By Herbert Musoke
Debeaking is the act of reducing the length of the beak of poultry birds to prevent feather pulling and reduce damage caused by injurious pecking.
By doing so, it will improve the productivity of the birds.
Dr Geoffrey Mukama, a veterinary doctor with Kafiika explains that many farmers cause harm to their chicken because they cut part of the body of the bird. Some also take long before debeaking which affects the bird’s production and productivity leading to losses.
“When it (debeaking) is not done the right way, the birds’ food intake will reduce until the wound on the beak heals,” he says adding that this would lead to weight loss hence affecting egg productivity (if the birds are layers).
For the broilers, he explains that debeaking is not necessary as they are raised for a maximum of three months. At this age, they are likely to cause less harm to one another. Therefore, because you want to disarm the birds, only remove the hook.
Mukama stresses that debeaking should be done before 12 weeks of age to avoid carry-over effects into the egg-laying age which might cause disruptions and losses.
“To have a uniform debeaking process, we need to use a blade that has a plate with a hole in front. This also prevents pulling the beak too far. While debeaking, only cut the white part because the brown part is sensitive and once cut, the birds will not eat, affecting their performance,” he explains.
According to Mukama, farmers should religiously feed birds because If they are well-fed, there is no need for them to debeak each other.
