Breeds of Poultry
Poultry is as much a part of human lives
as air. It is the source of food and nourishment for us. The many
breeds of poultry available out there provide us with our everyday
meals. Many people noware also into poultry farming as their source of
living. It is aninvaluable way of earning an income. Do you want to
start a poultryfarm yourself? If you do then you must also be
knowledgeable of whatkind of poultry you want in your farm. There are
lots of poultry breedsthat you can choose to raise in a poultry farm.
Some of these are thefollowing.
The most common breed which is usually raised in a poultry farmis
the chicken. It is a domesticated type of bird. Chickens providefood
for humans with their meat and eggs. They are sociable birds sothey
live together as a flock. Feeding them is not a problem there arevery
many available foods for them. They are commonly fed with feedsthat are
commercially prepared and manufactured. These feeds containprotein
source and can come as grains as well. Chickens are not capableof
flying at a long distance, although they are capable of flying butonly
for short distances, like over the fences. Usually their wings
areclipped resulting to unbalanced flight so that they won’t be able
toget away.
Ducks.Even
at the ancient times ducks are already domesticated. They servedas one
of the suppliers of food as well as a source of income for manypeople
found from various parts of the world. They are a source ofeggs, meat
and down feathers. Their down feathers are used for makingwarm jackets
as well as beddings. You can grow ducks with what islocally available,
they have simple diet so they can adapt tofeedstuffs available in the
local area. Not only that, duck meat isgood for the human nutrition.
They contain protein energy and a numberof vitamins and minerals.
Choose the kind of breed of ducks that willbest suit your needs, such
as meat type breeds, for egg production duckbreeds, or source of both
meat and eggs duck breeds.
Geese.These
domesticated birds are really originally not capable of flight.They are
bred in order to provide meat. They come in differentcolors—gray,
white, or somewhere in between. They also come indifferent sizes. They
don’t need that much for their housing. You canjust build them a
simple shelter to protect them from any bad weather,rain and wind.
Gineafowl. These birds originated from
Quails.They
are mainly domesticated for their meat and eggs. Their eggs comewith
variety of patterns with regards to color. Common quail eggs aredark
brown speckled or tan or mottled brown. Their meat containsnutrients
such as protein, vitamins, amino acids, and other minerals.It is said
that these birds were once raised initially for song. Whatlead to the
domestication of these birds were that it was claimed thata Japanese
emperor was healed and attained relief from tuberculosisafter eating
the meat of a quail.
Allthese breeds of poultry are the many options a person could choose fromwhen deciding to start a poultry farm. Depending on a person’scircumstances, he can usually find the perfect breed of poultry toraise. Whether he prefers to have a poultry farm wherein his productsbecome sources of meat or whether he would specialize in the eggmarket, he will be able to raise almost all of the breeds of poultry tosuit his needs.
Author: Chris Kennelly
Article Courtesy Talkinmince Aritle Directory.
Management of Egg-producing Hens
When you get into poultry farming for the purpose of egg production, it is necessary to know the proper ways of managing you egg-producing hens.Basically,
managing of you hens devolves to the type of housing youprovide for
them. It is essential that your housing for you hens arenot only geared
towards the health and comfort for your hens but alsotowards the health
of the eggs they produce as well as the ease ofcollecting those eggs.
Housingfor
egg-producing hens can be based on one of two models. One is thecaged
production method and the other is the floor production method.Properly
used, any of these two methods will help the hens inproduction the
whole year round as long as they have the propernutritional and
environmental needs.
Whatevermethod
you prefer, it is first important to make sure that your poultryhouse
is located away from your other farm structures. It should alsohave an
adequate light fixture that are set to the proper lightingintensity. To
check for adequate lighting, check to see if the levelsof the water and
the feeds in the trough are visible after allowingyour eyes to adjust
to the dim lights. The poultry house needs to allowplenty of sunlight
and ventilation to the chickens. The hens should beseparated from other
animals, both domesticated and wild. One way thiscan be done is to
place 1 inch poultry wire netting over all theopenings of the house.
There should also be curtains and doors on thepoultry house which can
be opened or closed to allow for changes in theweather. Fresh and clean
water should be available for the chickensalways.
Themethod
of caged layer production is more oriented to sterileegg-producing
hens. In this method, the hens are placed inside a wirecage with water
and feed provide for each chicken cage. For a cage, themeasurement
should be 12â€x16â€x18â€. The cages are arranged in rowswith the
cages supported on legs or suspended from the ceiling with thefloor of
the cage about 2 to 3 feet from the ground. The water for thehens may
be provided for in individual cup waterers or through a longtrough
located outside the cage, extending throughout the length of thecage.
There is also a feed trough located outside the cage, parallel tothe
water trough. The cages are designed with a slanted wire floorwhich
will allow the eggs to roll out of the cage once it is producedby the
hen and rolls into a holding area.
Themethod
of floor production is for both egg-type hens and broiler-typehens who
produce either fertile or infertile eggs. This is the methodmost
commonly used when the hens are used to produce fertile eggs
forhatching. The birds are maintained on the floor in the house, hence
thename floor production.
Eachhen
in the floor production method will require a 14×12x16 nest. Forfeeing,
a 5 feet long mash hopper that is open on both sides will serve25 hens.
Three 3 gallon pans can provide enough watering space for 30hens. It is
necessary to thoroughly clean, scrub then disinfect thehouse and the
equipment before placing the pullets inside the layinghouse once it is
dried. 3 inches of litter material should be placed inthe nests with 4
to 6 inches of litter on the floor.
Withboth
types of management methods, it is necessary that the hens begiven an
increasing daily light schedule once they are placed in thelaying
house. The hen’s exposure to light should be gradually increasedby 15
minutes for each week after they have entered the house. Thisshould
increase until such a time as the hens are exposed to 16-18hours of
light exposure for each day. This should remain the same forthe
remaining laying period. This is done to stimulate the eggproduction of
the hens. After the hens have begun to produce eggs, theduration of
total light, including natural and artificial lighting,should not be
reduced
More information about the proper management of egg laying hens can be found at www.allyearroundbirds.com. They also offer more information regarding poultry farming as well as supply for your poultry farming needs.
The topic of poultry farming is best covered in All Year Round Birds. They have all the information you need when it comes to managing egg-producing hens. The Free Articles also give you other excellent related articles.
Kinds of Poultry Diseases
Oneof the limiting factors in poultry farming are the susceptibility ofpoultry to poultry diseases. Poultry diseases fall into a few majorcategories which include internal and external parasites, Marek’sdisease respiratory disease, nutritional problems, fowl pox andreproductive diseases.
Poultry animals can carry quite a few number of parasites on theirbodies. This is one of the more common poultry diseases for poultry.These parasites range in size from the large, blood sucking ticks thatcan reach up to 1 cm in size to the scale face and leg mite that can beless than 0.5 mm in approximate size. The stickfast flea is alsoanother external parasite that is commonly encountered. The stickfastfleas are small, black fleas that are found on the comb and will notmove. Lice are also another external parasite and are small whiteinsects which can move rapidly through the bird’s feathers.
These parasites will cause some mild clinical signs to poultry suchas damage to the feather, irritation and anemia. There are also moresevere and lethal diseases that can be caused by these parasites, oneof them being tick fever.
It is important to check for signs of these parasites on poultryanimals regularly and treat them every two to three months. There are anumber of products that are readily available that can cure thesepoultry diseases.
Internal parasite poultry diseases can range from large roundwormsor ascarids to microscopic organisms such as Coccidia, Trichomonas andGiardia. These internal parasites will attack the lining of the bird’sintestines while absorbing the nutrients that should be used by thebird for its own nutritional needs and for egg production.
Some signs of internal parasites include diarrhea, pale combs andweight loss. It is advisable to have the feces of the animals checkedin order to determine if the animal is suffering from these poultrydiseases.
Marek’s disease is of a viral nature and will only affect poultry.These poultry diseases spreads through the feather dander and the dustof infected birds. It is long lived and can exist in the environmentand spread on people’s clothes and on shared equipment. Birds sufferingfrom these poultry diseases are infected while still young and may notshow signs until some months have passed.
The Marek’s disease virus attacks the bird’s white blood cells,resulting in cancer which commonly affect the nerves of the birds thuscausing paralysis. To avoid this disease, chicks should be given avaccine day one.
There are a host of poultry diseases such as sneezing, coughing anddischarges from the eyes and nostrils which may be caused by parasites,dust, high ammonia levels, viruses or a variety of bacteria in theenvironment of the chicken. Treatment for these poultry diseases willdepend on the diagnosis by the veterinarian who checks the bird.
Nutritional deficiency poultry diseases result in a poultry that donot get their required nutritional demands. Common nutritionaldeficiency poultry diseases include lack of calcium and vitamin A.poultry that are fed table scraps rarely get the proper nutrition.There are many available formulated diets which provide birds with thenecessary balanced diet to support them throughout the different stagesof their life.
Another type of poultry diseases are reproductive problems. Thesepoultry diseases lead to egg binding problems where the egg will notpass out of the bird, metritis which is an inflammation of the oviductand the shell gland and yolk peritonitis where there is free yolk inthe abdominal cavity which leads to internal infections.
Commercial poultry birds are bred for laying for only one to two egglaying seasons. After that, when they are sold to backyard producersfor more laying, the birds become more prone to reproductive problems.Birds who suffer these problems often develop swollen abdomens, willstop laying eggs, are depressed and will die eventually. Veterinariansmay perform surgery on the chickens but this will result in the chickenbeing unable to lay eggs.
For more resources about this topic, it is best to go on line and check www.allyearroundbirds.com.
The topic of poultry farming is best covered in All Year Round Birds. They have all the information you need when it comes to poultry diseases. The Article Directory can also give you other excellent related articles.
Poultry Eggs
Whenengaging in poultry farming for the purpose of egg production, it is afundamental necessity to know what type of poultry eggs are possiblefor you to produce so as to determine the setup of your poultry farm.
The most common of poultry eggs would have to be chicken poultryeggs. Chicken poultry eggs are the predominant type of eggs that areusually found in our kitchen. These types of poultry eggs are what weusually use for food preparation, nutrition and cooking. Mostreferences available usually refer to chicken poultry eggs unlessspecifically noted.
The standard chicken poultry eggis what is most commonly found in supermarket groceries. Most chickenpoultry eggs available are white shelled chicken poultry eggs althoughbrown shelled chicken poultry eggs are also easily available, usuallyin farmers markets. The color of the egg shell is predetermined by thebreed of chicken that produces the egg. This color variation betweeneggs do not affect the flavor or nutritional content of the eggs.
There are also fertile chicken poultry eggs available. These chickenpoultry eggs are the type of eggs which can be incubated in order todevelop into chicks. It is often believed that these types of chickenpoultry eggs are more nutritious than standard eggs but this is false.Fertile eggs require more extensive production processes and are,therefore more expensive. They are also liable to spoil faster thannon-fertile eggs.
Organic chicken poultry eggs are those that are produced by hensthat are given an all natural diet, without the aid of fertilizers,herbicides or pesticides. Because of the complexity of production,these types of eggs are typically more expensive than non-organic eggsalthough there is no nutritional difference between the two.
Free range chicken poultry eggs are produced by hens that aresupposedly allowed to wander outdoors instead of the usual arrangementwhere they are placed inside chicken coops. Because of this, productioncosts are higher therefore the eggs are more expensive. As with theother egg types, these types of poultry eggs do not have any additionalnutritional value compared to other egg types.
Aside from chicken poultry eggs, there are also a number of poultryeggs produced by other poultry birds. However, due to the longestablished usage and, therefore, production methods of chicken poultryeggs, these types of eggs are a lot more liable to contain bacteriacompared to chicken poultry eggs.
Quail poultry eggsare
speckled eggs that range in color from brown to white to blue andare
significantly smaller in size than chicken poultry eggs. Five
quailpoultry eggs would equal the content of one chicken poultry egg.
Thesetypes of poultry eggs are often hard boiled to serve as
garnishes,salad accompaniments and hors d’oeuvre.
Duck poultry eggs are usually larger than regular chicken poultry
eggs.Duck poultry egg are more flavorful than chicken poultry eggs but
arealso higher in cholesterol and fat content. They are well suited
fordessert recipes due to the richness of their content as well as
theirgelatinous properties. Producers of duck poultry eggs usually sell
themin sizes ranging from very small sizes to jumbo sizes.
Goose poultry eggs are much larger than both chicken and duckpoultry eggs. They are much more flavorful and rich than chickenpoultry eggs and, like duck poultry eggs, are best used in dessertdishes. They are recommended for sparing use because of their very highcholesterol and fat content.
Turkey poultry eggs have brown speckled shells that are of white tocream color. Turkey poultry eggs are usually one and a half timeslarger than the larger sizes of chicken poultry eggs and are richer interms of fat and cholesterol. Their flavor, however is very similar.Most turkey poultry eggs are usually available for hatching for moreturkeys but are also available in some specialty markets.
Ostrich poultry eggs are rare and hard to find but one ostrichpoultry egg can go a long way as a single ostrich poultry egg can equaltwenty to twenty four chicken poultry eggs. Ostrich poultry eggs areusually salable for their novelty value. They are usually served inseveral large omelets or as scrambled eggs.
As shown here, there are a lot of choices for poultry farmers onwhat type of poultry eggs they would want to produce. Some eggs arebest produced for their marketable value while others can be sold athigher prices because of their novelty. For more information regardingthe type of poultry birds you need for the type of eggs you want, visitour shop poultry. They have good information resources about poultry as well as being suppliers of poultry birds.
Article courtesy of Talkinmince free article directory.