Plan For Healthy
By L. Dwight Schwartz, D. V. M.
Extension Pouitiy Veterinarian
Penn State University
Ke?king neaiiny pullets does
not just happen by chance Any
successful pullet grower will
tell you that healthy pullets re
sult fiom proper caie and man
agement stalling before the
chicks ainve and rot ending
until they move into the laying
house at 20 or 22 weeks of age
In cider to consistently be suc
cessful at growing pullets, a
gieat amount of planning and
piepaiation must be spent de
signing the grow out program
Included in this planning are
decisions on disease prevention
and control, a pulet health
program
A pullet health program
should include all of the essen
tial functions advocated in ap
pioved poultry husbandry prac
tices such as a clean, sanitized
and healthful brooder house,
adequate daily hygiene of equip
The Outlook And Future
For The Poultry Industry
Z)r. Kenneth Goodwin,
Head, Poultry-Science Dept,
- Penn State University
It is no longer reasonable for
poultrymen in one area to con
sider themselves isolated from
trends in other areas The same
factors which influence ways in
which the industry develops in
the Southeastern or Western
United States must be reckoned
with in the Northeast Our
pouitiy industry in South
eastern Pennsylvania would do
well to consider carefully what
these trends are, and to weigh
their effect on the outlook and
future of our local industry
Perhaps more than any seg
ment and environment, known
balanced and wholesome mold
free feed, a piopei balance of
heat and ventilation, and piop
or dead bird disposal Normally,
all of the environmental dis
eases can be pi evented 01 held
m check thiough pioper and
conscientious caie Anothei di
mension of such quality of hus
bandry is early detection of ex
plosive vnulent diseases Al
most without exception, eaily
detection of a disease will lead
to its control before it becomes
a serious pioblem or wide
spread within the flock Simple
mathematics are pi oof enough
that the prevention of 5% to
20% losses are well worth stri
ving for Any serious disease
break will easily cause this
kind of loss Mortality is not
your only loss when disease
strikes a pullet flock Theie aie
other profit losses, such as un
thrifty birds and medication
costs included here to sav no
thing of the reluctance of the
buyer to accept pullets with a
ment of agriculture, the poultry
industry has utilized technologi
cal advances and business
methods in a continuous search
for greater efficiency The re
sults have been astounding, es
pecially to the consumer who
has reaped huge benefits in low
er prices for eggs and broilers
in a time when inflation has
steadily eroded purchasing
power for almost all other pio
ducts.
Whether or not one appioves
of the changes is irrelevant It
does no good to wish for the le
turn of days gone by The only
useful thing one can do is to
understand and evaluate the
(Continued on Page 26)
Egg System at Weaver’s Inc.. New Holland,
Pullets
histoiy of diseases One sevcie
disease bicak can easily absoib
all of the piolits of the enlae
pullet flock
The question is asked “How
do pullet health piogiams vaiy
with the different grow out
systems’” To answei that I
would say that there is really no
difference in the basic piogiam
A health piogiam should be
tailored to cover specific needs
of a paiticular pullet rearing
system For instance, if pullets
aie cage-reared from 1 day of
age to 20 or 22 weeks, then thei e
is no need to include a coccidio
stat in the feed On the othei
hand, mites could be a sei ions
problem in the cage-rearing
operation but not in a floor
rearing system, theietore mite
control would be included in
the health piogiam of the cage
reared pullets
Presently, theie aie thiee
widely used methods of glow
ing pullets and they are
1) floor-rearing from one day
of age to 20 to 22 weeks
2) cage-i earing from one day
on and
3) floor brooding to 6 01 8
weeks of age then cage-reai mg
on to maturity.
There are advantages and dis
advantages to each system The
grower must decide which is the
best system for him With re
gard to a health program, the
primary variation would per
tain to a coccidiosis and para
site control All other factors
are of equal importance in all
grow out systems
Pullet vaccination is often
thought to be “The Health Pro
gram” but this is not completely
true A vaccination program is
of vital importance but it is
only a part of a total pullet
health program True, vaccina
tion is preventive medicine but
poorly planned, poorly timed
and poorly administered vac
cinations are a costly luxury
(Continued on Page 28)
Lancaster Farming. Saturday. October 11, 1969—17
SECOND SECTION
WATCHING AN AUTOMATIC EGG LOADER at the
Plain and Fancy Egg Ranch are Ethel May Brandt. Jay
Irwin, Associate County Agent and William H Plowfield,
Plant Manager. L F. Photo
Management 15....?
By Herbert Jordan,
Extension Poultry Specialist
Happiness is a well man
aged farm So management
must include the successful con
trol of or reaction to all fac
tors to attain a goal setup for a
farm Nine out of ten farmers
never attain a level of good
management Nine out of ten
specialists will refer to manage
ment as being the reason for,
cause of, or failure to get the
results we desire from our poul
try flock, but they rarely say
what management is.
A leading financial and busi
ness analysis agency once pub
lished that 88 per cent of all
business failures are due 'to
management 01 mismanage
ment but failed to define
management
Management has been defin
ed as many things, but before
we give it a word definition lets
see what management does,
causes, or on what it has a ma
jor influence Management may
be the reason
One 10,000 layer flock has
an average net income to labor
and management for the family
ol $2,000 00 a year for five years
while another similar size flock
on another farm under different
management brings in $5,000 00
to $B,OOO 00 pei year for the
family to spend for the same
five years
One poultryman is satisfied
to continue in the poultry busi
ness and expand while another
poultryman is negative, disin
terested, and wants to discon
tinue the chickens
One poultryman has a con
tinual unsatisfactory farm labor
force while another manager
has a satisfactory or good help
situation most of whom actual
ly take over and execute good
decision making and imple
mentation responsibility.
One poultryman places em
phasis and time he spends on
management picblems in direct
piopoition to the problem’s sig
nificance to his income and
flock peifoimance while other
pooi manageis do not classify
their flock problems as to signi
ficance and waste time working
on small problems too much
One poultryman “eye balls”
the birds daily (one hour per
day per 10 000 birds) then cor
rectly identifies each problem
before he treats it or attempts
to change it Specialists, hand
books, laboratories, filing sys
tems. production records, and
servicemen ought to be oriented
(Continued on Page 18)