Animal Husbandry Poultry

May 09, 2023, 16:45 IST

Hey if you are looking for some information regarding Animal husbandry then you are in the right place. With an ever increasing population of the world , enhancement of food production is a major necessity. Animal husbandry helps in completion of that demand.It is a kind of Controlled cultivation, management, and production of domestic animals,It also improves the qualities considered desirable by humans by means of breeding by humans . Let’s take a plunge into this article.

Introduction (Animal Husbandry)

Animal husbandry is the department of agriculture dealing with animals raised to produce milk,fibre,meat or other purposes.It deals with the care and breeding of livestock(sheep , pig, goats, camels,cows,horses etc)which are useful to humans.Animal husbandry is the science of farming animal livestock.Animal husbandry is vital skills for farmers .It is partly an art and partly science.Since time immemorial, animals like bees, silk-worm, prawns, crabs, fishes ,birds, pigs, cattle , sheep and camel have been used by humans for products like milk , eggs,meat, wool, silk,honey etc.More than 70 percent of worlds livestock population is in India and China as per estimation .In addition to conventional practices of animal breeding and care, newer technologies also have applied to achieve improvement in quality and productivity as the productivity per unit is very low.

Definition: “The branch of agriculture that is concerned with the production and care of domestic animals is Animal Husbandry.”

Major Types of Animal Husbandry

1. Cattle farming
2. Fish farming
3. Apiculture
4. Poultry Farming

In this article we will discuss about poultry farming:

Poultry Farming

It is the class of Domesticated fowl (birds) used for their eggs. It mainly includes Chicken and Ducks, and sometimes turkey and geese. Sometimes the word poultry refers to the meat of only these birds, but in more general it refers to the meat of other birds too. The specialised meat-producing poultry birds are called broilers on the other hand egg laying poultry birds are called layers. The immense rise in the availability of poultry products is called Silver Revolution. Poultry products (meat and eggs) are a rich source of protein, vitamins and minerals and their faeces are used as a good source of manure. They also provide employment to many daily wage workers. It is a profitable business with less expenditure. Poultry farmers do cross breeding of local and foreign breeds as it is a less expensive process by raising breeds of desirable traits and also helps to meet the commercial purpose and management easily.

For example: Indian Aseel and foreign Leghorn breeds were crossbred to raise a variety of breeds.

They mainly focus on

• Quantity and quality of chicks for better results.
• Dwarf broiler parents for more chick production are preferred
• Adaptation/tolerance to high temperature
• Low maintenance and minimum feeding requirement that is indirectly profitable to the farmers.

Definition: “ Poultry farming is the type of animal husbandry in which birds are raised commercially or domestically for meat, eggs, and feathers.”

Farm Management

For high yield, good management practices are required and separate management is needed as the housing, feeding and growing conditions for broilers and egg layers are different.

• Shelter

Poultry birds need to be maintained in a strictly hygienic manner as we know that they are very sensitive to disease . Proper housing and a good clean environment with proper ventilation should be provided. The farm should be disease and pest free and be regularly checked. Layers require regular temperature maintenance.

• Food

Both egg layers and broilers are present in the poultry farming.They have different food requirements according to their farming purposes.

Since broilers are fed with protein and fat-rich food as they are raised for healthy meat. Vitamin supplements help them for a better growth rate and quality. They are regularly checked and good care is taken to avoid death and other infectious diseases.The egg layers rations are rich in vitamins A and K which help in more and more egg production.If the proper feeding is done better results are seen within the production rate.

Disease Management

The cause of the disease may be from different modes of infections from viruses, bacteria, fungus, to any other agents, sometimes deficiency of food or nutritional deficiency can also lead to disease. Hence, regular checking and proper cleaning, sanitation and spraying of pesticides and disinfectants should be performed to keep the surroundings neat and tidy and also free from all microbes that may be a reason for causing disease.

To control diseases in the farm, poultry farmers must be very careful with the hygiene section. Some ways to control disease are as follows:

• Vaccination of birds against diseases should be done.
• Where applicable, we should use a worming program (A chicken wormer helps to remove worms and internal parasites from the bird’s body and protects vital internal organs such as the brain and lungs.)
• Dispose of dead birds promptly by burning or burying deep in the ground to stop the spread of various diseases.
• Rear chicks in isolation
• Avoid mixing birds of different ages together
• Screen out rodents and wild animals
• Keep visitors out of the poultry houses

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. What is poultry farming?

Ans. Poultry farming is the practice of raising fowl (birds) for egg production and chicken meat.

Q2. What is the importance of poultry farming?

Ans. Millions of chickens are raised across the world as a good source of food in the form of eggs and meats. Apart from this, their faeces are used as manure. It is beneficial for the production of eggs and for commercial purposes. It is a profitable business.

Q3. What are two types of poultry farming?

Ans. Broiler and layers are the two types of poultry farming. Broilers are used for meat and layers for the production of eggs.

Q4. Which is the best season for poultry farming?

Ans. Winter season has a great and better impact on the production rate as it brings down the temperature of encompassing.