Reducing the Cost of Feeding Your Chickens (poultry birds).

How to Reduce the Cost of Feeding Your Chickens by Utilizing the Available Resources at Your Disposal

 

Feed accounts for over 60% of the cost of poultry production world over, high cost of grains used in feed formulation such as maize, barley, wheat, etc.

 

And also the high cost of protein sources, particularly soya beans, groundnut, etc. has resulted in an increase in the prices of poultry feeds, and also the prices of chicken in the market.

 

In fact, this had made some poultry farmers quit poultry farming altogether, and left some contemplating either quitting or continuing poultry farming.

 

In their quest to reduce the cost of feeding their chickens (poultry birds). A lot of farmers have resulted in the formulation of their own poultry feed, thereby compromising the standard of the feeds.

 

When you compromise chicken feed as a poultry farmer, definitely you will not get the desired result at the end of the day.

 

 

As a matter of fact, the following anomaly might occur from your bad choice of feeding your chicken:

 

1. Poor weight gain
2. Poor feed conversion rate
3. The constant presence of disease due to poor quality feeding
4. Stunted or poor growth rate.

 

The list goes on and on, this article will help you understand how you can reduce the cost of feeding your chickens (poultry birds) by using available resources at your disposal to maximize profit.

 

This will help you maintain the quality of feed given to your birds at each stage of their lives, and at the same time help you achieve the desired result in the long run.

 

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Sales and Production of Chicken Manure Is a Way of Sourcing Funds to Reduce the Cost of Feeding Your Chickens (poultry birds).

 Apart from the fact that you can use it in your other farming activities where you grow crops and vegetables.

You can form compost manure with your chicken dung and sell it to farmers within your neighborhood that are into root crop farming such as yams, cassava, or other cereal crops such as maize, which is one of the chief components in poultry feed composition.

 

When it comes to organic farming chicken compost manure is a highly sort after commodity.

 

It is highly suitable for yam and maize production, especially where the land has been cultivated for several years and is very poor in soil nutrients.

 

Seizing this opportunity to reduce the cost of feeding your chickens (poultry birds). By simply using the compost manure from your farm to produce yam for personal consumption and maize to produce your chicken feed.

 

Chicken compost manure is normally in high demand, particularly in most West African. In countries such as Nigeria, farmers look forward to buying them for the sole purpose of cultivating yam at the onset of the rainy season with a substantial amount of money.

 

They believe and understand the fact that compost manure helps their crops grow well and improve the fertility of the soil thereby increasing crop yield and production.

 

 

READ ALSO: How to Achieve Optimal Poultry Production with Good Deep Litter Management practice

 

Importance of Compost Manure

The sales of chicken compost manure had helped me from personal and practical experience, in my own case I practice a deep litter system which has helped me significantly.

 

From time to time I always top the litter with wood shavings to form compost, this helps good microbes work on the litter.

 

These will make it thick and safer for the birds to dust bathe preen and scratch themselves.

 

If the compost manure reaches a certain height and quantity, I can now gather and packaged it into bags of different sizes for sale to farmers, at different prices according to the size of each bag.

 

This is a routine practice on our farm, and the money gained from the sale of the compost manure would be used in buying feeds, drugs, and vaccination.

 

Thus it has helped to reduce the cost of feeding chickens and caring for them. The chicken manure also helps in augmenting other running costs on the farm.

 

It is very important you start handling your chicken compost manure as part of the farm product.

 

This will help greatly in generating more revenue for your farm, thus reducing the cost of feeding your chickens (poultry birds) and easing the general cost of production on your farm.

 

READ: Five (5) Solid Ways You Can Create Wealth through Poultry Farming

 

 

 

Sales of Brooded Chicken

This could be a wonderful opportunity and avenue to use in reducing the cost of feeding your chickens (poultry birds).

 

A lot of farmer’s especially small scale, medium scale and new farmers that are joining the poultry industry, with less or no experience don’t want to pass through the hassle and trouble of brooding day old chicks.

 

At least for now, in such a situation, they will want to buy chicks that are already brooded, let’s say 3 to 8 weeks old to continue rearing from there.

 

Considering this wonderful business opportunity as an experienced poultry farmer, you can tap into it.

 

By brooding day old chicks or turkey to be sold at 3 to 6 weeks old to other poultry farmers that are willing to buy at a reasonable price.

 

And the money realizes will be plunged back into feeding the remaining birds on your farm.

 

Thus you have helped yourself, to reduce the cost of feeding your chickens (poultry birds).

 

Recommended for you:

Brooding Day Old Chicks and General Management.

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How Do You Sale Your Brooded Chicks for Profit

 

Now how do you do this? If your target is to raise 500 birds to maturity or table size.

 

You should purchase 1000 or 1300 baby chicks and brood them between 2, 6, or 8 weeks of age depending on whether they are broilers, layers, or turkey birds.

 

At this stage, they don’t feed as much as adult chickens will feed. Therefore the cost of feeding them becomes lesser than when they are adults.

 

After six weeks you can sell 500 to 800 brooded chicks out of the 1000 or 1300 you bought to other farmers. And the money gained can be used in feeding the remaining 500 or 600 chickens to maturity.

 

Thereby helping you significantly to reduce the cost of feeding your chickens (poultry birds) with standard feeds. At the same time making profits along the production line.

 

 

 

Keeping Other Animals as a Backup Plan Will Help You to Reduce the Cost of Feeding Your Chickens (poultry birds).

With this important piece of advice or idiom that says

 

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”

 

The importance of keeping other farm animals to complement the feeding of each other cannot be overemphasized.

 

Keeping animals such as rabbits, goats, sheep, etc. that their feeding cost is not as expensive as that of chicken (broiler and layers) is very important. This will help you in reducing the cost of feeding your chickens (poultry birds).  

 

From personal experience, I keep quiet a number of rabbits and goats you can feed them from the hay and silage from your farm.

 

And in the case of rabbits, they eat mostly green leaves and hays that are readily available either in your neighborhood, garden, or a by-product of your farm harvest.  

 

Each time you are broke or ran out of cash, you can easily walk into the nearby surroundings, and get them some green lives. Which of course, you should often supplement with rabbit pellets.

 

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Rabbit farming: Profitability and Best Practices that will Yield High Result

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Utilizing the Funds Realize from the Sale of Other Livestock’s in Your Farm

The same goes with goats you can allow them to free-range or browse and fend for themselves, while monitoring their well-being from time to time, so as to keep them healthy.

 

There could be an outbreak of the disease in your poultry farm or you could be broke at one time or another selling other farm animals such as rabbits, goats, and cows will help you bounce back.

 

And also help to reduce the cost of feeding your chickens (poultry birds) with adequate feed.

 

Poultry birds such as broiler and layers require standard feeding for optimal results.

 

By compromising their feeding it means you are bargaining for stunted growth, poor weight gain, inadequate laying capacity for Laying hens, etc.

 

This is why it is very important you keep other farm animals to complement the feeding of each other, in the case of any eventuality while adhering to standard biosecurity measures.

 

Recommended for you:

9 Reasons Why You Have Poor and Stunted Growth in Broiler Chickens

How to Ensure Good Hygiene and Bio-Security in Your Poultry Farm

Layer Farming: How to Do It the Right Way

 

Practicing Free Range Farming

Free-range farming as the name implies is a system of animal husbandry where you allow your chickens (poultry birds) to roam about freely within a large expanse of land or fenced area.

 

To fend for themselves by picking bugs, seeds, insect grasshoppers, worms and also eating green leaves, etc. to complement their feeding.

 

This method of farming helps in reducing the cost of feeding your chickens  

(Poultry birds) significantly.

 

This is a very tricky method of rearing birds because a lot of factors have to be put into consideration before considering or starting this method of farming.

 

 

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These factors include:

• Less likely where there are great security concerns.

 

• Perimeter fencing should be adequately provided to ward away other predators, that may likely prey on your birds.

 

• Your chickens (poultry birds) should be vaccinated upon. Most wild birds that will come into contact with your birds are great carriers of deadly viral poultry diseases. They are also exposed outside to other wild birds that may be carriers of some of the dangerous and infectious poultry diseases.

 

• Drinking water should be made available to your birds at all times.

 

• Be ready to supplement their feeding at least morning and evening.

 

Free-range is an important system of chicken farming that affords you the opportunity to save and reduce the cost of production.

 

It helps birds to express their natural behavior such as sunbath, dust bath, preening, scratching, pecking at woods sand, etc.

 

This provides a natural state and environment for your chickens (poultry birds) which improves their general well-being.

 

Recommended for you:

How to Prevent and Control Livestock Diseases and Pests.

Understanding the Cause of Poultry Diseases and What to Do If Your Chickens Are Sick

How to Take Care of Worms’ Infestation in Poultry Chickens

 

Other Factors

There are other factors that could help tremendously to reduce the cost of feeding your chickens (poultry birds) or the production cost such as:

 

• Culling old or sick birds that are no longer productive, but instead consume a lot of feed:

 

• Growing your own cereal crops such as maize, barley, and wheat, etc. that are the chief ingredients in chicken feed formulation and production. This will reduce the effects of the activities of middlemen that are unnecessarily increasing the prices of this commodity at the market.

 

• Another aspect is producing and mixing your own feed which can also help in reducing the cost of production and ensure quality.

 

• Having the right knowledge of the quantity and quality of feed required by a particular species of bird. At different stages of their life will help in reducing the cost of feeding your chickens (poultry birds). By avoiding excessive feeding and wastages.

 

Buy Feed Ingredients at the Right Time

• Buying the ingredients in bulk and at a cheaper price: it is a known fact that maize and soybeans are cheaper during harvest. Buying the major ingredients in feed formulation particularly when they are cheap in bulk will save you a lot of trouble and money as well. for instance in West African countries particularly Nigeria red maize and soya beans that are one of the major feed ingredients in feed formulation for chicken are readily available and are harvested between the period of September to December every year, for a wise farmer it is very important you save for this periods so that you buy this crops in large quantity and store for use in the future. Because as the year progresses their prices begin to rise and these crops become very expensive for the ordinary farmer. But when you have it already stored in large quantity, and purchased with less amount of money it will help you save money and time in the future.

 

READ ALSO: Utilizing the Right Season to Start Cow Fattening to Ensure Steady Cash Flow

 

• Going into the hinterland or villages: Having a good vehicle such as a pickup truck will help you tremendously to go into villages to buy some of these grains needed to formulate your chicken feed. Because in most cases they are cheaper in the villages than in big cities. So going to the rural areas, and buying in bulk too will help you reduce the cost of production.

 

Conclusion

The major goal of any farmer is to maximize his profit by reducing the cost of production to the barest minimum, by utilizing available resources at his disposal to his benefit.

 

Diversifying your source of income will help your farm stand the test of time.

 

You should always consult with and make friends with bigger and experience farmers so that they can share their experiences with you.

 

Good luck.