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FAMILY POULTRY TRAINING COURSE
TRAINEE’S MANUAL
Purpose: to provide both women and men with sufficient information and knowledge to allow them to farm poultry in a commercial and semi-commercial way, and to decide if they can make money out of the venture.
Objectives: to learn about all aspects of raising poultry for their meat and eggs. Then to develop a business plan which will show them if they can make money out of a poultry farming enterprise operation in their country or region under the present conditions.
Course: there will be trainers who will guide the participants through all aspects of producing poultry. There will be ‘hands on’ practical work, visual demonstrations and a manual that will have diagrams, photographs and illustrations. Towards the end of the course, commercial poultry production will be dealt with in two specialised areas: 1. For meat (broiler) production and 2. For egg production.
(a) Your first task is to introduce yourself and give us some information on your background. We would like to know what you do, why you are here and a little about your village and family
(b) Now that we know a little about you I will tell you a bit about myself
(c) I am sure that you may have some questions to ask. These may relate to the course or to any other matter. So please ask them
1.1 What will I learn from this course?
At the end of the course you should understand the basic facts about keeping poultry for egg production and meat production.
You should have a good knowledge of
their housing
the different systems of how chickens are kept
their feeding and management
health and hygiene
poultry farming is a business. It is essential to have a business plan
the importance of forming a poultry cooperative or forming an association of producers with th
I will add some of the most important reasons that relate particularly to the health of your children.
Chicken meat and eggs contain special proteins that:
Allow your children to grow strong Allow their brain to develop so that they will be clever at school
Allow pregnant mothers to produce healthy babies and to breast feed them
Allow children to be healthy and not to catch cold and coughs
Eggs and meat also contain vitamins and minerals that are essential in your diet
If you decide to raise poultry always remember to keep some meat and eggs for your own family to eat
1.3 The business of poultry farming
There are many small farmers that are making money out of raising meat birds (broilers) in developing countries. They buy day-old chicks from chick breeders who may be far away and usually sell them live after 7-8 weeks. They also buy their feed in from the nearest feed mill. This may be a long way away and this will mean that feed is expensive. They will need to sell their broilers at a high price.
Because of long distances, and because of unreliable transport, sometimes some chicks arrive sick or dead. If there are enough producers, they can form a co-operative and may be able to establish a small poultry hatchery (see section 14). This will help to make chicken meat production sustainable. A depot can be set up to purchase and store large amounts of feed to sell to the poultry keepers at a cheaper price. Egg producers may also benefit from such an arrangement.
Producing eggs is more difficult than broilers. The day-old chicks are very expensive and you have to wait more than 18 weeks before the hen will lay an egg. They are not easy to rear as they must be grown slowly and according to a plan. They also need to have good housing and nest boxes so there is a higher initial capital cost than growing meat birds. There is usually a shortage of eggs in villages and they may have to be transported long distances to customers so there is often great opportunity to farm commercial hens starting with a few and then expanding. The customer can purchase a few eggs at a time so the financial outlay is less than buying a broiler chicken.
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There may be opportunity for commercial egg production by starting in a small way. We will talk about this later
When you finish this course, we plan to be able to help you with your chicks, their feed supply and the trainers will be able to give you advice. You will see during the course that there are different ways to keep laying hens and broiler chickens
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1.4 Background information
You will need to look at all aspects of commercial poultry production before you decide to become a poultry farmer
This means that you will have to seek out information in a survey
On the basis of this information you will make a business plan. This will tell you how much money you can expect to make (or lose) each year
A good business plan will allow you to go to the bank to borrow money to get your commercial poultry farm started
You will not start with a feasibility study now but towards the end of the course when you will know more about poultry and what farming poultry entails. But you should look at this from time to time throughout the course at the questions that need to be answered so that you can gather the necessary information.
End of Unit I
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UNIT II
2. POULTRY BREEDS
There are many different breeds of chickens. We will only mention here those that have commercial potential (meat and/or eggs).
Dual Purpose. These are used to produce both meat and eggs such as Rhode Island Reds or Plymouth Rock.
Today, for large – scale commercial production they do not produce enough eggs
nor do they grow fast enough for meat production
they eat too much feed
they are not very efficient in converting feed to eggs and meat
Dual purpose breeds may have a role to play where it is not possible to get better breeds or conditions are not ideal or feed is not of the best quality
Special Breeds. These have been selected for egg production
the White Leghorn was very popular for many years
it has a small body (1.5 kg) and lays many white eggs
the Black Australorp is another popular breed
it is very docile (quiet) and lays a tinted (light brown) egg
it is medium-heavy body weight (2.2 kg) and therefore eats quite a lot of feed
it is good for free-range (out doors) conditions as it is not flighty
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HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION
Chickens are fragile and can get sick very easily especially when young
There are two major sources of disease.
Diet if not correctly formulated can result in the bird getting a metabolic disease due to a nutrient deficiency (vitamins or minerals) in the diet
Other diseases are caused by minute organisms called bacteria and viruses. It is often necessary to treat the chicks as soon as they hatch with a vaccine which allows them to resist the disease if it occurs. This is normally done at the hatchery. Newcastle disease is present in many countries and chickens need to be vaccinated more than once (see section 7.1)
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Remember that “prevention is better than cure!”
Many diseases can be prevented by keeping your poultry house very clean
Overcrowding of birds can cause disease
Do not allow other poultry on to your farm (e.g. neighbour’s scavenging chickens)
Do not allow other poultry farmers to enter your shed
Place a foot bath with a disinfectant in it or limestone outside the door of your poultry house
Have a special pair of boots/shoes that you will use only when you are working in your poultry house
Leave sufficient time between batches of birds to clean the house and get rid of diseases that need to have a bird (host) to survive
Remove old litter, dirty bags and contaminated rubbish and dump them far away but in a responsible place that will not contaminate the environment
Discard damp, old feed. It can grow mould which can produce toxins. They can kill or make your chickens sick
All in-all out systems in which all birds are the same age help to reduce disease out breaks
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External parasites such as mites, lice and fleas can make your poultry feel uncomfortable. This will affect their growth rate and egg production
Insecticides are used to treat the infected birds. A dust bath will also help to reduce these external parasites
Internal parasites such as different worms and minute protozoa causing coccidiosis can be prevented by medication
This is done routinely by adding a coccidiostat to the mixed feed for broilers
Remove immediately sick birds and bury dead birds.
Never eat or sell sick birds; they will make your family and others ill
7.1 Newcastle disease
There are two diseases that are particularly dangerous in many low-income countries. Newcastle disease (ND) is endemic (always there) in many countries and becomes active particularly at the start of the wet season. It can wipe out entire village flocks although a few individual birds often do survive. There are now ND vaccines that will withstand the heat for a short period (thermostable) of time. Vaccination is most effective by eye drop and birds should be vaccinated a month before expected outbreaks by a trained person. There is also a need to treat the birds at intervals through out their life. This is a specialised area and the poultry keeper will need help from experts but it is well worth the effort and the vaccine is not expensive.
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7.2 Avian influenza
The H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird ’flu) is particularly dangerous not only because it can infect different poultry species and wild birds but it can also kill humans. Village poultry are especially at risk because they are outside and may be in contact with wild birds and other poultry species (ducks, geese). The disease spreads rapidly through the poultry flock.
The virus can be spread by eating infected birds and can kill the consumer particularly if she/he is young. Household poultry keepers should keep themselves informed about the situation in relation to bird ‘flu as it often appears at particular times in the year.
EXERCISE
There is often strength in numbers and the concept of community farming, in several different forms, has great appeal. It allows the very poor and often landless farmers, to derive income from keeping poultry by pooling resources. Examples are the well established organisation of cooperatives and the concept of community ownership
13. COOPERATIVES
A cooperative is an organised group of like-minded producers who combine to form a farmers’ group or partnership. Members share responsibilities and any profit or loss. They speak with a single voice and can purchase feed, equipment, chicks, building material and other supplies more cheaply. Eventually storage facilities can be established and a supply shop set up. The group can also have a strategic plan to reduce competition between individuals, set prices for poultry products and generally work to help one another to establish an industry on a firm footing. Trainers should provide as much assistance as possible to the farmers in establishing a working group that will spearhead the formation of a cooperative. The cooperative may eventually expand into other areas of commerce where the farmers can trade other farm produce in addition to poultry.
14. COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP
This is similar to, but less rigid than a cooperative and is run by a committee representing a district or village community. For example, the committee may be responsible for raising point - of - lay pullets. These they sell at 17 - 18 weeks to individual egg producers and the profits are distributed amongst the community. The committee might purchase and run an incubator, and sell the chicks for meat or egg production at different ages. Or the committee may manage a small broiler or egg farm along commercial lines.
In both cases there is opportunity to buy large numbers of chicks and bags of feed. This is usually attractive to the supplier and cheaper for the community. The concept of community farming is to empower people, mainly women, who have no opportunity as individual poultry keepers, to improve their circumstances and to alleviate poverty. Once formed, It can be extended to bio-security programs, vaccination programs against diseases, purchase of medical and other supplies, marketing of meat birds and eggs, dissemination of information, training programs and exchanging information, and greater opportunity to obtain micro-credit. This is critical to allow expansion of the family enterprise. There is a key role here for the poultry trainer who can assist in orchestrating the group by providing advice and guidance.
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END OF POULTRY TRAINING MODULE
