basic manual for free range colored broiler production

7/27/2019 Basic Manual for Free Range Colored Broiler Production

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BASIC MANUAL FOR BOUNTY FRESH FREE RANGE

COLORED BROILERS PRODUCTIONBy: Eldani S. Fernando, DVM


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Table of Contents

Page number

Introduction. 2

Standard equipments and materials. 4

Chick brooding 7

Ranging time... 10

Feeding 14

Growth performance... 17

Common diseases and problems. 18

What is Bounty Fresh Free Range Colored Broilers?

Bounty Fresh free range colored broilers is a meat type bird that has

a comparable taste to our Philippine native chicken. These hardy

birds can be readily ranged in open areas requiring minimal

supervision as these can forage and source food from naturally

available food sources to supplement normal feed ration. These

birds are well suited to our climatic conditions with better growthrate, feed conversion, higher meat yield, and faster time to attain

slaughter weight compared to our native chicken without

compromising disease resistance.

Why raise Bounty Fresh free range colored broilers?

Over the years, the demand for high quality free-range chicken meat

that is free from antibiotics, synthetic growth hormones, animalprotein, pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals have consistently

grown due to the increasing awareness of consumers of its health

benefits. Traditionally, for this purpose, the Philippine native

chicken is used but with some drawbacks and disadvantages as the

Philippine native chicken tend to grow slowly, is not a good feed

converter and day-old to slaughter weight takes at least 18 weeks.

To address these problems brought about by the limits of the geneticcapability of our native chickens, Bounty Fresh has introduced the

colored broilers that can be ranged and raised like the Philippine

native chicken. These colored broilers are suitable for backyard as

well as commercial type of farming. Bounty Fresh free range

colored broiler is a meat-type bird capable of averaging 1.6 kilos

live weight at 56 days if raised on a fast grow system. It can have a


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livability of up to 97% if grown correctly. This is a considerable

improvement from the 1.2 kilos at 126 days for the native chicken.

Why choose Bounty Fresh free range colored broilers?

1. Chicks we are selling are coming from:a. Genetically superior parent stocks coming from a

reputable breeding company from Europe (Hubbard)

b. Parent stocks thoroughly vaccinated against NCD,Fowl Cholera, Infectious Coryza, IBD, IB, Fowl Pox,chicken infectious anemia, chronic respiratory

disease and other economically important diseases.

i. Chicks would benefit from the maternallyderived antibodies that they will receive from

the parent stocks that will protect them from

these diseases during their first few weeks of

lifec. Parent stocks housed in environmentally-controlled

houses ensuring controlled feeding, lighting, better

production and barrier to diseases leading to healthier

parent stocks

d. Parent stocks fed with breed-specific feed specs. Weformulate our own feeds based on the specific needs

and requirements of our parent stocks as required byHubbard

i. We ensure the health of our parent stocks togive you the best quality chick in the market

for a necessary good start for you

e. Are hatched in our own state of the art hatcheries.Not in any toll hatcheries ensuring clean, uniform,

and healthy chicks

Fig 1. Bounty Fresh Free Range Colored Broiler Parent Stocks inour environmentally controlled housing

2. Chicks we are selling comes with technical services toensure that our customers will grow their free range chickens

the right way


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OUR CHICKS ARE OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY OUT IN THE

MARKET!

Standard equipments for 100 Bounty Fresh free range colored

broilers under Philippine condition

Feeding equipments

For brooding stage (day old to 21 days)Chick feeder troughs (1 meter length) = 2-3 pcs

Chick feeder trays (20 inches diameter) = 2-3 pcs

For growing stage (22 days up to harvest, minimum 60 days)

Tube feeders (5 kilos capacity) = 8 pieces

Feeder troughs (

Watering equipments

For brooding stage (day old to 21 days)

Water galloners (medium) = 2-3 pcs

For growing stage (22 days up to harvest, minimum 60 days)

Water basin with basin guards (1 pair) = 8 pairs

Heating/brooding equipments for brooding stage

Incandescent bulbs (50 watts) = 2 pieces

1 watt per chick is usually sufficient

For areas without electricity

Used 3 kilo capacity powdered milk can = 3 pieces

Charcoal = 1 sack

or as needed

Other standard equipments:

Light source: two 18 watts CFL lighting or petromax (forareas without electricity)

Emergency light source 1x50 gallon drum as water reservoir 1x5 gallon plastic pail 1 unit weighing scale of 10 kilo capacity Fishnet for perimeter fencing of range area = 100 meters

Housing dimension and living space requirements for 100 headsBounty Fresh free range colored broilers

BROODING AREA (day old to 21 days)o 8 square meters per 100 heads ( or a double decked

cage of dimensions 2x1x0.5 meters per deck can

house 50 heads for each deck)


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Fig 2. Improvised brooding area by utilizing pig pens covered with

fish net to protect from predators with incandescent bulb as heat

source

Fig 3. A triple deck design with 2x1x0.5 meters with side

extension for heaters. Capacity of 150 heads

MOBILE RANGING HOUSE (22 days up to 80 days)o 7x2x2 meters or 14 square meters per 100 birdso Option of putting up ranging house per ranging area

or ranging house can be transferred to another

ranging location as flock is transferred from one

ranging area to another to save cost of building new

ranging house

o Ranging house should offer protection from badweather conditions

RANGING AREA (space requirement up to harvest age of80 days)

o At least 1 square meter of ranging area per birdexcluding ranging house

o Ranging area is enclosed in fishnet 5 feet in height toprevent birds from roaming too far away and to

protect birds from predators

o Presence of forage materials is an added advantage toencourage natural foraging behavior of chickens

CHICK BROODING

Brooding Management Principle

A chick does not have the ability to maintain its ownbody temperature, therefore, it is necessary to provideexternal source of heat to help the chick maintain its

core body temperature constant

The first few weeks of the chicks life is critical, thisfew weeks will determine the success of your


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performance until harvest. It is necessary to give your

chicks a good head start.

Brooding Management

Provide clean and dry litter (dried grass, rice hulls,wood shavings) free from moulds, bacteria, viruses

that can be a possible source of infection

o Newspaper placed on top of litter for the firstfew days to enable floor feeding

Provide right number of waterers (please seerecommended poultry equipment ratio) and place in

strategic locations where chicks can easily have

access to the waterers

Make sure that brooding area/cage is protected fromcold drafts but with openings to keep brooder house

temperature from getting too hot

Provide heating source (please see recommendedpoultry equipment ratio)

Pre-heat the brooding area at least 2 hours beforechick arrival to avoid cold stress to the birds

Upon chick arrival, do not give feeds during the first30 minutes to encourage birds to drink first. Floor

feed birds first to encourage them to eat.

Provide chicks with clean, new feeds 30 minutes afterplacement

Provide feeds in small amounts but in frequentinterval to ensure feeds are fresh encouraging chicks

to feed

Recommended brooding temperature during the first week

Day Brooding Area Temperature (C)

1 34

2 34

3 34

4 32

5 32

6 307 30


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Fig. 4. Charcoal heaters as heat source for brooding

Fig 5. rice hulls burned in drums provide artificial heat source

Fig 6. Incandescent bulb used as heat source. Note that laminated

sacks installed to prevent cold drafts from entering and conserve

heat inside brooding area

Ranging Time

Stage where birds are set loose to forage for grass, insects,legumes, as supplementary diet aside from feeds

These stage will help birds develop lean meat due frequentforaging and acquire the taste of native chicken


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Ranging Proper

Provide at least one square meter of range area per chicken Provision fishnet perimeter fence to exclude predators and to

confine chickens

o Fishnet is the material of choice for fencing so as notto block the flow of air

Provide shaded areas as rest areas during hot times of the dayo Improvement of 10-15% in performance was noted ifbirds are provided with shade. A heat stressed bird

will consume less feed than it normally does

Before letting loose chickens in the ranging area,o Confine birds inside the ranging house for at least 3-5

days to allow them to adjust to their new environment

Strategically place waterers inside the range area that can beeasily accessed by the birds

Make sure water provided is clean and regularly replaced.Leftover water from the previous day should be replaced the

next morning

Ranging house should be big enough to accommodate allchicken when it is necessary to confine them at night time or

during bad weather (give at least 1.5 square feet per bird)

Rehabilitation of pasture/range area must be practiced toprevent pasture fatigue which can lead to hyper acidic soilthat can favor the growth of pathogenic microorganisms in

high numbers

Fig 7. Permanent ranging house. Note ranging house was placed on

highest point to prevent flooding inside


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Fig 8. chickens confined for three days inside ranging house tofamiliarize them to their new environment

FEEDING

Three types of feeding management

1. Fast grow system with intensive use of high densityfeeds

CLASSIFICATION: CERTIFIED SEMI-INDUSTRIAL

FREE-RANGE

Expected average live weight of 1.65 kilos in 56 days Brooding time (day old to 21 days)

Feed type: chick booster

Feeding: ad libitum ( full feeding)

frequent but in small amounts

Watering: change water every 3 hours

Ranging time (22 days until harvest time)Feed type:

22-35 days: chick starter

35-56 days: grower finisher feeds

Feeding: Full feeding 3x a day

Watering: provide water as needed

2. Medium grow system with use of mixture of high densityand low density feeds

CLASSIFICATION: STANDARD GROW FREE

RANGE

Expected average live weight of 1.50 kilos in 56 days


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Brooding time (day old to 21 days)Feed type: chick booster

Feeding: frequent but in small amounts


Ranging time (22 days until harvest time)Feed type:

22-32 days: grower finisher feeds

33-43 days: 50% grower finisher feeds

50% corn grits

44-56 days 35% grower finisher feeds

65% corn grits



3. Slow grow system with use of 30% high density and70% low density feeds and legumes

CLASSIFICATION: SLOW GROW FREE RANGE

Expected average live weight of 1.50 kilos in 70 days

Brooding time (day old to 15 days only)Feed type: chick boosterFeeding: frequent but in small amounts


Ranging time (16 days until 70 days)

Feed type:

22-32 days: 50% grower finisher feeds50% corn grits

33-55 days: 35% grower finisher feeds

65% corn grits

56-70 days 80% fresh corn

20% binlid/palay

Supplemented with vegetables,

fruits, herbs as additional foodsource




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*GROWTH PERFORMANCE

Performance obtained with crumble feed at 3200 kcal

AGE(days)

WEIGHT(grams)

**FEEDS(g/bird)

FCR

14 251 28 1.22-1.26

21 471 37 1.36-1.40

28 733 47 1.50-1.54

35 1023 62 1.64-1.68

42 1316 70 1.78-1.8349 1601 83 1.91-1.97

56 1877 99 2.06-2.12

63 2136 110 2.21-2.27

70 2405 120 2.37-2.43

*The performance data contained in this graph was obtained from

the results of Hubbards research flocks and flocks of their

customers. In no way does the data contained in this graph constitute

a warranty or guarantee of the same performance under differentconditions of nutrition, density, or physical or biological

environment.

**under Philippine field conditions

COMMON DISEASES/PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN FREE

RANGE CHICKEN PRODUCTION

Infectious Coryza New Castle Disease Fowl Pox Worm Infestation External parasite infestation (mites and lice) Diarrhea

Steps in preventing these problems from occurring in your

operations

Vaccinate your birds against NCD and other disease that areprevalent in your area. Vaccination is an accepted practice in

free range farming especially if you are going into

commercial scale of production. It is necessary to consult aveterinarian regarding the right vaccination program

o Vaccination will protect your birds from potentiallydangerous diseases if an outbreak may occur

o Vaccination will protect your birds from diseaseoutbreaks from unvaccinated flocks

Practice good biosecurity in your farmo Although an overused clich, An ounce of prevention

is better than a pound of cure still holds true!o It is of extreme importance to keep your farm and

farm premises as clean as possible to eliminate

possible source of infection

o Limit the number of people coming in and out ofyour farm especially people coming from other farms


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o If possible, practice all in, all out system of rearingo Cull/remove weak or sick birds that would not

recover and practice proper disposal of mortalities to

eliminate risk of possible source of infection

Adapt a deworming program for your operations as freerange chickens are more predisposed to internal parasites due

to prolonged contact with the ground.

Basic Farm Layout

Fig 10. basic farm layout

REMINDERS!!!

BOUNTY FRESH FREE RANGE COLORED BROILERS ARE

NOT INTENDED FOR BREEDING!

PROGENY FROM BOUNTY FRESH FREE RANGE BROILERS

WOULD BE LOWER IN PERFORMANCE COMPARED TO

THEIR PARENTS.

BREEDING BOUNTY FRESH FREE RANGE BROILERS WITH

EACH OTHER WOULD BE INBREEDING AS THESE

CHICKENS ARE CLOSELY RELATED AND WOULD RESULT

IN DECREASED PERFORMANCE OF OFFSPRING AS WELL

AS INCREASED SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DISEASES

References:

Basic Manual for HAPPY FARMERS CHOICE FREE RANGE

CHICKEN MEAT production. Dr. Erwin Cruz

basic manual for free range colored broiler production

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