Poultry refers to all domesticated species of birds reared for the purpose of eggs, meat and feathers and these include the chicken, turkeys, ducks, quails, geese, guinea fowl etc.
The most important bird of the family however, is domesticated fowl or chicken (Gallus Gallus) domestics. Poultry production in Nigeria can be a pleasant and profitable business, provided it is carried out on scientific lines right from the beginning.
In this training session, we shall take you through all the circle of poultry farming, this includes feeding, brooding, laying, vaccination, type of poultry diseases, medications and lots more.
TABLE OF CONTENT
- Introduction
- Economic Analysis of 100 broiler production in Nigeria.
- Important factors to be considered in starting a poultry enterprise
- Brooding management of Birds
- Brooding system and equipment
- Feeding of birds
- Vaccination of birds
- Vaccination time table
- Drug usage
- Health management of birds
- Strains of birds
- Management of layers
- Poultry diseases
- Business plan
- Marketing.
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF 100 BROILERS PRODUCTION IN NIGERIA
RETURN ON INVESTMENT(ROI)
- Assuming 5% to 10% mortality of 100 birds
- We are left with 90 birds of 10% mortality.
- Average weight of each birds ranging from 2.5kg-3kg per bird
- 1 KG of chicken = 1,500 Naira
- Profit margin = 95 birds X 1,500 Per kilo X 3kg = #427,500
- Therefore ROI = sales – cost on investment 427,500-166,215= #261,285
IMPORTANT FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED BEFORE STARTING A POULTRY BUSINESS
- Location and size of the land
- The proposed size of the land
- System of poultry keeping
- Housing and equipment
- Feed requirements
- Sources of birds
- Management practises
- Market availability
- Financial requirement
BROODING MANAGEMENT OF BIRDS
BROODING SYSTEM ANDEQUIPMENT
- Brooding guard
- Feeders
- Drinkers
- Infra red light (Bulb)
- Disinfectants such as izal,dettol, germicide etc
- Wood shavings
- Charcoal pot
- Charcoal
- Newspaper
- Thermometer
FEEDING OF THE BIRDS
- Feeding is the most important factor in the management of chickens. In fact, the largest proportion of the money spent on raising broilers and pullets is due to the feed costs.
The following feeding regimen is recommended:
- Broiler chicks (0-5 weeks) = Broiler starter feed
- Broiler chick (6-10 weeks) = Broiler finisher feed
- Pullets (0-5 weeks) = chick mash
- Pullets (6-20 weeks) = Growers mash
- Pullets (up to 5% egg production) = Growers mash
- Laying birds = layers mash
VACCINATION OF BIRDS
- Poultry birds should be properly vaccinated at the right time. Poultry should be vaccinated against diseases such as new castle, gumboro, marek, and fowl pox.
- The schedule of vaccination varies from age to age and area to area. However, the following recommendations are widely applicable.
NEW CASTLE VACCINATION
- Vaccinate at day old or at least before the birds are one week old.
- Repeat vaccination at least 6 to 8 weeks and then at 14 to 16 weeks of age.
GUMBORO VACCINATION
- Vaccinate at day old or at 2 weeks of age (depends on the type of vaccine and 21 to 28 days later
MAREK VACCINATION
- Not for broiler birds. Vaccinate at day old or when birds are 1 week old.
FOWL POX VACCINATION
- Not for broilers to be sold before 10 weeks of age. Vaccinate at 5 to 7 weeks of age.
- Vaccination is the act of inducing the production of antibodies (disease fighters) through the administration of a vaccine. A vaccine is a preparation of killed, living and attenuated (modified or weaken) or living totally virulent micro organism which when placed on the body of the birds produces or increases immunities (resistance) to a certain disease
DRUG USAGE
- Drugs should be used under proper advice. Indiscriminate use of drugs should be avoided.
- Anti-biotic may be used in water for once every two to three weeks for 3 to 4 days, starting from the day the birds are brought into the farm. Some antibiotics preparations come with some added vitamins. Antibiotics may be used at more frequent time if the relevant authority says so.
- The poultry farmer is sure that no coccidiostat e.g. amprolium was added to the feed. It may be necessary to use this in the water. Coccidiostat (drug for controlling coccidiosis) may be added to the water from the second day for 3 consecutive days and thereafter. Once every 2 weeks until the birds are 6 weeks old. Particularly during the raining season, coccidiostat containing both amprolium and sulfaquinoxaline are best and are highly effective.
- Poultry birds should be dewormed every 8 weeks starting from 8 weeks of age. Deworm should be added to water for two consecutive days. If broilers are sold for less than 10 weeks, there id no need to deworm them. The manufacturer’s instructions must be followed when using any drugs. All drugs should be withdrawn at least one week before the birds are marketed.
HEALTH MANAGEMENT OF BIRDS
The following rules should be followed for good health management of birds:
- Only healthy stocks should be purchased. All poultry stocks should be purchased from poultry suppliers whose flock is known to be disease free.
- Birds of different ages and types should not be mixed together and preferably be reared in separate poultry houses.
- The same poultry attendants should not be used to attend to the birds of different ages.
- Birds should be reared in properly ventilated poultry houses.
- Adequate control of temperature, humidity and ventilation in the house should be maintained.
- The area within and outside the house should always be kept clean
- Grasses around the house should be constantly cleared
- Any excreta removed from the house should be disposed far away from the farm.
- Entry of visitors into the house should be prevented and at worst restricted. Where visitors are allowed in, they should be made to pass through the foot bath with disinfectant before entering the house. They should not be allowed to touch any equipment, eggs, birds or any product in the farm.
- Personnel working in the farm should be clean and wear clean overalls.
- All dead birds should be removed from the house as soon as they are noticed and should be properly disposed.
- Feed nutritionally balance diets. Some diseases are caused by nutritional imbalances.
- After each batch of birds, it is advisable to thoroughly clean and disinfect the poultry
- house before the next batch of birds are placed in the house.
STRAINS OF BIRDS
- There are various strains of birds available today in the market. The broilers are mainly white. The layers have three major colours which are; black, brown, white.
- The brown and black layers produce brown eggs while the white layers produce white eggs.
WHITE LAYERS
The white eggers are yet to be widely accepted although, some farmers keep them.
The white eggs are fewer and cheaper in the market compared to the brown eggs.
- They are mostly light breeds.
- They are nervous
- They require less feed to produce an egg
- Their carcass value after production cycle is very small which is about 2.0kg
- They produce about 320-335 eggs in 75 weeks
THE BLACK AND BROWN LAYERS
- They are mostly heavy breeds
- They are very docile
- Their feed consumption is slightly higher
- They produce about 316 eggs in 76 weeks
- Their cockerels grows faster than the white cockerels
- They are comparably more hardy and can withstand tougher conditions of weatherand diseases.
- Their carcass value is more after the production cycle which is about 2.28kg
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR FOR LAYERS
- Laying house mortality 12% a year
- Age at 5% egg production 147 days
- Age at 50% egg production 168 days
- Hen production at peak 187 days
- Kg of feed for a dozen egg 2.3kg
- Egg weight 59.5g
- Average feed intake per hen per day 135-140g
MANAGEMENT OF LAYERS
Various production and parameters are being used to measure the productivity of laying birds. These include egg quality, quantity, egg size, feed utilization, mortality rates etc. under good management practises, egg production ranging from 320-335 eggs per year is possible with some strains.
Ideally, egg laying is between 8:30am and 5:30pm in the day.
At the early phase of laying, the egg size is usually small but it
progressively increases.
- The first phase of laying lasts between eight and twelve weeks before the flock reaches the peak of egg production.
- The second phase involves a slight decline in number of eggs laid and may last for another twenty weeks. The third phase is characterized by reduced conversion rate of feed to .
HOW TO RECOGNISE PULLETS COMING TO LAY
Depending on the strains of the pullets, laying could start at 19 weeks of age for lighter strains and 22 weeks for heavier strains. The following characteristics could suggest that your chickens are about laying:
- Pullets start crackling, making noise
- Wattles and combs become larger, brighter and reddish
- Pullets start looking for laying nests.
SPECIFIC MANAGEMENT PRACTISES IN LAYER PRODUCTION
- LIGHTING : adequate lightening will enhance feed intake. 16hrs of light per day for effective performance.
- PROVISION OF NESTS
- COLLECTION OF EGGS
- BEAK TRIMMING. This is often done to reduce incidence of egg eating or cannibalism in the flock especially in overcrowded starving birds. Beak trimming is done to also reduce feather pulling and lower morality.
- FEED RESTRICTIONS: this is a process whereby pullets are systemically denied feeds. The purpose of this practice is to ensure that they don’t put on too much fat before they come to lay, since excessive fat deposit can reduce the number of eggs that can be layed.
- MOULTING: This is a process whereby birds shed their feathers and grow new ones.
- CULLING: This is removal of unproductive birds from a flock.
FACTORS INFLUENCING LAYING PERFORMANCE
- Good quality birds
- Good lightening system to stimulate the endocrine system. Provide 24hrs light for birds for the first week of life and gradually reduce to 19hrs at 4 weeks. For effective performance, laying birds needs 16hrs of light daily. The natural light can serve this purpose. Laying birds are not to be given light at night except if on medications.
- Good nutrition
- Clean and fresh water availability
- The right feeders and drinkers should be provided for effective performance.
POULTRY DISEASES
Gumboro Disease (Viral Disease Of Chicken)
Clinical Signs:
- Listless
- Depressed
- Pale
- Droopy
- Sleepy
- Whitish diarrhoea
- Death
PREVENTION
- The house and equipment should be cleaned, washed, disinfected and fumigated with 1% formalin after a gumboro disease outbreak
- Vaccination
- Good hygiene
- Avoid stress
MANAGEMENT
- No specific treatment. You can give antibiotics to protect them from other infection
POULTRY DISEASES
New Castle Disease (Viral Disease)
Clinical signs:
- Depression
- High mortality rate within 3-5 days
- Respiratory or nervous signs
- Laboured breathing
- Wheezing and gurgling
- Coughing or sneezing
- Paralysis or twisted neck
- Drop in feed consumption
- Drop in egg production
- Poor egg shell quality.
- Greenish diarrhoea.
PREVENTION
- Vaccination
- Good hygiene
- Avoid stressing them
POULTRY DISEASE
Fowl Pox
Clinical signs
- In the wet pox, there appears cheesy patches or growth on the mucous membranes of the mouth, tongue or oesophagus
- In the dry form, there are nodules on the comb, wattle and skin of the head.
- Depression
- Lack of appetite
- Difficulty in breathing
- Temporal drop in egg production
PREVENTION.
- Vaccination
- Good hygiene
MANAGEMENT
- Remove dried nodules and apply skin ointment or iodine
POULTRY DISEASE
Mareks Diseases
Day old chicks are infected through the oral and respiratory
routes. The diseases starts manifesting as at point of lay.
Clinical Signs:
- Reduced weight
- Paralysis that makes the bird to lie on its sides with one leg stretched forward and the other backward.
PREVENTION
- Purchase birds from hatcheries without history of the disease.
- Good hygiene
- Vaccination at day old
MANAGEMENT
- No treatment
OTHER POULTRY DISEASE
- EGG DROP SYNDROME (EDS)
- FOWL CHOLEA
- CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISEASE (C.R.D)
- PULLORUM DISEASE
- FOWL THYPHOID
- INFECTIOUS CORYZA
- COCCIDIOSIS
- HELMINTHIASIS
- LICE INFESTATION
- MITES INFESTATION
- MALABSORPTION SYNDROME
- RICKETS
- VITAMIN DEFFICIENCY
- INFECTIOUS SYNOVITIS
- THRUSH OR MONILIASIS OR SOUR CROP DISEASE
- SPIROCHAETOSIS (TICK FEVER)
- ASPERGILLOSIS
- MISCELLANEOUS ABNORMALITIES
MARKETING
- Poultry meat have a high demand in the market because of it soft fleshing nature and low cholesterol can be sold either as eggs, live birds, frozen chicken or processed.
- The meat is always available since it is used for various purposes as food for man feeds for livestock and so on.
MARKET TARGET AUDIENCE
- Restaurant
- Eateries
- Community people
- School hostels
- Bakery
- Hotels
- Event managers
- Market vendors(men and women into the sales of chicken)
FOR MORE ENQUIRIES AND CONSULTATIONS
Contact us via +2347018774396 or +2347069219331. Info.idixcover@gmail.com