Agriculture poultry farming

Agric sectors we would be looking at are; 

1. Broiler farming. 

2. Snail farming. 

3. Pig farming. 

3. Catfish farming.

Truth is,  you don't need to be involved in the areas that I am involved in. 

You can pick a sector like pepper farming or yam. The main thing is to start something and start soon

*Poultry farming* 

Before we dive deep into this,  I would like us to know that anything is possible,  when dreams come to our minds we allow limitations or fear prevent us from achieving it

When I first started my poultry farming 6 years back.. 

I never even did serious calculatation (silly me).  I got 4 cartons of cockerel,  and 2 cartons of broiler. 

Cramped them up in a tiny space and dint even know what feed to give them

My own was that I just wanted to start poultry farming. 

But as expected I started loosing birds quickly.. Withing 2 weeks I had lost 4 cartons. My birds were even looking weak and tired. It was a flop

But sweet truth is that I learnt a lot. 

One time I cudnt feed them so I bought garrison and fed these guys

Do you know that birds keep on eating even when they are filled up? 

It takes a while before they stop eating. 

Now when small chicks eat too much garri and drink water,  what do u think happens? 🤔

The garri would swell,  blocking their throat, they won't be able to breathe and hence will die

I learnt that truth the bitter way

There are about 4 main factors responsible for a great broiler farming and tonight we would be looking at those 4

These factors are; 

1. Brooding. 

2. Hygiene

3. Vaccination 

4. Feed.

It's is these factors that are responsible for my 1month+ birds. 

They hit 1.5kg in 6weeks and I dint give them one single synthetic drug

Not gumboro or lasota. Nothing

There are so many  things needed in growing poultry,  whether broilers layers,  cockerels , or turkeys. 

But of the many things these four are the most important

1. *Brooding*

This is simply the first 1 month of your birds life. 

What they need are two main things; heat and protection from pest. 

And that is why it's ideal to have two pens, one for brooding and the other for growing them.

If you have noticed,  young birds like to camp inside the wings of their mothers.  The reason is because at this stage they require heat,  the cold weather makes them burn feed to keep them warm and this makes them weak as the feed that is meant to make them grow is used for heat.

Also birds need protection from pest like rats especially. These guys are attracted to the sound of day old chicks and feed so you need a cage that would protect them from this.

2. *Hygiene*

When most farmers start,  they get too excited and call every Tom,  dick and Harry to come see their birds (when it's not museum). 

Issue is young chicks can easily pick up infection and that is why biosecurity measures  are important.

Also, as birds are still young they require  a very clean environment and feed. 

The number one killer of birds is eating feed mixed with their faeces.

You hardly clean your pen and you feed your birds in the same filth, it would be easy for them to pick the faeces and the bacteria and virus would begin to sporulate which leads to death of the birds.

You want to ensure that your pen is as clean as possible, you want to ensure that you give your birds clean feed and water.

See if you buy a bag of feed and noticed that it has started to decay please throw it away.. It will kill your chicken faster than poison

Biosecurity measures are steps you take to prevent the transmission of diseases. 

They can include steps like;

√ Only one or two people should feed the birds. 

√ Removing of shoes or slippers and changing to another one before entering the pen. 

√ cleaning of pen regularly. 

Etc would share more later on

3. *Vaccination*

This is very important, even if you prevent most diseases or infections it would be hard to prevent air borne diseases and that's one of the reason you need to vaccinate. 

Now you can either  use synthetic drugs (the packaged drugs u buy in the market) or organic. The choice is yours

Another reason you need to vaccinate is because most drugs help boost the immune system, making it stronger to fight most infections.

You will notice that most birds just die without any prior sign of illness, this is because these birds have internal issues or infections that reduce their functionality till they drop dead.

4. *Feed*

Person wey dey drink water everyday no fit fat.  You are what you eat. 

You can either buy already formulated feed in the market of formulate your own,  whichever ever you prefer. 

The more you feed your birds the bigger they would be and faster they would lay

 Before we move on I would like you to know that one major and serious factor that would make all the difference in animal farming is this... 

 _*Treat the animals like you would a baby*_

That's all

Looking at them you would realise that they were cold,  the way all of them muddled together, trampling on themselves.

_Now how do I mean by treat them like a baby_

I remember the first time I attempted broiler farming,  I left the birds in charge of a friend and everyday she will call me that 6 died today 7 tomorrow and so on..

I finally rushed to the pen where she kept them and realised that my good friend kept my birds in an open pen and the cold was too much.

When you see some people's pen,  very dirty and smelly, and then they complain, saying... 

"my birds are dieing "

"my fishes stomach is swelling"

"my pig can't stand "

I simply ask this guy's to show me their pen as I am 100% certain this is the root of all evil.. *"a dirty pen*"

When you have a new baby, remember how much you cover the child,  care for it,  make sure everything is just right.

If your birds pen is too dirty it would eat from its feaces. 

If the fish pond is smelly and too dirty it means feed and faeces are much which will deplete the oxygen level,  increase bacterial growth, stress your fishes and lead to death. 

It all applies to all animals. Care is important.

So in this training I would be stressing that... *care for animals is essential*

Not because they can't talk,  not because they are animals should you treat them like waste. Care for them and they would grow very very well.

*second tip*

While profit should be the bane of business something much better has to matter,  which is passion. 

It's passion that gets me up by 2am in the night to check on my animals. 

It's passion that makes me not mind the smell of chicken poop all over my hands.

It's passion that kept me all this while I lost birds, fishes and money. 

It's passion that makes me buy feed for them even when I have nothing to eat. 

I love what I do. And that's what would keep me in this business till I depart this world. 

*Passion matters*

If there's one thing that should get you Into any business or job them it must be passion.

*PENS*

This is where brooding and rearing of poultry takes place. 

There are different kinds of pen you can use depending on your scale of business and budget. 

* TYPES OF PENS.* 

*Battery cage.*

*Cage pen*

*Block pen*

*SPACING TO PREVENT OVERS TOCKING.*

Birds would be comfortable at a stock density of 6 to 7 birds per square meter (convert meter to cm). if more space is allowed, a greater variety of behaviour can be expressed. 

Less space creates stressed social behavior, allowing disease vulnerability to easily spread and spread very fast, cannibalism and leaving weaker birds deprived of feed or perch space which leads to an uneven growth of your bird,very slow growth of weaker birds and very low feed conversion rate. Individual birds need more room for normal behaviour and adequate exercise. 

It is advisable to use 6-7 birds per m square. By 6-7 birds per meter square I mean: Draw a square, all sides should be 100cm.

*PREPARATION OF PEN BEFORE STOCKING.*

Before your birds arrive, you want to make sure that you have prepared their: 

*1. Feed (broiler starter)*

*2. Drinker*

*3. Feeder*

*4. Glucose*

*5. Woodshaving*

*6. Source of heat*

Beginning at one day of age, the chick should be housed at a temperature between 87-92 degree F (30-33 degree C). 

When the chick is one week of age the temperature can be reduced by 4 degrees F. continue reducing the temperature until housing temperature of 70 degree F is reached. In case you don’t have a thermometer, the way to go about this is to check if the air is warm enough for you. Warm enough to make you sweat just a little after entering the pen. 

Also notice their behaviour. Are your birds running from the heat source and making a crying noise, then you have to reduce the heat. The idea of the heat source is to warm the entire pen to prevent them from muddling together. 

Birds that are comfortable will be evenly dispersed within the cage and be active except during periods of rest.

To ensure birds grow bigger and faster you can put a lamp in the evening or night. Birds sleep when there is no light, but providing feed and light will make feeding continue. 

Lighting for 1 day old birds should begin at 20-22 hours per day for the first two days. Reduce day length weekly to reach approximately 12 hours of light at 8 weeks of age. I.e you can reduce by one hour every week. 

Fresh water should be present when chicks are placed in their pen. Feed for one day old birds should be withheld for the first two hours to allow chicks to find the water, prior to consumption of dry feeds. After the first two hours of housing, feed can be made freely available. 

If you decide to use a room or any system that puts your birds on the floor, you will need to make use of litters to absorb your birds waste, as them feeding off it is one of the causes of high mortality.

You can make use of newspaper, but wood shavings or sawdust are the best as they absorb moisture more than paper. Always remember to change it as soon as it gets wet (maybe every 2 days or less) to prevent feed that is on it to not develop molds and affect your birds. Saw dust or wood shavings can be gotten for free at saw mills. One disadvantage of putting birds on the floor is SOLDIER ANTS. As they can wipe out your birds in one night. To deter them from coming close to your pen, mix sniper with kerosene and use to surround your pen.

 11 BROODING TIPS TO REDUCE MORTALITY TO LESS THAN 5%.*

There are steps you can take to reduce mortality, high feed conversion rate and an even growth among your flock. 

This include: 

1. Ensure all birds drink the glucose water immediately they arrive at your pen. 

2. Ensure that the heat source is enough, not too much and not too small, as too much heat can kill them and little heat can affect their growth and also cause death. 

3. Hygiene is a major factor. Ensure that your birds never eat molded feed, or wet feed that has been exposes for long or mixed with their droppings ans litter, as this is the number one killer of birds. 

4. Ensure they have sufficient water and feed. (always more than enough). 

5. Ensure you wash their drinker and feeder from time to time.Twice a week would be okay. 

6. Ensure you keep up with their vaccination, either drugs or herbal tonics. 

7. Ensure they are protected from pest especially rats, as they are number one carriers of infections, viruses and bacteria's. 

8. Ensure you mill your feed from mills with good reputation, to avoid infected feed, that would affect the growth of your birds and their immune system.

9. Spacing is a major and key factor, as birds will continue to die till they have enough space. Give your birds enough space and then some more. It would also allow them express themselves more and also allow fast growth. 

10. Ensure you boost their immune system. 

11. Ensure they get vitamins, either through drugs you buy or through vegetables.

The goal of proper management during the first hours after placement in the pen is to achieve as much intake of both feed and water in as many chicks as possible.

*PREPARATION OF PEN BEFORE STOCKING.*

Before your birds arrive, you want to make sure that you have prepared their: 

*1. Feed (broiler starter)*

*2. Feeder* (1 flat feeder can serve about 15-20 day old chickens, but there are different kinds of feeder, the best is the type below:

*3. Drinker.* (The small size of #250 can serve about 25-30 day old chickens)

*4. Glucose* (this is mixed in their water to give them strength because of stress faced from travelling)

*5. Source of heat* (warm the pen before they arrive).

*6. Litter* (to soak up birds faeces).

Many people are complaining about dieing chic's or illnesses the number one issue or cause is dirty pen. Your birds feed of the floor and if it's dirty they will also pick faeces

So no matter the drug you use, if you don't clean your pen your birds will still have issues

Do you know that it's very possible to have 0% mortality without even drugs or vaccination. The key is brooding and hygiene.

That simple. The next publication, we would be looking at fish farming.

What I would be teaching you is really the basics and you can start with this.. But still there's so much to learn.