Most people avoid investing in
Broiler chicken production due to the high mortality rate they face during the process
of rearing them. This mortality rate can be minimized to a very insignificant
level by following this simple guide. This can be applied to both small
scale & large scale broiler production.
Hygiene
Before you other your chicks make
sure you their supposed new home is completely cleaned and disinfected. This
will greatly increase their chance of survival as Broiler birds are easily
susceptible to diseases. Not only that they easily die when infected so you
have to be very careful. No matter how brand new the housing is, make sure you disinfect
it, preferable two- three days before the chicks are transferred into the house
Quality & source of Chicks
This is extremely important, only
buy your chicks from a reputable supplier, a supplier that is known to bring high
quality low mortality rate chicks, they are usually a bit more expensive but
trust me, that increment of 20 naira will save you from losing thousands in the
future. Before you think about ordering the chicks do some scouting, ask
questions from people who are already deep into the business, inquire about
where they source their chicks. Then compare and choose the one with the lowest
mortality rate.
Housing
When the chicks arrive they are
usually a week old, in this stage they are very fragile, easily susceptible to
disease & very sensible to temperature changes, you should not directly put
them in that spacious house you planned for them. Instead put them in smaller,
warmer cage, were they will be very close to each other to the extent they can
feel each other’s warmth, so the small cage should be warm, ventilated but not
too spacious with a heat source. If you notice they are too close to the heat source
it means the cage is too cold, when they stay far away from it, it’s too hot,
its preferable if they stay a bit spread out & not cramp in single corner
to d extent of climbing on top each other. After two weeks in the small cage
you can then move them to the main housing. Broilers poo a lot especially when
they start getting bigger in size, so you will also need some good flooring, preferable
it should be cemented, tiled or just put something that will not allow water to
seeped through it easily, then get large pieces of saw dust from carpenters,
Carpenters usually give it for free or small fee. Spread it on the flooring,
this will absorb all moisture and it can easily be cleaned.
Feeding & lighting
Broilers like to eat a lot,
that’s why they grow very big quickly, when giving them food make sure you put
enough, do not be stingy, as the more food they eat they faster they grow. You
can quickly sell them & bring in fresh ones. Provide a light system to the
housing, you can use those large old style bulbs that can provide both light
& heating or you can use the ancient kerosene lantern. You can get that
form your grandma if she still keeps old stuff. You can also buy a new one at
the market. The essence of the lighting is to allow the birds to keep eating
even during the night. This will significantly increase their growth rate.
Vaccination
They are giving vaccine at
certain intervals, usually after a week or two, the dealer will explain this to
you when you buy the chicks from them. They also supply the vaccine, the
vaccine is usually sold early in the morning, it’s very cheap & also
depends on the number of broiler birds you have. I have about 200 in each batch
so, the vaccine usually costs me around 500 naira. Remember before you give the
vaccine avoid giving the birds any water the night before. This will make them
consume the vaccine very fast when you give them in the morning as they are
very thirsty. I stopped vaccinating my broiler birds in one of my batches
course. Vaccination is very important especially when you are an upstart.
Check on them regularly
Whenever you get the chance,
swing around and see how they are doing, in case you notice anyone being
sleepy, sneezing, or acting out of normal immediately isolate it for treatment,
give the remaining ones some antibiotics in their drinking water, the whole
pack of the antibiotics should not cost more than 600 naira, it will last you at
least a year or more as you only need to apply to the drinking water in small
doses. Their drinking water should always be laced with some glucose especially
if the climate is very hot.
Note
Broiler birds hate the cold, make
sure you don’t expose them to it, their housing should always be warm, they
usually mature & ready for consumption after 6-7 weeks, do not keep them
longer than 10 weeks as they will start dying abruptly. Besides if you are really
feeding them, at that time they will like so extremely large.
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