Broiler Poultry Farming
Poultry farming is indeed an awesome adventure and business based on what you call it, but here it’s a business and an adventure, it’s what we enjoy doing and what we do for a living, there are many aspect of poultry specifically two major aspects;
1. LAYERS (Egg production)
2. 2. Broilers (Meat Producers).
In today’s article I will be sharing more on Broilers which is the meat producers, in Nigeria today, broiler farming is one of the most lucrative aspect of poultry business and seasonally farmers always venture into it and produce many broiler birds, breed them from day old to maturity often time which use to last for 3months or less, at least I know of the broilers raised at the government farm – “Shonga Farms” in Kwara state Nigeria, their broilers always 1month, in 4weeks they have reach their market weight.
Meat is one essential part of our daily and it’s the major source of our animal protein which is a very important protein source even more than plants.
The concept of been able to breed animals in 3months or 1month is what as made poultry a super flourishing venture in Nigeria today, every now and then, there used to be a great demand for chicken meat in the market, many years ago when Chief Olusegun obasanjo was still in power, he stopped the importation of chicken from china, Europe and Australia into Nigeria; that tells you that even though we have broiler farmers right here in Nigeria, they could not still meet the market demand so they had to be importing them, the president stopped it then in order to encourage more production at the local level.
So how Do you raise and breed broilers from day old to maturity?
It is very easy and simple, follow me and I will walk you through the process.
Broilers are genetically advance birds, they are derived from hybrid cross breeding and that is why they have the capacity to be big and build body fat within a short period of time.
When you buy a day old broiler, you must have prepare a house for them to live, which is what we call the “brooding house” where they will live for the next 4weeks, it must be clean and healthy, there must be a consistent supply of light and heat, their feed must be continually supplied, they must be monitored with good medication.
If well managed, broilers are not used to having diseases; they are most often strong, healthy and agile, under good intensive care.
Now talking about the cage system, I always recommend you use a deep litter for broilers not battery cage, because they are huge fat building birds, they must be able to exercise their body in a free space available to them, if you keep them in a battery cage with little or no space for them to play around, the fat in their body will build up too much and as a result, they can die.
Feeding : This is yet another important aspect of their life and growth; they are genetically altered to be very big and build great fat however, you must feed them with quality feeds, they need at least 18% protein in their meal, they need good quality water and when they are stressed up, you can administer anti-biotics.
From their day old to 4th week, they feed on “ Broilers starter” and from their 4th week to their 3rd month they feed on “Broilers Finisher” the differences between the both of them is just their nutrient composition.
The more you feed them often with quality feed, the more they tend to grow big and grow fat.
Been a poultry bird grown for their meat (fatteners) broilers must not be kept in a place that as high heat, because they heat can affect their body fat and make them feel uncomfortable, so you must ensure a stable cool environment for them, it must be void of noise because noise can cause a shock in poultry and they can die at sudden strange sound.
Market: The market for broilers is endless, all the chicken that were imported and packed are all gotten from broiler birds, so you can sell them locally here or internationally by exporting them after they might have been process through the abattoir and freeze them for export.
Just like I said earlier, Nigerians do import frozen chicken, before the government ban it, this is because there is no yet enough broiler production to meet the demand for chicken meat in the Nigeria Market today.
If you have any questions on broiler farming, you can drop them below, I will reply them all.
