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Local
Chicken Farming: The Ultimate Guide For Beginners
Local chickens have been in existence from time immemorial. And
the demand for local chickens has increased exponentially since
the exorbitant increase in poultry feed. Besides, local chickens
are hardy and are naturally raised as free-range chickens, and
have a delicious taste compare to hybrid chickens or
factory-raised chickens raised under synthetic drugs. However,
no chicken breeds without its ''Achilles heel ''.
Many farmers today often overlooked the great potentials that
are available in local chickens and as a result, they have been
losing a hand full of opportunities that come with it. The right
way of implementing the local farming method is to gather as may
knowledge as possible in order to get the desired outcome.
Do you want to invest in the poultry farming business, but you
don't know the best way to start? Starting with local chicken
farming is one of the best ways to go and an ideal one for you.
This is one of the best decisions you would ever make.
One of the mains reasons why local chicken farming is easy to
start is that local chickens are not stressful and demanding to
rear, unlike the hybrid chicken bred that needs a lot of
intensive care and adequate expertise.
Type of Local Chicken Breed
There are various types of local chicken breeds and this refers
to the several native breeds of chicken of a particular country.
Here, we'll be focusing more on the type of local chicken breeds
reared in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, there are only 2 types of local chicken breeds, and
they are being classified based on the location where the local
chicken can be found.
1. The Forest Savannah Ecotypes: This is also known as the
Yoruba's local chicken, and they are referred to as the light
ecotypes. They can be found in the swamp, Rainforest, and
Derived Savannah zones in Nigeria. At maturity, they weigh
between 0.68 kg to 1.5 kg.
2. The Fulani Ecotypes: They are referred to as the heavy
ecotypes and can be found in the Guinea and Sahel Savannah part
of Nigeria, the cattle Kraals, and also the Montane regions in
the North. At maturity, they weigh between 0.9 kg to 2.5 kg
Note: The difference between the Fulani ecotypes and the Yoruba
ecotypes is because of their body weight.
They are independent: Local chickens are independent animals,
and they can fend for themselves by grazing in the field and
feeding on different kinds of insects.
The little fund is required: 70% of the cost of rearing hybrid
chickens is mostly spent on buying chicken feed, but this is not
so in local poultry farming because only a little supplement of
feed is mostly required.
Management process is less stressful: In local chicken farming,
the management system is not too technical and less tiring,
unlike hybrid chicken farming that requires a lot of technical
expertise to start up.
As a result of local chickens having a very strong immune
system, they are mostly immune to diseases and don't fall sick
easily.
If you start with 10 mature Native hens and one rooster
initially, your flock would probably expand in the following
trend......
with just only 10 Native hens they can lay around 20 eggs each
which gives about 200 eggs in one cycle, but each hen can
comfortably sit on 7-10 eggs, making a total of 10×10=100
chicks.......
Thus one will have 130 birds after hatching-including the
original hens and a rooster.....
Since it is estimated that 40 per cent of the chicks would be
cocks, the farmer would remain with 90 new hens, thus totaling
to 100 plus....
After six months all birds will be mature to start laying
eggs......
100 birds will lay 2,000 eggs per cycle.......
Since the principle is that each hen can comfortably sit on 10
eggs, the chicks will be 1000 plus the one hundred mature hens
equaling to 1100 birds and soforth......
You can start this business with just ₦5000.......
Smaller local breeds of fowl (3-6months old) are sold in the
neighborhood for ₦1000 to ₦1200 .....
This is why you may have to think towards rearing local native
domestic fowls......
You can practice semi intensive system of keeping the birds
which entails providing shelter for them and partly provision of
feed......
In this system, the birds are allowed to roam about in search
for food but you can minimize their mobility by providing them
with locally processed feed from cereals Like Chafs gotten after
processing pap (akamu)......
An ideal house for the birds should have its two long side walls
built up to 2.5 feet to 3 feet from the ground and the rest of
the walls fixed with either chicken wire mesh or sticks for good
ventilation.....
If possible the floor can be of concrete but, a well rammed soil
floor is adequate if you don’t have the resources.....
You can make over ₦10 million naira this season selling local
Native fowls......
The advantage broilers have over local chicken is the fact that
they have a very fast growth rate and also a good feed
conversion rate
If you are a into broiler production,you can also have local
chicken as a side gig
Going by the normal practice,a local hen produces chicks 2-3
times in a year
But what if I tell you it can produce up to 6-8 times in a year?
E shock you?
Then follow my analysis
To make local chicken grow faster, you have to limit their
movement and supplement their feed with high-quality feeds like
starter, grower, and finisher. and you have to increase the
protein and carbohydrate content of the feed with animal and
plants by-products.
Although it is not advisable to force a chicken to grow faster
if it is not in its genetic makeup to do so, it is better to
allow them to express its natural behavior. Besides, other
complications like egg binding or prolapse may result when you
try to make them grow faster.
Finally, with cheap and simple practices you can raise healthy
local chickens, feed your family and increase income.
Get our Practical Guide on rearing local breeds of domestic
fowls in Nigeria. Join us as we explore the potential of Local
Fowl breeding together, illuminating the next steps for your
thriving farming venture.
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