Animal I wanted to raise: Chicken

According to my research the indicators I will looked upon when to harvest chickens depends on
their breed. Laying hens have a body that is designed for laying eggs and they tend to be on the thin
side, because all their energy goes into egg production. Meat chickens, on the other side, tend to be
meatier. It takes about 8-12 weeks to raise a meat chicken to maturity,while it takes about 6 months
to raise a laying chicken to the start of lay. 8-12 week old mature meat chickens will have the freshest
tasting meat, tender & juicy. There are breeds that can be used for both meat and egg production.
The chicks take three to four months to reach a good size, and can be butchered as late as 8 months
old. After that, their meat tend to get tough.

How to Capture Chickens:

Every chicken owner should handle their hens regularly. Whether that’s just to pick one up and
check it is healthy or to give a treat.  It means you’ll have a real empathy with them and they will
most likely come running when you appear, especially if you have food or treats.  It builds trust. I
learned that we might give them a little feed to start.  Then we can approach with care, moving
gently and slowly in a crouched position with arms out stretched.  Try to single out the bird you want.
Be confident and assured but approach slowly.  Keeping low avoids you being a looming threat. The
aim is to back the one you want into a corner if can.  Once you get close enough don’t be tempted to
lunge or grab. Reach out smoothly to catch and pick up the bird.  It is important to avoid grabbing at
the neck, wing or leg.  Instead try to place your hands gently on either side of the body (or
underneath and on top).

The Marketing Strategies:

I learned that poultry farmers need to adopt effective strategies and best practices in the
poultry industry. They need to know and acquaint themselves with prospect buyers.
First, they don’t start raising the chickens until they have surveyed the market and know what
they want as well as the quantity. They usually get the contact details of potential buyers and
top buyers in their locality and to let them know that they will be selling soon. Next marketing
strategy they use is to schedule their production in such a way that they will have matured
chicken to sell during festive periods like Christmas, New Year, Wedding peak period, etc. The
sole reason for this is that there will be a higher demand for chickens during these periods.
Learning to connect or network with other farmers will give you more exposure and the
opportunity to link you up with customers and you will have more people to buy your chickens.
Another advantage of connecting to other farmers that raises chickens is that you will be able
to agree on a market price and also engage in collective sales. Lastly the farmer I interviewed
said that you should be able to make effective use of social media and networking platforms
like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram because these sites are great platforms to advertise your
products and/or services and bring more customers to your business.

Computing for Profit of Raising Chickens:

It is advisable to know the present market price of the products to be sold to be sure not lose
money in the process. Chickens are usually sold according to weight. The price depends upon
the present rate per kilo, live or not. It is important to record our expenses and sales. This will
help us to know whether there is gain or loss in our business venture.
To compute our income we need to use the formula: Income = gross sales – expenses.

A. Kind of Animal Raised: Chicks/ Chickens 100 heads

B. Expenses:
1. Chicken coop materials P 2,000

2. Labor x 2 days P 1,000

3. Cost of chicks (100) at P 20 pesos each P 2,000

 Growth period of 45 days
 Target weight of 1.5 kg
4. Medicine and Antibiotics P 500
5. Cost of Feeds P 2,500

 Chick Booster
 Broiler Starter
 Broiler Finisher
6. Operating Expenses P 1,000
 Water and Electricity
 Labour
TOTAL: P 9,000

C. SUMMARY
1. Cost of Animals P 17,000
 Average weight per chicken is 1.5 kgs.
 Cost of weight per 1.5 kg is P 170 /100 heads

2. Expenses - P 9,000
3. Gain P 8,000