Managing Stress in Birds

Stress is a term which is very commonly used in today’s poultry and livestock rearing. Although the classical school of thought has always considered within the prism of “Heat Stress” which is true and holds its essence in today’s poultry and livestock rearing. However, with the advancement in the rearing of poultry and livestock, there has been lot of measures which have been taken to improve the productive parameters of birds. This has been possible primarily due to strong genetic selection along with nutritional interventions followed by improved management of birds within their houses.

With the advancement in the productive parameters in birds, there has been surge in other forms of stressors in birds which is beyond the classical “Heat Stress.” The most important among them is the production itself which poses a hefty brunt on the overall capacity of the birds to perform. The birds are forced to reach a specified productive parameter within a specified period and this puts the birds in severe kind of stress called as “Production Stress.” Since having a desired production is paramount to ensure profitable poultry rearing, this form of stress becomes ubiquitous to the current form of poultry rearing practices. Therefore, this form of stress needs to be managed to ensure optimization of performance within the genetic limits of the birds.

Additionally, there are other forms of stressors other than production or heat stress which are present in the current intensive poultry rearing which need to be managed well as they also cannot be taken out from the way poultry is reared in current times. These stressors include vaccination, diseases, crowding etc.

In this article we would like to touch upon first the classical stressor which is “Heat Stress.” Since there is already start of hot climate in India and the subcontinent, it becomes even more important to address this important stressor and the effect it has on the productivity of birds and the ways it can be managed.

Heat stress is a condition in chickens (and other birds) caused by high temperatures, especially when combined with high relative humidity and low airspeed. Older birds, heavy breeds, and broilers are often more susceptible to heat stress. The main factor leading to heat stress more commonly seen is Environmental changes like high temperature, increased humidity, lack of ventilation, nutritional errors, faulty housing and so on.

Heat Stress has a direct consequence on the productive performance in birds by declining the performance, increasing the mortality, reducing the carcass quality, impaired egg production, reduced egg quality etc. This impacts the profitability and incurs huge losses if not taken into quick consideration. Primarily heat stress in birds is caused by the increase in the environmental and body temperature of birds, which triggers a series of adverse physiological processes, if not treated in time. Furthermore, due to limited thermoregulatory capacity in birds of not able to dissipate heat via sweating, it becomes even more critical.

The physiology of Heat Stress is same as that of other forms of stressors which involves a neuro-endocrine function where in hypothalamus activation leads to series of hormonal changes within the body to combat the stress. However, as inflammation is a protective mechanism of body against the pathogens but has its consequences which compromises certain functions within the body. Similarly, the protective physiological mechanism of body against the Heat Stress has some exacerbated effects which effects the normal functioning of many organ systems and thereby impacts the productivity in birds. Thus, it becomes very important to support these birds during these times of stress to ensure that they fight the stress through their physiological capacity and do not have any impact on the productivity and performance.

Various measures are taken right from correcting the faults in the house management until the nutritional changes to overcome the effects of stress in birds. Some of the most prominent steps for managing the Heat stress in birds are mentioned below:

• Use good quality of sanitizer.
• Provide clean and cool water to all birds.
• Provide electrolytes and Vitamin C, B-complex vitamin, and vitamin E.
• Increase drinkers in the house

• Since feed intake is reduced, to maintain the energy balance, increase the Fat% in the diet.
• Early morning feeding of birds should be practised
• Increase Lysine and Methionine in the diet
• Supplement extra vitamins and minerals in the diet to counter the loses
• Available phosphorus of the diet should be increased
• Supplementation of Vit-C/Vit-E is recommended in the diet
• Supplementation of Soda bicarbonates to reduce the effect of egg shell quality

• Roof management with sprinklers and thatching with grass, paddy straws etc
• White washing of the roof with lime
• Wet gunny curtains on both sides of the house in case of completely open housing
• Use of foggers and ceiling fans
• Reduce the stocking density to ensure more space per bird
• Provide sufficient cold water all the time

In addition to the above general practices which can be adopted, there can be some nutritional additions as well which can be done to help managing and mitigating the stress in birds (Heat Stress and others). One such solution is Rosbiocee from the house of Rossari which is a natural adaptogen to dwindle stress in birds. This solution based on phytogenic compounds helps in the optimization of performance during stressful conditions by managing the neuro-endocrine function of the stress physiology and thus helps birds to resist the stress naturally without having any effect on the productive performance in birds.

Furthermore, Rossari also offers water solutions like Rosselectro-C which is combination of required electrolytes and Vitamin-C which helps birds specially in the events of severe heat stress.

Together with the combined approach of Nutritional intervention followed by other managemental practices, the stress and more precisely the Heat Stress in birds can be managed well and would cease to create any damage to the poultry rearing.