks pullets adjusted

Field examples: Problems with feed management

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700

1800

1900

2000

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Bo

dy

we

igh

t in

g

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

% M

ort

ality

Bodyweight std BW mini std BW maxi Cumulative mortality

ISA BROWN REARING CHART

BegokonSeptember 29, 200851.200

6, cages

Name :

Hatch date :

Number of pullets :

Rearing farm :

House number :

Birds grow very well from 6-14 WOA; injection with killed vaccine flat BW growth

Field examples: Stunted growth with vaccination

Field example : management of feeding at start of lay

First phase :

-The lay begin

-The egg weight increase

-The limited feed consumption lead to low body weight

Second phase :

-Small and slow decrease of the laying rate

Third phase :

-Work on the energy intake

-Increase bodyweight

-Increase the laying rate

60 000 Layers Conventionnal cages

Transfert during summer

IMPORTANCE OF BEAK TRIMMING

56

Beak Trimming

• Once precise at 7 – 10 days old

• Second at 8 – 10 weeks, not later than 10

weeks.

• If possible get just one beak trimming

OK Too long Not straight

Not straight and too short

Too hot Too hot and too short

EVALUATION QUALITY OF BEAK TRIMMING

TRIMMING POSITION

Machines are

usually equipped

with a foot control

switch.

Note angle of head

during trimming.

Angle = 15º

BEAK TRIMMING : OPEN HOUSES

BEFORE BEAK TRIMMING: ATTENTION POINTS

• Do not beak trim birds if the flock is not in good health or if it is suffering from vaccine reactions

• Add vitamin K to the drinking water 48 hours prior to trimming and after to prevent haemorrhages

• Check the equipment and make sure that the trimming blade has the right temperature to cauterize but not so high to form a blister on the beak later

AFTER BEAK TRIMMING: ATTENTION POINTS

• Increase the water level in the drinkers and the pressure in the pipes to make easy for the birds to drink

• Make sure that the depth of the feed is adequate, do not empty the feeders for a week following beak trimming

62

Reduce Light intensity in the house to control pecking

63

REARING : 10 IMPORTANT PARAMETERS - Use a slowly decreasing light programme

Lighting - Give early morning light to encourage feeding

during the cooler part of the day - Starting at 15 weeks, give 2 hours of light during the night

- Use a diet in crumb form for the first 5 weeks (similar to a broiler diet) Food

presentation - After 5 weeks, use a diet in crumb form or one with a very good texture

- Avoid the build up of fine food particles by getting the feeders empty in the middles of the day

Feeding timetable

- Distribute the food 3 hours before lights out

- Provide cool drinking water of good bacteriological quality - Make a good job of break trimming

Stockmanship

- Weigh the birds regularly

64

PRODUCTION: 10 IMPORTANT PARAMETERS

Encourage food consumption in the cooler part of the day :

- By giving light early in the morning Lighting

- By giving 2 hours light in the middle of the night (3 hours after lights out)

- Use a diet of good granular texture (75-80% particles 0.5 and 3.2 mm)

Quality of diet - Provide 70 % of the calcium in granular form - Use a protein level appropriate to the actual food intake level

- Distribute 2/3 of the food 5 to 6 hours before lights out Feeding

timetable - Distribute 1/3 of the food 2 to 3 hours after lights on - Avoid the build up of the fine food particles by getting the feeders empty in the middle of the day

- Provide cool water of good bacteriological quality Stockmanship

- Weigh the birds regularly

Conclusion

• Good performance of a flock is not only linked with the management of the start of lay

• Rearing conditions are widely responsible for the future results of the flock

• Preparation of the pullet will become more and more important as life cycle will probably increase in the coming years.

Eggs Earth Earnings

www.isapoultry.com