Chicken Breeding: A Basic Guide

Chicken Breeding is a process of rearing chicken for later purposes like selling. Breeding chickens is a great way to create a sustainable flock, and should be learned by every chicken farmer and enthusiast. 

Poultry breeding can be divided into three main areas which include: 

• Commercial breeding 

• For egg production, or 
• Meat production 

• Village/Backyard breeding 

• Poultry bred for both eggs and meat on a small scale 

• Fancy/Exhibition breeding 

• Non commercial production of small poultry breeds by enthusiasts. 

Commercial breeding 

Chicken is by far the most popular poultry species utilised by people for both meat and egg production. Breeding for the commercial poultry sector is on a large industrial scale and hatcheries supply both the broiler and layer industries.  

Village/Backyard breeding 

Many farmers and some suburban householders still like to keep their own poultry for egg and meat production. Most of them buy commercial crossbred hens at the point of lay and keep them in semi-intensive conditions in the yard. Some use small colony cages or even use a few layer cages in a protected spot. Others buy day-old chicks and rear their own birds. 

Fancy/Exhibition breeding 

There are many breeds of poultry which play very little part in the commercial poultry industry. These are called fancy poultry and are usually kept by small producers (or fanciers) who enjoy breeding, showing and exchanging birds with other fanciers. 

However, let us break down breeding in a more categorical understanding to get the basics a poultry farmer can use to hone the skill and profit from it.  

1. Poultry for breeding purposes 

You can still do poultry for breeding purposes only. This is a process where a farmer rears the chicken so that when they mature, they are resold. The breeding process involves different stages and these include: 

• Choosing the breeding chicken and mating process 

Choosing the breeding is a bit easy as one focuses on the hens that can be able to lay the eggs and single out one cock that will do the mating. One cock can do mating for like 10 hens. 

• The fertilization of eggs 

Fertilized eggs cannot be hatched if they are not incubated and to be on the safe side, you need to collect the eggs daily if you want to have the best eggs for hatching. You need to choose the eggs that do not have cracks on them and are of regular shapes and they should be collected with clean hands. 

Once the eggs are fertilized, they can be stored in a place that is 13 degrees Celsius so that they do not get spoilt. 

• The hatching 

This involves hatching of ne chicken in a hatchery. Once the new generation of chicks is hatched, the chicks are then tagged with ID numbers to ensure that you get to know the number of chicks that are available. 

The tags are placed on the wings and it should be noted that once that hatching is done, the chicks should be put in a room that has an equivalent temperature as the surrounding environment. 

• Examining the chicken 

When the chicks are between six to seven weeks, you need to check and see whether they are still in good shape and to make sure that they are not infected by diseases. Make sure you vaccinate them regularly and if found that some of them are sick it is better to isolate them until they are better. 

• Rearing of the chicken 

Once the chicks are hatched, it is better to separate the hens from the chicks at least until they are 6 weeks old. The chicks can be provided with crumbs and enough water in their feeders till they are set free to roam to look for their own food or tll they are ready to start feeding on other solid foods. 

1. Select the type of breed 

There are very many birds that can be bred for commercial purposes and the only way you can gain from poultry is by choosing the right breed for the sector that you have chosen. 

Factors to consider when choosing the right breed 

There are several factors that one can consider when choosing the chicken that is to be used for       laying eggs and these include the following: 

• Purchase healthy chicken and look at the catalogs before purchasing the chicken. This will help you get healthy chicken that will give you high quality eggs. 
• The chicken breed that is chosen for laying should have a high quality and good capability of laying eggs. 
• Ask for recommendations from poultry farmers that have been in the business for the best breeds to rear for commercial purposes. 

Diseases that attack poultry 

There are several diseases that attack poultry and these include the following: 

Advantages of Chicken Breeding                     

• It provides high yields for the farmer from the eggs and meat thus improving on the standards of living for the people. 
• Poultry droppings can be used as manure for the gardens hence saving on the charge of purchasing manure. 

• Poultry farming provides food to the farmers improving on the diet of the people. 
• Poultry farming is a continuous source of income for the farmer. 
• It acts as an employment venture for the jobless by providing them with jobs in form of labor. 
• When re-sold the farmer can profit financially. 

Disadvantages of Chicken Breeding 

• It is expensive to set up from constructing the chicken house t vaccination to ensure that they are not infected. 
• Chickens need a lot of time to care for in order to look for which is time consuming and leaves n time to do other things. 
• Poultry is easily attacked diseases and this leads to a loss for the farmer. 
• There is stiff competition on the market for poultry products and this reduces the prices of the chicken causing farmers to make loses.