– PART B
Last week we looked at three tips for successful broiler production. This week we look at 4 more tips.
Tip 4. Feed, feeding & feed management
Feeding plays an important role in the growth of your broilers. Broilers that feed well will give you the best possible weight. It is therefore important for you as the broiler farmer to ensure that your broilers have a well-balanced nutrition manufactured by experienced manufacturers.
The way you set up feeders and drinkers in the fowl run will also determine whether your broilers feed well or not. Set up of feeders and drinkers in the fowl run in a way that enables easy access to feed and water for chicks, for better growth.
Feed should be stored well in a clean, cool and dark room.
Tip 5. Production efficiency
Each and every step in looking after your chickens has the ability of improving your efficiency, however, should you fail to meet your targets then efficiency is lost. The weight of your chickens at seven days helps you to evaluate whether you are in the right direction or not.
A successful broiler farmer should have targeted weights and an expected time of slaughter or sale of the birds. Continuous feeding without a cut-off time is not good business.
You should be mindful of number of feedbags used as well as average weights obtained from these bags
Minimum inputs and maximum out-put should be your business/management style.
It is important for the broiler farmer to be able to calculate their cost of production for each and every batch.
Tip 6. Biosecurity and disease control
Biosecurity refers to a set of practices designed to prevent the entry and spread of infectious diseases into and from a poultry farm.
Biosecurity requires the adoption of a set of attitudes and behaviours by people, to reduce risk in all activities involving poultry production and marketing.
A successful broiler farmer will implement the following biosecurity measures:
– Use foot bath/dips at every entry point to a fowl run.
– Put a fence with a lockable gate around your fowl run to prevent easy access by dogs, cats, chicken makhaya (roadrunners), ducks, amathendele (Guinea fowl), unauthorised people.
– Do not put different ages of birds in the same fowl run.
– Maintain a distance of at least 10m between broiler fowl runs and 20m between broilers to layers, layers to layers 10m.
– Do not mix chickens with other livestock.
– Ensure fowl run is cleaned sanitised and disinfected properly before putting chickens.
– Vaccinate chickens at the required time without any delays, following the correct procedures.
– Isolate and give antibiotics to sick birds quickly, to ensure disease does not spread.
– Remove dead birds from the fowl run very quickly and send to a vet for a postmortem, so that you know what is happening in your fowl run.
– Have particular clothing you wear in the fowl run a t-shirt or vest and cotton shorts or skirt.
Tip 7. Rearing
Rearing is the period between day 15 and slaughter time. A successful broiler farmer will effectively take care of his chickens during this period. Place 5cm grass/shavings in the rest of the fowl run.
Put bigger drinkers & feeders in the rest of the fowl run. Remove the demarcation for the brooder.
Continue to check on the birds, every one to two hours that bedding, water, feed, ventilation is okay and chickens are happy.
For more information, visit the Higrow team at 47b Fife Street in Bulawayo between 3rd and 4th Avenue or Call 09 882602/3. Like our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HigrowZimbabwe for regular updates.