PRACTICAL

GUIDE
TO
POULTRY
PRODUCTION

GENERAL INTRODUCTION
So many persons have jumped into poultry farming, with little or no
previous knowledge about the business and without consultation or counselling.
This mistake must stop.
In this Practical Guide to Broiler Production, we have painstakingly
highlighted the most important points for the sincere poultry farmer who is
ready to establish a business that is worth his time. It is our considered hope that
this material will serve as the “Farmer's Companion" and Reference Material for
all Practitioners, Extension Personnel and Lecturers alike. Remember, the key-
word for all of us is ‘sustainability’ and ‘continuity’.
As much as possible, we have deliberately tried to remove "academics"
far away from this class. We are dealing with hands-on practice to help you
become a better farmer. I’d like to restate that there is a very big difference
between 'Theory’ and ‘Practice’. If you keep to the principles in this hand-out,
you will enjoy the practice.
Many small scale farmers in the Poultry Industry in Nigeria have abandoned
Poultry farming because of the following constraints - high cost of feed and
feed ingredients, shortage of feed, high cost and shortage of drugs and vaccines,
vaccine failures, inadequate veterinary services, poor quality of and faulty
poultry equipment or appliances, inadequate extension services, poor research
funding or absence, etc.
Backyard, Homestead, Subsistence or small scale poultry farming has the
following features.
 5 to 1,000 birds.
 Small accommodation eg. Car Garage, thatch houses.
 Small financial base to start.

DEFINITION OF TERMS:
Cock/ Stag - A mature male fowl
Hen - A mature female fowl
Capon - A castrated male fowl
Livestock - A compound name for domesticated animals and birds.
Mating - The act of sexual intercourse
Layer - A female hen that lays eggs
Cockerel - A long-term meat production fowl
Chick - A baby fowl
Pullet - A growing female fowl that has not started to lay
Chicks Sexing - The act of determining the sex of a chick
Crop - A batch of production e.g. Crop of broilers in a year/season
Stock - A batch or population of birds in a production
Flock - A name used to refer to a group of birds in a population
Deep Litter - Bedding material for broiler and layer production using wood
shavings.
Ration - The quantity of feed/food served at a time in a meal.
Battery Cage - A form of enclosure in a poultry layer house
Sprayer- A sprayer is used to purge the body of birds and animals.
Dipping- Also called drenching. It is used to treat ecto-parasites.
Fledgling- Also called Nestling. This is a young bird of either sex.
Brooding- This is the baby nursing of the day old chicks artificially with
the provision of light, heat, water and feed.
Rearing- This is the management practice where the birds are produced to
maturity for consumption.
Evisceration – The removal of internal organs.
Incubation – The resting on the eggs and providing an enabling environment for
hatching.
Hatching- This is the process where the eggs crack and new birds come out.
Pest- Insects that causes irritation, annoyance, nuisance and aggravation on
livestock.
Parasites- Plants or animals living in, with or on another organism to cause
harm. They are ecto-parasites and endo-parasites. While ecto-parasites live
outside the body like ticks and lice on dogs, endo-parasites live inside the body.
Worms are endo-parasites.
Feed Mill- a mill where animal and poultry feed are milled.
Dubbing- Removal of comb and wattle.
Morbidity- Number or percentage of sick birds or animals in a population
Mortality- Number or percentage of dead birds or animals in a population.
Signs- The observable condition of ill-health you can see.
Symptoms- The pains or challenges the patient or casualty suffers but which
cannot be seen by any other.
Immunity- Simply put resistance
Drugs- Veterinary preparations in the form of the injectables.
Disease- A state of ill-health.
Health- A sound physical or mental condition
Prevention- To stop a disease from occurring
Control- To treat a disease after coming down.

IMPORTANCE OF POULTRY FARMING

The importance of poultry farming to the farmer range from the provision of a
steady flow of cash and food to even self-employment.
1. Provides the much needed nutritious animal, protein (meat and eggs].
2. Source of petty cash to the rural farmer.
3. Creates self-employment - an entrepreneur
4. Creates employment for a few others - Youth, wives, and children.
5. Source of industrial raw materials - feathers, offal, poultry droppings.
6. Have short generational span or interval 'for maturity and harvests (2 to
3months), (6 to 18 months]
7. Return on investment takes place within a very short time.
8. Most prolific farm livestock with the highest turnover of poultry
protein per life cycle.
9. Small scale or backyard poultry farming requires very small capital
investment.
10. Poultry kept has been useful for time keeping like cock crow at day
break.
11. Poultry is accepted by nearly every person, race, tribe and/or religion.
 12. Bridges the protein deficiency gap among Nigerians
13. Generates regular income for the practitioners and families.
Problems in Poultry Farming.
The problems facing poultry farming are not only many but highly avoidable.
Some of the problems include:
1. Lack or insufficient funds to establish a standard poultry business
2. Absence of and/or inadequate grants and loans by banks, government and
donor agencies.
3. Commercial feeds are very costly.
4. Raw materials like wheat offal, PKC, groundnut cake etc. are scare and
costly.
5. Quality of vaccines are sub-standard.
6. Vaccine failure as a result of a break in the cold chain or as a result of
expired manufacturing date.
7. Government incentives and policies about poultry production are faulty
and wrong.
8. Inadequate technical know-how and experience in poultry farming
9. Getting the right breed, parent stock or hybrid is a serious sub-heading.
10. Diseases and sicknesses have remained a major profit limiting factor in
poultry farming.
11.High cost of poultry equipment and appliances
12.Absence of standardized price for the poultry products
13.Lack or absence of research institutions and laboratories.
14.Inadequate processing and storage facilities

Starting a Poultry Farm.

To start a poultry farm, the following preparations are needed:
1) Site Selection(Land)
 Topography: Sandy, Loamy and Clay soil.
2) Wire floor/Battery Cages.
Semi- Intensive: This is a combination of both Commercial and Subsistence
Farming
Types: (1) A field or a small lawn
(2) A small building with a small lawn.
Extensive (subsistence) Farming: This is mostly for home consumption.
Types: (1) Free Range/Scavenge.
(2) Range System with a surrounding fence.
(3) Fold System which is usually moveable every evening and morning.
Types of Poultry Enterprises
Enterprises in the poultry industry refers to the specific simple activities that are
performed by different practitioners. They are the:
 Broiler (meat) Production
 Genetics
  Table Egg Production
 Feeding Mill
 Cockerel Production.
 Vet drugs
 Breeding
 Hatchery (Day old) Production
 Syringes and Needles
 Pullet-Supply
 Poultry equipment and Appliances

Poultry Housing
A House is any structure/building with pillars, walls, windows, doors, a floor
and a roof.
REASONS FOR POULTRY HOUSING.
 Protection from harsh weather Condition.
 Protection from Predators.
 Protection from thieves.
 Provision of warmth.
 Easy health care delivery.
 Helps keep birds/animals in age groups.

EQUIPMENT AND APPLIANCES

Equipment and Appliances are materials used as working tool in an institution
or organization. Equipment and appliances are used interchangeably.
The use of adequate number of and proper equipment prevents or helps in the
following ways:
1. Avoids wastage, especially feed and water.
2. Sufficient quantities and in good working condition reduces fighting for
food
3. When a Large number of birds are cared for, it reduces the cost of
production per time.
4. It protects the attendant or stock man from repetitive work.
5. It reduces the rate of water spill on the floor.
6. It reduces the growth of moulds on the deep litter floor.
7. It reduces-in the reduction of disease outbreaks.
Hints on equipment:
1. Wash before and after use.
2. Avoid wastage and misuse.
3. Do not use faulty or bad equipment.
CLASSES OF FOOD
AGRO-INDUSTRIAL BY-PRODUCTS
Cereal crops: maize bran, maize offal, rice bran, wheat offal, sorghum offal, rice
husk, maize cobb, barley offal, wheat middling and dry grain.
Non-Cereal Crops: Cassava peel, Yam Peel, Cassava Pulp, Sievete: Plantain
peel,
Cassava Root, Cocoa-yam peel, leaf meals.
BY-PRODUCTS OF PROTEINS
Plant Protein: Groundnut cake, Soya Bean cake, Palm Kernel Cake, Cotton
Seed Cake, Coconut cake, Cashew nut cake, Castor oil seed cake, Sun flour
cake.
Animal Protein: Feathers, Visera (offals), Bone meal, Blood meal.

Feeds and Feeding

A. Feeds
Regular feeding of birds with the right constituents of feed ingredients provides
(l) faster growth rates, (2) maintenance: and (3) efficient egg production. The
feed should contain the right proportion of the various classes of feed.

Classes of Food / Ingredients

1. Carbohydrates: Cereals\grains: Maize, Sorghum, wheat, millets Non-
cereals\tubers: Cassava, Sweet potato, Yam and Plantain.
2. Proteins: Soya Bean Cake, Groundnut Cake, Bambara Nut.
3. Fats and Oil: Palm oil, Groundnut oil, Coconut oil etc.
4. Vitamins: Water soluble - Thiamine (Bl), Riboflavin (B2), Niacin
(B6),Cobalamine (112), Biotin, Folic-Acid, Pantothenic Acid.
 Fat Soluble- Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin E, Vitamin K.
 Others - Ascobic Acid (c), inositol Vegetable.
 Minerals: Macro - Vegetables, Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium.
 Micro - Zinc, Chlorine, Iron, Calcium, Magnesium, Sulphur, Manganese,
Copper, Tin.
6. Water: Grit stones, Waterleaf, Salt lick

B. FEEDING
Broilers eat two types-of feed - Broiler Starter (0 - 4 weeks) and Broiler
Finisher (5 - 8 weeks).
 It is estimated that 200 broilers eat 1/2 bag/day of Broiler Starter for 28
days (4 weeks). Also, 200 Broilers can eat 1 bag/day of Broiler Finisher
for another 28 days (4 weeks).
 That is, 14 Starter bags and 28 Finisher bags or 52 Bags in 56 days. So,
feed alone will cost 52 x N4000. This is equal to N208, 000.00 only as at
October, 2017.
 1. Feeding is the act of consuming feed or the act of supplying feed and
nourishment.
2. Nutrient is any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give
energy and build up body tissues.
3. Ration is the portion or quantity of feed served the animal or bird.
 Categories of ration include: (1) Maintenance {Growth} and (2)
Production {Milk, Egg}.

Factors Influencing the Formulation of our Animal Feed.

1. Age of animal.
2. Physiological Status, meat, milk, eggs.
3. Availability of feed Ingredients.
4. Cost of the feed ingredient
5. Species and the type of animals.
6. Purpose of keeping the animal.

Characteristics of Good Ration.

The ration must be acceptable by the animal/birds.
1. The ration should be digestible.
2. The ration should be cost effective.
3. The ration should have the right texture.
4. The ration should be free from toxic materials.

Medication and Vaccination

Medication refers to the supply or administration of drugs orally to sick animals
and birds while vaccination is the administration of vaccines or inject able to
build immunity and combat sicknesses and diseases.
Health: This is commonly defined as freedom from disease.
Disease: It is a condition of departure from a normal state of health.
Signs: These are the pointers one notices or observes with ones two naked eyes
e.g. boils, restlessness, coughing, diarrhoea, wounds, emaciation.
Symptoms: These are the pains that the casualty or patient is passing through or
experiences. Eg. Malaria, B.P., Typhoid.

Signs of Good Health

 Attention to surrounding/security alert
 Normal facial appearance.
 Fairly constant body temperature.
 Good appetites.
 Healthy posture and appearance/Steady Gait
 Maintenance of Weight
  Absence of discharge(s)

General Health Management /Practices.

 Checking the health status before buying your chicks
 Sanitation of the poultry house after work daily
 Good litter management of the birds (feeding and drinking)
 Provision of foot mat at the entrance door.
 Control of parasites.
 Avoiding over - stocking.
 Avoiding under nutrition.
 Good feeding and watering supply/services.
 Regular fumigation and disinfection of the house.
 Avoid moving animals or birds from farm to farm.
 Separate sick animals from healthy ones (culling).
 Creating drainage
 Watching out for toxic materials.
 Reporting disease at early recognition.
 Obeying the medication and vaccination chart used.
Broiler Production
Poultry raised for meat is called BROILER. Broilers are monogastric (single
stomach] birds or animals. They include the turkey, duck and chicken broilers.
Broilers are limited to fibrous feed and indirectly compete with man for food.
Broilers are genetically fast growing birds that develop muscles fast and
efficiently. It is reported that over 50% of poultry meat comes from broilers. At
maturity, a chicken broiler attains about 1.7 - 3.0 kg live weight in 8 - 12 weeks
having consumed about 4 - 5 kg of feeds. Similarly, a turkey broiler could attain
up to 15kg live weight-in about 30 weeks.
Broilers are efficient converters of feed to meat. That is, they have the highest
feed conversion ratio among the other classes of birds. The rate of weight gain
in broilers is directly proportional to the rate of growth which may be a function
of the quality and quantity of feed consumed.
Broiler production requires good quality feed, clean and portable water, highly
ventilated and spacious housing, preferably, a deep-litter floor, proper
ventilation, correct and complete vaccination, bio-security alert and good
management practices.

Receiving Your Day Old Chicks

The following principles must be strictly adhered to on the arrival or receipt of
your day old chicks.
1. Unload the chick delivery vehicle.
2. Carry the chicks to the brooder house.
3. Empty each carton quickly, gently and methodically.
 4. Be careful not to march or stand on any chick(s).
5. Remove all empty boxes and burn them.
6. Replenish feed and water frequently throughout the whole day.
7. Old clean newspapers; calendars and almanac for feeders.
8. Replace papers with plastic trays (feeders).
9. Observe the brooder temperature/behaviour of the birds.
10.Keep all the drinkers filled with water.
11.Supply feed.
12.Reduce room temperature from the 3rd or 7th day.
13.Introduce little ventilation.
14.Expand the brooder every week.
15.Keep accurate records.

Brooding
Brooding can be defined as the SKILLED baby nursing of day old chicks in the
brooder from day one to the 28th day with the supply of warmth, feed, water,
drugs vaccines and a supply of fresh air until the birds have developed some
feathers to cover their bodies and generate heat for themselves.
During brooding, it is important that attention be given to the minutes or very
minor details in such areas as:
 Preparing a clean and air-tight brooder.
 Pre-heating the brooder in 2 days before the arrival of the chicks at 32 -
35°c.
 Steadily regulating and reducing the room temperature by 3oc weekly.
 Litter materials such as wood shavings that are good for deep-litter
system should be provided and spread at 2cm thickness.
 Checking for faulty/broken feeders and drinkers daily.
 Ensuring the supply of fresh clean water to chicks
 Ensuring the supply of feed.
 Removing all wet/mouldy litter materials
 Do not work/walk in another poultry pen while brooding.
 Using recommended number feeders and drinkers.
 Keeping correct record of all your daily activities.
 Avoiding the overcrowding of brooders.
 Removing all dead birds.
 Sending dead birds to the veterinarian for a post-mortem examination.
That is to determine the cause of death.
 Locking up the brooder for bio-security and security reasons. That is to
protect from pests/predators and thieves.
The stock-man should always wear protective clothing such as cover-all, rain
boots and use a nose mask. Do not brood birds of different ages together. You
must adopt an ALL-IN, ALL-OUT policy. Disinfect all your brooding
equipment and appliances thoroughly. Provide a foot mat at the door entrance
and pour little non-toxic disinfectant such as Izal.
Farmers have been known to use GAS, COAL, KEROSENE STOVE,
ELECTRIC, and INFRARED LAMP as the source of heat for their brooders.
Brooding can be natural or artificial.

REARING OF BROILERS
 Care: Give good attention to the finisher birds.
 Temperature: Reduce environmental temperature by conditioning it either
by increasing or reducing heat depending on what is necessary.
 Relative Humidity: Relative Humidity should fall between 50 - 80%
 Ventilation: Maximum ventilation should be ensured by using open sided
houses.
 Feeding: Finisher broilers need a C.P of 15-16% and 2,400 to 2600 k cal
per kg of feed.
 Deep Litter Floor: Finisher broilers can be reared on a deep litter floor.
 Feeders and Drinkers
 Cull: Sick or deformed birds are separated to a sick bay for intensive care.
 Dead Birds: remove dead birds and record as mortality.

OCCASIONAL MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

1. Medication
2. Vaccination.
3. Debeakin
4. Deworming
5. Turning of the litter.
6. Litter Evacuation
7. Farm Sanitation
8. Culling sick birds
9. Weigh for weight
10. Invite the veterinary officer or doctor.

RECORD KEEPING
Poultry farming is a business - whether it is broiler, breeder or egg production,
the farmer must learn to keep accurate records of his day-to-day activities.
Below are some of the records and charts that farmers must learn to keep:
WHY YOU NEED TO KEEP FARM RECORDS.
 Farm records provide a basis for evaluation. You get to monitor your
growth, losses and patterns that may have helped your growth.
 Records allow you check the performance of your birds. This makes you
 know if you have to change brands or tweak your methods.
 Records allow you determine the growth rate of your birds.
 Records help you plan for the future.
 Records serve as reference material to you and other farmers you may be
training.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Many poultry farmers including those who produce broilers have packed up and
left the business. We strongly make these simple recommendations for
continuity and sustainability for prospective farmers. Poultry farmers can be
encouraged and sustained in the following ways:
Governments at all levels should give direct support (inputs in the form of
grants, loans and agro-inputs) to farmers.
Local trainings and workshops should be organized to improve the knowledge
and experience of farmers.
Experienced farmers should be open to teach up-and-coming agriculturists.
Those who are new should be open to learning and asking questions.
Poultry farmers should form virile and vibrant farming co-operative societies to
enable them access loans and grants from governments and donor agencies.
Disclaimer:
This manual is to provide a guide you can use practically on your poultry farm.
Your knowledge should not be limited to this manual as there is a vast reserve
of information around the world. Do well to research and ask questions about
alternative means, new technologies or methods in farming, sustainable
agriculture and the likes. Learn about agricultural policies as they are important
for business. Avail yourself for opportunities to get hands-on practice on what
you have read in this manual….
God bless you. (GRACE FLOWS FARM)