Maintaining the health of the digestive tract of chickens is something that must be considered by farmers. Because the health of the digestive tract is very influential on the performance and productivity of chickens. The health condition of the digestive tract of chickens will affect the process of digestion of the ration and absorption of nutrients.
Maintaining the health of the digestive tract of chickens begins from the very beginning of keeping, since health in the first weeks of the chicken’s life will determine the level of chicken productivity. As good as any type of feed, raw materials, drinking water, even given vitamins though, if the digestive tract of chicken is not healthy then all of it will not be absorbed properly and immediately come out wasted. Therefore, farmers must be able to maintain the health of the digestive tract of chickens for the survival of the life of a farm.
So how to maintain the health of the digestive tract of chickens? There are at least 6 ways that farmers can use to maintain the health of the digestive tract of chickens. You’ve been curious, right? Here is the full explanation, see until it’s finished!
Provide quality feed with attention to nutrition
The first way to maintain the health of the digestive tract is to provide quality feed by paying attention to the nutritional content. Feed is a very important thing in raising chickens. Maintaining the health of the digestive tract of chickens, of course, can not be separated from the selection of feed. Feed that is free of chemicals, still fresh, and nutritious is a good feed for chickens. Good feed should be able to meet the basic needs of nutrients such as protein and energy.
However, there are still many farmers who provide feed/ rations to chickens do not pay attention to the nutritional content. In the end, the feed that enters the digestive tract of chickens is not in accordance with the needs of the chicken’s body. This is of course farmers will experience losses, because of poor quality feed of course the production will be bad too, moreover the cost of feed takes the most cost allocation of 60% – 80%. Therefore, you should know how to characterize quality feed.
Here are the characteristics of a quality feed :
- Has high digestibility.
- Does not contain toxins (toxins).
- The nutritional content is balanced and complete.
- Able to attract the attention of chickens from color and aroma.
- The shape corresponds to the physiological of the chicken.
- High level of palatability.
Routine cleaning of cages, places to eat and drink
The cleanliness of the chicken coop needs to be maintained so that the chickens are comfortable in the cage. In addition, to keep livestock healthy, free from disease and germs that nest in the area around the cage. Since chickens poop quite often, then do not allow the droppings to accumulate in the cage. If accumulated can result in high levels of ammonia in the cage. This will make the chicken uncomfortable in the cage and will affect the health of the chicken. Therefore, the farmer must regularly clean the chicken coop.
In addition to cages that must be cleaned, farmers must also regularly clean the place to eat and drink. If not cleaned, then germs or bacteria can nest in the chicken’s eating or drinking area. And if the chicken eats or drinks from a place where there are already germs/ bacteria, it can interfere with the health of the digestive tract of chickens. Cleaning the cage, where to eat and drink should be done regularly in order to kill germs or bacteria and will make the chicken comfortable in the cage.
Provision of clean drinking water
Clean water is one of the crucial macro nutrients for livestock, including chickens. Clean water can be seen from several factors, these factors include physical, namely (clear and fresh water, odorless, odorless), biological (free from bacterial contamination E. coli, Salmonella sp. and other pathogenic microorganisms), and chemical factors (pH neutral and not hard). The provision of drinking water for chickens is recommended ad libitum, namely the provision of unlimited drinking, where drinking water is always available in the cage.
Check the quality of drinking water periodically to determine the presence or absence of e bacteria contamination.coli or coliform in drinking water. Perform drinking water sanitation if the water source is positively contaminated with E bacteria.coli or other pathogenic bacteria. This aims to minimize the presence of bacteria or germs that can cause disease in chickens. Examples of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract that can arise due to lack of clean drinking water is Colibacilosis.
Regulate the temperature and humidity in the chicken coop
Temperature is an important point to maintain the development of organs and the health of the digestive tract of chickens. Just like humans, chickens also have an environmental temperature that is adjusted to the needs of their body, namely the comfort zone. Temperatures outside the comfort zone, be it too hot or too cold, will affect the development of the digestive tract and its health, and further impact will affect the growth of chickens.
The humidity in the cage must also be considered by the breeder. Because the humidity in the cage will affect the temperature that the chicken feels. The lower the humidity,the lower the temperature the chicken feels. And vice versa, chickens will feel hotter temperatures than ambient temperatures when humidity is high. If the temperature in the cage is high, it can cause chickens to experience heat stress.
In stressful conditions, in the chicken’s body there will be an increase in the production of corticosteroid hormones that can inhibit the immune organs in producing antibodies. This will trigger immunosuppressive effects that have an impact on chickens that will be susceptible to disease, especially diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, farmers must pay attention to the temperature and humidity in the chicken coop, the chicken will be comfortable in the cage if the temperature and humidity are in accordance with the needs of the chicken.
Good handling of litter and chicken droppings
Litter and chicken droppings / feces are an ideal medium for pathogenic microorganisms to multiply. Regular cleaning of feces and handling of wet litter should be done as soon as possible. This can be an effective effort to control and minimize pathogenic microorganisms. Carry out litter flipping to prevent the litter from getting wet. Immediately change the wet and clumping litter or the slightly clumping litter is sorted out and removed from the cage.
Addition of probiotics in the ration
Probiotics are products that contain live microorganisms by having a beneficial effect on the host (his landlady) by improving the balance of microflora present in the digestive tract. Microflora in the intestine can be disturbed by several circumstances such as, due to the use of antibiotics or other types of drugs, excessive stress, infectious disease agents and so forth. This can result in pathogenic germs or bacteria developing and causing infections and damage to the digestive tract.
Therefore, it is recommended to add probiotics to the chicken ration. But please note that, the ideal probiotic should be the host organism, non-pathogenic, resistant to intestinal conditions (acidic pH conditions), produce antimicrobial compounds, improve the growth of commensal bacteria, modulate immune responses, improve chicken performance, and be able to withstand feed processing conditions. The function of the addition of probiotics in the ration is to help prevent pathogenic bacteria that can cause disorders of the digestive tract and probiotics can help maintain a balance of beneficial microflora for the landlady.
In addition to adding probiotics in the ration to maintain the health of the digestive tract of chickens, you can also add natural feed additives. Here we-Ganeeta Formula Nusantara sells various feed additive products that you can use to maintain the health of the chicken digestive tract. Examples of our products include Esseguard Intestinal, Curcuxan, Gallipro Tect and many more. The products we sell have been tested in the laboratory, so the quality is not in doubt.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s use feed additive from Ganeeta Formula Nusantara now! Our products serve to maintain and improve the health of your chicken digestive tract. Healthy chicken will certainly provide more benefits, both in terms of price and quality of production
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