S.K. Singh, S. B. Khadilkar and P. C. Vaishnava BAIF Development Research Foundation, Haridwar
Introduction
Poultry is one of the fastest growing segments of agriculture sector in India. Agriculture crop production has been rising at the rate of 1.5–2% per annum whereas production of eggs and broilers has been rising at the rate of 8–10% per annum (Mehta et al., 2003).
National annual consumption is 37 billion eggs and one billion broilers. Per capita consumption of eggs in rural area is less than half that of the urban areas (Mehta et al., 2003). India has emerged as 5th largest producer country in the world. Per capita consumption of poultry meat rose from 0.2 kg in 1970 to 1.6 kg in 2003 (FAO, 2008). Growth in the sector has been primarily driven by large-scale commercial farms whilst small farmers and the landless, which form the majority of the poultry producers, have largely been by-passed by this growth (GOI, 2005). In the most recent years, however, the Government of India has recognized the potential of small-scale poultry sector development for poverty reduction (GOI, 2005; GOI, 2008). In the hill area BAIF under the Project entitled “Enhancement of livelihood security through sustainable farming system and related farm enterprises in north- west Himalaya” supported by NAIP-ICAR, New Delhi worked on two major problems of poultry rearing in Mudiyani cluster of Champawat district.
1. High mortality (up to 50%) due to poor brooding management: The high fluctuations in ambient temperatures of night and day time as birds of 1 to 15 days age are highly susceptible to temperature fluctuations.
2. High cost of commercial feed: The procurement of commercial feed is only by transport. The cost of feeding amounts to about 70% of the total expenditure.
Methodology
To overcome the problems in brooding and feeding management, innovative approaches were tried as described below:
Modified Poultry House
In the hilly terrain there is a wide variation in day and night temperatures ranging from 00 to 350C. To maintain inner temperature, some changes were done in poultry house construction. The area of 14x12x8 ft in a place with good sun light was selected for poultry house. Size of the windows was reduced to 1 to 1.5 ft (against about 4ft in commercial) and gunny bags were used to cover windows to reduce flow of cold air during night.
Brooding Management
During first two weeks, maintaining temperature between 85 to 95 0F (30-350C) for better management and growth is necessary in poultry. To achieve this, finally a hover like structure was designed by using locally available materials. A iron sheet of 10ft X 3ft was placed at the height of about 1.5 ft from the floor along one wall in the shed. Three bulbs of 200 watt are fitted under it at uniform distance. This helped to equally distribute light and heat. In case of power failure a Kerosene stove was glowed. Modification over traditional method is the reduction in the size of the incubated space. Chicks moved in and out of this incubated space as per their need. Testing of structure had three treatments viz., T1 - No incubation, T2 -Incubation without using hover, T3 -Incubation using hover.
Feeding Management
Feeding contributes the major expenditure in poultry rearing. In the hill area availability of commercial feed is difficult. To overcome this difficulty customization of the feed was done by partly replacing with locally available resources like Bichuu grass (Urtica dioca) and other grasses, Pear fruit, vegetables (brinjal, pumpkin, sponge guard) ghingharoo (a wild fruit), vegetable waste, etc. Farmers were trained in preparation of poultry feed locally.
Two treatments of restricted feeding were compared commercial feed versus customized feed (Table 1). Farmers were also encouraged to crush insects trapped in light trap and feed to poultry birds. It provides higher protein to the birds and found useful in increasing the growth rate (Gene De Foliart, 1992).
Table 1 Feeding Customization
S. No. Period Feed (T1) Feed (T2)
1. 1 day Jaggery + Water Jaggery + Water
2. 2-15 days Commercial Feed 100% Commercial Feed 100%
3. 16-25 days Commercial Feed 66% + locally available items Commercial Feed 100%
4. 26-35 days Commercial Feed 50% + locally available items Commercial Feed 100%
5. 36-45 days Commercial Feed 34% + locally available items Commercial Feed 100%
Results
Modification in poultry house structure helped to protect birds from cold air and maintain the temperature of the poultry house. Brooding management provides a microclimate that helps to reduce mortality of the chicks during the first fifteen days from 47% to 4.5% as detailed in Table-2. After adopting the recommended feeding practices of different feeding duration and feed customization it is seen that on 45th day the mean weight in case of T1 was 1096.05±18.02 g and in T2 was 1130.67±36.63g (Table-3). There is a difference of approx 35g which @ Rs. 110/- per kg would fetch just Rs. 3.85, whereas saving in expenditure on feeding was Rs. 25.60. As a result, farmers are highly motivated to adopt customized feeding in poultry. Proximate analysis of feed used was done. The results are given in Table 4. FCR
on commercial feed used comes to 1.37 and 2.21 for T1 and T2 respectively. There is quantum jump of Rs 2175/- per unit of 100 birds net profit in a single crop.
Since meat and eggs have good demand in the hilly tract, introduction of improved management practices with poultry rearing in hill areas is recommended for improving livelihood in a sustainable manner. Easy access to market, availability of health services, timely suggestions to project participants for poultry rearing are major factors responsible for the success.
Table 2 Comparison of various treatments for brooding
Sr. No. Parameters T1 T2 T3
1. Avg. Min. Temperature 0C 9.13 21.30 26.58
2. Avg. Max. Temperature 0C 26.33 32.97 38.07
3. Difference 17.20 11.67 11.49
4. Avg. mortality %age 47.00 10.00 4.50
Table 3 Effect Mean & SEM of birds at various ages in commercial & customized feed
Age Commercial feed (T1) Customized feed (T2)
Mean Std Error Mean Std Error
Day 1 27.60 0.43 28.26 0.49
Day 7 80.04 1.47 89.76 1.61
Day 14 187.43 5.34 213.40 4.64
Day 21 320.61 7.95 367.60 9.37
Day 28 500.02 12.71 550.06 14.26
Day 36 760.59 17.32 813.57 18.52
Day 45 1096.05 18.02 1130.47 36.63
Table 4 Proximate analysis of Feed
Sample Moisture Percent on Dry matter basis
(%)
CP CF EE Ash AIA
Pre starter 9.40 23.45 12.11 4.42 7.00 0.95
Starter 8.70 24.79 7.76 4.56 8.38 1.9
Commercial Feed 66% + locally available items 28.40 19.56 9.55 4.72 9.24 2.06 Commercial Feed 50% + locally available items 49.80 19.84 10.29 5.08 10.32 1.96 Commercial Feed 34% + locally available items 25.60 20.86 4.99 5.32 11.12 2.28
References
FAO. 2008. www.faostat.fao.org
Gene De Foliart. 1992. Insects as human food, Crop Protection 11(5), 395-399
GOI. 2005. Mid Term Appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007). Planning Commission, Government of India.
GOI. 2008. National Livestock Policy 2008. Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries. Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.
Mehta, R., Nambiar, R.G., Delgado, C. and Subramanyam, S. 2003. Annex II: Livestock Industrialization Project:
Phase II – Policy, Technical, and Environmental Determinants and Implications of the Scaling-Up of Broiler and Egg Production in India. IFPRI-FAO project on Livestock Industrialization, Trade and Social-Health-Environment impacts in Developing Countries.