One of the most important steps that you will need to undertake when it comes to poultry egg production in the Philippines is the transfer of your chickens from the rearing house where they have spent the first few weeks of their lives to the laying house or the egg production house. Remember that to maximize on your poultry egg production in the Philippines, you have to get every aspect of the rearing right. Here are some best practices to keep in mind when it comes to transferring your pullets to the layer houses:-
- You can move your chickens to the production facility when they are aged anywhere from 15-16 weeks or once you have administered the last live vaccines.
- In order to minimize the stress as much as possible during the transfer, ensure that the rearing and production facilities have the same feeding and watering systems.
- Make sure any remaining sex slips (male chickens) are removed during the transfer.
- Put in some extra care in order to minimize stress such as increasing the nutrient a few days before the transfer. You can add probiotics, Vitamin C or the dietary intensity to the birds.
- Make sure that the birds are weighed during the transfer. Subsequently, you can monitor the weights closely.
- Monitor the water consumption levels after the transfer. The birds should be able to quickly reach their pre-transfer water intake within 6 hours.
- Once you have transferred the birds, you can brighten the lights for a duration of three days until you have made sure that the chickens have settled well in the new environment.
- Carry out daily inspections on the chickens and get rid of any mortalities as soon as possible.
- If you are experiencing frequent mortalities, then you need to carry out a thorough diagnosis in order to determine the causes of high mortality.
- The birds should be transferred quickly to the layer house in order to minimize stress. Also make sure that all the birds are transferred within the same day.
- It is generally advisable to transfer the birds early in the morning in order to allow them to adapt quickly to their daily routine.