Avian Production Management

MOULTING BY FEEDING ZINC 

• About 20g of zinc per kg in the layer diet (25kg of zinc oxide per ton feed) is used for a period of 5 days along with reduced photoperiod
• Then the birds are subjected to a regular laying ration containing 50 mg of zinc per kg diet (Normal level) and increased light period (14 to 16 hours)
• While on the high zinc program, hens will eat less than 10% of the normal amount of feed and will lose from 450 to 340g of their original weight within the first 7 to 10 days
• Egg production should stop by the fifth day after zinc feeding is started
• Birds will come back into production about 7 days after the high zinc diet is removed and peak egg production (75 to 80%) occurs depending upon the age at moult

Use of drugs and other compounds

• Compounds such as methalibure, enheptin, progesterone, chlormadinone, aluminium, iodine and others have been shown experimentally to effectively produce a moult