All you need to know about poultry farming

A poultry farm is where domesticated birds are raised. Poultry include chickens, turkey, ducks, and geese. These animals are raised for their meat and eggs. Chickens are the most common bird raised for both meat and eggs. Chickens that are raised for their meat are called broilers. Chickens that are raised for their eggs are called laying hens or layers. Some special breeds of poultry are raised for shows and competitions.
Poultry farming is increasingly becoming profitable and lucrative and not only in Nigeria, but globally. . However, most of the literature about this enterprise tend to surround about the profitability side without tackling the how question. This has attracted many to take on the business by means of bandwagon, best to emerge as in losses.
In this post but, you will check up whether taking up poultry farming is a profitable funding given that it is extra centered on the economics of rearing birds. How lots you may spend on every hen every day and what are the expected returns?
The following are poultry farm activities:
•Preparing the chicken residence for the arrival of the chicks
•Feeding the chickens
•Tracking the conditions in the bird homes, along with temperature, humidity, and air best
•Tracking the feed and water traces to make certain they are imparting the chicks with lots of fresh water and fowl feed
•Monitoring the health of the chickens
•Cleansing the hen homes or coops
•Amassing eggs (for laying hens)
•Loading chickens onto vans for transferring to hen plants (for meat chickens)
Poultry Farming Techniques
There are several poultry farming techniques which will be looking into, and they are;
Indoor with higher welfare
Chickens are kept indoors however with extra area (around 12 to 14 birds consistent with rectangular meter). They have got a richer surroundings for instance with herbal mild or straw bales that inspire foraging and perching. The chickens grow greater slowly and live for up to two weeks longer than intensively farmed birds. The benefits of better welfare indoor structures are the decreased boom price, much less crowding and extra opportunities for natural behavior.

Free-range
Free-range chicken farming consists of poultry authorized to roam freely in preference to being contained in any way. In some cases this indicates the chicken are raised on pasture, permitting the poultry to move around, forage for their natural weight-reduction plan and live in cleaner conditions than those in batteries. In a few farms, the manure from free variety hen may be used to gain plants.
The blessings are also a reduced growth rate and possibilities for natural behavior together with pecking, scratching, foraging and workout outdoors, in addition to fresh air and sunlight hours. Because they develop slower and have possibilities for exercise free-range chickens have better leg and coronary heart health and a much better best of life.
Finding suitable land with good drainage to minimize worms and coccidial oocysts, appropriate safety from triumphing winds, exact ventilation, get right of entry to and safety from predators can be tough. Extra warmness, bloodless or damp could have a dangerous impact at the animals and their productiveness. Unlike other farms, free-range farmers have little control over the food their animals encounter that could result in unreliable productiveness.
In natural systems, chickens also are unfastened-variety. Natural chickens are slower growing, extra conventional breeds and stay usually for around eighty one days. They grow at 1/2 the charge of intensive chickens. They\’ve a bigger space allowance outside (as a minimum 2 square meters and occasionally up to 10 square meters in keeping with chicken).

Yarding
Even as frequently careworn with free-range farming, yarding is without a doubt a separate technique of rooster culture by means of which chickens and cows are raised together. The distinction is that free-range chicken are either absolutely unfenced, or the fence is so remote that it has little impact on their freedom of movement. Yarding is common approach used by small farms inside the Northeastern US.
Each day releases out of hutches or coops lets in for instinctual nature for the chickens with protections from predators. The hens normally lay eggs both on the ground of the coop or in baskets if furnished via the farmer. This approach may be complicated if used with roosters even though, broadly speaking because of trouble getting them into the coop and to clean the coop at the same time as it\’s far internal. This territorial nature is obvious whilst out of doors in which they have a brood of hens and every so often even informal land claims. this could endanger people ignorant of the existence of the territories who\’re attacked by way of the larger birds.

Intensive chicken farming
In egg-producing farms, birds are normally housed in rows of battery cages. Environmental situations are automatically managed, which includes mild period, which mimics summer time day length. This stimulates the birds to hold to lay eggs all year spherical. Usually, significant egg production handiest happens in the warmer months. Critics argue that yr-round egg manufacturing stresses the birds more than ordinary seasonal production.
Meat chickens, generally referred to as broilers, are floor-raised on muddle such as wood shavings or rice hulls, indoors in weather-managed housing. Poultry manufacturers automatically use nationally approved medications, which include antibiotics, in feed or consuming water, to deal with disorder or to prevent disease outbreaks bobbing up from overcrowded or unsanitary situations. within the U.S., the country wide organization overseeing fowl manufacturing is the food and Drug management (F.D.A.). Some F.D.A.-authorized medicinal drugs also are approved for stepped forward feed usage. In the U.S., federal law prohibits the usage of hormones or steroids in fowl production.
In egg-generating farms, cages allow for more birds in keeping with unit area, and this allows for greater productiveness and decrease area and food fees, with extra efforts placed into egg-laying. within the U.S., as an example, the present day advice by means of the United Egg producers is sixty seven to 86 in² (430 to 560 cm²) consistent with bird, which is ready nine inches by way of 9 inches. Cutting-edge chicken farming may be very efficient and allows meat and eggs to be available to the client in all seasons at a decrease value than free range manufacturing, and the chicken don\’t have any exposure to predators.
The cage surroundings of egg producing do no longer permit birds to roam. The closeness of chickens to one another frequently causes cannibalism. Cannibalism is managed by means of de-beaking (getting rid of a part of the fowl’s beak with a warm blade so the chook cannot effectively percent). Any other condition that may arise in prolific egg laying breeds is osteoporosis. This is induced from year-spherical rather than seasonal egg production, and effects in chickens whose legs cannot help them and so can now not stroll. at some point of egg manufacturing, large quantities of calcium are transferred from bones to create eggshell. Even though dietary calcium tiers are good enough, absorption of dietary calcium isn\’t always constantly enough, given the depth of production, to completely replenish bone calcium.
Underneath extensive farming strategies, a meat chicken will stay less than six weeks before slaughter. This is half the time it would take historically. This compares with free-variety chickens as a way to usually be slaughtered at 8 weeks, and natural ones at around 12 weeks.
In extensive broiler sheds, the air can grow to be extraordinarily polluted with ammonia from the dropping. This may damage the chickens’ eyes and respiration systems and can motive painful burns on their legs (known as hock burns) and feet. Chickens bred for immediate boom have an excessive price of leg deformities because they can\’t guide their elevated body weight. Due to the fact they cannot move without problems, the chickens aren\’t able to adjust their environment to avoid heat, cold or dirt as they would in natural situations. The delivered weight and overcrowding also places a stress on their hearts and lungs. In the U.K., up to 19 million chickens die of their sheds from coronary heart failure each year.
There are certain poultry equipment that should be brought to consideration when trying to set up a poultry farm. Some of those equipments are;
*Feeders; Feeders are equipments utilized in feeding chicken birds. The meals are deposited within the feeder and the birds feed from it. The amount of feeders supplied for a hen farm should be consistent with to quantity of birds to be had. It\’s far vital which you constantly hold the feeders clean to ensure the fitness safety of the birds
*Heaters or Brooders; It\’s far essential that the temperature of the poultry farm be regulated specially all through bloodless climate. The heater or brooder is an system used in regulating and growing the temperature of the fowl farm. those facilitates to hold the birds warm when the weather is cold.
*Incubators; That is an instrument utilized in hatching eggs. Egg hatchery with an incubator can be defined as a way of hatching of eggs in an unnatural way. these method can be employed when there are numerous eggs to be hatched
*Chick box; The chick box is an system in which the hen birds are stored for egg laying. It has a roll away egg tray connected to it so that after eggs are layed, they roll away and the birds will no longer trample at the eggs. This particular equipment assist in stopping egg harm.
*Fly tray; This is an equipments utilized in controlling the wide variety of flies around a poultry farm. It helps to hen farmer reduce the wide variety of flies in the chicken.
*Poultry plucker rubber finger; This is an gadget carried out to chook dressing machine. These rubber arms are fixed to the lowest and facet plate of the of the dressing system a good way to produce many dressed hen in a brief length.
*Egg tray; This is an equipments utilized in putting the eggs. Just like the call, it is a tray-like system where the eggs are place for sampling.
*Poultry incubator controller; This is an equipments used for controlling the incubator and timer counter. It presentations the temperature and humidity condition of the incubator.
*The ventilation fan; This is an equipments used for making sure most air flow inside the chicken farm. It is also an equipment used in reducing the temperature of the rooster farm in the course of a hot climate.
*Laying nest; is another device that help the birds in laying eggs. One of the blessings of this device is that it will increase the egg productiveness of the hen birds.
*Egg scale; is an equipment used in weighing the burden of the eggs. It allows the poultry farmer recognize the eggs that are fertile enough for hatchery due to the fact it\’s miles assumed that an underneath weight egg does no longer have what it take to form a chick.
*Egg washer; is a system that makes use of a powder known as the egg washing powder. Water is brought into the egg washing machine and then the egg washing powder is added also. It’s miles used for washing the eggs earlier than delivery.
*Water pots and drinkers; Neat water is required for growth and digestion in rooster birds similar to in humans. Therefore, the drinkers are equipments used for offering water to the birds. You need to ensure that the drinkers are washed frequently to avoid ailment.
*Cages and coops; this poultry equipments is used for keeping hen birds. Coops and cages are chicken equipments suitable for small scale hen farming.
*Dressing machine; that is a system used for feathering birds after slaughter. The usage of a dressing device makes hen dressing easier, easy and hygienic.
Finally, using defensive apparel for people could be very important. Unique shielding clothing like hair caps, disposable sleeves, boots and coverall are required to avoid switch or contamination from the birds to guy or from guy to the birds. Also, it\’s far essential to make certain that traveler disinfect their fingers earlier than touching the birds.

Poultry feeds
Poultry feed is food for farm birds, inclusive of chickens, ducks, ducks and different home birds. Before the 20th century, chicken have been commonly stored on fashionable farms, and foraged for a great deal of their feed, ingesting insects, grain spilled through cattle and horses, and plant life around the farm.
Some of the chicken feeds are;
Starter Chicken Feed
Starter feed is a protein dense form of chicken feed designed to satisfy the dietary necessities of child chicks. Typically talking baby chicks can stay effectively on a weight-reduction plan of starter feed and water for the primary 6 weeks in their life before progressing onto grower feed. The high protein content, usually among 20-24%, enables younger chicks grow into playful pullets, but it’s imperative that you phase out the starter feed once they may be 6 weeks old, otherwise the extra protein can reason liver harm.
To complicate topics, there are kinds of feed known as starter/grower feed, which is essentially a kind of feed that chickens can eat from 1-20 weeks of age. but usually examine the label and consult the closest poultry guru when you have any doubts.

Grower Chicken Feed
Grower feed in many approaches is like bird feed for teenage chooks. The nutritional requirements for a chook among 6 to 20 weeks old may be very specific from a infant chick. Essentially grower feed contains a protein content that is between 16-18% but has much less calcium than normal layer feed. In an egg shell, grower feed supports the persevering with growth of your teenage chookies without bombarding them with needless nutrients and minerals which might be greater ideal for absolutely grown laying hens. As soon as your ladies start laying eggs that’s a very good signal that they\’re equipped for layer feed.

Layer Chicken Feed
For maximum of your flock’s life their diet will predominantly encompass scrumptious layer feed. Layer feed has a creative stability of protein, calcium and other nutrients and minerals that encourages top tier egg laying abilities in your flock. Protein sensible layer feed contains similar degrees of protein to grower feed, round 16-18%, but has greater calcium to ensure that their eggshells are crisp, clean and crunchy. Feeding layer feed to child chicks or younger pullets but will not meet their unique nutritional requirements. Layer feed must most effective be fed to chickens around 20 weeks of age or when they have started out to lay eggs.

Mash
To place it actually mash is a loose and unprocessed version of bird feed. Just like the feel of potting soil, mash is the greatest style of bird feed commonly available. Mash is generally used for infant chickens, as it is easy to digest, but it is not unusual for completely mature chooks to be fed mash. Some hen women or Lads combine mash with warm water to create porridge like texture that your flock will like to chow down on. Take into account but of the truth that this method can motive the feed to run out greater speedy. The principle problem with mash forms of fowl feed is that its texture often effects in an increase of incidental waste, so bare that during thoughts.

Crumble
In easy terms crumble is a rough sort of mash but no longer as compact of pellets. Reminiscent of the texture of oatmeal, collapse is a semi-loose kind of fowl feed that is barely easier to control than mash. Some chook lovers use collapse to bridge the gap among mash and pellets for his or her flock. Others claim that their ladies just really decide upon the crumbly texture. Something your reasons for the use of fall apart rather than mash or pellets at the quit of the day it shouldn’t make any vast distinction in your flock’s health.

Pellets
Pellets are possibly the maximum commonplace form of hen feed to be had. Similar to it sounds pellets are basically little compact cylinders of chook feed goodness. One of the benefits of the use of pellets is that they preserve their form nicle, which means they won’t visit waste if your women by chance knock their feeder over. Clean to control, store and serve, pellets regularly grow to be the first preference for maximum outside bird keepers.

Shell Grit
A few first time rooster keepers aren’t privy to the significance of shell grit of their flock’s weight loss plan. Shell grit basically serves two key functions. First of all, shell grit is a wealthy source of calcium that helps your girls form delicious eggs with robust and robust shells. Chooks that don’t get sufficient shell grit of their weight-reduction plan can become laying a huge sort of egg oddities that would flip even the most committed of hen fanatics off their eggcellent bounty. Secondly, chickens shop shell grit of their gizzard, which assists them in pulverizing their feed to help them digest their dindins conveniently. All mature chickens want shell grit of their weight loss plan and it must be served in a separate dish from their normal laying feed. Chickens are capable of modify their calcium intake so don’t be anxious about serving sizes an excessive amount of – most ladies will be able to tell after they’ve had enough.
Broiler sorts of bird feed are to be had for folks that are raising chickens for consumption. Without living at the specifics an excessive amount of there are 3 key varieties: starter, grower and finisher. Essentially, broiler varieties of bird feed are denser in protein, which inspires the flock to develop larger, faster. It is really no longer endorsed to feed your laying hen’s broiler sorts of bird feed, as the excess protein isn\’t constantly beneficial for your flock’s health.

Chicken Scratch
Chicken scratch isn\’t always the same as fowl feed. Try and consider chook scratch as a type of treat on your flock. maximum bird scratch varieties consist more often than not of cracked corn and other grains that chooks like to eat however are alas no longer superb their waistlines. Fowl scratch is a great supply of energy to your flock and also can assist heat their bellies on chilly wintry weather nights. However, constantly take into account that bird scratch isn\’t always the cornerstone of a health weight loss program – it is a delicious treat that each hen have to enjoy from time to time.

Medicated Vs Unmedicated
Medicated fowl feed is commonplace among starter and grower sorts as it is a clean manner to help save you coccidiosis and other chicken sicknesses in your flock. Medicated feed carries amprolium that is a chemical that allows protect your fowl from risky and deadly illnesses. This being said, do not use medicated feed in case your chooks have been vaccinated, as the effects of the amprolium are not compatible with the vaccination.

Fermented Feed
Fermenting your bird feed is a clean way to improve its nutrition and enzyme content of their food, as well as making the feed less complicated to digest to your chooks, whilst also neutralizing toxicity. Every other gain of fermented feed is that due to its density it enables your chickens feel fuller for longer. That means the weekly value of hen feed will decrease and your chickens will also do fewer droppings – EGGCELLENT!

Benefits of poultry farming
* Broilers consumption of feed is relatively very low even as it produces most viable quantity of meals for us. Chicken is capable of utilizing as its feed huge quantities of byproducts like bran, substandard grains, veggies and so forth. Which commonly cross as waste, consequently saving for the farmer a part of his fees closer to hen feed.
* Poultry farming is a continuous supply of profits. It is not seasonal and may produce income for the entire 12 months. Whilst chickens lay eggs between 6 to eight months, broilers take only 6 to 10 weeks to herald income. Meat, eggs, feathers and manure of hen and broilers are all sale-able and profits generating. Fowl farming in a small scale calls for only minimum area and that they may be reared even in the backyards of homes.
* It offers rapid go back on funding. Chook begin laying eggs in eight to 10 weeks and broilers can be bought for meat among 6 and 10 weeks
* It requires less investment compared to rearing other livestock.