Animal husbandry is part and parcel of an Indian farmer’s life. Rearing of cows, goats, and poultry farminghas been very commonplace in almost every rural Indian homeas a financial support to main business of agriculture or otherwise.
Out of all of three pillars of animal husbandry, the backyard poultry farming is the simplest one to start withas little space, effort and money is required to start and maintain the business.
Our readers have showngreatinterest inbackyard poultry farming compared to professional broiler varieties. We have seen multiple conversations about regular income generation, egg production as a supporting business. A lot of farmers have also been inquiring more about backyard poultry farming with Desi Birds, Hens and Desi Eggs.
Selecting Chicken Breeds forEggProduction
Following are somebreeds with their characteristics which you mayconsider for egg production
- RIR-Slow in weight gain, starts giving eggs after 6 months, in each cycle produce 220-250 eggs
- Black Austropop– One of the best multipurpose breed which startslaying in 3 months, can grow up to 2 kg andproduces 160 to 200eggs in one cycle
- Grampriya-180-200 eggs
- Dahlem Red– 200-220 eggs per year
- Giriraj– up to 1 kg weight increase in 2 months, 120-160 eggs in one cycle
- Vanraj– up to 1 kg weight increase in 2 months 120-160 eggs in one cycle
- KadaknathFamous for medicinal properties. An Indian breed which increases in weight slowly. But famous for its nutritional value and medicinal properties. One can expect about 1 kg weight gain in 5 months, 60-80 eggs in one cycle
All these breeds are reallyrobust and have high immunity power inherently.
How to Start backyard poultry ?
Backyard poultry can be carried out using free range housing system,along with loose housing shed of cows and buffaloes. The same farm can house all.Domestic or cross breed chickens are really robust and have strong immunity power. In poultry farming breed selectionshoulddepend on the availability of demand in the market.
Objectives of Backyard Poultry
Egg production or meat productioncan be the main objectives.
Poultry Farming – Deep litter and FreeRange method
Adopting the Free range method has multiple benefit for farmer. With this method 100 birds can be reared withsmall amount oftime and capital. You can start the business by buying chicks of one day old.For first 3 weeks, the birds need highest attention. Major activities including brooding need to be carried out, in this period. After beginning of feathering, they are allowed toroam around freely in the backyard.
Advantages of Free range poultry farm
- Big savingson expensesof wages and food. You only need to protect the birds from natural enemies such as dogs, foxes & kittens.
- Improved breeds usually find their own food by roaming around in thebackyard,eating green grass or insects.
- Improved breeds like Giriraj, Vanraj start laying eggsreal fast
- In free range method, the chicks are put in enclosure onlyduring the night, so you get plenty of time to clean the shed.
Construction of shed to startbackyard poultry business
Accordingly we can plan the shed area required.
- Shed height should be10-12 feet height in the middle and 8-10 feet on the sides.
- Wall height to be of 2-3 feet.
- Enclose it with help of chicken mesh.
- Have proper flooring on the ground.
- Free range: There should be provision of open space near the shed for chickens to roam around.
Planning
Forventuring out inegg production, you should have a proper plan from day one.For running a desi eggs business. There are 4 major steps to carry out Start by buying a day old chicks of Domestic or cross breed from nearestGovernment or private hatchery.
Brooding- Keeping the baby chicks warm
How tocarry out brooding?
When eggs are hatched with the help of a machine they don’t have their mother with them.Thus, they need artificial heat. This process of providing artificial heat is called as brooding in scientific language.One day old chicksdon’t have feathers on their body. Because of which they needs artificial heat of approximately 2 watt per bird.
They need brooding for first 21 days with very careful handling.
How toconstructa brooder?
Brooder isan enclosingstructure to provide artificial heat. Usually it is circular, made up of plastic or metal sheet with the capacity of 100 to 200 chickens.
While creating a brooder use plastic or metal sheetof approximately 6 to 8 feet in length and 1.5 meters in height. By joining it’s ends we can create a circular shape.
Floor to be made of wood powder or rice husk inside it. Put a layer of newspaper over it. Lit a incandescent bulb over it to maintain temperature. To manage the temperature, we can arrange the bulb with a provision to adjust its height with the help of rope. You should have the bulb enclosed plasticcover to reduce heat loss from above.
Keep sufficient boxes with water and food inside as per the need. Before bringing the chickens to the farm make sure the brooder is in working condition at least 24 hours prior to maintain temperature.
Care to be taken while brooding
There is a possibility of chick mortality during the time of brooding. You need to be attentive all the time
- Control the temperature of the brooder in suitable range
- Administer following vaccines on
time
- Lasota
- Gumboro
- Infectious bronchitis
- Fowl Pox vaccine
- Provide an appropriate quantity of antibiotics and vitamins & nutrients
- Provide protein-rich foodscalled “Starter”with protein content of 18 to 19%
- As soon as 21 days are completed, increase the spacing in the brooder littering & hardening.
Handling Care for a Day Old Chicks
Governmentand private hatcheriesprovide one day chickens in a box carrying hundred birds. You shouldverify the chicks carefully before buying. Chickens should be healthy, free of any diseases and nimble. Be assured Marek’svaccine has been administered on day 1. As soon as you bring the chickens on the farm, take them out from the box carefully. Segregate the chick which have already died. For rest of them, take approximately 1 liter of boiled and cooled down water. Add, 100 grams ofJaggery or Electral powder mix. Dip every chicken’s beak 2 to 3 times to educate them about drinking water.
Leave them inside temperature controlled brooder. It is vital for them to drink water in initial few hours to avoid death due toconstipation. Approximately, after 4 hours, you can feed them rice or corn husk. Start chick starter food from day 2.
Normally you will have to do brooding for first 21 days after which feathers will start growing on the chicken’s body. The birds will be able to control temperature on their own.
- Growing stage – 4 to 5 months
This is the growth stage of the birds. Segregate males from the females. Sell unwanted males or keep them separate for meat purpose.
Appropriate physical growth is very important in this period. Provide themGrowerfeed with 15-16% of protein content. Allow them to roam freely in the open space of free range compound. Provide them proper nutrients and vaccines on time.
Following vaccines need to be given in this stage
- Lasota
- Fowl Pox booster
- Eggs laying phase (6 to 18 months)
Approximately after 24 weeks, hens will start laying egg.
Our income can start at this point.
In this period birds need a diet with 18-19% of protein content which is calledLaying Mash. Along with this 5% calcium diet should be given. Nest box also needs to be provided for laying eggs. Approximately chickens will lay eggs till they are 72 weeks in age. Nest Box for Backyard Poultry.
Moulting
Approximately after 72 weeks, feathers will start to fall from the chicken’s body, new feathers will come. The chicken will not be able to give eggs after this, you should sell them for meat purpose.
Income-Expenditure
From dayone (buying one day chicks)to the day birds start laying eggs, approximatelyRs 120-150 per chicken expenditure is estimated. If we assume approximately 70%hens in a box of hundred chicks, we can expect 40 to 45 eggs every day. Market rate is currently 5-8 rupees. Our expenditure per egg is 2-4 rupees.
We can also get good quality manure from the hen’s excreta in addition to the income from eggs. We can reduce the cost of eggs even further by providing the chicks withwaste food, vegetables & grains as food. After 72 days if we sell them, we can expect approximately 150 to 200 rupees per bird. This excess income is actually an additional profit.
With arrangement for clean water, timely vaccination, backyard poultry farming can really be a very good business. So many farmers are running successful backyard Poultry.
How to produce good breed chickensat your own farm
Instead of buying chicks from hatchery,you can also start your own hatchery. It will help you venture into new line of business. Some details on how can you do it are as follows
By making a broody hen sit on egg of improved breed, we can get chicks at ourfarm or shed. As improved breeds grow faster,give more eggs, and have higher immunity it is easy to earn money with it. You can also make money by selling eggs and the birds both in this case.
How to use Broody desihen?
It is great if you haveBroodyhen to sit on the eggs naturally. If not you can test a hen by placin one egg under a hen which has stopped laying eggs. If she sits on it for approximately 5-6 days you can consider it asbroody. In this duration, youarrange eggs of improved variety under the broody hen to have better progeny of chicks in the next cycle.
Making broody hen sit for hatching eggs
Normally a farmer should 1 to 10 hens forhatching eggs at a time. It will make handling multiple chicklets easy and help to reduce premature deaths. Make the birds sit in a circular vessel or a bamboo straw or patty or rice straw.
Advantages of making multiple hens it for broodingat the same time
- As a hen is not able to distinguish her own chicklets, it treats all of them as her own children.
- At starting the hens might fight with each other. Afterwards all of them collectively make sure that the chickens are warm which helps them to grow faster.
- When multiple hens are taking care of chickens, some of them will protect them predators like cats cross kittens, while others take care of the chickens.
- This will reduce the percentage of death due to natural reason along with additional care from hens. Roaming around in open atmosphere will improve their immunity.
Importantthings to consider
Due to scarcity of quality chicken in cities,people are ready to pay a premium for good quality chicken. People living in city have started to prefer organic food, which is free of any antibiotics, pesticides or chemicals. They also are ready to pay premium for eggs and chicken produced through such method.
By marketing your products the right way you can get much better rates than broiler eggs. In a group, you can also explore an alternative of dealing with grocery chains or malls like Reliance Mart, D Mart, Big Bazaar to increase your income.
Traditionally, in India every home used to have 5 to 10 hens. Homemakers, the women of the house,used to manage them for high protein eggs and chicken for the family. But in absence of commercial vision and proper guidance the business hasn’t been scaled commercially.
Now with increased access to knowledge and means of communication, transport etc, we can trade our goods to people living in city from our village itself. We hope youattain growth in your business, by reading this piece. Tell us about your success stories to keep others motivated.
