I once wrote some general poultry farming articles in a public forum some couple years ago on nairaland,and i received a couple of mails, calls , comments and the likes from people who were specifically interested in knowing about the art of parent stock farming in poultry. i.e Production of hatchable eggs/day old chicks . Infact one of them successfully set up his Parent Stock-Broiler breeder farm and is doing fine in the day old chick/hatching business as I speak to you…oops as I write to you!
So, i have decided to come up with this thread as i noticed that there is a dearth of information on the internet as a whole regarding this niche of poultry farming business.
This topic would take a very long time to get done, because i would be starting from the collection of the birds from the hatchery till the final stage when they would have started laying eggs….
Without any further ado…… lets get it started peeps!
These are the Summary of most of the Day 1 Activities
House preparation, Vaccination, medication, Seromonitoring , weighing ,feeding, drinking, pen temperature regulation, chicks behavior observation, record keeping.
They say the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single leap, So lets Get that leap Started >>>>
…. General house Preparation had begun before the day the layer breeder chicks were to arrive but I will skip that and move straight to the activities that occurred on the day the chicks arrived.
We started with feed and vitamin in water readily available on ground before the chicks arrived. We made sure that the feed was still fresh from the feed mill and was served as soon as the baby chicks arrived.The heat was already regulated to the suitable temperature that would encourage early chick feeding activity (Preheating).
Now, let me educate you, these chicks cant regulate their body temperature, so their activity depend on the ambient house temperature that the farmer provides for them (Not too cold and not too hot for the chicks).The temperature was between 32 to 35/35 degrees celsius as this would encourage good chick feeding behaviour
PS;
It is not about knowing how but also knowing why. seeing the importance of certain actions to get the best out of your birds. In poultry do not compromise, if you do so, then you have indirectly shot yourself on the foot.
Business Lesson to be learnt: Investment returns can only be achieved when you go for the best quality materials/resources that are required to attain the best results. Dont cut corners or else you cut your gains in the long run.
Let me take a nap, and would create a new thread to complete the activities of day one. Dont just read and digest, feel free to ask questions as well!
