Many families are interested in producing their own broilers for home consumption. It may cost more to raise broilers than to buy them at the supermarket, but the recreation and satisfaction derived offset the slightly higher cost. In addition, manure and litter from the broiler enterprise can be used to fertilize the family garden and flower beds.
Many families are interested in maintaining a small laying flock to produce their own eggs for home consumption. It may cost more to produce eggs at home than to buy them at the supermarket, but the recreation and satisfaction derived offset the slightly higher cost. In addition, manure from the enterprise can be used to fertilize the family garden and flower beds.
In 2004, broiler production was the second largest agricultural revenue generator in Oklahoma, trailing only income from cattle and calves. Broiler receipts have grown dramatically in the past decade to $624 million in 2004 compared to $240 million in 1993.
A small, "backyard" flock of chickens can provide your family with a source of high-quality food, possibly some added income and can serve as an excellent learning experience for children. Remember, a flock of chickens can restrict family activities because it must be fed, watered and cared for daily.
Broilers are meat-type chickens that are usually five to eight weeks old when ready for processing. Broiler projects are popular with 4-H and FFA youth because they require less time, space, and money than many other projects.
It is quite common for some hens in small flocks to suddenly begin consuming eggs. This is a habit, that once formed, is very difficult to eliminate. In fact, sometimes the only way to prevent the problem is to eliminate the offending
hen.
Producing a profitable broiler requires that certain standards be met, some even before the chicks are placed on the farm and during the grow-out. The most important principle is to set the best quality fertile eggs in the machines and ensure that all eggs have been handled properly. It is preferred not to hold the eggs more than three days and the egg room must have the right temperature and humidity during storage to avoid killing or weakening the blastoderm. The longer the eggs are kept in storage the poorer the chick vigor, quality and hatch.
In a commercial broiler integration, the objective is to provide the best quality hatching eggs that produce the greatest number of quality chicks per hen housed. A properly managed hen can produce more than 180 eggs, which potentially can result in approximately 600 pounds of broiler meat. However, there exists great variation in the amount of meat produced per hen among integrations. Much of this difference can be traced back to how the eggs were managed during collection, storage, and incubation. The production goals of an integration can be achieved when basic concepts of optimum fertile egg selection and grading, plus common sense management, are considered.
More than 30 billion broiler chicks are produced worldwide on an annual basis. Fifteen billion of these are produced in the Americas. Due to the poultry industry's tendency towards more intensive production practices and increased automation, the tender loving care once afforded to chickens in grow-out has been replaced with a mass production mentality. As a result, newly hatched chicks are often subjected to numerous stressors in the first 24 hours after hatching. These adverse effects during the critical early hours following hatch can result in an increased percentage of early mortality. These early stressors also influence final performance, resulting in declines in final body weights, increases in feed conversions and cost per pound of meat produced. Farm personal must understand that they have become the "adoptive parents" of these chicks. Without attention to details, successful and profitable grow-out is not realized.
The Araucana is a unique breed that has been a topic of controversy ever since it was first imported into the United States sometime during the late 1920s or early 1930s. Not much is known about the origin of the Araucana except that some of them were transported to the United States from South America.
Walking through the supermarket, it is often possible to find capons for sale. While it is obvious from the shape of the packaging that it is a bird, there is often no indication in the labeling of what exactly a capon is. On a recent tour of a local grocery store by 4-H members very few of the participants knew the definition for a capon.
Egg eating in a laying flock can cost a producer considerable money. Like many bad habits, it is much easier to prevent egg eating than to cure the habit once it has developed. It is usually initiated by accidental egg breakage, but birds will then learn to break eggs themselves.
Broilers are meat-type chickens. Sometimes they are called fryers or frying chicken. Commercial broilers are crossbreds, primarily involving White Cornish and White Plymouth Rock. Today's commercial broilers are marketed at 4-10 weeks of age, depending on the body weight desired. Broilers are used for products such as Cornish Hens (2.85 lb live weight at about 4 weeks of age), chicken for fast food restaurants (4.1 lb at about 6 weeks of age), chicken for grocery stores (6.0 lb at about 7.5 weeks of age), and deboned chicken for sandwiches, nuggets, etc. (6.5 lb at about 8.5 weeks of age).
The "home flock" usually consists of 20 to 40 chickens kept to supply eggs and an occasional fat hen. An average family of five persons will require about 30 hens. To produce 30 pullets, start with 100 straight-run chicks or 50 sexed pullet chicks. You sh
