Poultry Farming ( A complete guide)

Commercial Poultry Farming is basically is divided into three categories.
1. Hatchery  - Layer or Broiler
2. Layer Farming
3. Broiler Farming
Hatchery involves hatching eggs, obtained from mating male & female birds of Poultry called parent or grand parent. In ancient times it used to be a natural process, performed by hen itself. But with the commercialisation of Poultry, this is done with machines. The Chicks are produced in bulks to suit the requirements of a farm. The parent and the grand parent are obtained from pure line breeders. The Chicks may be Broiler or the layer according to their parent breed. Eggs of the parent birds are collected every day and the so collected eggs are kept in Hatcher for a scheduled period at the same time so that the Chicks, coming out have same date of birth. Hatchery business is quite profitable in most of the less developed Poultry states because these can't meet the demand for Chicks due to short supply. The rates of saleable Chicks varies between Rs 15-20 The thrust area in hatcheries is to keep the hatchery free from virus and bacterial diseases so that the quality of Chicks is good.
Layer Farming is to get table eggs for consumption. Layer farmer get  one day Chicks from hatcheries and rear it for about 5 months to get eggs from them. One day Chicks are quite delicate and need expert brooding. The price of one day chick in India is approx. Rs 35/- Brooding period is from 0-6 week. Temperature management of the brooder, specially in winters is quite important. In first week it ranges from 90-95°F. Brooder pneumonia is very common in winter when the brooder temp. is not up to the requirements of the bird. The vaccination schedule should be followed strictly to be safe from various diseases. Debeaking ( touching) is done at the age of 1 month so that birds don't peck each other. Nutritionally the bird should be given energy levels of 3200-3300 kcal/ Kg and the protein should be kept 22-23% so that bird's growth match the ratings.
After 6 week of age it is grower stage when the Skelton of the bird is fully developed and it attains the weight. At this age , the protein level may be reduced to 16-17%.. Gumboro, wing rot, Maereck's disease can spoil the flock in this period so we have to keep the bio security level up to date.
At the age of 16 weeks bird starts laying and it attains a peak by the age of 22 weeks. A good nutrition at this age prolongs the laying period with least routine problems like prolapse, Weak Egg Shell, production drops and Ranikhet disease etc. The protein % should be 17-18% at this age. After the age of 72 weeks, the bird should be retired and culled for the sake of best economics. During the last legg of laying sometimes oversize Egg size creates a big issue. By manipulating the protein level of the Feed  this problem can be addressed to some level.
In India the most common Feed constituents of the Poultry Feed are - Maize, Bajra, Jowar, Rice kani, DOC Soya, GNE ( Ground nut extract, obtained from solvent plants after extracting oil from the groundnut), DOC Mustard, DOC Rice Bran, Rice Polish, Marble grit and powder( for Egg Shell formation), Vitamin and Mineral Supplements, mould inhibitors and Dicalcium phosphate etc. The grain % is kept between 50-60% depending upon the age of the bird and the climate. Similarly protein % varies from 15%-18% The manufacturing cost of good layer feed comes around Rs 20/-. and a single bird consumes around 7 Kg of Feed by the time it comes to laying age. This costs Rs 200- 225/- a bird for complete rearing.
In India, Egg market is very competitive. High FCR ( Feed conversion ratio) and disease free Bird can only make the farmer survive. Amino acid Supplementation and the molting of birds are the latest cost cutting tools.
Broiler farming-. Broiler is a bird developed for the rapid weight gain. Like layers, one day Chicks are procured from the hatcheries. One day chick cost around Rs 10- 30/- depending on demand and supply.They are given highly concentrated feeds so the bird attains a Wt of about 2 Kg in 45-50 days. Brooding is just like layer birds.( Explained above) It costs around Rs 80/- Kg a bird to rear and the saleable rate varies from Rs 70- 120/-.Since the birds are on a fast forward mode, chances of getting viral and the bacterial diseases is much more as compared to the layers.Supplementation of vitamins, minerals, antibiotics and proper vaccination are the shortcuts to safe Farming.
     In India, most of the people in Broiler industry, operate at very small scale, they can't afford to manufacture Feed at their farm. They have to purchase ready made Feed for their birds. Sometimes due to under quality Feed, the bird don't  attain weight at right time and it takes 60-70 days to attain a Wt. of 2Kg. This proves quite uneconomical. Fatty liver syndrome, lichi disease and Heat Stoke are the common reason for mortality. The rates of the saleable birds fluctuate so often that the small farmers get ruined.
      Some big breeders are going for integration practice in Broiler industry these days where the Chicks and Feed is supplied by the breeders . The saleable Broilers are also purchased back by them after deducting the labour rates. This is proving boon in some areas.
     In India Haryana, Panjab, Hyderabad in A.P,  are the leading areas in Poultry.Uttar Pradesh Govt. is offering subsidy of 25% to set up Poultry there. Since the availability of raw material and the consumption of Poultry Products is maximum in Uttar Pradesh, this state can be the future hub of Poultry.