Monitoring health to maximise flock performance

摘要

Maintaining a flock in a healthy condition is a main task of management. Dr Egon Vielitz explains the types of diseases likely to be encountered then recommends monitoring strategies and also test routines. Health is the precondition for optimum performance. It is the prerequisite for the expression of the genetic potential, ie. maximum growth; feed conversion in the case of broilers; or in the case of breeders, rate of lay, quality of hatching eggs, egg size, hatchability and chick quality.