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My Poultry Farm (2) - Henlus - 01-01-2018
6th May 2015
Number and Type of Birds: 607 brown day old chicks from Crown Hatchery, Issele-Ukwu, Delta State.
Mortality so Far: Total of 22 chicks died. 5 died due to DOC screening test at the lab. 1 was found dead on arrival. 6 died from avoidable causes. Others died due to respiratory problem – they find it difficult to breath.
Cost/Chick: N180.
DOC Screening: It was done on day 2 and the cost was N7000. The test covers serological test and antibiotic sensitivity test (AST). Through serological test you’ll get a vaccination plan suitable for your birds. The later (AST) was for Staphylococcus and Candida spp. It helps you to know the best antibiotics that will work against those bacteria. In my case, Gentamicin and penicillin & streptomycin were effective while Oxytetracycline, Furaltadone, Collistin etc were not effective. If you want to see the lab test result, view it here: AnimalCare Lab Test.
Lab Location: ANIMAL CARE® TECHNICAL SERVICES DIVISION (POULTRY DISEASES DIAGNOSIS AND AQUACULTURE LAB), Asaba, Delta State.
Was DOC Screening Useful? Yes! They found out that the chicks have low resistance against Newcastle and I have to vaccinate them fast! They recommended giving gumboro on day 5, followed by Immucox on day 6 and lasota on day 7. But due to some reasons, I have to give the vaccines on days 6,7 and 8 respectively. Most of the chicks that died did so before and some days after these vaccinations, meaning that if I had followed the ‘normal vaccination plan’, there would have been more death.
See: How to Administer Coccidiosis Vaccine.
Brooding: We used kerosene stoves and lamps, but next time I plan investing in gas brooders that cost about N13k. With gas brooders, brooding will be easier and even cheaper, free of clumsiness. For bedding, I used rice hull and covered it with nylon for the first few days (I did this to prevent the chicks from eating the bedding). When I uncovered it, I noticed some molds on the rice hull. I have to remove the affected spots because mold can be dangerous to chicks. I even suspect it could have contributed to the respiratory problem the birds suffered from. Next time I won’t be covering the bedding.
Feeding: We use top feed and feed them ad libitum (i.e. feed is always available).
Vitamins: When I checked how much spent on vitamins for our last batch, I have to buy 1 carton this time. I bought 1 carton of Vitalyte for N14,720. A carton contains 32 satchets.
Merek’s Vaccination: You can see the vaccination plan in the AnimalCare Lab Test. Marek’s vaccination was given on day 25. The vaccine cost N3500 and workmanship N3000.
It’s been a long time. Here is a summary update:
Mortality so far: 7.1% out of 607 birds. Most were due to diseases, but some were avoidable accidents.
Birds Left: 564
Eggs per day: 16 crates and 15 eggs recently. This is 87.8% laying, though they once reached 89%. Egg production wasn’t constant due to unreliable lighting (not much) and disease signal. Whenever we notice the slightest sign of disease, we give complete dose of a broad spectrum antibiotics (tylodox, conflox, terramyccin etc).
Lasota vaccination: Every 4-6 weeks.
Feed cost from 1-20th week: N113,400 for starter (42 bags) and N218,050 for growers (119 bags).
Drug cost from 1-20th week: N22,500
Vaccination and Debeaking cost from 1-20th week: N66,774.
Vitamin cost from 1-20th week: N13,410.
End of Lay: Towards ending of September 2016. 516 hens made to the end. Each was sold for N1368.6 (i.e. N706,200).
Complete update coming soon.