Every year there are more and more people raising poultry in private plots and on their own farms. At the same time, newcomers are faced with problems that they did not suspect and do not know how to deal with them without losing livestock. For example, how and why to trim the beak of mulards, at what age is this done. Beginning farmers really need answers to these questions.
Why do you need to trim ducks' beaks?
Mulards are a hybrid breed obtained by crossing musk and white Peking ducks.They are easy to care for, grow quickly and gain weight, withstand difficult conditions, at the age of 7 weeks they already weigh 4 kilograms and are suitable for slaughter.
Despite the obvious advantages of mulards, they have a serious drawback: the birds are aggressive and often peck at their relatives. These ducks tend to pluck feathers from their neighbors in the house and then pick out the resulting wounds. Birds with bald spots in their plumage look strange, suffer from pain, and if the wounds become infected, they can die.
In place of the torn feathers, stumps form, this spoils the presentation of the carcass and reduces its value. There is constant noise in the goose barn; the mulards quickly lose their tails and begin to eat poorly, which is why weight gain decreases.
The exact causes of pecking are unknown; birds can show aggression in the following cases:
- the presence of cocky individuals in the flock;
- unbalanced diet, lack of feed;
- crowded pens for birds;
- lack of water;
- a small number of drinkers and feeders, which forces mulards to fight for food;
- systematic overfeeding of ducks;
- bright light, humidity, violation of the conditions in the poultry house.
In addition, the skin glands of mulards produce oil; when these glands malfunction, the skin dries out, and the birds begin to peck and pull out feathers on themselves or each other.
Many farmers track aggressive individuals and remove them from the main stock, but this does not always help stop cannibalism in the flock. Another way to try to avoid fighting is to give the birds salt water, but then make fresh water freely available. Reducing lighting also helps stop fights.All these measures are a temporary measure; after a short period of time the problems return.
How does this help?
Beak trimming is called debeaking. It is performed on children up to 3 weeks of age; later periods of surgery affect the rate of weight gain. Beak-cut ducks suffer from pain and refuse to feed in the first days after surgery.
Important: the beaks of different types of poultry are trimmed, but Indian ducks and mullards are the most prone to cannibalism.
Subsequently, after 2-3 weeks, the beak heals completely, but no longer has a sharp tip and is not capable of causing damage. In addition, birds with beaks trimmed are less aggressive and act with caution.
Required Tools
Industrial poultry farms have devices for beak trimming that have high productivity. At home, dewetting is done with scissors, garden pruners, and experienced farmers use a soldering iron for this. If you lack the skill, especially if the owner is going to carry out the procedure for the first time, it is better to seek the help of a more experienced assistant or call a veterinarian. To treat the wound after pruning, an iodine solution is needed.
Methods and rules for pruning
Debugging is not carried out on weakened and sick birds; they are separated from the main stock. The beak of such mulards can be trimmed only after full restoration of health and strength.
5-7 days before surgery, birds are given anti-stress vitamins.The bird is held firmly by the neck, 2-3 millimeters of the upper part of the beak are cut off with sharp scissors; after trimming, the wound must be cauterized with a pharmaceutical solution of iodine. The procedure is mandatory for the entire flock; even one bird with an untrimmed beak that ends up in a treated flock can cripple the entire flock.
After the procedure, the birds are offered enhanced nutrition; no additives are used that change the taste of the food. Provide livestock with clean drinking water. To prevent birds from going hungry, increase the number of feeders. Pruning promotes weight gain, significantly reduces mortality, the nest becomes quieter, and the birds do not start fights.
The procedure is unpleasant for the birds, but necessary; without it, feed costs increase with weight loss, the entire flock suffers from cannibalism, and can die from pecking or from infection in the wound.
