Poultry Farm Management

Introduction

Poultry management and production is the most straightforward and most profitable business to start anywhere in the world. In 2008, China had the most significant number of chickens globally, with approximately 4.6 billion, followed by the United States with about 2 billion and then Indonesia, Brazil and Mexico. The subsequent most incredible quantities came from the United States, Brazil, Pakistan, Iran, India, Mexico, Russiaand Myanmar.

Poultry Farm Management

Poultry farm refers to a type of animal husbandry. It raises multiple domestic animals to produce food items such as eggs or meat. Domesticated birds like geese, ducks, chickens, and turkeys are some examples. Chickens are the most popular meat and egg-producing bird. Broiler chickens are grown in high numbers for their flesh. Hens that lay or layers are chickens raised for their eggs. For exhibits and contests, some specific poultry breeds are raised as well.

The Activities on a Chicken Farm 

• Preparing the chicken house for the chicks’ arrival feeding the chickens monitoring the conditions inside the chicken houses, including temperature, humidity and air quality monitoring the feed and water lines to ensure the chicks have plenty of fresh water and chicken feed monitoring the chickens’ health

• Cleaning the coops or chicken homes and gathering eggs (for laying hens)

• Loading chicks into trucks to be transported to poultry processing plants (for meat chickens)

Management of Poultry Farms

Poultry farm management mainly refers to husbandry procedures or production techniques that increase efficiency. To maximise output, proper poultry management methods are critical. Scientific poultry management strives to maximise profits while requiring a minor investment. 

House for Brooders

The brooder home should be free of draughts, rainproof and predator-proof. For proper ventilation, brooding pens should have wire mesh windows. The chicks’ respiratory tracts are irritated by the dusty atmosphere. Furthermore, dust is a route for disease transmission. Ammonia fumes are produced when too much moisture rubs the respiratory tract and eyes. Good ventilation creates a comfortable, draft-free environment.

Hygiene and Sanitation

All portable equipment, like feeders, waterers and hovers, should be cleaned and disinfected before returning to the house. All litter must be scrapped and disposed of. Under stress, both the interior and exterior of the house should be cleaned. Any professional disinfecting solution should be used at the appropriate concentration to disinfect the house. To keep insects at bay, an insecticide should be sprayed. Ticks and mites can be controlled with malathion spray, blow lamping, or both. After each cleaning, new litter should be scattered. If necessary, pesticides should be combined with waste at the specified doses.

Space for Water

A plentiful supply of clean and fresh water is critical. During the first two weeks, a provision of 50 linear cm of water space per 100 chicks must be increased to 152-190 linear cm at 6 to 8 weeks. When switching from a chick fountain to a water trough, leave the fountains running for several days until the chicks have discovered the new water source. To avoid rotting, keep the waterers at the height of 25 cm above the rear elevation of the chicks. Probiotics or other stress medicines might be given to the water. Every day, all the water should be cleaned. It might be beneficial to train a few chicks to drink one at a time.

Waste Management

An overly dry and dusty litter could be several signs that the birds aren’t getting enough water. Breathing too many dust particles can cause respiratory issues.

Depending on availability and cost, suitable litter materials such as sawdust and rice husk should be scattered to a length of 5 cm. It’s not a good idea to use mouldy materials. To prevent caking, the litter should be stirred often. If there are any wet litters, they should be removed immediately and replaced with dry new waste. This eliminates ammonia odour.

Management of Illness

A disease-free atmosphere is essential for successful chicken production. Diseases affect fowls in a variety of ways. Different types of infection from virus, bacterium, fungus and other agents and food deficiency or nutritional deficiencies may cause the condition. Cleaning, sanitation, pesticide spraying and disinfectant spraying should regularly keep the environment clean. In addition, to control the illness and grow backyard birds, all domestic birds are immunised. Vaccination is a biological preparation that is often used to prevent the occurrence and spread of illnesses.

Poultry Production and Management

Here are some points to remember about poultry production:

• The farms specialise in either egg or chicken (broiler) production, and these poultry businesses are treated independently of agricultural output

• All of the feed is purchased as composite mixtures to be supplemented with wheat, and the primary protein source is soy meal. Because poultry management has all domestic birds are immunised limited acreage, most excrement is shipped to crop fields

• Huge enclosed rooms with artificial ventilation and usually mechanical feeding are used for production

• Broilers are raised “all-in-all-out” with 50-100,000 chickens in a single batch, taking 40 days and 3.5 kg of feed on average to attain a slaughter weight of about 2 kg

• The cleansed house is left unoccupied for two weeks after the manure is removed before the next batch is placed. The young chicks are raised in advanced incubators by specialised companies

• The model covers indoor systems. Cage systems (about 50% of egg output) or free-range systems (primarily in large buildings with small amounts of loose material on the floor) are used to keep laying hens (straw, sawdust, etc.) Outdoor runs are only available to a small percentage of traditional chickens. The techniques with outside runs will be considered in a distinct model for organic chickens

• All spent water and effluents from stables are collected either as manure/deep litter straw bedding to be stored/composted or in concrete slurry containers with a minimum capacity corresponding to 7-9 months slurry output (application to fields is only allowed from March to September). The equipment is usually up to date and most of the procedures are fully automated

• Typically, there is one owner and 1-4 full-time hired helpers, most of whom have a farm management diploma. They also look after poultry waste management. For the modification of protein levels and minerals, most farmers employ modern feed planning systems and regular feed tests, and they all adhere to government regulations regarding manure nitrogen usage and fertilisation

Conclusion

Poultry management and production is the most straightforward and most profitable business to start anywhere in the world. When it comes to the protein supply that the human body requires, poultry management has been a continent and cost-effective source of protein since antiquity.