Happy New Month Of November 2020. To see this, it means you are alive. That is enough to be grateful for. Have a wonderful week ahead.
1. LAND/NUMBER OF BIRDS.
The number of birds you intend to have would also determine the area of land or space needed. Always remember that it is not advisable to attain the number at once, you must have a phase plan that can take a number of years to achieve, for instance if your plan is to have a farm capacity of 10,000 birds or more, you can do it in phases for 5 years or more, you can start with as low as 1,000 birds and increase it bit by bit until you get to the capacity you want. Starting with few numbers is for you to acquaint yourself with the different risk and challenges of the business and also to reduce financial loss, it would also help you to acquire more knowledge about the business. Some people start big by employing professionals to manage their farm for them, hope you know the cost implication of that. Make sure you map your land for different purposes e.g, poultry house, administrative office, warehouse for feed, selling point etc.
2. CHOICE OF BREED.
This is very important, it can also determine the success of your poultry business. Find out from poultry farms in your area which breed or strain perform best under the condition of your location, state or country, please get information from as many farms as you can. The source of your birds is very important, some hatcheries are good in maintaining a disease free environment and issues high quality first generation birds, some hatcheries on the other hand, market chicks produced in unhygienic conditions and disease prone environment. Some sell second generation chicks (f2) as first generation chicks (f1). You may get the good performing chicks from a particular hatchery and going back to the same hatchery the following year, the chicks you get may not be as performing as the first time chicks you bought from that same hatchery. Have 2 or 3 reputable hatcheries you can always make your purchase. Having a trusted person working at the hatchery, would help in getting the best chicks from the hatchery. Please don't make the mistake of starting your poultry business with chicks from a bad source.
3. CHOICE OF PRODUCTION SYSTEM
There are three main systems used in the layer business; battery cage, deep litter and range. Each of this, has its advantage and disadvantage. The battery cage system requires an initial large capital (money ), but involves much less labour in replacement of litter and a much lower level of parasite build up and disease risk. With automated battery cage system, the number of staff you employ is reduced. In the deep litter system, the birds come in contact with contaminated feed or water, hence they are exposed to higher disease incidence. The range system is not too common because it requires large area of land and supervisory labour. There are still more to learn, to be continued in the subsequent post, don't fail to show up and gain knowledge.Wish you the best. Thanks
