Project Planning / Capital / Farm / Breed Selection / Feed
Disease Prevention / Marketing / Records Keeping

PROJECT PLANNING

Before starting a project, four important criteria should be considered:

Capital
Farm
Management
Marketing

These four important criteria should come together in order to achieve success and also the farmer's attitude towards the project. If one of the criteria is not meet, most probably the project will end up with failure.

CAPITAL

Before starting a project, capital needed are as follows:

FIXED COST:

Barn included building fees ( Area for 1 bird - 1 square foot)
Water tank (together with pvc join)
Heater (1 small hoover = 500 day old chick)
Water drinkers for chick ( 4 units = 100 birds)
Feed troughs for chick ( long trough : 3 units = 100 birds)
Automatic drinkers ( 2 unit = 100 birds)
Feed troughs - hanging  (2 unit = 100 birds)
Store for keeping apparatus and feed
Other expenditures (unexpected)

CURRENT COST

Day old chicks
Poultry feed - starter and finisher
Electric/kerosene or gas/water
Vaccine and medicine
Building depreciation (5 years)
Apparatus depreciation (3 years)
Bank loan interest
Others expenditures (unexpected)

FARM

Choosing of  area

 Sufficient area of land
Good irrigation
Preferable higher land so that the air ventilation is good
Far from human activities, have good road connection, electricity supply, clean water supply and free from chicken enemies for example wild animals
Do not mix with other kinds of poultry such as duck and village chicken
Far from housing estates
Near to the market place

Housing Design and System

The barn should have the following criteria:-

Good air ventilation help to dry up the moisture and minimize ammonia gas from the faeces

The size of the barn should be suitable with the number of chicken reared.  Do not build barn that is too small or too big because it is not profitable. The suitable size is 1 square foot per bird.

                    For example: 5000 birds need 5000 square feet.

Suggested dimension of the barn: 25 feet x 200 feet (1 barn) or 25 feet x 100 feet (2 barns)

Location of the barn, East - West direction,  in order to avoid from the direct hot sun.

Can be divided into 2:

Raised Floor System
Deep Litter System

Either the project will succeed or  fail will depend on the level of competent management. A competent farmer will look into all aspect of management in order to get maximum income with minimum expenditure.

In the management of broiler chicken, the farmer should seriously considers a few management aspects such as:

BREED SELECTION

Criteria of Quality Day Old Chick

Crive, bright round eyes, strong legs, stand steadily and have dry and soft feather
The size should not be too small and uniformity in size
Free from blemish for example leg bent, broken wings, blind and others
Purchase day old chick from accredited suppliers.

FEED

Feed is one of the main important factors which should be seriously considered by the farmers. 2/3 of the cost of production are from the feed. Farmers must make sure that there is no wastage during feeding time and storing.

There are 2 types of feed for broiler chicken:

Starter Feed for broiler chicken age 1 day - 4 weeks (Crude Protein content = 22 - 24 %

Finisher/Fattening Feed for chicken age 5 weeks - 7 weeks/sale (Crude Protein content = 19 - 20 %)

Chicken are given ad lib feeding from day old to marketing age

PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF DISEASES

There are many types of chicken diseases. The common diseases which should be controlled from early stages are:

Ranikhet
Fowl Pox
Respiratory diseases
Pullorum

The following vaccination program should be strictly adhered by the farmers.

Day Old - Ranikhet "F" Vaccination

Age 3 weeks - Fowl Pox Vaccination

Age 6 weeks - Ranikhet "S" Vaccination

Farmers should control the entrance of  bacteria carrier such as birds, village chicken and other livestock from entering the barn area. Visitors or outsiders should be banned completely..

MARKETING

Marketing of the chicken should be planned. A successful project will depend on the good market and  the price offered

Four important factors should be considered by the farmers in running their business or marketing strategy:

Location/Place (near to the marketing place, no communication problem).
Production (Can be sold in the form of live chicken, processed and frozen, cuts and others.)
Price (Depend on the location and market demand)
Advertisement (Usually done by the big companies)

Income - Current Cost

Current Cost
Weight of chicken

RECORDS KEEPING

The farmers should record every activity which involved with finance. 2 types of record should be made:-

1. Record Management 

To correct the weakness of management
To make sure the breed chosen are good
To make sure the feeds are good
To minimize the mortality rate
Used suitable medication.

2. Financial Records

To know the profit/loss level
To minimize wastage cost
As a guide in preparing paper work for expanding project in future