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The Principles of Poultry Husbandry
The quality and class of stock
If the enterprise is to be successful it is necessary to use stock known to be of good quality and of the appropriate genotype for the commodity to be produced in the management situation to be used. The obvious first decision is to choose meat type for meat production and an egg type for egg production. However, having made that decision, it is then necessary to analyse the management situation and market to select a genotype that suits the management situation and/or produces a commodity suitable for that market. A good example is that of brown eggshells. If the market requires eggs to have brown shells, the genotype selected must be a brown shell layer. Another example would be to choose a genotype best suited for use in a tropical environment. The manager must know in detail the requirements of the situation and then select a genotype best suited to that situation.
Good husbandry
The following are of major importance when considering the health, welfare and husbandry requirements for a flock:
Confine the birds
Confining the birds provides a number of advantages:
Provides a degree of protection from predators
Reduces the labour costs in the management of the birds
Increases the number of birds that can be maintained by the same labour force
Reduces the costs of production
Better organisation of the stocking program
Better organisation management to suit the type and age of the birds housed
Importantly, the confinement of the birds at higher stocking densities has a number of disadvantages also including:
Increases the risk of infectious disease passing from one bird to another
Increases the probability that undesirable behavioural changes may occur
Increases the probability of a significant drop in performance
Birds housed at very high densities can often attract adverse comments
Protection from a harsh environment
A harsh environment is defined as the one that is outside of the comfort range of the birds. In this context high and low temperature, high humidity in some circumstances, excessively strong wind, inadequate ventilation and/or air movement and high levels of harmful air pollutants such as ammonia are examples of a harsh environment. Much effort is made in designing and building poultry houses that will permit the regulation of the environment to a significant degree.
It is the responsibility of those in charge, and responsible for, the day-to-day management of the birds that the environment control systems are operated as efficiently as possible. To this end, those responsible require a good knowledge of the different factors that constitute the environment and how they interact with each other to produce the actual conditions in the house and, more importantly, what can be done to improve the house environment.
Welfare needs
A successful poultry house has to satisfy the welfare needs of the birds which vary with the class, age and housing system. Failure to satisfy these needs will, in many cases, result in lower performance from the birds. These needs include:
The provision of adequate floor space with enough headroom
The provision of good quality food with adequate feeding space
The provision of good quality water with adequate drinking space
The opportunity to associate with flock mates
The elimination of anything that may cause injury
The elimination of all sources of unnecessary harassment
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Great
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