Feeding Poultry

• Feed hens according to appropriate standards to ensure their fast growth, and good production;  

• Feeds have been designed following chicken growth stages: chicks, young chicken and egg laying/ grown up broilers
• Apart from feeds, chicken must drink enough water. Water is provided in the chicken house and they drink it as they wish,

• For those who can afford concentrated feeds to feed their chickens, here are the requirements in terms of quantities to be provided on daily basis :

Table 1: Feed quantities for Egg laying and broilers

Production

• You can raise egg laying hens, or broilers as well
• Two months after birth, a broiler can reach the weight of 1.6kg
• When slaughtered, poultry output is 70% (a chicken weighing 1.6kg will produce 1.120 kg of meat)
• Local breed chickens can give an output of approximately 60%
• One Rhode Island Red hen can lay 220 eggs per year if it is appropriately cared for, that is a laying rate of 60%
• One Derco hen, if adequately cared for, can give 250 eggs per year, that is a laying rate of 69%.
• There exist other improved breeds which lay up to 300 eggs per year, especially Warren.
• One local breed hen can lay 60 to 90 eggs per year. But local breed of hens differ, some are of good quality.