Broiler chicken is the most popular bred in poultry farming in India. They are reared for commercial market of meat chicken. Broilers have a yellowish skin and white feathers.
There are two broiler chicken breeds: the commercial broiler breed which is reared for chicken meat alone and examples include avian. Dual purpose broiler breeds are reared for both eggs and meat an example is Rhode Island Red. They obtain slaughter weight between 4-6 weeks of age. There are two batches, the single batch which has only one batch of broilers reared at a given time. And multiple batch which has more than one batch of chicks belonging to different stages of hatching.
Housing preparation
The house should be elevated and clean drinking water available. Fresh air must pass through brooder shade, grower shade and layer shade in that order to prevent spread of diseases.
Fumigate the house before chicks are brought in and incubators or brooders should be adjusted to desired temperature a day before chicks arrive. Pests should be controlled by regularly checking for development of diseases. Having minimum visitors and fencing helps curb diseases.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages include; high rearing density, litter expense is negligible, it‘s easier to disinfect and clean the area, growth and feed efficiency of the birds is better and reduced cannibalism.
The cons of broiler farming are; fecal tray cleaning is a laborious process, initial cage investment is high, there is also a higher chance of broilers developing breast blisters and crooked heel.
Lighting, feeding and vaccination
Provide lighting 24 hours during brooding time, 23 hours of light and 1 hour of darkness everyday till they are ready. Feeds should healthy in terms of nutrition and contain adequate nutrients. Vaccination is usually done from the first day of hatching.
Day 1 mareks vaccine is administered, on the 5th -7th day RDV F1, on the 14th day IBD vaccine ,on 21st day RDV La Sota vaccine and finally IBD booster dose given on the 28th day.
