Record Keeping in poultry rearing business
- Placement Date
- Number placed
- Deaths
- Feeds and feeding
- Vaccination
- Treatments
- weights
- Point of lay
- Egg production
- Visitors
- Sales
Basic financial calculations to guide poultry rearing enterprises
Use Sidai Costing Template – Broilers and Layers.xls to do cost calculations of your poultry rearing business
Common causes of losses in poultry enterprises
- Poor quality inputs – poor quality feeds, chicks, supplements, vaccines, labour, technical advice lead to higher cost of production
- Poor brooding conditions leads to poor growth rates, diseases and deaths
- Poor housing – overcrowding, poor ventilation, leakage, presence of vermins, proximity to other birds, exposure to rainfall, direct sunlight, drafts affect birds’ growth and health
- Theft – by servants of neighbors
- Diseases – due to lack of disease control or poor husbandry practices
- Poor vaccine handling and vaccination – leading to vaccination failure
- Multi-age rearing of birds – leads to disease build up
- Poor clean out between flocks – leads to disease build up
- Rough handling of birds – leads to injuries and deaths
- Vices – cannibalism, egg eating, feather pulling/picking leading to injuries and death
- Lack of records – thus not tracking routine practices and failing to capture all the costs
- High cost structure – fewer birds, poor quality feeds, expensive labour, fewer crops per year