Poultry farming is undertaken to raise domestic fowl for egg production and chicken meat. Therefore, improved poultry breeds are developed and farmed to produce layers for eggs and broilers for meat.
The cross-breeding programmes between Indian (indigenous, for example, Aseel) and foreign (exotic, for example, Leghorn) breeds for variety improvement are focused on to develop new varieties for the following desirable traits— (i) number and quality of chicks;(ii) dwarf broiler parent for commercial chick production;
(iii) summer adaptation capacity tolerance to high temperature;
(iv) low maintenance requirements;
(v) reduction in the size of the egg-laying bird with ability to utilise more fibrous cheaper diets formulated using agricultural by-products.
EGG AND BROILER PRODUCTION
Poultry farming is undertaken to raise domestic fowl for egg production and chicken meat. Therefore, improved poultry breeds are developed and farmed to produce layers for eggs and broilers for meat.
The cross-breeding programmes between Indian (indigenous, for example, Aseel) and foreign (exotic, for example, Leghorn) breeds for variety improvement are focused on to develop new varieties for the following desirable traits— (i) number and quality of chicks;(ii) dwarf broiler parent for commercial chick production;
(iii) summer adaptation capacity tolerance to high temperature;
(iv) low maintenance requirements;
(v) reduction in the size of the egg-laying bird with ability to utilise more fibrous cheaper diets formulated using agricultural by-products.
Broiler chickens are fed with vitamin-rich supplementary feed for good growth rate and better feed efficiency. Care is taken to avoid mortality and to maintain feathering and carcass quality. They are produced as broilers and sent to market for meat purposes.
For good production of poultry birds, good management practices are important. These include maintenance of temperature and hygienic conditions in housing and poultry feed, as well as prevention and control of diseases and pests.
The housing, nutritional and environmental requirements of broilers are somewhat different from those of egg layers.
The ration (daily food requirement) for broilers is protein rich with adequate fat. The level of vitamins A and K is kept high in the poultry feeds.
Poultry fowl suffer from a number of diseases caused by virus, bacteria, fungi, parasites, as well as from nutritional deficiencies. These necessitate proper cleaning, sanitation, and spraying of disinfectants at regular intervals. Appropriate vaccination can prevent the occurrence of
infectious diseases and reduce loss of poultry during an outbreak of disease.