Achieving High Poultry Layer Efficiency as well as Profitability in the Philippines
In today’s highly competitive global markets, only the most-efficient Filipino poultry farms will survive the onslaught of more serious and professionally run poultry farmers. If you are planning to make money supplying eggs to the market in Philippines and beyond, you have to incorporate best-practice production techniques that will help you obtain the genetic potential from your layers and run your poultry farm profitably.
In the best run farms, a layer could produce upwards of 300 eggs during its laying period. If you have a farm with thousands of layers, you can basically be an egg factory capable of meeting the needs of a good chunk of the market in the Philippines.
Generally, as long as the requirements of the hen have been met, you can obtain what you want from it. It is also important to keep in mind that poultry farming in Philippines is a fairly capital intensive business. You will need to purchase land, erect the poultry structures, buy the poultry equipment, buy the poultry feeds etc. There are various critical requirements that you need to manage effectively in order to ensure that your Filipino poultry egg farming operation is not only highly efficient but also very profitable.
Here are some of the key factors that you need to look for:-
Housing the poultry
Good housing must be structurally sound and also affordable. You must build a house that has good insulation otherwise your poultry will suffer from the adverse effects of both high temperatures and cold temperatures in a poultry structure that is poorly insulated. The effect can be as follows:-
- When the temperatures are high, there is a marked drop in the feed intakes and, thus, there will be a drop in the production levels. When they are not feeding well, the birds will be under stress and this will lead to a lowering of their immune defenses which makes them susceptible to diseases. High temperatures also lead to high water intake in your chickens which leads to wet manure- a waste management nightmare!
- With very low temperatures, the opposite happens but this still has an adverse impact on the production levels. In this case, the feed intakes of your poultry will go up and as a result, there is a drop in the food conversion ratio or FCR. Low temperatures may also make your chickens susceptible to various other infections.
Water
For efficient poultry production on your farm, it is necessary to have a sufficient supply of water. With a lack or shortage in the water supply, you are not only going to see a drop in the production levels but also mortality begins to increase. Insufficient water supply also causes a lowering in the immune system of the poultry and the chicken will begin getting exposed to various infections. Whenever you get rid of water from the production system, it will take time before you are able to reach your peak production levels once more.
Quality of Feed
To maximize on your poultry production standards and ensure you are able to maintain the highest standards in production, the chickens must be given high quality feed rations which are also formulated. Lack of feeding or even poor feeding of your poultry will cause a drop in the efficiency of production.
Hygiene, biosecurity and sanitation
The poultry farming operation must be kept clean at all time in order to have a general positive impact on the production standards. Whenever there is no hygiene or sanitation, the production will be impacted by several factors such as diseases, pests, rodents and flies amongst others.
Particularly destructive are the rodents which can cause a great deal of poultry feed wastage on your farm. If you take into account the fact that poultry feeds already account for anywhere between 60% and 70% of the production costs, you cannot afford to incur further feed losses in your production system due to poor hygiene.
The right vaccination program
Filipino poultry farmers must adhere to the right vaccination program that is up to date in order to protect their flock from some of the common diseases and infections. Whether they are diseases of low importance, medium level of importance or high importance, they are likely to negatively impact your production system and you must vaccinate in time in order to avoid adverse effects on your production levels.
Lighting
You need both lighting and Lux in order for you to maximize on your poultry production and make sure that you approach that genetic potential of the bird. Raising your commercial layers without lighting is going to directly impact on your efficiency.
Breeds
There are a large number of commercial layers that you can raise in the Philippines. Take time to learn about what other farmers are raising, especially in your area. Different kinds of poultry have different characteristics and these are going to influence the level of efficiency that you can get in your poultry egg farm in the Philippines.
Management as well as administration
This must be done at the highest level of efficiency. The person managing the farm must be highly efficient, knowledgeable, experienced and also passionate about the poultry operation. This is the only you are going to ensure successful and efficient outcomes in your Filipino poultry farm.