How to Raise Broiler Chickens to Increase Profitability
Based on experience in broiler chicken farming in recent years, through careful budgeting and scientific management, substantial farming profits can definitely be generated. The main measures taken are:
First, six secrets to profitable broiler chicken farming. The risks of raising broiler chickens are very high, but at the same time opportunities exist. How to reduce risks and seize opportunities can be carefully analyzed in six items:
Secret one: Strive for a good selling price; determine the time to receive chicks and predict the time to send them for slaughter. In a market economy, prices are unstable. Before sending for slaughter, gather information widely, grasp the exact price, and determine the best time to send for slaughter based on the flock's condition and market price. For example, a difference of two days can often mean a difference of 0.20 yuan per kilogram of live chicken. For a chicken with an average weight of 2.5 kilograms, that is a difference of 0.50 yuan per bird. Raising 5,000 chickens means a difference of 2,500 yuan.
Secret two: Try not to receive high-priced chicks; after determining the general time to receive chickens, on the basis of ensuring chick quality, try not to receive high-priced chicks. For example, with a difference of two days, some farmers receive chicks at 1.75 yuan/bird, while others at 1.10 yuan/bird, a difference of 0.65 yuan per chick. Raising 5,000 chicks means saving 3,250 yuan.
Secret three: Try not to consume high-priced feed; for chicken farmers, regardless of what brand of feed is used, as long as the feed-to-meat ratio is low and the flock is healthy, it is good feed. Some feed can differ by 3 yuan per bag. Based on raising 5,000 chickens, with an average slaughter weight of 2.5 kilograms, about 5 kilograms of feed is needed, and with a 96% chicken survival rate, feed costs can be saved by 3×(5000×0.96×5÷40), that is, 1,800 yuan.
Secret four: Try to reduce the medicine cost per chicken; do not administer medicine blindly, do not blindly increase dosage, do not blindly use mixed medicines; during the period when the flock is prone to disease, choose the best medicine, determine the best dosage, determine the best method, and administer medicine promptly to prevent and control disease. For example, some farmers spend 1.50 yuan per chicken on medicine for a batch, while others spend 0.80 yuan, a difference of 0.70 yuan per chicken, and a difference of 3,500 yuan for 5,000 chickens.
Secret five: Improve the flock survival rate; from the day the chicks arrive, scientific management allows no negligence or slackness, and the entire process must be carried out step by step. For example, some farmers have a chicken survival rate of 98%, while others have 88%, a difference of 500 birds. At a net profit of 1.40 yuan per chicken, a chick price of 1.50 yuan/bird, and an average raising cost based on a dead chicken's average weight of 0.7 kilograms requiring about 1.4 kilograms of feed, feed price of 2.00 yuan/kilogram, and medicine cost of 0.2 yuan/bird, the difference between the two just in survival rate is 500×1.4+500×1.5+500×(1.4×2+0.2), that is, 2,950 yuan.
Secret six: Increase the average slaughter weight; throughout the entire raising process, there are many diseases that harm broiler chickens. In actual production, the diseases that frequently occur and easily cause major losses mainly include six stubborn diseases, so preventing and controlling the six major diseases well is the guarantee of successful farming: First, prevent and control infectious bronchitis well. It is most likely to occur in spring and autumn each year. After 24 days of age, the danger period is basically passed, because after 24 days of age the bronchi gradually thicken, their function is basically sound, and immunity gradually improves. Second, prevent and control infectious bursal disease well. It is likely to occur in all four seasons. After 28 days of age, the danger period is basically passed, because after whole-flock immunization, the body's immunity gradually strengthens and resistance to external viruses has been produced. Third, prevent and control Newcastle disease well. It occurs to varying degrees in all four seasons. After 42 days of age, the chickens basically pass the danger period, because although there is external transmission at irregular times (personnel, transport, air, etc.), after 42 days of age the chicken body's muscles, bones, and immune system enter a stage of rapid development. Fourth, prevent and control enteritis well. It is likely to occur at all stages throughout the four seasons. Fifth, prevent and control colibacillosis well. There are more than 20 different serotypes, and it is likely to occur at all growth stages. After 26 days of age, the danger period is basically passed. Sixth, prevent and control coccidiosis well: it occurs in all four seasons, with cecal coccidiosis and intestinal coccidiosis being the most serious. After 40 days of age, the danger period is basically passed.
Controlling the six major diseases plus high-quality feed is the key to increasing the slaughter weight of chickens. Controlling the six major diseases requires promptly implementing a most complete, most comprehensive, and most practical disease prevention and control plan according to the season, the epidemic characteristics of chicken diseases, and the ages at which the flock is prone to disease; to control the six major diseases well, the most important thing is to control enteritis well; if enteritis is well controlled, chickens are willing to eat feed and able to eat feed, and if they can eat more they gain weight faster, the chicken body's disease resistance and immunity improve, and pre-slaughter weight is ensured. For example, raising one batch of chickens over the same raising period, some have a slaughter weight of 2.5 kilograms and a feed-to-meat ratio of 1.98:1, while others have a slaughter weight of 2.8 kilograms and a feed-to-meat ratio of 1.94:1. At a feed price of 2.00 yuan per kilogram, the difference in feed-to-meat ratio for 5,000 chickens is 2 yuan×(1.98-1.94)×2.5×5000, which means saving 1,000 yuan in feed.
From the above analysis it can be concluded: if all the above items are added up, 5,000 chickens differ by 15,000 yuan. What a shocking number! Why do some farmers make money raising chickens while others lose money? Why do some make more and others make less? Through careful analysis and verification, where is the gain? Where is the loss? It can be made perfectly clear.
It can be seen that the whole process of making money from raising a good batch of chickens is a whole process of interlocking links, closely connected steps, and rigorous, timely scientific management. If the above six items are theoretical results, scientific management is concrete practice, and correct theory and practice are the fundamental guarantee for making money in chicken farming.
Second, pay attention to scientific management throughout the whole cycle to maximize output benefits.
First, before receiving chicks, carry out spray disinfection of the chicken house, with a maximum caustic soda dosage of 2%, and spray evenly as appropriate. If the dosage is too large, after raising several batches of chickens a large amount will accumulate on the chicken house floor, and caustic soda will rise and fall with the ground moisture. If chicks eat contaminated sand particles, it will corrode the gastrointestinal mucosa and affect growth speed.
Second, prepare the sand well before receiving chicks, and use a 1200-fold dilution of double-chain quaternary ammonium salt spray to carry out a final disinfection of the personnel receiving chicks and the sand exposed to the outside.
Third, after wind and rain, spray 800-fold double-chain quaternary ammonium salt for disinfection on the roads around the front, back, left, and right of the chicken house where people frequently walk.
Fourth, on the first day of receiving chicks, the chicken house temperature is 34°C, then decreases by 1°C every 3 days, and finally stabilizes between 18-22°C. This is the most suitable growth temperature; if the temperature is too high, chickens are prone to dehydration and consume a lot of energy, and if the temperature is too low, appetite decreases and growth slows.
Fifth, remove the bedding grass on the sixth day. At a relative humidity of about 70% and a temperature of about 30°C, plant bedding is most likely to produce mold, so prevent mold poisoning in chicks caused by bedding.
Sixth, sawdust cannot be used as brooding bedding, to prevent chicks from confusing food with sawdust and eating it by mistake; after drinking water, sawdust expands, blocks the passage of feed, and causes complete loss of appetite.
Seventh, after removing the bedding, spread sand once every 3 days to cover contaminated sand particles so that chickens can eat fresh sand particles, reduce ammonia odor, and lower the probability of disease occurrence.
Eighth, keep the coop floor moderately dry to avoid various intestinal diseases caused by a damp coop floor.
Ninth, maintain moderate ventilation to avoid pericardial effusion and various respiratory diseases caused by oxygen deficiency.
Tenth, expand the flock and reduce density in a timely manner to avoid overcrowding and coccidiosis.
Eleventh, switch to phase-two feed on day 23 to avoid the simultaneous occurrence of the four major stress factors: immunization, grouping, bedding replacement, and sudden temperature changes.
Twelfth, switch to phase-three feed on day 36 to avoid phase-two feed's slow growth and poor quality affecting cost input and slaughter weight.
Thirteenth, when administering medicine to treat disease, look at the main disease, the diseases prone to occur, and mixed infections, to avoid attending to one thing and losing another. Fourteenth, 45-48 days is the most suitable time for slaughter. Too early, the flock is in a rapid growth period, which is also the time to create profit; handling at this time means the farmer earns less of the money they should have earned. Too late, the feed-to-meat ratio increases, costs rise accordingly, and if the market live chicken price falls, the risk of making money also increases.
Only by flexibly mastering and skillfully applying the six secrets and fourteen rules of chicken farming can one stay clear-headed during the chicken farming process, know what is important and urgent, take the initiative step by step in the unpredictable market, and strive to remain invincible.