Poultry farming explained part A

Broilers and Layers, which one is more profitable?

Let’s discuss this important topic on poultry farming and making good choices on the type of bird to keep.

It may amaze you to know that some people doesn’t know that poultry farming is beyond keeping of chickens. There’re many birds that poultry farming covers, but today we’ll be looking at the one that most people are familiar with which is chicken poultry farming.

In chicken poultry farming, we have many types and breeds of chickens to keep which is running in hundreds depending on your country, but we’re going to narrow our discussion down to the most common types of chickens that people are more familiar with which are Broilers and Layers.

Did you know the difference between broilers and layers?

The purpose of this article is to clarify my readers on the difference between layers and broilers, secondary to help them understand their behavior and economic dynamism. After reading this article, you’ll be able to make right choices on which type of chicken to keep base on your expectations. You’ll also understand seasons, and when to prioritize any of them in your poultry farm.

Are you ready for poultry farming but doesn’t know which birds to keep?

FAQ

• Layers or Broilers?

• Which one is more profitable?Which one will give you more money?

• Which one is easier to handle?

• Which one will work better for you?

All this question will be answered in this article, just relax and read up the article in few minutes.

In case you don’t know the difference between a layer and a broiler, the pictures below may help you recall.

The above is layer which is known for egg production

These white chickens are called broilers (Gallus gallus domesticus). They’re raised specifically for meet production, unlike Layers, Broilers are not good in laying eggs, but if you like eating chicken and desires fast income, then broiler is the best route for you.

Some people may prefer layers over broilers and I’ll tell you why.

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So if you want to try poultry farming, it might be quite tricky with decision making; you’re prepared to take up poultry business, but then you don’t know wether to go for broilers or layers. It can get quite complex. There’s not enough information and guidelines out there which may position people in the right direction in their poultry business, so I’m here to help you choose which one should you go with.

Factors involved, both in layers and broilers poultry

A lots of factors are involved which includes things like how much time you have, how much money do you have, are you good in risk taking? When you put all these together in your consideration process, they likely going to help you to determine which one to go with.

Broilers has extraordinary genes 🧬 that in just 6 weeks they’re grown to their peak, and you’ll be able to sell your birds for wealth creation. A Broilers can produce more than 2.5 kilograms of meat 🥩 in just 6 weeks if you feed them well. Broilers has special feeds that ensures that in such a short period of time they’ll be ready for the market. So if you keep this type of birds, in just 6 weeks you’d already smiling to your bank.

When you bring broilers, you have to understand that they gain weight quickly; in just over 6 weeks they may start having problems walking; their weight will become too much for their bones to support them any longer. So they’re meant to be disposed for meat before 6 to 7 weeks. If you keep them for up to 10 weeks, they’ll start to develop some health related problems because they can no longer manage their weight.

What about layers?

Layers are those chickens you’re seeing over there, this breed of chickens are light and small to compare to broilers, but they have this magical genes 🧬 that helps them to make eggs like no man’s business. They can lay egg almost every 26 hour, can you imagine that? Egg is formed in them every 26 hours, so that means that they have extra ordinary genes for laying eggs. They’re small and could measure 1.7 kilograms, just very few of them may reach up to 2 kilograms. The food they take is specially designed to help them to lay eggs. That’s why they’re able to lay eggs in the gap of 26 hours each. Layers could lay eggs for over one year which is a plus to a farmer who keeps them because they lay eggs almost every day; every 26 to 28 hour for over a year. That’s super genes.

So now that you’ve known what layers and broilers are respectively, which one should you keep?

Well there’re factors to consider here.

Marketing

Lets consider broilers first. Remember that in 6 weeks, broilers are ready for selling, meaning that you must have market for their sales in 6 weeks time. If you don’t have the market in 6 weeks time, then you’re likely going to suffer losses because after 6 weeks, they’ll continue eating and demanding for more quantity of food unfortunately. Yes I said unfortunately because the buyer will never pay you extra money for extra days that you feed them. So you have to be certain that by the time you bring them in, you have your market standing by; people willing to take them up because they have only 6 weeks to get to their peak, any extra money you’re investing on them after 6 weeks like I said may result to losses.

Option B in case your market fails

If you’re going to keep broilers, the option is that you may need to buy good refrigerator (Freezer). It’s true that not everyone can afford that at startup but its still a good option to mitigate losses in case your targeted market should fail you within the 6 weeks of your birds maturity period.

If your market should disappoint at this time then you can slaughter them by yourself, refrigerate them and keep them till the market turns again on your interest. Someone may argue about electric power consumption during the refrigeration. You’re only going to preserve them for a little time period whiles you look for people or market to sell them. Besides, money you spend on refrigeration can not be compared to the food consumption of those huge live birds.

That’s the easiest and safest way to cut losses and handle broilers more efficiently.

If you already have your market, you should also have an alternative market just in case the people who promised to buy off the broilers fails to buy them off, you should have a second option. Use the recent scenario during the covid-19 lockdown period, people had ready products and suddenly, everything was halted by the epidemic. So do you have option B market?

Are layers more easier to market?

Yes, layers are much easier to market than broilers because they lay eggs over a year period, meaning that you’re not planning on selling them anytime soon. Their eggs can also be kept in a place of low temperature for over a month, meaning that you can have more time to arrange for your market and look for your favored pricing within 4 extra weeks without losing the eggs. With layers and their eggs, you’re not going to be on pressure to sell off the eggs maybe because they’re going to get spoiled. However, layers also have a downside when it comes to marketing.

• Location

Usually, your location may impact the price for the eggs. My location in West Africa is a huge market that demands are always more than the supply, so it’s a plus.

• Initial Capital

The startup cost is way for broilers is cheaper to compare that of layers; I mean cheaper with tremendous margin gap. For broiler poultry, you’re going to make provisions for water, feeds, vaccines, shelter, feeders and drinkers, lights and the heating. That’s for the broilers.

Now for the layers, you’ll need the above mentioned but in a larger quantity, reason is that the keeping circles of broilers is around 6 weeks, so you don’t need as much feeds as for layers which may stay with you for more than 48 weeks.

I will stop here but will come back shortly with part b if this discussion.

Thanks for reading through. I wish you all the best in your poultry endeavors.

I’m still your friend Max.