Maintaining chickens respiratory tract health is crucial to achieve productivity target. Moreover, if the chickens are kept using traditional cages (open house), then the air circulation also needs to be considered.
As experienced by Karyono, the owner of Bima Suci Farm, which is located in Karangtanjung, Lemahabang, Karawang Regency, West Java, Indonesia. In his conversation with Infovet, the man who has been in the broiler business since 10 years ago shared his problem.
“I’ve been in the broiler business for 10 years. Currently, the chicken business is uncertain due to declining market prices also the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation is even more difficult when chickens are attacked by disease outbreaks, “said Karyono.
Karyono, who now raises tens of thousands of broilers, is often bothered by the problem of high ammonia levels in the cage. The cause, he said, was due to poor air circulation in the cage.
“We rely on the wind from outside because we are still using an open house cage. If the wind is good, the air circulation in the cage is also good. Sometimes the air circulation is not good and not smooth, we try to add a fan but it doesn’t help much, “said Karyono.
If this is the case, the ammonia level in the house is high and the chickens are susceptible to disease. “Most of the chickens are coughing or have CRD. This causes the chicken’s appetite to decrease and lead to delay growth. So unfortunate if that’s the case,” he said.
CRD is caused by Mycoplasma gallisepticum. Based on data compiled by the Technical Education and Consultation (TEC) Medion team, it was reported that in the last three years, this snoring disease, become a threat in the business.
Karyono said that besides ammonia being a trigger for disease, it also resulted in complaints from residents around his farm. He also tried to overcome it by unloading the husks.
“Ammonia levels start to get high when the chickens are 10-12 days old and above, we start to clear the husks from the cage but not completely. So when the ammonia level is high and the wind is also decreasing, we will unload the husks little by little,” explained Karyono.
This treatment was quite helpful for Karyono, especially with the addition of AMMOTROL to suppress ammonia levels in his cage.
AMMOTROL is a water soluble powder product from Medion which contains Yucca extract. Giving AMMOTROL is able to reduce odors in the chickens area, reduce the Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), improve the health and productivity of chickens.
“We have used AMMOTROL for last 3-5 years. That has become more intense to suppress ammonia levels, which of course affects the growth of chickens,” said Karyono.
He added, “AMMOTROL is a herbal product, that certainly has no side effects. We give it to chickens from the age of 12 days until harvest at a dose of 125 grams per 225 liters.”
“We satisfied with the result since the smell of ammonia is reduced and does not spread. chickens also rarely get sick and have great FCR and body weight ,” he said Karyono hopes that the quality of AMMOTROL in helping to overcome ammonia problem in the cage will continue to be maintained.
“Hopefully the quality will continue to be maintained due to the farmers need this product. Before using AMMOTROL, surely ammonia still in high levels and becomes a problem. With AMMOTROL, the ammonia problem can be solved,” he concluded.