The Sunday News
IN egg production, the aim is to produce as many table eggs as possible over the laying life of the hen and this is determined by the management practices used. One critical component in an egg production unit is labour.
The team leader or manager should have either experience or basic training in poultry production or both. There should be enough personnel to be able to work with the flock in the unit without overstretching the personnel as this tends to cause your workers to cut corners and neglect certain duties which they deem not so important when in fact they are very important and necessary. A poultry unit with between 1 000 to 2 000 hens should have about three attendants with casual labourers coming in for cleaning and packaging.
The production systems are also important in layer production. There general two common types of production systems namely the laying cage and the deep litter system. The guiding principle for both systems is that hens should have enough space and the environment should be hygienic and disease free. In deep litter system for example the space should be such that it provides for 8-10 birds per square metre and the litter material should be comfortable and non-toxic to your birds.
Disease prevalence varies from one area to the other. The problems that may trigger disease conditions are direct sunlight on egg trays or nests, poor ventilated houses and very high temperatures in and outside the poultry house which may weaken egg shells resulting in poor egg quality. The most common disease to layers is Newcastle Disease. Layers bought 18 weeks of age should have been vaccinated against most diseases. Therefore, it is advisable for farmers to request for a vaccination history from the suppliers when purchasing point of lay stock. Farmers should follow the vaccination guidelines to the letter without cutting corners as this may prove costly in the end.
Mortality is one serious factor which management should strive to minimise so that you do not lose your pullets or hens unnecessarily. Under good management, mortality will range between 5 to 10 percent.
Production records are another important management component that should be taken seriously. We have extensively discussed importance of records previously though with a bias towards beef production. Record keeping helps the farmer to budget accurately and make informed decisions about the project. The following records should be adequately kept:
- all feeds consumed and purchased
- number of hens purchased
- deaths and causes
- vaccination and other veterinary requisites expenses
- labour and other variable costs
- number of eggs collected daily
- number of eggs sold and used for home consumption
- number of eggs damaged
- water and feed intake daily
It should be noted that water and feed consumption records are excellent indicators of flock health.
Market intelligence gathering is also one important deliberate management practice. You want to know who your potential buyers are, what their quality expectations are as well as competitors and their competitive edge over you?
One important practice in egg production is grading and packaging. Small holder producers tend to trivialise this part and you see someone bringing to the market dirty eggs soiled with poultry excreta and all kinds of sizes lumped together. In as much as you would want to buy clean and uniform eggs yourself so does everyone.
Farmers should always ensure that their eggs are of quality before they start selling them. The rate at which quality deteriorates depends on various factors like direct sunlight on egg trays or nests, improper feeds, poor ventilated houses, very high temperatures and poor management.
Lastly I want to discuss the importance of feed and water intake in egg production. The aim of an egg producer is to convert a given amount of feed into as many eggs as possible. Your hens should be given enough feed to produce and this is about 116-118g/bird/day. This should ensure that your hen will give you between 270 and 280 eggs over a period of 12 months. Hens drink clean water about thrice the amount of feed they eat per day and as such, farmers should ensure that there is a reliable source of clean water.
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