It is the season of love, cheerfulness and peace; the time we call Christmas feliz na vidad.
Poultry farming is raising of various types of domestic birds for the main aim of producing meat, eggs or feathers as the case may be. Poultry meat and eggs are one of the most consumed proteins in cuisine throughout the world. So is this a lucrative business to involve in or not? The answer to this question made my mum start her poultry farm because poultry farming is a lucrative business. We started with 100 birds last year of Broilers and Noilers and being the first year as you would expect there were few losses which have been learnt from, so this year we made buy of 60 Broiler chicks and turkey September of this year with plans to market them this season of #Christmas. Although still amateur but I would like to give my insight on rearing poultry birds it only take few steps to get on the right track and these steps I have put in 5 (five) steps:-
• Decide which chicken products to focus on • Set location of your poultry farm
• facilities and equipments for the farm
• Buy starter chick from a trusted farmer (supplier)
• Maintaining a proper health and feeding program
To decide which chicken products to focus on you need to have the knowledge so it’s best to do research either from the internet or just meet a more experienced farmer to learn. Get to know the business areas;
- Broiler, Noiler chicken for meat
- Layers chicken for egg production and meat
- Hatchery factory
- Chicken processing
- Turkey
Ps. the above categorization is based on personal experience, so choose whichever niche you depending on your budget by the way. Consult an expert in this area if you don’t want to lose unnecessary money.
In selecting poultry some factors need to be considered; access to road, medical facilities, adequate security, power and clean water. The poultry could be sited far from residential area or just slightly but I got my as a home farm, but you got to take good care of the poultry to avoid smelling and unpleasant odor.
The Facilities and equipment used for poultry depend on your resources from the rain, sunshine, wind; pest and disease are considered also. We got Intensive, Extensive and semi-intensive housing system depending on the type of fowls you rear. Some of the essential poultry farming equipment are;
• Feeders
• Waterers
• Nests
• Ventilation system
• Lighting instruments
• Egg tray.
Buying starter chicks could be tricky sometimes as you could end up buying the wrong set of chick which could cause loss before they even start because some already diseased or suffering from malnutrition.
Maintaining a good health and hygienic environment could be a really tough task, it requires a lot of time and work so it’s best you employ workers if you will not have the time and dedication. In case you are wondering why you have to always clean the poultry, to avoid smell and unpleasant odor in the environment. Feeding is also considered as a big effect in poultry farming because the more they eat the bigger they become.
“Now I will tell you something you probably know about; whichever bird
you decide to rear always be prepared to feed them.”
Also, we should not forget about the medication and drugs administered to poultry birds as they get caught with disease which are majorly airborne and thus spread rapidly, so it is important to prevent them as the saying goes
‘prevention is better than cure’
getting them vaccinated against flus and pox like Coccidiosis, fowl pox, Gumboro and etc. provide them with clean sanitized water. Antibiotics like ionophores (monensins-major broiler). Also, there are some plants which help fowls in the case of worms eg: garlic, aloe, sugarcane and turmeric.
Having written all these long articles, lol I hope you get the message and start that poultry business now grow from it and get better experienced, avoid unnecessary death of you birds by getting knowledge. Marketing and selling off the birds this
Christmas season should be an amazing experience for us as I eat and make sales.
🎄🐓
