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must be kept separate from the main flock of adult hens until about 4-5 weeks old.
9.2 Artificial incubation
A reliable power supply is essential for satisfactory egg incubation. A thermostat is needed to control the temperature at 39.5 oC and the relative humidity needs to be > 50%. Small-scale poultry breeders have successfully built small incubators to hatch 50 - 100 fertile eggs. A light bulb (s), controlled by a thermostat, provides heat although heating coils are also used. A tray of water on the floor of the brooder keeps the humidity above 50%. The eggs are turned 3 - 4 times a day. Ideally this should be done by marking the egg so that one complete turn is achieved each day but the eggs should not be rotated end to end.
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A homemade incubator
Paraffin or kerosene incubators used to be common many years ago. Heating is provided by a burning wick in a lamp similar to a conventional kerosene lamp for lighting purposes. The warm air is flowing constantly into and out of the incubator chamber. A damper controls the amount of warm air that enters or escapes from the chamber to outside is set manually once the temperature has stabalised at 39.5 oC at egg level so there is always need for an accurate thermometer.
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9.3 Pullets
They are usually raised indoors in the same way as broilers. They grow slowly and may need brooding until 4-6 weeks old. They are then given more space than broiler chickens. If there is an out doors fenced area, they can go there during the day.
They should be given 500 g of broiler starter feed for the first 4-6 weeks. When this feed is used up it is replaced with a lower-quality pullet-rearing diet until 17 weeks of age. They are then given a layer diet which is high in calcium (3%) and phosphorous (0.5%). This is needed so that they can lay eggs with hard shells. Pullets will now be transferred to their layer house as they will shortly come into lay.
9.4 Battery cages
can hold 1-5 hens per cage (50 x 40 cm x 45 cm high for each hen)
are expensive but can be made from local material
hens may peck one another and may need to have their beaks trimmed (a specialized job)
can scratch one another if claws are long with loss of feathers from the back
must be given a high-quality layer diet
will lay more eggs and eat less feed than hens in any other housed system
may be in future welfare issues as birds have little space. This worries the public
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9.4.1 Small scale semi-commercial cage unit
This is designed for a household wanting to keep only a few hens and have eggs for their family and to sell
a single cage unit of 3 compartments holding 12 layers. See trainer’s manual (10.3.1)
cage on legs or on a stand or legs constructed cheaply from bamboo
can be moved easily out of rain and bad weather to a safe place
thatched roof or without a roof if kept under cover
bamboo feeders and home-made drinkers (see illustrations 4.1, 4.2)
hens must receive high-quality feed to lay 9 - 10 eggs /day
system sustainable if 5 eggs sold and 4 - 5 eggs consumed by the household
money from egg sales is used to buy more feed
hens sold after 12 months for eating or force moulted (see section 9.7 )
money from egg and hen sales used to buy replacement birds or layer chicks and grown to pullets but starting these 20 weeks before selling old hens
9.5 Barn hens
hens kept indoors and on the floor with adequate floor space
house must be well constructed and safe from thieves
feeders, drinkers, perches and nest boxes must be provided
floor litter is necessary and later used for fertilizer or compost on gardens
some eggs will be laid on the floor and some of these will get dirty(should be cleaned)
green feed (grass, cassava, sweet potato tops) can
9.7 Force moulting
This is to stop old hens from laying for about 4 weeks.
Reasons:
replacement pullets are expensive
egg production drops when hens get old (i.e. production is less than 1 egg/2days (uneconomical)
egg shells will get thin and break when birds get old
may be economical to put hens through a second laying cycle
hens are put out of lay by feeding a poor-quality diet for 3 - 4 weeks when about 60-70 weeks old but must always have water
very few hens will be now be laying. They are then put back on a layer diet and will come into lay 2-3 weeks later
eggs will now have sound, hard shells
hens will lay more eggs than before and for at least the next 20 weeks
will lay large eggs
Disadvantage: hens are out of lay for about 3 - 4 weeks during moulting and come into full lay over the next 3 - 4 weeks so there will be loss of income
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9.8 EGG QUALITY
9.8.1 Internal
eggs get stale quickly in hot weather
store eggs in a cool place
when the egg yolk spreads into the white the egg is stale
a stale egg may not taste different from a fresh egg
some people like eggs with a deep orange-yellow yolk
others like the yolk a pale yellow colour
colour can be measured with a yolk colour fan
there are sometimes blood spots in the egg yolk but we are not sure why
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9.8.2 External quality
eggs can be misshapen, soft-shelled, with pimples and rough surfaces
egg breakage occurs easily especially if the hens are old
these eggs are classified as seconds and fetch a much lower price in the market
dirty eggs, blood stained eggs and fly marks on the shell make the eggs unattractive to the customer should be cleaned before selling or eating
consumers prefer eggs that are either white or brown shelled but both have the same nutritional
