methods of poultry farming .

  methods of poultry farming . Poultry farming is a common practice in the world,it involves keeping and raising of domesticated birds. examples of such birds in cludes  ducks,chickens, turkeys e.t.c  for the aim of egg and meat prodution for mankind.  mllions of birds are produced annually, which includes over 40million chickens. chickens which are raised  for meat are  refered to as broilers while those raised for eeg prodution are called layers.


TYPES OF POULTRY FARMING
1) Intensive system of poultry farming
Over 60-70 percent of eggs produced globally are from intensive method of poultry farming.free-range poultry farming is an alternative to intensive poultry farming method, and it involves the use of a lower stock densities.  most intensive poultry farming methods are very efficient and allow meat and eggs to be available to the consumer in all seasons at a lower cost than free-range production. Poultry producers routinely use nationally approved medications, such as antibiotics, in feed or drinking water, to treat disease or to prevent disease outbreaks.


2) Egg-laying chickens
Commercial hens usually begin laying eggs at 16–20 weeks of age, although production gradually declines soon after from approximately 25 weeks of age. This means that in many countries, by approximately 72 weeks of age, flocks are considered economically unviable and are slaughtered after approximately 12 months of egg production, although chickens will naturally live for 6 or more years. In some countries, hens are force moulted to re-invigorate egg-laying.
Environmental conditions are often automatically controlled in egg-laying systems. For example, the duration of the light phase is initially increased to prompt the beginning of egg-laying at 16–20 weeks of age and then mimics summer daylength which stimulates the hens to continue laying all year round; normally, egg production occurs only in the warmer months. Some commercial breeds of hen can produce over 300 eggs a year. Critics argue that year-round egg production stresses the birds more than normal seasonal production.
Free-range laying hens

3) Free- range poultry farming systems
Free-range poultry farming allows the birds to roam freely for a period of the day, although they are usually confined in sheds at night to protect them from predators or kept indoors if the weather is particularly bad. in free-range system of poultry farming chicken must have daytime access to open-air runs during at least half of its life. in some cases,hens have continuous daytime access to open-air runs, except in the case of temporary restrictions imposed by veterinary authorities"
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limitations of Free-range poultry farming
Finding suitable land with adequate drainage to minimise worms and coccidial oocysts, suitable protection from prevailing winds, good ventilation, access and protection from predators can be difficult. Excess heat, cold or damp can have a harmful effect on the animals and their productivity. Unlike cage and barn systems, free-range farmers have little control over the food their animals come across, which can lead to unreliable productivity, though supplementary feeding elliminates this uncertainty.[citation needed] In some farms, the manure from free-range poultry can be used to benefit crops.
The benefits of free-range poultry farming for laying hens include opportunities for natural behaviours such as pecking, scratching, foraging and exercise outdoors.
Cannibalism, feather pecking and vent pecking can be common with some farmers using beak trimming as a preventative measure, although reducing stocking rates would elliminate these problems. Diseases can be common and the animals are vulnerable to predators. Barn systems have been found to have the worst bird welfare.

4) Yarding poultry farming systems
Ducks and other poultry
yarding method of poultry farming is actually a separate method of poultry culture by which chickens and cows are raised together. The distinction between yarding and free-range is that free-range poultry are either totally unfenced, or the fence is so distant that it has little influence on their freedom of movement. Yarding is common technique used by small farms in the Northeastern US.


5)Battery cages for laying hens- poultry farming systems
These are small cages, usually made of metal in modern systems, housing 3 to 8 hens. The walls are made of either solid metal or mesh, and the floor is sloped wire mesh to allow the faeces to drop through and eggs to roll onto an egg-collecting conveyor belt. Water is usually provided by overhead nipple systems, and food in a trough along the front of the cage replenished at regular intervals by a mechanical chain. The cages are arranged in long rows as multiple tiers, often with cages back-to-back (hence the term 'battery cage').

Within a single shed, there may be several floors containg battery cages meaning that a single shed may contain many tens of thousands of hens. Light intensity is often kept low (e.g. 10 lux) to reduce feather pecking and vent pecking. Benefits of battery cages include easier care for the birds, floor eggs which are expensive to collect are eliminated, eggs are cleaner, capture at the end of lay is expedited, generally less feed is required to produce eggs, broodiness is eliminated, more hens may be housed in a given house floor space, internal parasites are more easily treated, and labor requirements are generally much reduced.

6)Meat-producing chickens- poultry farming systems
poulty farming of Meat chickens is commonly called broilers production,this poultry farming system involves the use of floor-raised on litter such as wood shavings or rice hulls, indoors in climate-controlled housing. Under modern poultry farming methods, meat chickens reared indoors reach slaughter weight at 5 to 6 weeks of age.
Broilers are not raised in cages. They are raised in large, open structures known as growout houses. These houses are equipped with mechanical systems to deliver feed and water to the birds. They have ventilation systems and heaters that function as needed. The floor of the house is covered with bedding material consisting of wood chips, rice hulls, or peanut shells. Because dry bedding helps maintain flock health, most growout houses have enclosed watering systems (“nipple drinkers”) which reduce spillage.

Keeping birds inside a house protects them from predators such as hawks and foxes. Some houses are equipped with curtain walls, which can be rolled up in good weather to admit natural light and fresh air. Most growout houses built in recent years feature “tunnel ventilation,” in which a bank of fans draws fresh air through the house.
Traditionally, a flock of broilers consist of about 20,000 birds in a growout house that measures 400 feet long and 40 feet wide, thus providing about eight-tenths of a square foot per bird. The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) states that the minimum space is one-half square foot per bird. More modern houses are often larger and contain more birds, but the floor space allotment still meets the needs of the birds.
Because broilers are relatively young and have not reached sexual maturity, they exhibit very little aggressive conduct.
for more on poultry farming methods check other poultry farming articles from newsworlgng.com or call MR IFEANYI for more advise on poultry farming.