Poultry Rearing

Poultry Rearing Introduction

In many communities in Uganda, people rear poultry. What type(s) of poultry do you rear in your community? Long ago, humans hunted birds for meat and eggs. While some people still hunt wild birds, most households rear poultry to meet the poultry meat demands of the population.

Poultry farming in Uganda plays an important role in the economy and in fulfilling the nutritional requirements of the population. Farmers in Uganda rear poultry for eggs and meat. An investment in poultry can start with about UGX 20,000 and reach hundreds of thousands of shillings in one year. Therefore, in this chapter, you are going to learn how to rear and market poultry profitably.

Identifying the Types of Poultry

Poultry is by far Uganda’s largest livestock commodity. The variety of poultry reared in Uganda includes; chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus), geese (Anser anser), turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo), ducks (Bucephala spp.), guinea fowls (Numida meleagris) and quails. Use Figure 3.1.1 and Activity 3.1.1 to identify the types of poultry reared in Uganda.

Activity 3.1.1 Identifying the types of poultry

What you need:

Coloured pencils, notebook, pen

What to do:

1. In pairs, use the following word-search puzzle to identify the types of poultry reared in Uganda.

2. Using different colours of pencils, shade the name of the poultry searched.

3. Record the types of poultry you have identified. State their characteristics.

4. Find out and record how the types of poultry differ from each other.

5. Which of the poultry do you rear in your community? Share experiences with peers and record findings in your notebooks.

Breeds of Poultry Reared in Uganda

A breed of poultry is a family of birds with special characteristics that distinguish them from others of different families. A breed is a population that breeds true and is defined by well described externally observable qualities. The physical traits used to distinguish poultry breeds include size, plumage, colour, comb type, skin colour, number of toes, amount of feathering, egg colour, and place of origin.

Breeds of poultry are distinctly categorised into indigenous, exotic and cross breeds. In each breed, there are different subtypes. Breeds of turkeys include Bronze, White Holland, Bourdon red, Narragansett, Black Slate and Beltsville.

Duck breeds reared in Uganda include Khaki Campbell and Indian Runner for eggs; Aylesbury, White Pekin, Muscovy, Mallard, Blue-Swedish and Cayuga Crested for meat. Among the chicken breeds reared in Uganda are Orpington, new-hampshire, white leghorn, plymouth rock, Rhode Island red and black anstralorp. Use Figure 3.1.2 and Activity 3.1.2 to discover and explore the reeds of poultry reared in Uganda.

Activity 3.1.2 Identifying a Breed of Poultry

What you need:

Pictures of chickens, description cards for breeds, notebook and pen

What to do:

1. In groups, you will receive pictures and characteristics of different breeds of poultry separately.

2. Record the observable characteristics of the breed of poultry in each of the pictures.

3. Get one description card and match the characteristics indicated with those you identified.

4. If the characteristics are different, compare your findings with other groups and adjust appropriately. If they are similar, look for a breed of poultry with such characteristics and note it down.

5. Discuss how bird size, plumage, colour, comb type, skin colour, number of toes, amount of feathering, egg colour, and place of origin help you differentiate between breeds of poultry.

6. Choose the breed of chicken that would be best for each of the following scenarios:

a) Imagine you are a chicken farmer living in a community that celebrates public holidays and you are raising chickens for their meat. Which breed would you choose? Give reasons to support your answer.

b) Imagine you are the manager of a layer farm living where the young population enjoys eating rolex chapatti or omelette. Your goal is to produce quality, white or brown shelled eggs. Which breed of chicken will likely be best for your farm to produce the most eggs? Give reasons to support your answer.

c) Imagine you are living in a community interested in raising chickens in the backyard as a hobby and you want to show them how chicken rearing could produce a healthy diet for them. Which breed would you choose? Give reasons to support your answer.

7. On a newsprint, paste the picture of a poultry breed, characteristics and their commercial purpose. Indicate what type of poultry it is by purpose as layers (for eggs) and broilers or table birds (for meat).

8. Display your findings at the agriculture learning station in your classroom.

Importance of Poultry

According to Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Poultry production is one of the fastest rising livestock industries in Uganda. The poultry population increased to 32.6 million birds between 2002 and 2008. This increase indicates the economic values of poultry keeping. This is because poultry are easy to manage on free range systems for smallholder farmers who make 43.2% of Uganda’s population. In Activity 3.1.3, guide learners to discover, explore and understand the importance of poultry.

Activity 3.1.3 Examining the importance of poultry

What you need:

Notebook, pen, camera

What to do:

1. As a class, visit a poultry farmer near your school. Alternatively, you can watch a video or look at photographs on poultry production.

2. Observe the type of poultry reared. Take photographs.

3. Ask the farmer to tell you the breeds of poultry he or she rears.

4. Request the farmer to discuss with you the major product(s) he/she gets from the poultry.

5. Compare the poultry with those reared in your community in terms of size and productivity.

6. Find out from the farmer if there are other breeds of poultry that he or she could rear and why.

7. Ask the farmer to tell you about the availability of market for poultry products.

8. Identify and discuss other benefits of poultry production. Record the findings of the visit in your notebook.

The Incubation Process

Have you ever seen chicks emerge out of eggs? The process is called hatching. The embryonic process by which a fertilised egg develops into a chick is called incubation. Incubation may be natural or artificial. In natural incubation, a broody hen sits on the eggs to provide the required conditions for hatching. Such conditions include temperature and humidity.

Artificial incubation is done in a device called an incubator. Do not select eggs for hatching if they are too small, wrinkled, cracked or punched, too large, have two yolks, have soft shells, are elongated or rounded. Why is this so? Use Figure 3.1.4 and Activity 3.1.4 to examine the egg incubation process.

Activity 3.1.4 Examining the process of incubation

What you need:

Video clip on egg hatching process, notebook, pen

What to do:

1. In groups, watch a video clip or pictures showing the process of hatching of eggs.

2. Identify the hatching tools and equipment used.

3. Discuss how each of the tools and equipment are important in egg hatching.

4. Identify how eggs for hatching are selected. What kinds of eggs are not suitable for hatching?

5. Take note of the desirable temperature, humidity and ventilation required in egg hatching. How do the conditions suit the hatching of eggs?

6. Take note of the effects of undesirable conditions on the hatching of eggs.

7. Observe the incubation and egg hatching process. Take note of the key stages in the process. Have you ever seen any of the stages in egg hatching? What is the significance of each stage in the egg hatching process?

8. With illustrations, write a report to describe your findings to the teacher for feedback.

Brooding Chicks

Raising chickens involves a number of rigorous activities to keep the birds live and productive. What would you do to ensure that the newly hatched chicks have a good start? A newly developed chick develops the regulatory mechanisms for heat in about two weeks. In the first two weeks, the mother hen (in natural brooding) provides heat to the chicks whereas brooders (in artificial brooding) are the source of the heat required by chicks.

A farmer should take note of chilling (extreme coldness) as it kills the chicks. Anything that can be used to produce adequate heat for the chicks such as infra-red lamp, charcoal stove, kerosene lamp, can be used as a brooder. However, ensure you regulate the nearness of the heat source to the chicks basing on the temperature readings and requirements. Use Figure 3.1.5 and Activity 3.1.5 a) to practise brooding of chicks.

Activity 3.1.5 a) Carrying out brooding of chicks

What you need:

Disinfectants, broom, water, old newspapers, chick mash, waterer, feeding trough, brooder, thermometer, notebook, pen

What to do:

Visit a poultry farm and carry out the following activities where possible. You can also watch a video on brooding chicks.

1. Clean and disinfect (using liquid soap, jik) the poultry house after culling the previous adult birds. You can watch a video on brooding of chicks.

2. Provide a 3 to 4-week interval between two batches of sale of poultry as down time. Why is this time interval required?

3. Form a circle of about 150cm diameter in the poultry house. Surround the circle with a brooder guard to hold about 200 to 250 chicks.

4. Provide a heat source at the centre of the brooder guard. Explain why the heat source is important in a brooder.

5. Spread litter material about 5 cm high in a circle and then spread old newspapers over the litter material. What materials do you usually find in the poultry house as litter? How are these materials important in the house?

6. Arrange feeders and waterers alternatively in cart-wheel fashion. Check the brooder for proper temperature 24 hours prior to arrival of chicks. What is the required temperature and why is it necessary?

7. Switch on the brooder heating source several hours before the arrival of the chicks. Why should this be done?

8. Spread ground maize or fine mash or crumble feed on the old newspaper for one or two days. Afterwards, put the feed in the feeder.

9. Provide electrolyte (such as sodium chloride), glucose and vitamins in the drinking water for the first two to three days to overcome stress.

10. Moisten the beak after arrival of the chicks, and leave the chicks under a heating source.

11. Maintain a brooder temperature of 32 to 35°C for the first week. Reduce temperature to 10°C every week until it reaches the room temperature.

12. Watch the behaviour of chicks in order to find out whether temperature provided is correct. How do chicks respond to high and low temperatures?

13. Remove the old newspaper after three days and destroy it by burning. If necessary, spread another set of newspaper.

14. Widen brooder guard after seven to ten days depending on the season. While removing the brooder guard, see that the corners of the sheds are rounded in order to avoid mortality due to huddling.

15. Change the feeders and waterers according to age and requirement.

16. Adopt a 24-hour lighting programme during the first eight weeks. One hour darkness daily may be provided to train the chicks in case of any power failure.

17. Follow the recommended medication programme: First and second day-electrolytes and vitamins, third to seventh day-antibiotics; other medications as and when required. What diseases will you immunise against?

18. Write a report at the end of the project when the birds have already hatched the chicks. Share experiences with peers.

Activity 3.1.5 b) Raising chickens

What you need:

Feed, litter, chicks, feeder, chicken drinker, notebook, pen

What to do:

1. Study the following pictures and identify the various practices in raising poultry.

2. Discuss the importance of each of the practices in management of poultry. 

3. Identify other practices in the management of poultry.

4. Discuss how the practices identified are important in raising chickens.

5. Record your findings in the notebook.

Caring for the Health of Poultry

A healthy bird will produce up to its maximum potential. Pathogens and pests are the leading factors that cause ill-health in poultry. To ensure successful poultry production, ensure you maintain health practices for the birds. Ensure timeliness in the control and treatment of poultry diseases such as Gumboro disease, Fowl typhoid, Marek’s disease, Coccidiosis, Fowl pox, Newcastle disease and Avian influenza.

Parasites such as mites also negatively affect the body condition of chicken. Effective control measures for all poultry parasites are recommended. Some poultry diseases such as Newcastle disease can clear the whole flock in days. Such diseases are said to be notifiable. What are notifiable diseases? Use Figure 3.1.6 and Activity 3.1.6 to carry out practices that ensure good health for poultry.

Activity 3.1.6 Ensuring good health of poultry

What you need

Notebook, pen

What to do

1. In groups, record information on poultry pests and diseases from a veterinarian or Internet, books, poultry farmer or an agriculturat extension worker

2. Interview the veterinarian to give you information on disease causes, symptoms, prevention and treatment measures of Newcastle disease, Fowl pox, Fowl typhoid, Marek’s disease, Coccidiosis and Salmonellosis.

3. Ask the veterinarian to educate you on how to identify poultry pests and symptoms of infestation, and how to control mites, fleas, lice and worms.

4. Ask experiential questions on poultry health that will help you manage a healthy poultry project.

5. Ask the veterinarian to demonstrate the use of tools and equipment used in disease and pest control in poultry. Practise using each of the tools and equipment.

6. Ask the veterinarian to show you how to determine the disease that your poultry is suffering from by identifying the symptoms.

7. Find out from the veterinarian what farmers should do to control poultry pests and diseases.

8. Inquire about the circumstances under which veterinary services are required in pests and disease management.

9. Present your findings in a table. Display the table at the Agriculture learning station in your classroom.

Tools and Equipment Used in Controlling Diseases and Parasite

Parasite and disease control measures are important in maintaining poultry in production. Various tools and materials are used in disease and parasite control poultry. Syringes are a common equipment in controlling diseases in poultry. accines and acaricides are also used in the control of poultry diseases and arasites respectively. In Activity 3.1.7, you will practise using a hypodermic Fringe to administer drugs to poultry.

Activity 3.1.7 Using a hypodermic syringe to administer drugs to poultry

What you need:

Clean water, iodine, cotton wool, syringe, veterinary drug, notebook, pen

What to do:

1. In groups, identify the following tools used in parasite and disease control in poultry.

2. State the use of each of the tools (marked with letters A, B, C and D) in parasite and disease control in poultry.

3. Get a hypodermic needle of gauge 22 or 24 (the larger the number-the smaller it is).

4. Wear hand gloves, overall and gumboots. For what purpose is the gear?

5. Clean your hands with water and iodine spirit. What else can you use apart from iodine spirit to kill germs on the hands?

6. Get the drug or liquid wormicide from the poultry health toolbox. 7. Depress all the air out of the syringe by pushing the piston. Fill the syringe with the amount of drug you are to use.

8. Lay chicken on its side and let one person hold its feet. Find the thickest part of the breast, and then find the centre most area with most flesh.

9. Using some rubbing alcohol or iodine spirit, wet down the area you are going to inject the drug.

10. Inject the needle at an angle into fleshy area, just enough to go under skin and into flesh. Why should the needle be pushed at an angle?

11. Pull back on the syringe to check for blood. If there is no blood, inject, but if blood appears, change to another area on the breast. Hold cotton wool at the point of injection to rub off the blood.

12. Release the bird and check on its condition after 30 and 60 minutes. Practise using other tools to control pests and diseases in poultry.

13. With illustrations, write a report to describe the activities conducted and the health condition of the bird after injection.

14. Monitor for the re-occurrence of the symptoms of the infection and treat accordingly.

15. Practise using the different tools and equipment for controlling parasites and diseases in poultry.

16. Always take records on the various activities done to control poultry parasites and diseases.

17. Record the findings and share them with peers.

Handling Poultry and their Products

Layers and broilers need to be cared for if they are to produce to their potential. Commercial poultry products include meat, eggs and droppings. A farmer ought to handle the products in a way that maximises profits. In Activity 3.1.8, practise handling poultry and its products.

Activity 3.1.8 Handling of poultry and its products

What you need:

Notebook, pen, camera

What to do:

1. In groups, visit a poultry farmer in your community or watch a video

or observe photographs on the handling of poultry and their products. 2. Record information on each activity, why it is done, how it is done and the tools and materials required for doing the activity.

3. Take keen interest in and participate in debeaking, vaccination, feeding rations, weighing, slaughtering, cleaning eggs, candling, grading (meat, eggs, chicks), chick sexing, packaging, branding and marketing.

4. Seek guidance from the farmer or teacher when conducting and recording each activity.

5. Which of the poultry farm activities did you enjoy doing? Give reasons for your answer.

6. Discuss how the activities will help you to manage your own poultry

farm better.

7. As a class, display a well filled table on the activities you conducted at the Agriculture learning station in your classroom.

Marketing Poultry Products

Marketing involves all the activities done to prepare a product until it reaches the final consumer. Every commercial farmer must practise marketing activities from the time of receiving day-old chicks or hatching, up to sale to the consumer. Grading, packaging and branding are steps in marketing poultry and their products. Why do you think you need to carry out such activities? In Activity 3.1.9, you are going to make and execute a marketing plan for poultry products.

Activity 3.1.9 Marketing poultry products

What you need

Public health (meat) rules, notebook, pen

What to do:

1. In groups, design a marketing plan for your poultry products.

2. List the content of your marketing plan (what poultry product-eggs or meat, to who-customers/clientele, where-market or venue, when- time to supply the products and how-slaughtered or live, dressed meat or not, eggs).

3. Identify the policies governing poultry meat and egg sales as stipulated in the public health (meat) rules.

4. Discuss how the rules will affect your marketing plans. 5. Adjust your marketing plans accordingly to fit within the rules.

6. Review your marketing plan to ensure it meets the rules governing meat and egg production and sales.

7. Execute the marketing plan following the standards. Adjust according to the market forces and conditions.

8. Given poultry and their products, prepare and execute the marketing plan basing on the previous marketing experiences.

9. Record the findings of your marketing plan.

Entrepreneurial Skills in Marketing Poultry and their Products

An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards. What entrepreneurial skills do you need to manage poultry profitably? Record keeping, networking, time management, negotiation and sales management are some of the entrepreneurial skills required in marketing poultry and their products. How will the skills help you to rear and manage poultry profitably? In Activity 3.1.10, identify the importance of various entrepreneurial skills required in marketing poultry.

Activity 3.1.10 Identifying entrepreneurial skills required in marketing poultry and their products

What you need:

Notebook, pen, resource person, dictionary

What to do:

1. Individually, note down important information in the presentation of the resource person on entrepreneurial skills required in marketing poultry products.

2. In groups, identify the entrepreneurial skills required in marketing

poultry and their products.

3. Identify the level of marketing where the skill is required.

4. Discuss how each of the skills is important in marketing poultry.

5. Summarise your findings in the following table.

Applying Entrepreneurial Skills in Marketing Poultry and their Products

Applying entrepreneurial skills in any agribusiness can help increase sales and resultant returns on investment. This is because the skills enable you to identify a problem in the market and produce towards solving the problem. Different entrepreneurial skills are applied at different levels in production and marketing. Use Activity 3.1.11 to apply entrepreneurial skills in marketing poultry and their products.

Activity 3.1.11 Applying entrepreneurial skills in marketing poultry and their products

What you need:

chickens, notebook, pen

What to do:

1. Your group is provided with five chickens for sale.

2. Prepare a marketing plan that you will use to ensure that all your chickens are bought in two days.

3. Display your plan and receive feedback from the audience.

4. Identify the changes that you would make if any and why.

5. Sell the chicken in the nearest market.

6. List the challenges that you faced in marketing the chicken.

7. State how you overcame the challenges you faced during the marketing of the chicken.

8. State the entrepreneurial skills you used to market the chicken.

9. Explain how the entrepreneurial skills helped you to market the chicken.

10. Write a report to the teacher describing the activities you went through to market the chicken and how you will improve marketing of future poultry products.