The Effect Of Ecological Stocking Of Green-shelled Egg Layers

In order to investigate the effect of ecological stocking of blue-shelled egg layers,in the first part of this study the different rearing methods were compared, pointing outthe advantages and disadvantages of cage rearing and ecological stocking as well as itsinfluence on the egg layer’s laying performance and economic benefits. In the secondpart, the ecological stocking technology of blue-shelled egg layers is explored from theaspect of rearing and management through the in-depth investigation of the stockingsituation of Lushi blue-shelled egg layers, in order to provide references for thetechnology promotion of future ecological stocking of blue-shelled egg layers.The experiment was carried out at Lushi egg layers breeding base in LushiCounty, Sanmenxia City from July to December in2011. Feed a batch of chickling to8week old and then rear them in breeding farm and farmhouse respectively accordingto caged rearing and ecological stocking. Have a comparative analysis of caged egglayers (2000egg layers) and stocking egg layers (700egg layers per farmer,5standardized-breeding farmers) when the egg layers were26weeks old. Of the fivefarmers, each of three farmers’ orchards was20mu; one farmer’s woodland is10mu;one farmer’s hilly grassy slope is40mu.The caged group adopted semi-closed henhouse with three-tier ladder cagesfacing the south. The henhouse roof was covered with50cm insulated materials. Thehenhouse was equipped with automatic rolled curtains, artificial lighting, artificialfeeding, and automatic nipple-feeding water system. The chickens were fed by self-made full price feed and immunized according to standard immune procedure. Theautomatic dung cleaner cleaned hen dung regularly.The ecological stocking group used stocking plus feed mending. Chickens mainlyingested natural food like green grass and insects. The chickens were supplied withsmall amount of feed and plenty of water with natural illumination and immunizedaccording to immune procedure. Five farmers’ feeding situations were collected andthe average value was calculated. The data of the one-year feeding cost and income were collected and collated byway of site statistics and questionnaire.To research and study deeply the blue-shelled egg layers’henhouse constructionspecification, parameters analysis,feed formulation, feed supplying, feeding conditionsand immune procedure under ecological stocking conditions;and to find out thevarious breeding problems.The results show:1. The average laying rates of the ecological stocking and thecaged in laying period respectively are40%and55%, a significant difference betweenthe two (P<0.05); the egg weight average of the caged is significantly higher than thatof the ecological stocking （52.63g vs45.45g）（P<0.05）; the average eggnumber(165vs120) of the caged is significantly higher than that of the ecologicalstocking. From this study we can find the laying rate of blue-shelled egg layers withboth feeding methods is not high, whereas daily feed consumption of ecologicalstocking is clearly lower than that of the caged.2. The analysis of economic benefit with different feeding methods: the resultshows the benefit of the caged is44.76yuan per chicken whereas the ecologicalstocking is59.39yuan per chicken, so the latter is32.7%higher than the former.Although the levels of the two feeding methods are different, the overall economicbenefits are comparatively higher.3. The investigation of Lushi blue-shelled egg layers demonstrates there arecommon problems in the aspect of henhouse building, feed formulation for stockingchickens, volume of feed supply, living environment, and immunity procedure, etc.The conclusions are that the Lushi blue-shelled egg layer’s laying performanceof the caged is higher than that of the ecological stocking and the ecological stocking’sbenefit is much higher than that of the caged. A comprehensive supporting technologyis proposed for the ecological stocking of the blue-shelled egg layers combined withenvironmental factors like temperature, humidity, illumination period, topography,local vegetation, insects, water through the investigation of the Lushi blue-shelled egglayers’ ecological stocking around Lushi County.