Housing Management is very important in poultry Farming business in Nigeria as it counts in farming healthy birds.

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Chickens are reared for different purposes, some are reared 

for meat only e.g. broilers, cockerel; some are reared for eggs

 production e.g. layers, harco; while some are reared for both 

purposes e.g. parent stock broilers.

BREEDS OF CHICKENS FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES

Chicken are classified into three for commercial purposes:

(a) Broilers

(b) Layers

(c) Cockerel

BROILERS

 They are specifically reared for meat production, 

they attain table size at 8 weeks but when boosted can attain 

table size at 6 weeks, they are usually called “table birds”.

LAYERS

These group of birds are kept solely for egg 

production, they start laying eggs from 18 – 2- weeks old, to 

attain maximum results in egg production, attention must be 

given to the quality of feed given to them.

COCKEREL

This group of birds are basically reared for meat 

production.

NOILERS

Noiler chickens are hybrid products of chicken developed from broilers and cockerels. Hence, they develop a lot of meat like broiler chickens and are very resistant to adverse conditions like cockerels and are able to withstand most common poultry diseases.

Hence the characteristics of broilers and Cockerel were combined in one bird to get a better breed of chicken

SECRETS OF SUCCESS IN POULTRY FARMING BUSINESS

 Production cost

By producing your own feed especially after brooding the birds, ensure you have the right feed formulation.

Large scale Farming

Poultry favours people who do it in large scale more than those doing in small scale, eg are you aware that the quantity of feed that will feed 200 chickens can also feed 250 chickens and get the same result, now the person who reared 250 makes profit than the person who reared 200 not minding the spent the same amount of money

No wonder large poultry farms keep growing while the small ones keep closing down, a neighbor of mine started with 50 broilers she has not been able to bring another bcos she lost so much money.

Chick Brooding

If you fail to brood your chicks within the first ten days of their arrival, it will affect them through out their lives, that is why it’s risky starting with “brood and sell” chicks.

You can loose all your Layers if you don’t brood them well, please pay attention when I will be teaching you brooding.

You may not Excel in poultry if you don’t take them to be your children, you don’t eat until they are satisfied, you don’t sleep until they have slept, if you blink an eye it may be disastrous.

SOME IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT POULTRY FARMING BUSINESS WE NEED TO KNOW

Be sure there are enough feeders, drinkers and space to ensure proper growth.

Avoid water spillage on the litter, so place water drinker on raised flat planks, then keep big stone or beer bottle on to to avoid the birds climbing on top of the water drinker

Water for chicken must be fresh, cool and clean, note that water intake will increase as temperature increases

For every grain of feed eaten by chicken it will need 2 – 3 mls of water supply, clean, fresh and cool water for the chickens

If you don’t supply enough water, it will affect the growth rate of the birds

Adjust the feed height weekly to the level of the back of the birds.

If you starve birds water for about three days they will go into molting resulting in drop of production.

Do not waiste feed, your profit is directly proportional to the cost of feed consumed, therefore do not fill the feeder to the full because it may lead to wastage, the best is to fill the feeder to one third full.

WHY SOME POULTRY BUSINESS CLOSE DOWN

1. Inability to choose your market

 who do you intend to sell to, it will determine the age at which you will sell.

2.  Inability to choose the best market for your bird type

 while some may Excel in Turkey, another may be Layers, what we see today is that everyone is into broilers.

 3. Lack of business plan 

Write business plan before you start off, many start only to discover they don’t have enough money to rear to the end, I was a victim of this in 2013

4. Wrong managers

 the expert will end up using your farm to set up his own, many are making this mistake even till today.

 5. Chosen the wrong bird 

 People will stop patronising you when they discover your chickens are always bad.

6. Unsuitable brooding room

 Effective brooding is non negotiable if you must succeed in poultry business

7. Wrong feed during brooding

 this is not professional at all, brood your chickens with quality super starter booster feeds for quality results.

8. Starting in a wrong way

 Life obeys principle of seedtime and harvest, if you steal from mentors to start be rest assured that business will die off

9. Using wrong organics

there are many fake information on organic poultry flying around, many are non-tested and people who practice ends up losing all their birds

POULTRY HOUSING SYSTEMS

  

There are two housing systems in poultry farming business, they are: 

a) cage farming system 

b) deep litter farming system

Cage farming system

This is a practice in which pigs, hens, rabbits, ducks and quail are imprisoned in factory farm cages.

Poultry Battery cages

There are housing systems which are mostly used for chicken rearing and suitable for several methods of animal production

Deep litter is an animal housing system, based on the repeated spreading of straw or sawdust material in indoor booths. …

The deep litter cultivation is a modern ecological breeding technique based on decomposing feces by microbiological methods, a post processing method for poultry Manure.

Advantages of cage system 

includes that it helps in rearing greater number of birds per space, it helps in proper record keeping, helps the farmer to identify poor birds, controls bird cannibalism and egg mating, it helps to to produce Clean eggs, easy control of diseases, easy control of feed wastage

Advantages of deep litter poultry Farming

it’s economical, hygienic, comfortable and safe to breed birds, easy control of diseases, increase efficiency in production, can use saw dust, grandnut etc as litters

HOUSING CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT

The first basic step in creating a good environment for the birds is to provide them with shade created like a house.

 The best house for the birds is the open sided constructed with solid base wall of about 1 – 3 concrete block coaches of 6 inches while the other side is open-sided covered with 1/4 inch wire mesh with controllable curtains of 4.5m high.

 The house should be made of concrete floor, the pen should be on a flat land not exposing to erosion and wind, a foot deep containing disinfectant should be constructed for visitors.

 During rainy season, the house is covered with black water proof nylon to prevent rain from entering the building and to help heat up the farm.           

Poultry houses are usually built with the length facing North and South while the breath faces east and west, the essence of this arrangement is to reduce the heat load in the house since it’s only the narrow end or breath of the house that will be facing sunrise and sunset.

POULTRY FARM SANITATION

(a) Always keep the doors of the poultry farm locked

(b) To avoid contamination and for other security 

reasons, do not allow visitors or strangers to enter the 

poultry house.

(c) Completely clean the house and remove all litter, 

feathers, dust, and manure, among others before 

bringing in new set of birds.

(d) Move all cleaning debris (broken pieces of rubbish) as 

 far from the poultry house as possible.

(e) Ensure that all windows and doors are screened with 

wire nets to prevent the entrance of wild birds.

(f) Constantly clean the feed rooms, storage areas 

 around the poultry house.

(g) Dispose dead chickens immediately either by burning 

 or burying

(h) Do not exchange equipment with any other from the premises

(i) Follow the recommended vaccinations carefully, 

report any strange signs to your veterinary doctor.

(j) Remove cobwebs from the house and cages

(k) Use of disinfectant and insects repellent must be regular to reduce diseases and pest

TIPS ON LITTER MANAGEMENT

Litters are materials used in covering the floor of a brooder 

house, it usually consists of wood shavings and maize cobs.

Litters must be managed to prevent unhealthy environment 

 and disease condition. To manage your litter, kindly do the 

following:

(a) Dry every fresh wood shavings before applying it

(b) Avoid introducing wet or dry damp shavings as litter 

 in the brooders house

(c) Finally, do not use saw dust, as it could cause 

 respiratory problems for the chickens.

CARE OF THE YOUNG CHICKS

Young chicks are usually kept in the incubator without 

feeding for 24hrs after hatching, after this they usually sold 

 as a day old chicks, they are kept in a small closed room 

 known as brooding house, this place has artificial heaters 

 that helps to keep the place warm, they can be there 

between 7 – 14 days depending on the temperature of the 

weather.

Effective brooding of chickens is dependent on the 

following:

• Tempreture
• Housing
• Relative humidity
• Ventilation
• Air composition