Zambia Agribusiness Society

The fragile nature of chickens has made their production a meticulous one. Chickens need adequate care and attention to enhance their productivity. Irrespective of the type or nature of production, a poultry farm must have medication schedule that shows different drugs to be administered in certain period. Part of this schedule is the use of antibiotics and other immune-boosting poultry drugs. The use of antibiotics for chickens is part of poultry production medications. An antibiotic is a drug that inhibits or kills the growth of pathogenic bacteria within the chicken. It is used to treat diseases and respiratory infections that may be caused by bacteria. The use of antibiotics in poultry production has been regulated to conform to the healthy living of human consumers and also to reduce toxicity in the chicken. There are different types of antibiotics used in poultry; some have been observed to have detrimental effects on human’s health owing to their residual effects but under co

All you need to know about feeding, cages and care. Raising rabbits for meat and fur is a good way to make money but only if you do it on a large scale, and it should be done as supplementary income only. The initial costs in setting-up is small, rabbits breed quickly and frequently, they have large litters and grow to a good marketable size in a very short time. However, it is a full time job with daily rabbit care and good feeding needed. Rabbit Raising: Determining a Market Like any business, if you want to make a profit with rabbits you really need to assess the market. Do your homework first, before making an investment to see if there is a market and where the market is. Is there a market for rabbit meat, rabbit fur or both? Once you have established whether there is a market or not, find out where you will be able to slaughter the animals. Some slaughter houses will expect you to transport the live animals to them. And sometimes you can find a local butcher who will be

Sudden death syndrome (SDS) is also known as flip-over disease. Birds show no outward signs of disease but suddenly extend their necks, gasp, or squawk. They flap their wings, typically resulting in the birds flipping over on their backs (hence the name flip-over disease). The majority of the birds affected are males, especially those of the larger breeds. The incidence in a rapidly growing, healthy broiler flock is typically 1% to 4%. With reduced growth rates, the incidence of SDS is considerably lower. The cause of SDS is not clear, but it is believed to be a metabolic disease related to high carbohydrate intake. SDS can occur as early as three days of age and may continue until birds reach market weight. Peak mortality generally occurs when birds are between 12 and 28 days of age. This is due to their unnaturally fast growth rate coupled with their excessively large body mass, relative to the size of their organs---specifically their respiratory system and heart. Heart failure

Cabbages grow better in a cool environment and are easy to plant, easy to care for and harvest. 1. Land Preparation: Crop rotation should be observed for cabbage farming as the crop uses too many nutrients from the soil in a single growing season. The land, which should have access to plenty of sun and be well drained, must be prepared well in advance - preferably some weeks before planting the seedlings. Land should be nutrient rich and well tilled to a depth of at least six inches. Loosen soil in the planting bed and mix in a two inch layer of compost along with a standard application of a balanced organic fertilizer or manure . 2. Seed Selection and Seedlings: Select the best variety of seed - many new cabbage farmers fail at this stage. The seedling process is the most important part of cabbage growing. If starting with seeds, start 7 weeks or so before the last expected frost. Transplant the seedlings when they are 4 to 6 weeks old. During transplantation of cabbage

Did you know that beak trimming has been banned in some European countries and others are working towards banning the practice, following an EU welfare directive on the issue? Beak trimming is the partial removal of the tip of the beak, and results in a beak that is blunt or rounded at the end. Beak trimming is sometimes referred to as “debeaking”; however, at no time is the entire beak removed. Beak trimming is one of the most common methods utilised by the poultry industry (mainly the egg and turkey industries) to control the impacts of severe feather pecking. Severe feather pecking is a welfare problem where birds vigorously peck at and pull out the feathers of other birds. When birds are not beak trimmed, increased incidences of mortality and morbidity will occur due to cannibalism. Hot blade beak trimmer Welfare problems associated with cannibalism can be devastating. When performed correctly to industry standards, beak trimming has advantages. These include reduced: Fea

It is very important to consider the proper and standard poultry house dimensions in the building of your poultry house. A good poultry structure with the proper dimension will make sure; That the birds are protected from adverse climatic conditions. Operations are easy and economical. The birds are fed in a controlled manner. To create the required micro-climatic conditions in the near vicinity. Of effective disease control measures. Of proper supervision. Types and uses of various poultry houses Brooder/chick house –   It is used to brood and rear egg-type chicks from 0 to 8 weeks of age. Grower house –  It is used to grow egg-type birds from 9 to 18 weeks of age. Brooders cum grower house –   Here, the birds are reared from 0 to 18 weeks of age (entire brooding and growing period of egg-type chicken). Layer house –  In which birds over 18 weeks of age are reared, usually up to 72 weeks of age. Broiler house –  In which broilers are reared up to 6 weeks of age. Breeder ho