Impact of Heat Stress on Poultry Production

Heat stress is a major challenge in Poultry and dairy production, especially during the hot summer months. It occurs when birds/animals face difficulty in achieving a balance between body heat production and heat loss. This imbalance can lead to several health issues and production losses.

Poultry:

 ⬆ Mortality                    ⬇ Feed intake

 ⬇ Gut health                  ⬆ CFCR

 ⬇ Body weight             ⬇ Meat quality

 ⬇ Immunity                  ⬇ Egg production.

 ⬇ Egg weight                ⬇ Egg shell quality

 ⬇ Albumin height       ⬇ Hatchability

Mitigating strategies to reduce heat stress in poultry

 1. Drinker system management -

• Availability of drinking water
• Sufficient water flow (> 70 ml/minute/nipple drinker)
• Sufficient drinker space
• Additional drinkers for floor-reared flocks
• Keeping water temperature below 25°C
• Flushing water lines during the afternoon
• Vitamin and electrolyte supplements in the drinking water
• Installation of water tank inside the shed
• Pandhal and whitewash for water tank which is outside
• Underground water pipeline
• Covering of pipeline which is not underground

2. Ventilation and Farm management

• Do not disturb the birds during the hottest time of the day
• Adjust work schedules and lighting programs
• Management practices should be done in the early morning hours (beak trimming, transfer and vaccinations)
• Use foggers and misters – Adjust time on the basis of temperature and humidity.
• Using roof sprinklers during times of extremely high temperature
• Do not run the feeders during the hottest time of the day
• Increase the movement of air in open houses with stir fans - minimum velocity of 1.8–2.0 meters/ second
• Do not overstock cages
• Transport birds early in the morning or at night

3. Lighting Program

• Adjust the lighting program to provide more morning light hours - to encourage feed consumption
• Use a midnight feeding of 1–2 hours to provide an additional feeding
• Lower the intensity of light during the hottest time - to reduce bird activity.

4. Nutritional Management

• Avoid feeding times during hot periods of the day
• Feed distribution at early morning (1/3) & evening time (2/3)
• Feed type – mash /crumble - With crumble diets, presentation of large particle limestone
• Feed should be made denser with nutrients, vitamins, and minerals
• Usage of vegetable or highly digestible protein sources
• Formulate to digestible amino acid targets
• Usage of Fats or oils to adjust feed energy
• Vit. C , Vit. E and betaine
• Feed should be denser with nutrients, vitamins, and minerals
• Use of Maduramycin as an anticoccidials
• Dietary electrolyte balance (molar equivalence of Na+ + K+ – Cl-) - <250 mEq/kg
• Intellibond ZMC