Introduction to poultry production

VICTOR MAKAHAMADZEWITH the sudden interest in poultry production in Namibia lately, it has become clear that getting a fair amount of knowledge about poultry production is a very important investment before infrastructure, equipment, feed and the chickens themselves are brought to site.

Interest and zeal alone are not enough if not backed up by technical knowledge on how to handle day to day issues. The acquisition of technical knowledge also ensures that the farmer reduces possible financial losses and bottle necks from the enterprise in its infancy.

It is also important for farmers to ask themselves the following seemingly simple but important questions before buying any inputs for the enterprise;

• Do I have the skills required to see this business through?

• Which chicken breed can deliver the desired output?

• At what price is the market willing to buy my chickens/eggs?

• Does the market have disposable income?

• At what weight is the market willing to buy my chickens/eggs?

• What will be the market penetration price?

• What are the market’s financial trends?

• What are the alternative markets?

There are a number chicken breeds that a farmer can choose from, namely;

Indigenous chickens

The Indigenous chickens, also known as marathon chickens, are the chickens mostly found in rural areas, Their breeds are often not known due to uncontrolled cross. breeding among themselves. The indigenous breeds are hardy and can survive under very marginal conditions compared to commercial breeds. In most cases farmers are not really sensitive to their diet and their shelter is normally made from recycled material.

The indigenous breeds have an average body weight of 1,2 kg at 16 weeks of age with the males often weighing more than the females.

The show chickens are the chickens reared by farmers mainly for show / competitive purposes due to their attractive feathers, large body sizes (3,6kg), etc. It is these characteristics that make them attractive. Sometimes farmers to use these chickens for sentimental value and as pets around the house. However, some farmers may also opt to breed show breeds for resale.

Examples of show chickens include the black and white australorps and the buff orpingtons.

Broiler chickens are commercial breeds which are commercially reared for meat production due to their good feed conversion ratios of about 1,6 (meaning that for every 1.6kgs of feed consumed, one kilogram of body weight is gained). There are basically two types of broiler chickens available on the market ,namely; the Ross and the Cobb 500. In Namibia, the Cobb 500 is the most common.

Layer chickens are chickens that are specifically reared for egg production. Farmers can choose whether to purchase these at day old stage or to buy them at point of lay from reputable suppliers. At 6months of age the layer chickens start laying their first eggs and will continue to do so profitably for 2 years without the aid of a cock. The eggs produced by these chickens are also known as table eggs due to the fact that they cannot hatch because they are not fertilised. The two types of chickens used for egg production are lohmann brown chickens and Hyline chickens.

* Victor Makahamadze is the Agri-Business Principal Consultant with Farmervic Enterprises Cc

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