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POULTRY FARMING



WHAT IS POULTRY?
Poultry is domesticated birds which are used for meat, egg, feather purposes or sometimes the manure as well as for game purposes.
Examples of poultry birds
Turkey, duck, chicken, guinea fowl etc.
What is poultry farming?
Poultry farming is an act of rearing birds used for agricultural purposes
Poultry is a monogastric (Non-ruminant family) in order words, they are called simple stomach animals.
POULTRY PRODUCTION
Poultry is kept for the production of eggs and meat. Poultry is kept in most areas of the world and provide an acceptable form of animal protein to most people throughout the world. During the last decade, many developing countries have
adopted intensive poultry production in order to meet the demand for this form of animal protein. Intensively kept poultry is seen as a way of rapidly increasing animal protein supplies for rapidly increasing urban populations: poultry are able to adapt to most areas of the world, are relatively low priced, reproduce rapidly, and have a high rate of productivity. Poultry in the industrial system are housed in confinement with the aim of creating optimal conditions of temperature and lighting, and in order to manipulate day length to maximise production.
You don’t have to be rich before you can be a poultry farmer, it is possible to start a poultry farming on a smaller scale with minimum amount of cash and make enough money to make an end meet. Poultry farming offers unique opportunities for making money than most people knows. In a country like Nigeria, where importation of poultry products has been banned, many who are in poultry business can testify that they have too many demand to satisfy, this is an indication that locally the demand is booming. The supply of poultry products in developing world must be rapidly expanded to meet the need for animal protein because poultry are able to adapt to most area of the world and perform moderately of not excellently. However, before going into poultry production there are questions you need to ask yourself:
Ø Am I ready to practice farming? Determination
Ø Where will I keep these chickens? Housing
Ø How will I take proper care of the chicken I want to rear? Management
Ø How will I sell these chickens and make enough profit? Management
Ø How will I sell these chickens and make enough profit?
If a beginner can successfully answer these questions, then there is no cause for alarm. The coast is clear for the operation to begging.
On the next topic series, we will discuss more about Broilers, Layers, Poussins and Capons. Until next time, kindly update yourself with the necessary information on the ways to start a poultry farming business.

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