Poultry Farming
This term is defined as rearing and keeping of birds such as fowl, duck, hen, for egg and meat production.
In case of chicken, several practices are followed depending on the type of the bird reared, for eg. Broiler farming (for meat production), layer farming (for table egg production), breeder farming (for hatching/ fertile egg production)etc.
Poultry birds and their eggs are a rich source of nutrients.
- Chicken: gallus domesticus
- Family: Phasianidae
- Chromosome no 39
- Age at sexual maturity(weeks): 18-20
Breeds of Poultry
Chicken breeds classified on four major classes:
Exotic breeds:
| Class | America | Asiatic | English | Mediterranean |
| Shank | Clean | Feathered | Clean | Clean |
| Skin colour | Yellow | Yellow | White | Yellow or white |
| Earlobe colour | Red | Red | Red | White |
| Purpose | Dual | Meat | Dual | Egg |
| Size | Medium | Massive | Medium | Small |
| Shell colour | Brown | Brown | Brown | White |
| Examples | Rhode Island Red, Plymouth rock, New Hampshire | Brahma, cochin, Langshan | Cornish, Sussex, Australorp | White leghorn Minorca, Ancona |
IMPORTANT BREEDS WITH THEIR CHARACTERISTICS:
| S. No | Name | Native | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhode Island Red | New England | Dual purpose breed, produce 100 egg/yr, rectangular body |
| 2 | White leghorn | Italy | Light body weight, highest egg producing breed in the world |
| 3 | Red Cornish | England | Famous in America for meat, hardest breed |
| 4 | Plymouth rock | America | Broiler produce best quality meat |
| 5 | New Hampshire | America | Popular for rapid growth, fertility, large sized eggs and good quality meat |
| 6 | Minorca | Italy | Largest and heaviest of Mediterranean breeds called red faced black Spanish |
| 7 | Aseel | Andhra Pradesh, UP, Rajasthan | Famous for fighting sports |
| 8 | Kadaknath | GI Tag (MP) | Black colored meat |
Poultry Housing
Different types of poultry house
- Brooder/chick house It is used to brood and rear egg type chicks from 0 to 8 weeks of age.
- Grower house It is used to grow egg type birds from 9 to 18 weeks of age.
- Layer house In which birds over 18 weeks of age are reared, usually up to 72 weeks of age.
- Broiler house In which broilers (meat type) birds are reared up to 6 weeks of age.
- Breeder houseIn which both male and female breeders are maintained at appropriate sex ratio.
| Type of bird | Sq ft/bird inside | Sq ft/bird outside |
|---|---|---|
| Chickens | 1 | 4 |
| Laying hens | 1.5 | 8 |
| Large chickens | 2 | 10 |
| Ducks | 3 | 15 |
Floor and perch space: (for chickens)
| Type | Floor space (bird/m2) | Floor space (ft2/bird) | Perch space (per bird) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Layer | 3 | 3.6 | 25cm |
| Dual purpose | 4 | 2.7 | 20cm |
| Meat | 4-5 | 2.1-2.7 | 15-20cm |
System of poultry housing
Poultry housing system are classified into three systems:
- Free range or extensive system: oldest method of poultry housing
- Semi- intensive system
- Intensive system
- Deep litter system: for both broiler & layer housing
- Turning of litter: once weekly (at least)
- Depth of the litters: 8-12 inches
- Slatted floor system
- Cage system (battery system):
- For layer housing only
- More no. of eggs per hen can be received
For layers:
| Type | Age (in weeks) | Deep litter (ft2) | Deep litter (ft2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egg type chicken | 0-8 9-18 >18 | 0.60 1.25 1.50 | 0.20 0.30 0.50 |
| Meat type chicken | 0-4 4-8 | 0.30 0.75 | – – |
For broiler:
| Type | Age (in weeks) |
|---|---|
| Up to 18 days | 450 cm2 (0.5 sq. ft) |
| From 19 days to 42 days | 1000cm2 (1.1 sq. ft) |
POULTRY RATION: (Quantity of ration)
- For 100 growing birds the ration is estimated in the 9th week old birds is 40 kg.
- 10th week old birds: 43 kg
- 11th week old birds: to increase 1kg ration per week.
Principle of ration determination:
- Starter ration: given to 1-day old chicks to 8-week-old chicks
- Grower ration: for 8–20-week-old chicks
- Layers ration: for more than 20-week-old chicken (egg production)
Method of feeding:
- Whole grain feeding
- Grain and mash feeding
- All mash feeding (Best method for all types of poultry housing)
- Pellet feeding
- Restricted or controlled feeding
Water consumption
| Age of birds | Water amount per 100 birds |
|---|---|
| 0-2 weeks | 4.5 to 6.5 litre/day |
| 10-15 weeks | 18-22.5 litre/day |
| Laying hens | 27-36 litre/day |
Poultry diseases:
| Disease | Example |
|---|---|
| Bacterial | Fowl cholera, fowl coryza pullorum, salmonellosis |
| Viral | Infectious bronchitis, Ranikhet (new castle), Marek’s disease (fowl paralysis), fowl pox, gumbroa |
| Protozoan | Coccidiosis |
| Fungal | Aspergillosis (brooder pneumonia) & aflatoxicosis |
| Parasitic | lice, mites, tick and fleas(external) and roundworm, tapeworm and hexamitasis (internal) |
Nutritional diseases:
| Diseases & disorders | Deficiency |
|---|---|
| Nutritional roup | Vit A |
| Curled toe paralysis | Vit b1 |
| Polyneuritis | Vit b2 |
| Crazy chick disease/encephalomalacia | Vit E |
| Perosis/slipped tendon | Mn |
| Swollen hock syndrome | Zn |
| Femoral head necrosis | Mo |
| Pica | P |
Composition of egg:
| components | Whole egg | White | Yolk | Egg shell |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | (albumin) 56-61% | 27-32% | 8-11% | |
| Water | 65 | 87 | 48 | 2.0 |
| Protein | 12 | 11 | 17.5 | 4.5 |
| Fat | 11 | 0.2 | 32.5 | – |
| Carbohydrates | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | – |
- Egg production: a commercial layer starts at 22 weeks of age (5.5 months)
- Peak production: 32-35 weeks of age
- Replace the layer at the age of 72 weeks (18 months)
- Vitamin C is absent in egg, meat & milk
- Colour of egg yolk is due to: Xanthophylls
Grading of egg: (By weight)
- Extra-large: 60gm/egg
- large: 53-59gm
- Medium: 45-52gm
- Small: 38-44 g
- Av. wt.: 55-57 gm
Hatching and incubation:
Hatching : process of breaking out of an egg shell after completion of incubation
A. keep 1 male for each 10-12 females.
B. should be kept with females at least 1 week to insure high egg fertility.
Temperature | 1-18 days 19-21 days | 37.5-37.80C 36.9-37.50c |
Humidity | 60% up to 18 days | 70% thereafter |
Turning | Once every 4 hrs up to 18 days | – |
Ventilation | 1-18 days 19-21 days | 8 changes/hr 12 changes/hr |
Incubation:
A. Providing temperature and humidity for normal development of embryo in egg. It may be natural or artificial.
B. An apparatus by which eggs are hatched artificially.
C. Incubation period in chicken is 21 days.
Incubation requirement:
Temperature | 37.2-37.70C |
Humidity | 60-70% |
Ventilation | To provide 21% O2 in the air. |
Terms related to Poultry:
Oviposition: Act or process of egg laying in birds.
Ornithology: Study of birds which are not classes as poultry.
Molting: Natural physiological process for the birds to renew old feathers at the end of the first year of laying.
Dubbing: Removal of comb may be restricted to in day old chicks belonging to breeds, which have larger/lopped comb.
Debeaking: Cutting off part of the upper beak. Helps in preventing peaking injuries and cannibalism among chicks. Removal of 1/4th upper side and 1/8th part lower side beak at 14–15-week-old chicks.
Brooding: Rearing of one week old chicks to the age of 4 weeks age in a brooder.
One brooding unit: 250 chicks, four 60-watt bulbs hanging at 6-inch ht, a brooder guard of 5 ft radius, 3 feeders (egg tray) & 4 waterers.
Rearing: rearing of 4-week-old chick to 8 weeks age.
Broiler: 8-10 weeks of age wt 1.5-2.0 kg with a tender soft meat.
Roaster: 12-16 week and heavier than broiler.
Grower: 9–20-week-old (fully grown) hen or productive hen.
layer: 18-20 weeks age for egg production.
Canonizations: Removal of the testes in the male chicks at the below 8 months age and those birds are known as capon (Castrated male fowl)
Pullet: Female chicken lay 1st time.
Loafer: Unproductive layer
Candling of eggs: process of holding a strong light above or below the egg to observe the embryo. It is done twice by electric Candler in a dark room
1. First candling: on the 7th day of incubation to discard infertile eggs.
2. Second candling: on 18th day of incubation to discard dead-in-shell.
Cannibalism: eating of own species & feather picking in poultry.
A. Cause: occurs in flocks fed fiber –free diet
B. Deficiency of arginine and methionine are more responsible for development of cannibalistic activity. Deficiency of Na (Sodium) may also be responsible for this condition.
C. At initial stage of chicks to prevent cannibalism by providing light in brooder house 24 hrs. with 60-watt bulb for each 200 sq. ft space.