Cover Image
close this bookThe Intensive Poultry Farming Industry in the Sahelian Zone (CDI, 1996, 56 p.)
close this folder1. INTENSIVE POULTRY FARMING IN THE SAHELIAN ZONE
close this folder1.2. General information on intensive poultry farming
View the document1.2.1. What is intensive poultry farming?
View the document1.2.2. Poultry - a living machine
View the document1.2.3. Choice of breed

1.2.3. Choice of breed

Small-scale poultry farms use breeds known as “rustic”, which are characterized by low performance (50/60 eggs per hen per year), low growth, good adaptation to climatic and sanitary conditions and low feed requirements.

Intensive poultry farming uses selected breeds (hybrids) obtained by specialists in avian genetics. These breeds are high-yielding (300 eggs per hen per year) and grow quickly; they are sensitive to stress and diseases and demand a healthy balanced diet and a comfortable environment.

In the Sahelian context, bearing in mind the specific constraints - extreme heat, low level of feeding, limited financial resources - it can sometimes be more advantageous to use breeds which are a little less productive than others but are more resistant to the environmental conditions prevailing in that region.

Advice in choosing a breed

- Approach local hatchers or, failing this, representatives of breed suppliers in order to obtain precise information about technical performance, sensitivity to disease, ability to adapt, price and delivery periods.

- Make sure that the local hatchery supplying day-old chicks from the breed you consider most attractive has a good reputation.

The reliability and knowhow of the parent-stock breeder and the hatcher are more important than the breed in ensuring excellent quality chicks.

- If you are considering importing day-old chicks, find out beforehand all the sanitary and administrative requirements which must be fulfilled. When the chicks arrive, make arrangements to forward them in good order and as quickly as possible to the rearing site.

Consult the travelling technicians employed by breed suppliers, who can give you wise counsel about the most appropriate breed for your circumstances. We should point out that most breed suppliers publish manuals on poultry rearing and feeding which they kindly make available to farmers. These manuals are a mine of practical information which is essential to the proper running of a poultry farm.

CHOICE OF BREED OF CHICK

· BROILER OR LAYER
· FOR BROILER PRODUCERS: PERFORMANCE, CI
· FOR HATCHERY OWNERS: FERTILITY, HATCHABILITY


INTENSIVE POULTRY FARMING