Question: I would like to start a broiler operation on my cattle farm. I have 4 broiler houses measuring 120 m x 12 m, with a slope of 1.5 m down the side of each. The size of your broiler houses leaves you with 1 440 m², which can accommodate…
Question: We need to improve our cash flow. We want to establish pastures around our house for rearing free-range chickens. The pastures should have the right protein and dietary content so the chickens will grow correctly. Which breed of chicken should we choose? I thought it would be best to…
Question: We are new to keeping chickens and housed them in an enclosure. They subsequently developed crusts on their legs. We’ve read in books and asked around and have had answers such as its being mites and that we’d have to use old engine oil to get rid of them!…
Question: Is it necessary to wash and sanitise a poultry house? Yes. In fact, it’s an important part of the production process to ensure that the house is correctly sanitised and rested before the next batch of chicks is placed. HOW TO Carrying out a good dry-clean and dusting off…
Question: What are brooders and incubators, and how does one use them? Brooders are used on a farm and incubators are used in a hatchery. BROODERS There are many types, but their basic function is to provide heat for newly-hatched chicks. The simplest ones use wood or charcoal burners to…
Question: Can water quality have a negative effect on vaccines used for poultry? There’s no negative effect on the “killed/inactivated” (oil emulsion) vaccines, applied as intra-muscular or subcutaneous injections. Water quality becomes very important, however, when “live” vaccines are used. Excessively hard water, or water that contains a lot of…
Question: What do FCR and PIF mean in poultry production? FCR stands for Feed Conversion Ratio. It is the quantity of feed the broiler consumes to gain body weight. As feed is the most expensive part of broiler production, the lower the FCR the more efficient the growth rate and…
Question: Why do vaccines sometimes not protect chickens? The handling and storage of “live” vaccines is very important. Remember that these vaccines contain live viruses or bacteria. Very specific temperatures must be adhered to when storing vaccines, or they will be damaged. They should not be exposed to direct sunlight…
Question: How important is water in the poultry industry? Water is a vital and important nutrient of poultry, and fresh potable water must always be available. Poultry drink twice as much water as the feed they eat and this fact must be borne in mind. Please note that these are…
Boschveld, a 50 ha farm in the Bela-Bela area of South Africa’s Limpopo Province, is the operational heart of Mike Bosch’s indigenous chicken business. Mike Bosch is white. He is also African to the core. His context is African, his approach is African, his adaptability is African, his knowledge and…
Question: What the difference is between point of lay pullets and culls? Point of lay pullets are about 17 weeks old and ready to start laying by 18 to 19 weeks. They’ve been reared and vaccinated to be able to produce to the breed standards. When introduced into the laying…
Question: What damage can rodents cause in chicken houses? It’s been calculated that the average feed consumption by rodents over a period of 6 months on a poultry farm having 8 chicken houses, could work out to as much as 3 292 tons. Rodents eat a lot of feed -…
Question: I’d like to start a broiler operation in Phalaborwa, South Africa. I see that broiler houses need to be cooled to 21˚C up to day 21 of production. Is it necessary to do this? Temperatures in Phalaborwa sometimes reach 48˚C in summer. If your poultry house is well-designed, you…
Question: What causes chickens to snick (cough softly or sneeze)? The causes of snicking can be several poultry diseases or management issues. DISEASES Mycoplasma gallisepticum and synoviae can both be transmitted vertically from the breeder hens via the eggs to the newly hatched chicks. If this occurs, the chicks will…
Question: My chicks don’t have any feathers on their chests or backs. They are 42 days old today and have to be slaughtered. Can you tell me why this has happened? Could you please give a table that indicates what their weight gain should be today? Poor feathering could have…
Question: What is fowl pox and what can I do about it? This disease is common to all forms of poultry – commercial layers, breeders, broilers and village chickens. It is caused by the fowl pox virus and can be transmitted by direct contact with infected or carrier birds, as…
An expert gives some suggestions to improve feed conversion ratios (FCR) in broilers. The secret of successful broiler nutrition is to adopt the correct feeding strategy to ensure the best possible feed conversion ratios (FCR). Rick Kleyn from Spesfeed, an animal nutrition company, has some suggestions on how farmers can…
Question: How can I check the health of my chickens? If you use your basic stockman’s skills and your senses, a visit to the poultry house will provide a wealth of information regarding the health and management of the chickens. LOOK As you enter the poultry house, especially where young…
Question: What are the guidelines for handling live vaccines and administering them orally (by mouth)? NEVER expose vaccines to sunlight. Store them in the fridge, not in the freezer. Always transport vaccines in a cooler box, with an ice pack to keep them cool. Starve birds of water for half…
Question: Is it possible to produce broiler chickens throughout the year without electricity? Many poultry farmers started off brooding with charcoal or gas. There is no reason why corrugated iron houses cannot be heated successfully all year round. What is important is for farmers to use their initiative and look…
Question: What causes low body weight in broiler chickens and what can I do about it? ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS Temperature extremes: When there are temperature variances during the brooding period, the growth of the chicks will be negatively affected resulting in poor growth and poor flock uniformity. In very hot weather,…
We’ve received a large number of inquiries about poultry farming and our expert articles on the topic remain very popular with farmers. Here’s a list. Click on the headline to access the article you want to read. GETTING STARTED How to get started – meat or eggs? How to source day old chicks…
It is very important to measure all you inputs in any kind of farming, so that you can see whether you are making a profit or just burning money. And also to see how much money you are making. In this video a small-scale farmer - John Suscovich - makes his sum…
Ugandan farmer Erias Kasumba knows his way around chickens since he's breeding for many years. Unlike some other farmers, he believes in local breeds since they are less susceptible to disease and easier to manage. Check out this video. * We are sharing the video made for the On the Farm-programme…
