How to start a profitable small scale poultry farming with high yield in Nigeria.

Chapter 1: Introduction

The socio-economic Importance of Family Poultry

Family poultry is defined as small-scale poultry keeping by households using family labour and, wherever possible, locally available feed resources. The poultry may range freely in the household compound and find much of their own food, getting supplementary amounts from the householder. Participants at a 1989 workshop in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, defined rural poultry as a flock of less than 100 birds, of unimproved or improved breed, raised in either extensive or intensive farming systems. Labour is not salaried, but drawn from the family household (Sonaiya 1990b). Family poultry was additionally clarified as “small flocks managed by individual farm families in order to obtain food security, income and gainful employment for women and children” (Branckaert, as cited in Sonaiya, 1990c). Family poultry is quite distinct from medium to large-scale commercial poultry farming.

Family poultry is rarely the sole means of livelihood for the family but is one of a number of integrated and complementary farming activities contributing to the overall well-being of the household. Poultry provide a major income-generating activity from the sale of birds and eggs. Occasional consumption provides a valuable source of protein in the diet. Poultry also play an important socio-cultural role in many societies. Poultry keeping uses family labour, and women (who often own as well as look after the family flock) are major beneficiaries. Women often have an important role in the development of family poultry production as extension workers and in vaccination programmes.

Chapter 2: Species and Breeds

Different Poultry Species and Breeds

All species of poultry are used by rural smallholders throughout the world. The most important species in the tropics are: chickens, guinea fowl, ducks (including Muscovy ducks), pigeons, turkeys and geese. Local strains are used, but most species are not indigenous. The guinea fowl (Numididae) originated in West Africa; the Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) in South America; pigeons (Columba livea) in Europe; turkeys (Meleagrididae) in Latin America; pheasants (Phasianidae) in Asia; the common duck (Anas) in Europe; and geese (Anser) in Asia.

Flock composition is determined by the objectives of the poultry enterprise (see Chapter 1). In Nigeria for example, the preference is for the smooth-feathered, multicoloured native chickens or Muscovy ducks. Multicoloured feathers serve as camouflage for scavenging birds against predators, including birds of prey, which can more easily see solid colours (especially white). Foundation stock is usually obtained from the market as grower pullets and young cockerels. A hen to cock ratio of about 5:1 is common. Both sexes are retained for 150 to 300 days, for the purposes of culling, selling, home consumption and gifts, most of which require adult birds

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In the last 50 years, there has been a great advance in the development of hybrid breeds for intensive commercial poultry production. This trend is most noticeable in chickens, turkeys and ducks. The new hybrids (those of chickens in particular) are widely distributed and are present in every country in the tropics, even in the most remote villages. The hybrids have been carefully selected and specialised solely for the production of either meat or eggs. These end-product-specialised hybrid strains are unsuitable for breeding purposes, especially for mixing with local village scavenger stock, as they have very low mothering ability and broodiness.

For the smallholder, keeping hybrids means considerable changes are required in management. These changes are expensive for the following reasons:

• All replacement day-old chicks must be purchased.
• Hatchery chicks require artificial brooding and special starting feed.
• Hybrids require higher quality balanced feed for optimum meat and egg production.
• Hybrids require more careful veterinary hygiene and disease management.
• Egg-laying hybrid hens require supplementary artificial light (a steadily increasing day-length up to 17 hours of total light per day) for optimum (profitable) egg production.

Chapter 3: Feed Resources

INTRODUCTION

A regular supply of low-cost feed, over and above maintenance requirements, is essential for improved productivity in the three farming systems used in family poultry production:

• free-range - poultry roost in trees at night;
• backyard - poultry are confined at night; and
• semi-intensive - poultry are enclosed during the day in a very limited scavenger resource base.

When feed resources are inadequate, a few birds in production are better than more birds just maintained, but without enough food for production.

Extensive Systems

Farmers attempt to balance stock numbers according to the scavenging feed resources available in the environment in each season. Under the free-range and backyard systems, feed supplies during the dry season are usually inadequate for any production above flock-maintenance level. When vegetation is dry and fibrous, the scavenging resources should be supplemented with sources of minerals, vitamins, protein and energy. Under most traditional village systems, a grain supplement of about 35 g per hen per day is given.

There have been various approaches to utilising a wider base of feed resources for the flock. One is the use of poultry species apart from chicken. Waterfowl, especially ducks, may be distributed throughout the wetland rural areas, where they can feed on such resources as snails and aquatic plants in ponds and lagoons. Another approach is the integration of poultry with the production of rice, vegetables, fish and other livestock. An example is the combination of chicken with cattle, as practised by the Fulani of Nigeria, where the chickens feed on the ticks on the cattle as well as on the maggots growing in the cattle dung. Chickens raised in the cattle kraal (compound) weighed an average of 500 g more than those in the same neighbourhood but outside the kraal (Atteh and Ologbenla, 1993).

Semi-Intensive System

Under the semi-intensive system, all the nutrients required by the birds must be provided in the feed, usually in the form of a balanced feed purchased from a feed mill. As these are often expensive and difficult to obtain, smallholders use either unconventional feedstuffs or “dilute” the commercial feed by supplementing it with grain by-products (which supply energy and some protein). A well-balanced feed however is difficult to achieve, as grains and plant protein sources (the by-products of a few oil seeds) are becoming increasingly unavailable for livestock, and premixed trace minerals and vitamins are usually too expensive for smallholders. Phosphorus and calcium can be obtained from ashed (burnt and crushed) bones; and calcium from snail shells, fresh or seawater shellfish shells, or limestone deposits. Salt to supply sodium can come from evaporated seawater or land-based rock salt deposits. These mineral sources are rarely used. Feed provided for birds kept under this system is therefore of a much poorer quality (unbalanced by dilution with crop by-products) than under either the extensive or fully intensive system.

AVAILABLE FEED RESOURCES

The size and productivity of the village flock ultimately depend on the human population and its household waste and crop residues, and on the availability of other scavengable feed resources. There is a clear relationship between egg production and nutrient intake. This is demonstrated in Bangladesh, where fewer eggs are laid in the rainy season from August to September, but when snails are available in January and February, production increases (ter Horst, 1986). A list of feed resources available to smallholders was compiled from surveys undertaken in Nigeria (Sonaiya, 1995). These feedstuffs were mostly by-products of home food processing and agro-industries, and were similar to those found in other tropical countries.

The Scavengable Feed Resources Base (SFRB) include:

• household cooking waste;
• cereal and cereal by-products;
• roots and tubers; oilseeds;
• trees, shrubs (including Leucaena, Calliandra and Sasbenia) and fruits;
• animal proteins;
• aquatic plants (Lemna, Azolla and Ipomoea aquatica); and,
• commercially prepared feed.

Chapter 4: Incubation and Hatching

NATURAL INCUBATION

The broody hen chosen for natural incubation should be large (to cover and thus keep more eggs warm), healthy and preferably vaccinated, with a good brooding and mothering record. Signs of broodiness are that the hen stops laying, remains sitting on her eggs, ruffles her feathers, spreads her wings and makes a distinctive clucking sound. Brooding may be induced with dummy eggs or even stones.

Eggs usually become fertile about four days after the rooster has been introduced to the hens. A maximum of 14 to 16 eggs may be brooded in one nest, but hatchability often declines with more than ten eggs, depending on the size of the hen. Feed and water provided in close proximity to the hen will keep her in better condition and reduce embryo damage due to the cooling of the eggs if she has to leave the nest to scavenge for food.

The hen keeps the eggs at the correct humidity by splashing water on them from her beak. This is a further reason for providing her with easy access to water. In very dry regions, slightly damp soil can be placed under the nesting material to assist the hen in maintaining the correct humidity (between 60 and 80 percent). Fertile eggs from other birds are best added under the brooding hen between one and four days after the start of brooding. In Bangladesh, it has been reported that local broody hens will even sit on and hatch a second clutch of eggs, often losing considerable weight in the process (especially if insufficient attention is paid to the provision of food and water).

The incubation period for chicken eggs is 20 to 21 days, and increases up to 30 days for other poultry. After sitting for some days, a broody hen can be given some newly hatched chicks and, if they are accepted, the original eggs can be removed and replaced with more chicks. Thus hens with a better record of mothering can be better utilised for their abilities.

Eggs initially need a very controlled heat input to maintain the optimum temperature of 38°C, because the embryo is microscopic in size. As the embryo grows in size (especially after 18 days), it produces more heat than it requires and may even need cooling. Moisture levels of 60 to 80 percent Relative Humidity (increasing during the incubation period) are important to stop excess moisture loss from the egg contents through the porous egg shell and membranes. Factors to consider for successful natural incubation include the following

Chapter 5: Marketing

As a country develops, more of its consuming population lose touch with the village and food producers. Thus more specialised marketing services are needed. Farm produce must be collected, packed and transported in good condition to the cities and distributed to retailers near consumers’ homes. This also calls for grading and storage of the product. The more developed the country becomes; the greater is the variety of products that can be economically produced. All this must be provided at a cost that consumers can afford.

A study of existing marketing systems in a country will often reveal how they have evolved to their present state. Many developing countries do not have refrigeration as a factor in their storage, either during transport, retail or consumer household stages. For this reason, poultry meat is purchased live, and slaughtered immediately before consumption. Also, eggs are often retailed with a means for the buyer to check their quality before buying, either by “candling” (to see the internal quality with a lantern or battery-torch) or a bucket of water (to test the egg’s age by the floatation method). Both methods essentially test for the size of the air-cell situated at the blunt end of the egg, which increases in size as moisture is lost from the egg. With a bigger air-cell, there is more floatation.

In developing countries, transport of eggs and poultry from the village to the city usually begins with a purchase by a middleman dealer, direct from the household, or from small locally held weekly markets. Baskets with layers of straw protect the eggs from breakage, and other types of baskets are used to carry live birds. Bullock carts are still used in many countries for transport of both live poultry and eggs to larger community centres. The roofs of buses or trains replace these slower vehicles as transport systems develop. Marketing quality considerations for live birds are usually concerned with weight loss in the bird from dehydration during transport. These are easily resolved by providing drinking water during the trip, and travelling during the cool part of the day when possible. Egg quality considerations are more complex and are dealt with in the second half of this chapter.

Improved marketing programmes must add no more cost to the product than the consumer can afford. Important marketing improvements can often be simply made by making small corrections to already existing handling, transport, packaging, grading and storage methods.

Marketing organisations generally come into being very gradually, and must be appropriate for the background, character and education of the people concerned. Plans for radical changes, which do not take sufficient account of social and economic environments, are likely to fail. Thus any improvement programme should be designed to achieve desirable modifications in existing commercial facilities (and their economic and legal framework) by a process of steady growth.

As a country develops, the task of marketing eggs and poultry will still involve the collection of live poultry and eggs from farmers, transporting them to a grading, packing or processing plant, grading and standardising the poultry meat and eggs, processing them and packaging them into more useful forms, storing them (preferably under refrigeration), moving them through wholesale and retail channels and delivering them to consumers at a convenient time and place.

This chapter provides a brief outline with some practical information and advice to those who are immediately concerned with egg and poultry marketing considerations. For a more detailed examination of marketing, the reader is referred to FAO Marketing Guide N° 4 "Marketing eggs and poultry" (1961), from which some of the following material is taken