How to Rear Broiler Chickens for Six Weeks at Low Cost

 

The rearing of broiler chickens is an unquestionably extremely profitable agribusiness. Broiler chickens are poultry chicken meat-types. There are numerous breeds of broiler chickens; the common breeds are the Ross, Cobbs, and Arbo-Acre; these breeds are distinguished by their rapid development, short harvest time, and low feed conversion.

According to the recent main reality of the broiler chicken industry, about 9 billion broiler chickens were produced in 2018; demand for animal protein has yet to be fulfilled successfully globally; this calls for further production of broiler chickens around the globe. Many poultry farmers face immense difficulties that account for massive investment or high-cost loss of growth, resulting in little to no income at the end of the production process. There are various phases of rearing broiler chickens, in each process, I'll share with you some tips for raising your production costs and increase your profits.

These tips are applicable in the following area of broiler production:

1.  Brooding

2. Housing

3. Broilers feeding program

4. Pest and disease control

5. Marketing and standardization

1. Brooding Of Broiler Chickens

The brooding stage is the most critical process of broiler development, typically lasts 3-4 weeks. It is really important to have the first 10 days of broiler chickens' life; you 'd know whether you're making a profit or not within the first 10 days.

Brooding is the management of the day-old chicks; it involves all the necessary processes of building a solid foundation, from chicks to market size, in terms of good health and good growth. This is a very sensitive part of chicken rearing. Temperature, ventilation, and feeding are the main influences in brooding. Such three variables will increase your income or reduce your profits; everything depends on how well you are. The chicks require heat for growth and feeding during the first 10 days.

The brooding pen should be heated to a temperature of 28 degrees Celsius before stocking the day-old chicks. The temperature induces the appetite of the chicks so they are encouraged to eat. The more the chicks feed, the quicker they grow. The intake of feed at low temperatures is low which leads to wastage and poor use of feed; this marks the beginning of the increase in your production costs. Another important factor is the lighting; if you want to harvest your broiler chickens faster this factor is very prominent. Lighting encourages the chickens to eat more; particularly within the first 10 days of brooding, this is very important.

Follow this lighting system and watch your broiler chicks rise quicker. Provide 24 hours of bright light per day for the first 3 days. Supply 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness per day for 6-7 days of age. Supply 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness every day from 7-21 days. Only modulating their feeding pattern is what you are doing, so broiler chickens can eat when they see the sun. It will devote the first 72 hours, 3 days, to food. This helps the chicks to gain weight quickly and to grow healthy, which is a cornerstone for good growth. The broiler chickens are moved to the grow-out pen after 4 weeks, where they spend the two weeks remaining.

2. Housing Design For Broiler Production

Housing is very important; the broiler house needs to serve many functions, the main one being protected from harsh weather and pest conditions. Those two will increase the development costs by diseases and pathogens, and you need steps to reduce the housing costs for the animals. One way to indirectly lower the cost of manufacturing your broiler through housing is by orienting your broiler pen. The broiler house should be aligned east to west; that is, the narrow section should be facing east and the wider section should be facing north-south to the sunlight in the building.

This is important because the penetration of sunlight raises the temperature above the acceptable heat stress level. By reducing feed consumption and weight gain, heat stress raises the output costs. The litter substance and its administration often play a significant role in minimizing the expense of making the broiler. How? How? The litter material provides comfort in the pen, leading to better feed utilization and increased weight gain. If you use the wrong litter material, though, you might end up treating respiratory diseases or disorders which in effect raises the production costs. Examples of litter materials include wood shavings, sawdust, rice bran, etc.; sawdust and wood shavings of these materials are readily available. Instead of sawdust, use wood shavings; it has larger particles and fluffier than sawdust; Wood shaving reduces the risk of breathing disorders and blindness; these are peculiar to sawdust.

The stocking rate is another important way to minimize the cost of producing broiler chickens. Broilers need space so they can expand rapidly and healthily. Overstocking results in decreased production when under-storage is more or less a waste of money because it costs more to create a large pen with a comparatively small flock. Your broiler chickens need a cost-effective stocking rate. The average stock density for broiler chicken is 0.28sqm per bird from day to market size; using this stocking rate to plan the pen to reduce inventory and cut costs.

3. Broiler Chickens Feeding Guide

Feeding takes the lion's share of total production costs, hence the feeding aspect in broiler production has to be taken very seriously. During the first 3 days, you are to feed the chicks ad-lipid; feed-in good quantity and quality to improve the feed efficiency. Broiler farmers feed two types of feed on their chickens; the broiler founder diet, and the broiler finisher diet. The starter diet will be fed for the first 4 weeks, while the finisher will be used at market size from 4 weeks. Your chicken will still grow very large but at a very high expense. Due to the high weight gain, your chickens can even develop a bone disorder, thus reducing the market value or even death.

You should have a diet in your feeding plan to reduce the feeding costs without reducing the market weight of your poultry. Introduce the Grower diet into the feeding plan to lower feeding costs and keep the weight gain at an appropriate range. Serve the starter diet for 3 weeks, serve the grower for 4 weeks, and continue the harvest period with the finisher from 4 weeks. With this feeding program, you have been able to reduce feeding costs and achieve a marketable weight of 3 kg or more. Another way to cut feeding excesses is by eating with accuracy. This method is cost-effective; it simply means feeding at least the minimum amount of food a chicken will eat at a given time. Feed your chickens based on 55 g per bird per day and increase feed each week by 10 g until harvest. You are going to get a good result.

 4. Pest And Disease Control In Broiler Production

Pest and disease are typically the banes of high production costs; apart from eating, by avoiding these diseases and pest you will significantly reduce the cost of your growth. Be confident to inquire about the vaccination performed on the chicks from the hatchery before you leave the hatchery. Potential bird breakdowns must be stopped. Aside from vaccines, the use of such plants, frequent change of litter content to deter diseases such as coccidiosis and strict biosecurity steps can help prevent disease. There are cheap options to slash the cost of broiler medications.

 5. Marketing And Standardization Of Broiler Chickens

Commercialization of broiler chickens will begin at the 5th week. If you're still feeding your chickens by the seventh week then you're running at a loss. Start your marketing as early as possible to fast-track your sale. Concerning the sales standard, you should sell per kg; with that, you can fully earn what you worked for at the end of the production. Rearing broiler chicken is a very lucrative business that can be earned enormously in a relatively short time. Broiler chickens are usually reared for 6 weeks, reaching a market weight of above 2.5 kg when all manufacturing practices are properly done.