Broiler Chicken Farming Startup Guide
If you are interested in broiler production, you may want to know how to start a broiler chicken farming business plan, this article tells you the broiler farming business plan which could be helpful for you.
Broiler rearing for meat is a very amazing, interesting and profitable experience. Whether you’re doing this on a large scale or small scale, it is a rewarding process. The term broiler production refers to the rearing of poultry breeds or birds that have a high productivity of meat. Under good management and in the long run, broiler farming is a lucrative business.
The broiler is a special species of poultry as it is scientifically made to produce more meat in a very short period of time say 6-9 weeks when they weigh around 6 pounds. One of the most dominant Broiler chickens being reared for meat is the Cornish. But before venturing into this kind of business, you have to learn and comprehend some requirements. What are the key factors to keep broiler chickens? Let’s check out some of the significant factors that you should look out for.
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How to Start Broiler Chicken Farming |
Preparation of the House for Broiler Chicken Farming
One of the essential factors of broiler keeping is their house. Whatever design or structure that you build for your broiler chicken business, it will somehow have an impact on the overall outcome of your business. Therefore, ensure that you follow all the regulations and processes recommended by experts in building a house for broiler production. Discussed below are some of the guidelines to follow.
- The regular distance from one house to another should be around 12 meters.
- Install new or maintain the available equipment in the house with heaters, feeders, drinkers, and fans all functioning appropriately.
- The house should be thoroughly cleaned before the chicks are brought in. wash the ceiling, sidewalks, walls, and equipment. After cleaning, disinfect the building and ensure the ventilation is working correctly.
- The insects should be run off with a blowlamp
- The heating system should be checked and monitored to ensure it is working rightly.
- Moderate temperatures should be maintained in the house.
- Avoid challenges by performing good sanitation, rodent & fly control during the rearing period.
Equipment for Broiler Production
The right equipment in the house will ensure that you have a smooth operation and easy management of your broilers.
Below are some of the broiler farm equipment that you should consider having.
- To have a heat source, you will need an electric or gas brooder. It is recommended to use a 250-watt heat lamp for 50 chicks.
- Use small chicken feeders for younger chicks and larger ones as they grow older.
- Use small glass jar waterers when chicks are small and adjust to a larger one as they grow old.
- The litter or bedding for the chicks, in this case, can be dry and clean sawdust, wood shaving, straw ,or shredded paper.
Environmental Conditions for Broiler Production
The temperature condition around the broilers is very important for broiler farming and should be treated with high discipline. Failure to-do-so, this might lead to some problems for the broilers. Two days before bringing the chicks to the firm, you should check the temperature of the broiler house. For the first week, the temperature should read around 350°C and it will reduce slowly at a rate of 2.80°C per week. This mostly relies on the temperature outside. The litter or bedding of the chicken has to be around 5 to 6 inches in depth. If there is a chance, you can keep some straw in the chicken bed. The bed should be cleaned every two weeks and if it becomes very wet, you can use lime as it absorbs ammonia gas.
In addition, the temperature at bird height should be 86° t0 90° F. In winter or during very cold periods, run the heat for longer periods to ensure that the floor is okay. When chicks get cold, they don’t feed and might starve to the deaf. When the right conditions are observed, the Broilers will grow fast with little problems. This further reduces the overall costs incurred in treatment and other challenges experienced.
Feed and Water for Broiler Keeping
The most important factor in broiler rearing is chicken feed. When you provide proper and quality feeds to your broilers, you will obtain great results. The broilers consume the feed and convert it into meat. For the farmer to be successful, they should give their broilers the right feed. Broiler poultry requires a high ratio of proteins in their feed for them to grow well. Vitamins are also needed such as A, B2, and B12 among others. To keep the broilers from diseases, they should be disinfected too.
The broiler consumes on the feed and water all day and night thus, ensure that these two are available 24/7 in the chicken house. Ensure that the water and feed are present in their cages. Good Broiler chicken cage is ideal and easier to feed your broilers. Ensure you have one of them for efficient operation. During winter, the farmer should provide warm water to the broilers. When feeding your chickens, here are few things to know:
- Give the feed four different times in a day
- Give clean and freshwater every time
- The water and feed provided should be equivalent to the chicks available
- During summers, the Broilers take more water
- In the first weeks, give the chicks a lot of feed before their restricted feeding begins.
- The feeding time after restricted should be consistent day-in-day-out.
Vaccinations for Broiler Rearing
The broilers require optimal conditions for them to be safe and secure from any diseases. But in most cases, this is difficult to attain. Vaccinating the broilers is a sure way of preventing them from the common diseases that might affect them. Hence, vaccinating them protects them from such threats in the long run. The vaccination process should be done correctly to ensure that all birds receive the vaccine and are protected.
When the birds are being vaccinated, it is required that within two hours of vaccine dilution all the birds should have taken a drink. Water vaccination is the best as all you need to do is to get every bird to drink the vaccinated water. The older the birds are, the more the volume of the vaccine should be.
Marketing
Marketing of the broiler chickens shouldn’t pose any challenge to the farmer as there is a ready market worldwide. As long as your meat weighs correctly, you will get good rewards in return. All the effort should be put in the rearing of Broiler chickens. That’s where the big challenge lies. With the right house, chicken feeds, equipment, and management of the broiler chicken farm, you can be assured to make great profits out of this Business.
Things to know when starting broiler chicken farming
For great results and profitable broiler poultry farming business, here are some few facts that you should be enlightened about.
- Before the chicks arrive, ensure the chicken broiler houses are clean, tidy, and fit for the broiler chicken. Install all the required equipment like the broiler cages.
- In the broiler production, the total cost spent on their food is very high. It accounts for about 65% of the total cost.
- Less food should be provided in broiler food. This should also be offered in warm water.
- The broiler poultry usually consumes 64% of protein from its food.
- The broiler chickens consume more food during winter than summer seasons.
- Proper vaccination and treatment should be provided to broilers as they affected by diseases easily.
After reviewing the key factors that should be looked out for when rearing broilers, you can now invest in this business with full knowledge of what to do and the precautions to take at every step until they are ready to be processed. Rearing broiler chicken at home has become popular as it is said that high quality and nutritious meat is produced. Also, the broiler chicken raised at home is much older and weighs heavier than those in supermarkets. But considering the cost incurred, rearing them at home is much more expensive than on a large scale basis.
The best way to rear broilers is by large scale production. Large scale broiler production lowers the cost of equipment, feeds, vaccination, and overall management. The broiler should have a clean environment in which they are reared and be well caged in the best broiler cage.
Broiler chicken farming and broiler production can be a challenge, but with the right process, equipment and management, be ready to make huge returns in a short period of time.