How to Start Broiler Farming

What’s Broiler Production

Broiler production means the rearing of poultry breeds or birds that have a high productivity of meat. Under good management and in the long run, broiler farming is a profitable business. Chickens that are raised for meat are called “broilers.” These chickens are typically white, and are bred specifically for optimal health and size to produce a quality product for the consumer. Broiler chickens are raised in large, open structures called houses, where they roam, explore, eat, and commune with other chickens. Some (including free-range chickens) have varying access to the outdoors, based on farmer preference.
Broiler chickens arrive at the farm at the same time, from the same hatchery, to maintain biosecurity on the farm.

Preparation of the House for Broiler Chickens

One of the essential factors of broiler keeping is their house. The regular size of the poultry building is 120*14m or 90*12m.
1. We need to equip the poultry farming equipments in the house with gas heaters, feeders, drinkers, and ventilation systems.
2. The house should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before the chicks are brought in.
3. The heating system should be checked and monitored to ensure it is working rightly and the house should be pre-warmed for the comfort and health of the new chicks. For the modern farms, air forced space heaters are recommended to use in the house, it can be installed on the wall or hang inside the house. The poultry space heater is automatically controlled by the electric thermostat. It can stop automatically when the poultry heater reaches to the set temperature and starts automatically when it’s lower than the set temperature.

4. Good ventilation and humidity should be maintained in the house.

Environmental Conditions for Broiler Production

The temperature condition around the broilers is important for broiler farming and should be treated with high discipline. Failure to-do-so, this might lead to some problems for the broilers. Two days before bringing the chicks to the firm, you should check the temperature of the broiler house. For the first week, the temperature should read around 35°C and it will reduce slowly at a rate of 2.80°C per week. This mostly relies on the temperature outside. The litter or bedding of the chicken has to be around 5 to 6 inches in depth. If there is a chance, you can keep some straw in the chicken bed. The bed should be cleaned every two weeks and if it becomes very wet, you can use lime as it absorbs ammonia gas.

Feed and Water for Broiler Keeping

The most important factor in broiler rearing is chicken feed. When you provide proper and quality feeds to your broilers, you will obtain great results. The broilers consume the feed and convert it into meat. For the farmer to be successful, they should give their broilers the right feed. Broiler poultry requires a high ratio of proteins in their feed for them to grow well. Vitamins are also needed such as A, B2, and B12 among others. To keep the broilers from diseases, they should be disinfected too.

Vaccinations for Broiler Rearing

The broilers require optimal conditions for them to be safe and secure from any diseases. But in most cases, this is difficult to attain. Vaccinating the broilers is a sure way of preventing them from the common diseases that might affect them. Hence, vaccinating them protects them from such threats in the long run. The vaccination process should be done correctly to ensure that all birds receive the vaccine and are protected.
When the birds are being vaccinated, it is required that within two hours of vaccine dilution all the birds should have taken a drink. Water vaccination is the best as all you need to do is to get every bird to drink the vaccinated water. The older the birds are, the more the volume of the vaccine should be.

The best way to rear broilers is by large scale production. Large scale broiler production lowers the cost of equipment, feeds, vaccination, and overall management.
Broiler chicken farming and broiler production can be a challenge, but with the right process, equipment and management, you will have a good profit in a short period of time.