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Poultry
The term poultry is applied to bird to several species fowls/chicken (Gallus domestica), ducks,
turkeys etc. that have been domesticated to reproduce and grow in captivity and rendered
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product of economic value such as egg, meat, manure etc.

Term related to Poultry:

Crowding: Overcrowding increases mortality, stress, as well as production cost.

Feeding: Always ensure adequate fresh feed. Birds that are without feed for six hours will
record a drop in production and a 12 hour starvation will result in moult of wing feathers.

Lighting: The duration of light should be 16 hours per day, but not beyond 17 hours. No
advantage is obtained by exceeding this limit. The amount of light given to the flock in one day
should never be less than that given the day before. A decreasing day length can prematurely
cause hens to go out to production. One 40 watt electric bulb is sufficient for 200 sq.ft. area.

Debeaking: Debeaking, is the partial removal of the beak of poultry, especially layer hens.
Poor debeaking can adversely affect egg production.

Culling: Unsuitable and uneconomic birds should be timely culled.

Common terms used in Poultry:

Species Young Adult

Male Female
Chicken Chick Cock Hen

Duck Duckling Drake Duck

Turkey Poult Tom Hen

Swan Cygnet Swan Swan

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Incubation period, Chromosome numbers and age at sexual maturity of different

Species of poultry:

PageS.No
|2 Species Incubation period Chromosome Age at sexual maturity
(days) number (pairs) (weeks)

1. Chicken 21 39 18-20

2. Duck 28 40 28-30

3. Turkey 28 40 28-30

4. Ostrich 42 40 52

Nutrient content in Chicken and Egg

Particulars Chicken Egg

Water 66 % 66 %
Protein 21 % 13 %
Fat 9% 10 %
Mineral 3.5 % 11 %

Chemical composition of chicken egg:

Components Whole egg White Yolk Shell and shell

membrane

100% 56-61% 27-32% 8-11%

Water 65.0 87.0 48.0 2.0
Protein 12.0 11.0 17.5 4.5
Fat 11.0 0.2 32.5 -
Carbohydrate 1.0 1.0 1.0 -
Ash 11.0 0.8 1.0 93.5
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

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Vitamins in poultry meat (per 100g of edible meat):

Vitamin Units mg/100g edible

Page | 3 meat
1. A IU 41

2. C mg 1.6

3. Thiamine mg 0.06

4. Riboflavin mg 0.12

5. Niacin mg 6.8

6. Pantothenic acid mg 0.91

7. Pyridoxine (Vit B6) mg 0.35

8. Folic acid mg 0.31

© IU is an International Unit, usually used to measure fat soluble vitamins including Vitamin
A, D and E.

Physical composition of egg of various species:

Bird
Chicken Turkey
Egg weight (g) 57 85

Yolk (%) 30 32
Albumen (%) 60 56
Shell (%) 10 12

Incubation:
Providing temperature and humidity for normal development of embryo in egg. It may be
artificial or natural. A machine which provide all these is called incubator.

incubation period in chicken is 21 days.

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Incubation Requirement:

Temperature 37.2-37.7 degree C

Humidity 60-70%
Page | 4 Ventilation To provide 21% oxygen in the air

Hatching: Process of breaking out of an egg shell after completion of incubation

Specific conditions for hatching:

Temperature 1-18 days 37.5 – 37.8oC

19-21 days 36.9 –37.5oC
Humidity 60% up to 18 days 70% thereafter
Turning Once every 4 hours up to 18 days -

Ventilation 1-18 days 8 changes/hour

19-21 days 12 changes/hour

Common breeds of Poultry birds

Indian poultry breeds provide good quality meat but produces small sized eggs. They
have natural immunity against common diseases as compared to exotic varieties bred
abroad which require greater protection and immunisation.

The chicken is commonly classified on the basis of its origin.

(a) American, (b) Asiatic,

(c) Mediterranean and (d) English

1. Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire - American

2. Brahma, Cochin, Langshan - Asiatic
3. Leg horn, Minoxa - Mediterranean
4. Cornish, Australorp – English

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Specification of different species:

Class American Asiatic English Mediterrane an
Shank Clean Feathered Clean Clean
Skin colour Yellow Yellow White Yellow or white
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Earlobe colour Red Red Red White
Purpose Dual Meat Dual Egg
Size Medium Massive Medium Small
Shell colour Brown Brown Brown White
Examples 1) Rhode Island 1) Brahma 1) Cornish 1) Leghorn
Red 2) Cochin 2) Australorp 2) Minorca
2) Plymouth rock 3) Langshan 3) Dorking 3) Ancona
3)New 4) Orpington 4) Andalusian
Hampshire 5) Sussex
4)Wyandotte

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Chicken may also classified based on their utility as:

1) Egg type - Eg. White Leghorn, Minorca, Ancona
2) Meat type - Eg. Cornish, Plymouth rock, Brahma
3) Dual
Page | 6 purpose - Eg. Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire
4) Game bird - Eg. Aseel
5) Fancy variety - Eg. Silky, frizzled, bantams
6) Desi type - Eg. Kadaknath, Naked neck, chittagong.

Breed name Native of Place Features

Rod island red Rod island in new england Dual purpose breed,
produce 100 egg per year,
rectangular bird
Whitre leg horn Italy Highest egg production
breed in the world, Average
2oo eggs
Red cronish England Famous in America for meat
Ply mouth rock America Produce best quality meat
Aseel UP Famous for fighting sports
Kadaknath Madhya Pradesh Black colored meat

Native breeds of egg type chicken in India:

Breed Body weight Age at sexual Annual egg

(20 weeks) maturity (days) production (No.)
Aseel 1220 196 92
Frizzle 1005 185 110
Kadaknath 920 180 105
Naked neck 1005 201 99

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Floor space, feeding space and watering space for chicks

Age weeks Floor space Feeding space Watering space

Sq.ft./Chick inches/chick inches/chick
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1 0.2 1.5 0.5
2 0.2 2.0 0.7
3 0.3 2.0 0.7
4 0.4 2.5 0.8
5 0.6 2.5 0.8
6 0.8 3.0 1.0
7 0.9 3.0 1.0

Water Consumption:
Age of birds Water amount per 100 birds
0-2 weeks 4.5 to 6.5 liter per day
10-15 weeks 18-22.5 liter per day
Laying hens 27-36 liter per day

Temperature requirement of chicks during different ages

Age in weeks Temperature under hover, at 5 cm above floor ( °C)
0-1 35
0-2 32
2-3 29
3-4 26
5-5 23

© Hover: A canopy used on brooders to direct the heat downwards to the chickens.

Average growth rate for egg type chickens:

Age in weeks Average weight of bird (gms.)

4 275
8 590
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12 850
16 1100
20 1300
24 1550
Page | 8 30 1600
40 1700
60 1700
80 1700

Poultry Disease
Parasitic (external) – Lice, mites, tick and fleas

(internal) – Round worms, tapeworm and hexamitiasis

Protozoan – Coccidiosis in chicken, leucocytozoonosis

Bacterial – Pullorum, Typhoid, Paratyphoid, fowl cholera,Diarrhea

Viral – Ranikhet disease, Marek's disease, fowl pox, infectious bronchitis,

infection bursitis, avian encephalomycytis, Marek disease,
leukosis, chronic respiratory disease, Hepatitis etc.

Fungal – Aspergillosis, Moniliasis

Nutritional Disease
Rickets Vitamin — D Deficiency
Curled toe paralysis Vitamin B2 Deficiency
Crazy chick Vitamin - E deficiency
Perosis
Mn deficiency

Parakeratosis Zn deficiency
Skin Disease
Eye disease- B2 deficiency

Piglet anemia Iron deficiency

Osteomalacia P Deficiency

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