MEANING OF POULTRY

• Poultry generally refers to all domestic birds kept mainly for their meat or eggs

KINDS OF POULTRY
Kinds of poultry includes;
Popular poultry in Ghana
Less popular poultry in Ghana
• Fowl (Chickens)
• Ducks • Ostriches
• Turkeys • Geese
• Guinea fowl • Pigeons
• Swans
PICTURES OF KINDS OF POULTRY

FOWL DUCK TURKEY GUINEA FOWL

OSTRICH GOOSE PIGEON SWAN

IMPORTANCE OF POULTRY PRODUCTION

Source of food (meat and eggs)

Source of income for farmers

Source of employment for people

Their droppings are used as manure for fish ponds and crop production

Feather for decoration, filling pillows and processing into fertilizers and feed for
farm animals.

For recreational purposes (eg. Cock fight)

Fowl (Chicken) Production
 All of today’s breeds of fowl have been derived from Gallus gallus (wild fowl)

 The domestic fowl is known as Gallus domesticus.

Breeds of Fowl
Breeds of fowl can be classified into two based on their origin namely;
 Indigenous (Local) breeds
 Exotic (Foreign) breeds
Indigenous (Local) breeds Exotic (Foreign) breeds
X’tics of indigenous breeds X’tics of exotic breeds
 Small in size  Large body size
 Tough flesh (meat)  More tender flesh
 Poor growth rate  Fast growth rate
 Hens have a low egg-  Hens have a high egg-
laying capacity laying capacity
 Resistant to diseases  Less resistant to diseases
 Adapt to adverse weather  Less adaptive to adverse
conditions weather conditions
Types of chickens
Chickens are classified into types according to the purposes for which they
are reared. These groups are:
 Broilers
 Layers
 Dual-purpose types
 Breeders

Broilers
 A broiler is a young chicken of either sex kept mainly for meat production
 They feed heavily and gain weight rapidly
 They have tender meat and have a flexible breast-bone cartilage
 They mature at 8-10 weeks weigh 1.8-2.0 kg at the time of marketing
Examples of broilers

New Hampshire Plymouth Rock

Dark Cornish Marshall Broiler

Layers
 They are raised mainly for egg production
 They are usually smaller in size and therefore light in weight
 They consume less feed
 A good layer should lay 16 or more eggs in a month
 They start laying in about 6 months old
Examples of layers include;

Brown Leghorn White Leghorn Bovans Goldline

Characteristics of Good and Bad Layers
Dual-purpose breeds
 They are reared for both meat and eggs

 They put on weight quickly and lay many eggs

Examples of Dual-purpose breeds include;

Light Sussex Black Australorp

Rhode Island Red
Breeders
 They are reared for fertile eggs for hatching
 These are fowls ( cocks and hens) of proven qualities
 The males and female are kept together in a deep litter pen
 The breeding ratio is a male to 15-20 females
 Eggs produced are often hatched through artificial incubation
A Labelled Diagram of a Fowl
 Poultry Management Systems
There are three main systems of keeping poultry.
These are shown in the diagram below:

Management systems

Extensive Semi-intensive intensive

Free- running Free range Deep litter Battery cage

Run unit Fold unit

 The Extensive system

 It is mainly practiced by peasant farmers using local breeds

 It is characterized by low stocking rate (750 to 1000 birds per acre)
 Birds largely fend for themselves and are occasionally fed by the farmer
 There are little or no housing facilities for the birds
 Extensive system can be classified as free running or free range

Free running
Birds are allowed unlimited scavenging area.

Free range
Birds are allowed to run freely over an area of fenced grassland.
 Advantages of the Extensive System
 Low initial capital investment
 Birds have access to green forage
 Birds have enough space for exercise
 Diseases do not spread easily among the birds
Disadvantages of Extensive System
 Proper records are not kept on the birds
 Birds are exposed to adverse weather conditions
 Birds are lost to predators and thieves
 Birds are easily infested by disease and parasite
 There is low productivity
 Semi-intensive system
 The most important feature is that housing is provided  Stocking rate is about 4000 birds
per acre
 Birds also have freedom to roam in limited area in the day
 There are two distinct forms namely;
 The run unit system has fixed housing
 fold unit system and
surrounded on two sides by fenced
 run unit system
Grassland called runs
 The fold unit system uses a movable house
with an enclosed run
Advantages of semi-intensive system Disadvantages of semi-intensive system

 Birds are protected from predators and  Feather picking, egg eating and
adverse weather cannibalism may occur
 Suitable for all ages of birds  Only suitable for relatively flat lands
 Low capital investment required for housing  Labour is required for the daily moving
 Good for commercial egg production Of the fold units
 Ideal for backyard poultry keeping
 Access to natural vegetation and sunshine
 Intensive system

 Birds are totally confined in well-ventilated poultry houses

 Birds are fend for i.e. they are provided  There two types of intensive
with feed and water system – deep litter and battery cage
 The stocking rate is high ( 12000 birds per acre)

Deep litter system

 Birds are housed in well-ventilated pens with the floor covered

with suitable litter materials such as wood shavings, cut straw etc.

 Egg-laying nests are provided in pens

 It can be used for broilers, layers,
in which layers are kept
and breeders
 Ordinary or automated feeders and
waters are used
 Advantages of deep litter system Disadvantages of deep litter system
 Increased production as a result of more  Birds have no access to natural vegetation,
efficient management insects, worms, or natural sunlight
 No loss of birds or eggs
 Cannibalism may occur from overcrowding
 Birds feed and drink in relative comfort
 High initial capital is required for housing and
 Birds are protected from predators and
Poultry equipment
adverse weather
 Diseases and parasites spread more quickly
 Dirty litter may soil eggs or
cause their breakage
 Difficult to keep records on individual birds
 Battery Cage System

 One, two, or three birds are kept in cages usually made of  It is suitable for egg
galvanized wire production
 The cages are just large enough to allow them a little movement
 The floor is slanted so when the egg is laid it rolls downward to be
Collected
 Feeders and waters are placed outside the cages
Advantages

 It is labour saving
 Accurate records can be kept
 Low incidence of diseases and parasites
 Cannibalism is virtually absent
 Needs little housing space
 Better feed and water utilization
 Disadvantages of Cage System
 Battery cages are expensive to buy and maintain
 Cannot be used for brooding chicks or breeding purpose
 Birds suffer from cage fatigue due to inadequate exercise
 Birds have no access to natural vegetation and food

Factors to consider in selecting a good site for a poultry house

 The site should have a well-drained soil and flat land
 Close proximity to sources of water and electricity
 There should be enough land for future expansion
 The area should not be too shady
 The area should be accessible in terms good roads
 Incubation
 Incubation is the process of keeping fertile eggs under conditions necessary for the
development of the embryo into chicks within a period (incubation period).

 The incubation period varies with different types of poultry,

as shown below

Fowls 21 days
Turkeys 28 days
 The necessary conditions are suitable temperature,
Ducks 28 days
suitable relative humidity and adequate ventilation.
Geese 28 days
Guinea fowls 28 days
Ostriches 42 days
 Types of incubation
 Incubation can be achieved through a natural or artificial
means.
 In natural incubation the hen (broody hen) sits on her eggs
to provide the necessary conditions for hatching them into chicks
within 21 days.
Advantages of natural incubation Disadvantages of natural incubation
 It is suitable for hatching few eggs  Broody hen may not be available to
 It does not need much capital to run sit on eggs at the time that incubation is
required
 More eggs are likely to be hatched
 Eggs are exposed to the danger of pest
 It does not rely on any external source
attack and poor weather conditions
of heat other than the broody hen  It cannot be used to produce
commercial quantities of chicks

In artificial incubation, incubators are used to hatch relatively large number of

eggs; the number depends on the size of the incubator used . Eggs are arranged
in trays in batches and put into the incubator.
 To obtain the best results from artificial incubation, the following
conditions are necessary:
 Suitable temperature. The temperature required in the incubator
is about 38-39oC.
 The right humidity. About 60 % for the first 15 days and 90% for
the last week of incubation.
 Adequate ventilation. Because eggs are living organisms, they
respire i.e. they use oxygen and produce carbon dioxide. Therefore,
oxygen should be provided.
 Turning the eggs. This should be done 5-8 times every day until the
18th day when turning ceases until hatching is completed.
 Disease control and prevention. Before and after every period of
incubation, the incubator should be fumigated with formaldehyde or
any other disinfectant.
Incubator
Advantages of artificial incubation Disadvantages of artificial incubation
 Incubation can be done at any time  It requires more capital to establish
when eggs are available. and run it.
 It is used to produce commercial  It depends on external source of heat
quantities of chicks. and when there is failure, more losses are
 Eggs are safe from pests attack and incurred.
unfavourable weather conditions.  The percentages of chicks hatched can
be lower than expected.
 It is not ideal for hatching a few eggs.
 Candling
 Candling is a hatching process that involves passing a beam of light through an
egg during incubation to determine whether the egg is fertile and the embryo
is developing or not.
 It is carried out twice during the incubation period with a device called Candler.
 The first candling is done on the fourth or fifth day of incubation to identify and remove
infertile eggs.
 An observation of a shrimp-like structure with radiating blood vessels indicates
that the embryo is living.
If the eggs are plain or clear then the eggs are infertile.
  The second candling is done on the seventeenth
or eighteenth day of incubation.
 It aims at identifying embryos, which die in the
course of incubation.

 Living embryos are seen as a group of living

tissues with air sac at one end, while dead
embryos appear as a dark mass in the shell.
 Importance of candling
 It enables the hatchery manager to estimate with high degree of
accuracy the number of chicks to expect.
 To remove eggs with dead embryos which could decay and
become a source of infection.

Disadvantage of candling. Candling is labourious and cumbersome.

Sources of Day-old Chicks
Day-old chicks can be obtained from reputable sources such as:
 Darko Farms in Kumasi
 Akate Farms in Kumasi
 Afariwaa Farms in Tema
 Pomadze poultry in Winneba
 Reiss and co. in Accra etc.
Brooding of Chicks
 Brooding is process of caring for and protecting young chicks usually by
providing them supplementary heat.
 Brooding period lasts for 3 to 4 weeks in the tropics depending on the
prevailing weather and housing.
 Brooding is achieved naturally or artificially.
Natural brooding
 In natural brooding, the brooding is done by using the broody hen.
 The broody hen provides the chicks with heat requirements by keeping
them under its wings, protect them and scavenge for food for them.
 Preparations for receiving day-old chicks for rearing
 Provision of brooder house
 Provision of disinfectant foot-bath at entrance
 The floor should be covered with suitable litter
 Brooder equipment (feeders, waters, hover etc.)
should be provided.
 Enough feeds should be bought
 The recommended vaccines and drugs should
be bought
 The brooder house should be warmed before the
arrival of chicks i.e. a temperature of about 35oC
 Feed and glucose water should also be ready for
the chicks.

Water trough
Hover
Artificial brooding
 It is done by using a brooder in a deep litter type pen called a brooder house.
 A brooder consists of a source of heat such as electric bulb or lantern inside a
hanging hover over an area.
 The chicks are confined by a chick guard or brooder guard.

Day-old chicks in a brooder Day-old chicks in brooder box

Day-old chicks in a brooder house Day-old chicks in a brooder box
 Temperature management during brooding
 The most crucial factor during brooding is temperature.
 This is because chicks have no feathers to help them in the
regulation of their body temperature.
 Recommended temperature in brooder house should be:

Week Temperature NB
week 1 32-35oC  When chicks move from source of heat and
spread out with beaks open, it indicates temperature is too high.
Week 2 29-32oC  When chicks cluster under source of heat, it indicates
Week 3 27-29oC low temperature.
 When chicks spread evenly in the brooder house, it ideal
Week 4 25-27oC temperature.
 The relative humidity of the brooder house should be
between 55 and 70 percent.
 Stocking rate in the brooder house
 The recommended spacing requirement NB
is 0.05m2 per chick in first week.  The right spacing for chicks in the
brooder house enables them to feed
 Should be increased to o.1m2 per chick
and drink well and also move about
By the fourth week. freely.
 Crowded chicks do not grow well.

Other Brooder House Management Practice

 There should be good ventilation.
 Human traffic to the brooder should be controlled
 Visiting brooding chicks first before older ones
 Debeaking chicks at two to three weeks old.
 Strictly following the recommended medication and
vaccination schedules.
 Chicks should be fed well on the recommended ration.
 Feeding Poultry
 Feeding has direct impact on the growth rate and health status
of animals as well as on the animal’s product quality.
 It is, therefore, importance to feed birds on adequate quantities
of a balanced diet.
 Balanced diet vary depending on the age and type of bird.
Feed nutrients and their source
Nutrient Source
Protein Fishmeal, blood meal, groundnut cake meal,
soyabean meal, cotton seed cake.
Carbohydrate Maize, sorghum, wheat bran, rice bran
Minerals Bone meal, oyster shell meal, common salt
Vitamins Green forage, yeast, vitamin premix.
Fats and oil Groundnut cake meal, soyabean meal, cotton
seed meal,
 Feeding broilers Feeding layers
 Layer chicks are fed on chick starter mash
 Broiler day-old chicks are fed on broiler
Until they are six weeks old.
starter mash until they are 4-5 weeks old.
 Between 8 to 10 weeks, layers are referred
 Chick starter mash contains about 22%
to as ‘growers’ and are therefore fed on grower
protein
mash.
 They are now called broiler finisher and
 This feed contains 16% protein, 0.95% calcium,
are fed on grower or finisher mash.
0.4% phosphorus.
 It should contain about 20% protein.
 From 22 weeks onwards the birds start laying
 Broilers should be given adequate feed and
eggs and are now called layers.
enough drinking space to maximize growth.
 They are now fed on layer mash, composed of
 Adequate feeding on balanced diet also
17% protein, 3.4% calcium and 0.53% phosphorus.
helps to prevent cannibalism among the birds.
 The minerals, calcium and phosphorus, in the
Layer ration contribute to the formation of the egg
Shell.
 An average size egg consists of 11% shell, 58%
Albumen and 31% yolk.
 Debeaking
 It involves cutting off about half of the upper mandible and the tip of the lower
mandible of the beak of a bird.
 Caution should be taken not to cut the lower mandible severely because birds cannot
eat well when this happens and may not perform well.
 Birds are better debeaked when young (two to three weeks old).
Birds are debeaked using a hot knife or a hot blade electric debeaker.
 NB
Chickens should not
be debeaked during
the heat of the day
or at a time when the
birds are under any form
of stress, for example
soon after vaccination.

Reasons why birds are debeaked are:

 to prevent cannibalism.
 to prevent vent pecking
 to prevent egg eating
 to prevent injuries
 Culling
 It is the removal of unproductive, poorly performing or sick birds from the flock.
 For example layers with low egg-laying capacity and broilers with poor growth are
removed from the flock. Sick birds are also removed from the flock.

Advantages of culling are

 The spread of diseases and parasites among the birds is reduced.
 The extra cost of feeding unproductive birds is eliminated.
 More space is created for the rest of the flock.
 Maintenance of high level of egg production.
Poultry Diseases
Disease Causal Organism
Marek’s disease Virus
Gumboro Virus
Newcastle Virus
Fowl Pox Virus
Coccidiosis Protozoa
Fowl Cholera Bacterium
Bacillary White Diarrhoea Bacterium
(BWD)
Fowl typhoid Bacterium
Chronic Respiratory Disease Bacterium
(CRD)
Brooder pneumonia Fungus
General Signs of Sick Bird

 Reduced feed intake/loss of appetite

 Dullness
 Poor growth rate
 Loss of weight/emaciation
 Decreased production
 Ruffled feathers
 Pale comb and wattles
 Poultry Diseases

Disease Symptoms Prevention and control

Newcastle disease- an acute  Infected birds become paralyzed  Proper sanitation
poultry disease usually and often blind  Vaccination of chick
affecting young birds.  Walking and falling backwards
 Twisting of the neck
Gumboro disease- affects  Birds are droopy and sleepy  Vaccination of chicks
growing birds (3-4 weeks old).  Birds suddenly collapse and die  Good sanitation
Transmitted through unclean  Birds are nervous and listless  Use of glucose and
poultry pens and equipment.  Whitish diarrhea and dehydration antibiotics in water
Coccidiosis- a protozoan  Loose and blood-stained  Burning of old
disease which infects droppings litter
both chicks and growing  Squatting at one place all  Use of good
birds. day long with the head coccidiostats in
drawn back against the body water and feed
or tucked under a wing.  Cull infected
 Standing with eyes closed birds
 Processing, Storage and Marketing

Processing involves selection, slaughtering and dressing.

 Selection- healthy birds are selected for slaughtering
 Selected birds should be starved 24 hour before slaughtering
 This empty the digestive tracts of slaughtered birds to prevent
spoilage of the carcass during processing.

 Slaughter- after slaughtering the fowl should be allowed to bleed fully.

This improve both the quality and the storability of the meat.

Dressing involves scalding, plucking, singeing and evisceration.

• Scalding- dipping the carcass in hot water (about 65 0C) for about
three minutes.

 Plucking- involves the removal of the feathers by hand or using a

feather plucker.

 Singeing- involves exposing the carcass to a flame to burn off the

hair-like filoplume feathers.

Evisceration- cut the carcass open and remove internal organs.

The intestines, gall-bladder, pancreas and the head are discarded.
The heart, liver and gizzard are packaged together as giblets and either
inserted into the body cavity of the carcass or sold separately. The legs
also have a market value
 The dressed chicken is then sealed in a plastic bag for sale or
for storage and preservation.

• Marketing- In West Africa, dressed fowl are sold mostly to hotels

and restaurants. The bulk are marketed live, especially during festive
occasions such as Christmas and Easter.