Not very many of us are into agricultural production, and even more specifically, poultry production but I’ve had some experience in poultry farming. Even though I only did poultry as a hobby while growing up, I was able to gather some essential components of poultry farming.
Aside from my personal experience with poultry farming, which I consider largely insufficient on its own, my knowledge about poultry farming has also been further enriched by other people, friends, family and other agricultural professionals.
Just like most other things, starting a poultry farm requires that you know a few things, and here, you are going to find out all you need to know about poultry farming before starting.
Basic Requirements For Poultry Farming
Generally, every business begins with the availability of adequate capital/funds. Poultry farming is not an exception. However, in addition to that, there are some requirements that are specific to poultry farming, some things you are going to make provisions for so as to succeed in the poultry business.
Knowing about these requirements before starting a poultry farm is as important as knowing all others that you will find later in this article. Now, what are they?
- Housing/cage
- The hens
- Feeds
- Drugs
- Pest and vector preventive equipment/materials
- Adequate manpower
- Storage and processing equipment
The first thing you must ensure to secure before starting a poultry farm is a good house or cage for your birds, even before buying the birds. The house should be large enough for the birds you intend to keep, with adequate ventilation and pest and vector protection materials.
After securing an adequate house or a cage for your birds, other things should follow normally – of course, you will need to buy the birds, the feeds, drugs, especially when the need arises and adequate manpower to tend to your poultry farm.
An additional way to make money from your poultry business is by collecting side-products of poultry birds. Apart from selling poultry for meat, you can breed hens for eggs and this can add to your income from the poultry business. Also, you should not forget that poultry droppings are some of the richest sources of manure for crop farmers.
Poultry Feeds: One Important Aspect of Poultry Farming
Poultry feeds is one of the most important aspects of poultry production. It occupies the core of the poultry business and the success of poultry production depends on the quality of feeds. The feeds, when consumed by the poultry, are what help the poultry to grow properly to produce meat and eggs.
Your choice of feeds can affect every aspect of your poultry farm development. Good quality feeds are important for optimal growth and egg production by your chickens. Hence, the importance of feeds cannot be over-emphasized.
In the poultry production business, you can decide to major in feed-selling to the farmers without being directly involved in poultry farming. In any case, before you buy chicken feed for sale or for consumption by your birds/chickens, there are different types of poultry feeds you should know about.
In every locality, the question of what the most popular type of feed is perpetually being asked by poultry producers and other interested individuals. However, what is more, important is the choice of the type of feed to use for your poultry birds will depend on the stage of their development, availability of the feeds and the cost of purchasing them.
Depending on the stage of the birds’ development, you can have starter feeds (for chicks), layer feeds (during their egg-laying stage), maintenance feeds, etc.
We will now fully explore the different types of poultry feeds.
Popular Types of Poultry Feeds
These are three of the most popular types of chicken feeds for poultry farmers;
- Corn
- Market-formulated feeds
- Grubs – Larve feeds
Corn
Maize meal, also known as maize, corn or cornmeal, is by far the most popular type of poultry feed for poultry farming. As you may have already guessed, it is made from maize/corn by milling them into finer grains depending on the stage of development of the chickens. Corn is popular and inexpensive because it is readily available as feed for poultry birds like chicken, ducks, geese, and turkeys.
Corn is easily grown as well, and this contributes to its increased availability. This means that it is often produced in a region close to the poultry farmer or feed producer. Due to its low cost, corn feeds are one of the most cost-effective poultry feeds available to poultry farmers.
Corn feed is of two major varieties depending on the method of milling employed in their production – wet milling and dry milling. Corn feed is rich in the essential proteins, fibres, energy and minerals required for the optimal growth of poultry birds.
Market-formulated Feeds
The United States is the leading exporter of poultry meat in the world, with Brazil, the EU, China, and India occupying the top five positions of the world’s leading exporters of poultry meat in the world (stats in 2019). For large scale poultry farmers like those in these parts of the world, there is always a need to include augmented feeds into the rations of the poultry birds.
In India, many popular brands of chicken feeds use corn-soybean as their main ingredient. This is a formulated meal that contains corn and soybean and is rich in all the essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals required for optimal growth of baby chicks into adults and for maintenance of adequate growth and egg development thereafter. Corn-soybean-based feeds are also rich in selenium, an important trace mineral for the development of a strong immune system and improved egg quality.
Formulated feeds can also include a number of other fortifying ingredients like wheat bran, rice polish, fish-meal, meat-meal, groundnut cake, etc, depending on their availability, and they serve as a richer type of feed for poultry birds.
Grubs – Larve feeds
Grubs are oven-dried black soldier fly larva that is a very healthy and nutritious feed that chickens love. I didn’t have to do a survey on chickens to see how much they love grubs but you can tell from how they run towards at the sight of grubs in your hands.
These worm-like larvae can be dried and served to poultry birds either alone or alternated with other types of poultry feeds given above. Grubs are rich in calcium, crude protein and fats. They are cheap poultry feeds and also readily produced. Their nutritiveness combined with their cheap cost and availability makes them a very popular feed option for poultry farmers in some countries.
Final words
Poultry farming requires knowledge of a number of things, very much on top of this list is the knowledge of the types of poultry feeds. The choice of the type of feed to feed your birds with depends on a number of factors – availability, cost, age of the birds, the primary intent of production (egg, meat or both) and the type of birds you have.
Several feed manufacturing brands exist which produce and package these feed products in commercial quantities for sale to poultry farmers. There is no combination of poultry feeds that is impossible. You can combine any of the types depending on your financial capability. All the feed types have a variety of sub-types, for example, mealworms and waxworms are a variety of grubs for poultry feeding.
Finally, feeds can also be fortified industrially to meet the commercial needs of the farmer. For example, to enhance egg production feeds for egg-producing poultry birds are preferentially fortified with minerals and nutrients required for egg production.
Not very many of us are into agricultural production, and even more specifically, poultry production but I’ve had some experience in poultry farming. Even though I only did poultry as a hobby while growing up, I was able to gather some essential components of poultry farming.
Aside from my personal experience with poultry farming, which I consider largely insufficient on its own, my knowledge about poultry farming has also been further enriched by other people, friends, family and other agricultural professionals.
Just like most other things, starting a poultry farm requires that you know a few things, and here, you are going to find out all you need to know about poultry farming before starting.
Basic Requirements For Poultry Farming
Generally, every business begins with the availability of adequate capital/funds. Poultry farming is not an exception. However, in addition to that, there are some requirements that are specific to poultry farming, some things you are going to make provisions for so as to succeed in the poultry business.
Knowing about these requirements before starting a poultry farm is as important as knowing all others that you will find later in this article. Now, what are they?
- Housing/cage
- The hens
- Feeds
- Drugs
- Pest and vector preventive equipment/materials
- Adequate manpower
- Storage and processing equipment
The first thing you must ensure to secure before starting a poultry farm is a good house or cage for your birds, even before buying the birds. The house should be large enough for the birds you intend to keep, with adequate ventilation and pest and vector protection materials.
After securing an adequate house or a cage for your birds, other things should follow normally – of course, you will need to buy the birds, the feeds, drugs, especially when the need arises and adequate manpower to tend to your poultry farm.
An additional way to make money from your poultry business is by collecting side-products of poultry birds. Apart from selling poultry for meat, you can breed hens for eggs and this can add to your income from the poultry business. Also, you should not forget that poultry droppings are some of the richest sources of manure for crop farmers.
Poultry Feeds: One Important Aspect of Poultry Farming
Poultry feeds is one of the most important aspects of poultry production. It occupies the core of the poultry business and the success of poultry production depends on the quality of feeds. The feeds, when consumed by the poultry, are what help the poultry to grow properly to produce meat and eggs.
Your choice of feeds can affect every aspect of your poultry farm development. Good quality feeds are important for optimal growth and egg production by your chickens. Hence, the importance of feeds cannot be over-emphasized.
In the poultry production business, you can decide to major in feed-selling to the farmers without being directly involved in poultry farming. In any case, before you buy chicken feed for sale or for consumption by your birds/chickens, there are different types of poultry feeds you should know about.
In every locality, the question of what the most popular type of feed is perpetually being asked by poultry producers and other interested individuals. However, what is more, important is the choice of the type of feed to use for your poultry birds will depend on the stage of their development, availability of the feeds and the cost of purchasing them.
Depending on the stage of the birds’ development, you can have starter feeds (for chicks), layer feeds (during their egg-laying stage), maintenance feeds, etc.
We will now fully explore the different types of poultry feeds.
Popular Types of Poultry Feeds
These are three of the most popular types of chicken feeds for poultry farmers;
- Corn
- Market-formulated feeds
- Grubs – Larve feeds
Corn
Maize meal, also known as maize, corn or cornmeal, is by far the most popular type of poultry feed for poultry farming. As you may have already guessed, it is made from maize/corn by milling them into finer grains depending on the stage of development of the chickens. Corn is popular and inexpensive because it is readily available as feed for poultry birds like chicken, ducks, geese, and turkeys.
Corn is easily grown as well, and this contributes to its increased availability. This means that it is often produced in a region close to the poultry farmer or feed producer. Due to its low cost, corn feeds are one of the most cost-effective poultry feeds available to poultry farmers.
Corn feed is of two major varieties depending on the method of milling employed in their production – wet milling and dry milling. Corn feed is rich in the essential proteins, fibres, energy and minerals required for the optimal growth of poultry birds.
Market-formulated Feeds
The United States is the leading exporter of poultry meat in the world, with Brazil, the EU, China, and India occupying the top five positions of the world’s leading exporters of poultry meat in the world (stats in 2019). For large scale poultry farmers like those in these parts of the world, there is always a need to include augmented feeds into the rations of the poultry birds.
In India, many popular brands of chicken feeds use corn-soybean as their main ingredient. This is a formulated meal that contains corn and soybean and is rich in all the essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals required for optimal growth of baby chicks into adults and for maintenance of adequate growth and egg development thereafter. Corn-soybean-based feeds are also rich in selenium, an important trace mineral for the development of a strong immune system and improved egg quality.
Formulated feeds can also include a number of other fortifying ingredients like wheat bran, rice polish, fish-meal, meat-meal, groundnut cake, etc, depending on their availability, and they serve as a richer type of feed for poultry birds.
Grubs – Larve feeds
Grubs are oven-dried black soldier fly larva that is a very healthy and nutritious feed that chickens love. I didn’t have to do a survey on chickens to see how much they love grubs but you can tell from how they run towards at the sight of grubs in your hands.
These worm-like larvae can be dried and served to poultry birds either alone or alternated with other types of poultry feeds given above. Grubs are rich in calcium, crude protein and fats. They are cheap poultry feeds and also readily produced. Their nutritiveness combined with their cheap cost and availability makes them a very popular feed option for poultry farmers in some countries.
Final words
Poultry farming requires knowledge of a number of things, very much on top of this list is the knowledge of the types of poultry feeds. The choice of the type of feed to feed your birds with depends on a number of factors – availability, cost, age of the birds, the primary intent of production (egg, meat or both) and the type of birds you have.
Several feed manufacturing brands exist which produce and package these feed products in commercial quantities for sale to poultry farmers. There is no combination of poultry feeds that is impossible. You can combine any of the types depending on your financial capability. All the feed types have a variety of sub-types, for example, mealworms and waxworms are a variety of grubs for poultry feeding.
Finally, feeds can also be fortified industrially to meet the commercial needs of the farmer. For example, to enhance egg production feeds for egg-producing poultry birds are preferentially fortified with minerals and nutrients required for egg production.
