The Top 10 Best Management Tips to Reduce Floor & Slat Eggs in Broiler Breeder Production

By Md. Forhad Hossain (MBA, MRurSc, GDip, DVM), Inghams Group Ltd, AU

Introduction:

The successful of broiler breeder flock depends on producing good quality hatching eggs, hatchability & quality day old chicks. The egg outside the nest box known as floor and slat eggs which can cause massive problems in the breeder flocks. Those eggs not only increase the risk of egg contamination but also reduce the productivity, hatchability and reduce the chick quality leading to increase 7day mortality and FCR in broiler production. Moreover, more labour is required to pick up floor or slat eggs and generate biosecurity threat in the hatchery. Flock achieving?<1% floor eggs are normal however,??>?5% floor eggs need to be investigated and action should take to solve the issues. Floor & slat eggs are not a new problem in poultry industry, but it continues readdress in breeder flock. Proper flock training & management tips could reduce this problem by more than one half.?

The Top 10 Best Management Tips to Reduce Floor & Slat Eggs in Broiler Breeder Production Phases are as follows:

i. Good Training of Hens:

Good management practice during rearing phase reduces the risk of floor eggs production.?

• Birds should have given to access similar slats type perches (1 perch / 500 birds) in rearing & production house. Slat access in early age (4 to5 weeks) is better to encourage them to use nest box in production house.
• Slat type perches (height not more than 45cm) should be placed under one nipple drinker line to encourage birds jumping on the slat & drinking.??
• It is better to avoid electric wares on drinkers and feed line in rearing house because birds would be nervous and scared to jump on slats in production house.
• Maintain pullet standard body because over body weight of hen are more prone to lay floor eggs.

??ii. Body weight & Male-Female Ratio:

Body weight & male female ratio is the most important factor to reduce the floor/slat eggs. It is necessary to control STD Body weight all time because over body weights are more prone to lay floor eggs. Male & female maturity also need to be synchronised. Male need to be 1 week ahead of female in sexual maturity. As a result, male may push the hens onto the slat and reduce floor eggs. However, overactive male may cause aggressive behaviour that led to hen mortality & increase slat eggs. Moreover, too many males can be barrier to female to go to nest. So, the male-female ratio is also impotent factor. The recommended ratio 1: 9 for slatted house & 1:10 for deep litter house.

iii. Litter:

Low level of litter depth (2-3cm) with proper tunnel ventilation helps to reduce the floor & slat eggs in the production house. Additional shavings may need to scratch areas at post peck production.

?iv. Lighting, Drinking & Feeding:

Light distribution should be uniform because it prevents the shadow in the shed. Hen likes?shadow spot instead of going to nest box. So uneven light distribution in the shed encourages birds to lay on floor or slat eggs and sometimes may lead up to 30% floor eggs. The light intensity should be at least 50-60 lux at floor level & it is also better to avoid high intensity at nest entrance.

Drinker space, type, and water flow rate also important to reduce the floor & slat eggs. Unadjusted belt drinkers encourage hen to lay under them. Similarly, too low nipple drinker height can cause the obstacle for the birds to go to the nest. Inadequate number of nipples or a low water flow rate can cause to stay longer time near the drinker lines and keep them off the nest. The recommended nipple & belt drinker space are 8-10 birds / nipple and 60-70 birds / belt respectively. The good practise is always keeping an eye at drip cups under the nipple. If they are dry nipples are not working, moist with a bit water means good pressure & a correct nipple height and too much water in drips cup (50% full or more) means too much water pressure. Low drinker line or more water pressure or combination of both need to be an adjustment immediately. The ideal water flow rate is 60-80 ml/min.

80% of the birds start lay eggs between 2 and 6 hrs after light on. So, in this period distracting activities for birds can cause floor and slat eggs. It is better to start feeding with in 30 min of light on or 6 hrs after light on. Moreover, inadequate feeder space may cause birds to hover around the feed line for long time instead of nesting. The recommended space of round & chain feeder for the hens are 12 hens/pan & 15cm/hen respectively and for the male 8male/round feeder. Male feeder running longer time may attract hens to stay in scratch area at peak egg laying time of the day and excessively drown to scratch area increase the floor eggs.???????????????????????????????????????????????

v. Stock density:

Heigh stock density (>5.5 birds/m2) in the shed would be put pressure on nest space as well as increase barrier to bird movement and may cause floor eggs.

?vii. Ventilation:

Proper ventilation is another important factor to reduce the floor/slat eggs. Ventilation should be maintained shed temp between 18 to 24°C. Uneven ventilation may cause to migrate the birds in comfortable areas in shed and increase floor eggs. In addition, during hot weather little or lack of air flow inside the nest makes uncomfortable for hen. Similarly, during winter, cross flow ventilation, side wall inlet ventilation could cause cold air in the nest. As a result, hens go out of the nest and lay eggs.

vii. Floors Walk & Egg Collection:

Floor walking also helpful to reduce laying on the floor. The house should be walked 10-12 times a day during first 3 weeks of lay to encourage birds on the slat. After that, Eggs should be collected minimum 4 times a day (6 times is better) and move hens to find nest on the slat.

viii. Nest & Egg Belt:

All nests need continuous maintenance to make them comfortable for the hens. Proper nest space is very important to reduce floor/slat eggs. Auto & Manual nest allow 5 birds/nest and 4 birds/nest respectively. Exceeding this recommendation will increase floor/slat eggs problems. The nest box should be clean and free of external parasites (mites) that can disturb hen to go the nest. It is good practise to have more than 20% extra nest pad to replace pad.??Automatic nest should be closed until to the first egg to introduce hen that the nest as a laying place not for sleeping. Auto next expel system should be opened 15 min before the light on and 30 min before the light off. Egg belt also need to be cleaned and should be washed and sanitized between the flock. The egg belt should start after first few eggs are laid to introduce the hen with belt sound & vibration.

?ix. Bird health & Medication:

Bird health is important factor to reduce the floor eggs. Unhealthy or sick birds are inactive and reluctant to go nest to lay egg. To keep bird healthy good management & robust biosecurity is necessary?(https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/step-poultry-breederbroiler-farm-biosecurity-md-forhad-/).?Deworming and IB vaccination programme also suggested to keep the safe.

?x. Equipment Layout:

Birds like to lay egg in the dark, so a curtain covering the nest entrance make dark and that attract by the hen to go to the nest. It is suggested that slat area would be 40-50% of total area with 7-10% slope. The slat height should be not more than 47cm above the floor and a slope of over 10°?is uncomfortable for the hens, leading to more floor eggs. Drinker & feeder line should be placed on the slat about 60 cm separately and the drinker line distance would be 60-70 cm from the nest entrance. Never place all the feed line on floor. The feeder height should be approximately 20cm from bottom of feeder. So, birds can move easily underneath the feed line.

Conclusion:

“Prevention is better than Cure”- Breeder farm manager always need to be proactive to reduce the floor egg problems. It is necessary to identify analytical tools such as % of floor egg in the term of the location (against the walls, next to the slat, near to fans, on the slat or next to feeders) and timing. Quick actions at the beginning of the floor eggs reduce the floor/slat egg problems in production house.

References:?

1. AHAW (2010). EFSA Panel on Animal Health & Welfare: Scientific Opinion on welfare aspect of the management and housing of the grand-parent and parent stocks raised and kept for breeding purpose. EFSA Journal 8(7):1667. Doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1667
2. Aviagen. (2018). Best Practice in the Breeder House: Preventing Floor Eggs. Retrieved from https://en.aviagen.com/assets/Tech_Center/Ross_Tech_Articles/Ross-BestPracticeFloor-Eggs-2015-EN.pdf
3. Bramwell, R Keith. Combating floor & slat eggs in the breeder house. Avian Advice Newsletter (Vol 2, no 2). University Of Arkansas
4. Cobb. (2018). Top 10 Management Tips to Minimise Floor Eggs. Retrieved from?https://www.cobb-vantress.com/academy/articles/article/academy/2015/04/04/top10-management-tips-to-minimize-floor-eggs
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7. https://www.fwi.co.uk/livestock/poultry/broilers/avoid-floor-eggs-breeding-flocks
8. https://en.aviagen.com/assets/Tech_Center/Broiler_Breeder_Tech_Articles/English/AVIA-BestPractice-Floor-Eggs-2015-EN.pdf
9. https://www.canadianpoultrymag.com/reducing-floor-eggs-17773/
10. https://canadianpoultry.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/breeder_nest_management.pdf