Herbert C. Jordan
Retired Penn State Poultry
Specialist
Birds in captivity rely totally on
the caretaker. Caretakers who
neglect birds cost the poultry
industry millions of dollars annu
ally (v many thousand dollars per
farm per year.
The Bible teaches we can afflict
ourselves with a fast to improve
ourselves or our situations. Chicks
frequently are afflicted by a care
taker intentionally or unintention
ally. (Seldom are there accidents,
most events are caused.) The fol
lowing are cases of affliction
resulting in damage or fatal reac
tion of a baby pqult, chick, or other
animal. Adult animals can also be
damaged by caretakers.
Fasting two hours off water
caused chicks to get hungry and eat
more when fed. This may help or
hurt chicks. Six hours off water
caused chicks to become nervous
and eat litter. Productivity fell and
some chicks died. Twenty-eight
hours off water caused the weaker
chicks to dehydrate at 80°F in the
brooder, become listless, and fail
to eat or drink later. Some chicks
fell behind in growth rate, sopie
died. Fifty hours off water with air
temperature at 70°F caused many
chicks to dehydrate, become weak
and die before the water fast was
over.
Two hours off feed caused
chicks to get hungry and eat more
when fed. This can be a valuable
tool to clean up old feed. Eight
hours off feed caused chicks to eat
litter, get sick and some died.
Twelve to sixteen hours off feed
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Protect Chicks
on a wire floor caused capon
bound cockerels to lose intestine
size so surgery was a success at
nine days old. Water, then feed
was provided in the recovery pen.
Thirty hours off feed caused
commercial layers to reduce egg
number so low a $30,000 loss was
incurred.
A light-time clock change
caused breeders to be reduced in
day length which resulted in a loss
of egg number, increased neck
molt and an unknown loss in fertil
ity of eggs laid by the breeders.
Feeding no granite grit to
replacement pullets for a commer
cial laying house caused them to
get small gizzards ostensibly
resulting in poor egg production
later. Mortality was higher and
feed consumption was too low for
normal egg production. To diag
nose small gizzard disease, open
every bird that dies naturally and
size the gizzard.
Feeding no oyster shell or cal
cite grit apparently caused layers
to have poor egg shells before a
molt, before being slaughtered and
when everything else was normal
on three different flocks respec
tively. So feed extra calcium grit in
the feed to keep egg shells normal.
Typically, all broilers or turkeys
eat some litter. When many flocks
of birds were raised bn the same
litter, growth rate became variable,
mortality became higher, gut
infection was diagnosed more and
mysterious illness was more pre
valent.
Do not afflict baby birds with
contaminated litter, old litter, wet
litter, or fecal contamination as a
ifiajor part of litter. Use clean.
Power
quipment
||||^^
From Damaging Affliction
fresh bedding with each bird. Bed
ding materials should be selected
to improve fertilizer value of litter
when applied to land.
Young turkeys were mistakenly
fed three percent red rock salt in a
ration instead of 0.3 percent They
drank more water, fell behind in
growth rate and died at a much
higher rate than normal.
Pheasant breeders apparently
eating rat tracking powder fgll
behind in egg number, eggs
showed lower fertility and lower
hatchability of eggs laid.
Baby broilers kept at 60 to 70°F
the first three weeks of age instead
of 7S to BS°F had nearly twice as
much ascites. These birds showed
fluid in the abdomen when slaugh
tered and did not grow well.
Deep water in waterers allowed
chicks that fell in to get too wet for
too long, so they died of hypother
mia. So put pebbles or something
in waterer to allow a chick to fall in
and walk out
Broiler mothers with over
eating disorder were fed a ration
too high in nutrient density, they
ate too much feed, became obese
and failed to lay adequate egg
numbers and had lower fertility in
eggs laid. Overeating may cause
medicine in feed to be eaten at a
toxic level.
All species of bird debeaked too
severely fail to eat fail to grow or
reproduce and typically die more
readily. Debeaking is surgery and
must be done well and
successfully.
Detoeing surgery on turkeys
appears to encourage more
infected feet and legs with ascend
ing infection in the foot and leg.
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Any surgery on bird must be done
properly or not at all. My observa
tion shows too little significant
research done on surgery on indi
vidual birds.
Feed crumbs or pellets too large
for chicks to eat appeared to cause
uneven chick growth and more
mortality.
Mycotoxins in moldy grain
apparently killed baby chicks,
poults and bunnies on three diffe
rent farms and on three different
occasions.
Young turkeys eat wood splin
ters from litter. The splinter punc
tures the duodenal loop in the
small intestine and the turkey dies.
The thermostat or time clock
over-ride sticks and the fans blow
the brooder house cold. The chicks
chill, get sick, slow in growth rate
and many die.
A waterer runs over about 1,000
gallons on a litter flow before it is
stopped. Chicks drink contami-
JUNE
nated water, wet litter produces
odor and toxic gas, chicks slow in
growth rate, and many die.
Because of the moisture, disease
increases.
A weasel, mink, skunk, raccoon,
or other predator enters a brooder
house and kills many chicks. A
10-hour electrical power failure
kills chicks.
Mice, rats, insects in a poultry
house may carry disease or para
sites to poultry.
Summary - Some reasons given
for caretakers afflicting permanent
damage on birds are, “I did not
know,” “I didn’t see it,” “forgot,”
“was trying to help.” “came on
duty late,” “had car trouble,” “I
hate this job,” “ammonia fumes
made me sick,” “dust covered the
thermometer,” “I was told two dif
ferent directives by two different
people,” “I did not have time,” “no
one told met”
Prevent costly affliction.
Soybean Board
Funds Research
NEWARK, Del.—Thai 1995 Delaware
Soybean Board research grants to the College
of Agriculture Sciences at the University of
Delaware totaled more than $53,000.
The funds support research to improve
soybean production in Delaware. The check
was presented to Dr. John Nye, dean of the
college, by Doug Corey, president of the
Delaware Soybean Board, and treasurer Olin
Gooden.
The soybean projects funded for this year
are:
• An analysis of hedging as a soybean
marketing alternative
• Continuing grower-Extension research
communication
• Effect of poultry manure on the ef
ficiency of soybean herbicides
• Initiation of egg essays to determine soy
bean cyst nematode (SCN) population
densities
• Lower-cost weed control and weed man
agement programs for Delaware soybean
production
• Management schemes for soybean severe
stunt virus (SSSV) in Delaware soybeans
• Soybean proteins: prediction of function
ality in value-added food application
• Soybean variety evaluation for site and
cropping system adaption and cyst nematode
resistance.
Delaware soybean farmers fund these pro
jects through a per-bushel soybean checkoff.
This grower-supported research will be con
ducted by Agricultural Experiment Station
scientists, cooperative extension .specialists,
and researchers in the departments of food
and resource economics, plant and soil sci
ences, and food sciences.
II