5 Tips for Poultry Farm Management

Poultry farming (poultry, meat production and egg production) is one of the fastest growing segments within the agriculture sector. In fact, while the agricultural production has been growing at a mere 2-3 percent per annum in the last couple of decades, poultry farming has shown tremendous potential, growing at a healthy 8-10 percent per annum during the same period. High per capita income growth, relatively low prices and gradually shifting consumption pattern from vegetarianism to non-vegetarianism in the urban centers are some factors which are propelling the growth of this industry and making its future look good.

However, with this accelerated growth comes a few challenges too, like new industry regulations, tight profit margins, handling perceived health hazards associated with poultry consumption, competition etc. This makes it important for poultry farmers to manage their business processes such as breeding, hatching, rearing, processing and overall farm in an efficient manner so as to overcome challenges and be a part of the growth ride.

Here are five essential poultry farm management tips for them, which can help them with the smooth functioning of their business:

1) Stay updated about current trends: Past few years have witnessed the emergence of new trends in poultry rearing techniques and innovations for processed chicken meat, medicines, feed additives, health products, equipments and other technical services. New mandatory regulatory compliances too have emerged during this period. These trends have changed the dynamics of the sector and made it important for the poultry farmers to adapt to the changing times. In such ever-changing scenario, the poultry farmers need to stay updated about the current trends and requirements so as to sustain in the industry.

2) Involve in training/information sharing: Poultry farming is a knowledge-intensive field, as it requires good amount of knowledge of looking after the birds during their growing cycle. It includes thorough knowledge of their feeding requirements and overall welfare, including food and water, care, attention, and a suitable environment. The end-consumer is increasingly becoming health conscious and thus the quality of the broilers has become of topmost importance. Health of the bird, its dressing percentage and muscle growth etc. come under scrutiny more often than not these days. Under such circumstances, meticulous and scientific farming has become the norm of the day. Needless to say, such farming requires proper training. The poultry farmers must hence indulge in training and information sharing with peers from time to time so as to stay competitive.

3) Involve in meticulous planning: This is the most important step involved in the poultry farm business. In fact, effective planning sets up the foundation for a flourishing poultry farm business. The scope of planning covers identification of potential market, suitable space for the facility, selection of poultry breed, environment impact assessment, having proper infrastructure and best possible equipments etc. In addition, a lot of planning goes into day-to-day operations of a poultry farm business as well. If you are into this business, you ought to have planned for the above. If you are planning to get into the business now, make sure you tick all the above boxes.

4) Manage diseases: There are various diseases that affect the poultry. The contagious ones, which include the bacterial, viral and fungal diseases, spread from affected birds to the healthy ones. Then there are the parasitic diseases such as mycoplasma, colibesilosis, coccidiosis etc., the malnutritious diseases caused by the deficiency of vitamins and minerals, and other miscellaneous diseases. The poultry farmers got to have their defense mechanism ready against such diseases, as they face huge losses every year due to various poultry diseases. A little pro-activeness can help them avoid all this, as steps such as providing nutritious food, contamination-free water, timely vaccination, availability of certain common and necessary medicines at farm etc. can be of immense help.

5) Market the products effectively: With the tremendous rise in competition, it becomes imperative for the poultry farmers to make their products stand apart from the rest. They can do so by effectively communicating their USP, such as rareness and the freshness of the product, its exceptional quality and other unique characteristics. This is where the role of timely marketing becomes so important.

In a nutshell, the poultry farmers must stay updated, take care of the livestock and plan meticulously in order to stay ahead in the business. In this quest, an efficient poultry management software such as BatchMaster ERP for Meat & Poultry can be of good help to them. Its various industry-specific features help the poultry farmers with extensive analysis of market to facilitate production of safe and high-quality poultry products, adherence to stringent regulatory compliances, management of inventory, perform traceability and supply-chain management, livestock management to keep the birds healthy, achieve perfect planning, et al.