Management factors.
Effective and efficient management techniques are necessary to
increase the productivity of the birds and consequently increase income. This entails not only
proper housing and feeding, but also careful rearing and good treatment of the birds.
Vaccination and disease control. Diseases and parasites can cause losses in egg production.
Some of the diseases are as follows:
bacterial: tuberculosis, fowl typhoid
viral: Newcastle, fowl plague
fungal: aspergillosis
protozoan: coccidiosis
nutritional: rickets, perosis
Some of the parasites are:
external: lice, mites
internal: roundworms, tapeworms
Vaccinations are administered to birds by injection, water intake, eye drops and spraying. Clean
and hygienic living quarters and surroundings may eliminate up to 90 percent of all disease
occurrences.
Collection of eggs
Frequent egg collection will prevent hens from brooding eggs or trying to eat them and will also
prevent the eggs from becoming damaged or dirty.
EGG PRODUCTION CYCLE
Birds usually start to lay at around five months (20-21 weeks) of age and continue to lay for 12
months (52 weeks) on average, laying fewer eggs as they near the moulting period.
The typical production cycle lasts about 17 months (72 weeks) and involves three distinct
phases, as follows.
· Phase 1: Small chicks or brooders. This phase lasts from 0 to 2 months (0-8 weeks) during
which time small chicks are kept in facilities (brooder houses) separate from laying birds.
· Phase 2: Growers. This phase lasts about 3 months, from the ninth to the twentieth week of
age. Growers may be either housed separately from small chicks or continue to be reared in
brooder-cum-grower houses. It is important to provide appropriate care to the growers
particularly between their seventeenth and twentieth week of age as their reproductive organs
develop during this period.
· Phase 3: Layers. Growers are transferred from the grower house to the layer house when
they are 18 weeks old to prepare for the laying cycle. Birds typically lay for a twelve-month
period starting when they are about 21 weeks old and lasting until they are about 72 weeks old.
Production planning
On average a bird produces one egg per day. Furthermore, not all birds start to lay exactly
when they are 21 weeks old. Planning is therefore required for egg production to be constant so
as to meet market demand. A schedule similar to the one shown in Table 2, which indicates on
average satisfactory levels of production for a flock of birds, can be used.
In areas where the climate is hot and humid, commercial hybrid laying birds produce on average
between 180 and 200 eggs per year. In more temperate climates birds can produce on average
between 250 and 300 eggs per year. The table below illustrates a typical production schedule in
a hot and humid climate.
In Table 2 the age of the flock is shown in the first column and the percentage of birds that
actually lay during that week of age is shown in the second column. Usually at 21 weeks of age
only 5 percent of the flock lay.
As shown in the third column, for 100 birds at 21 weeks of age only five would actually be
laying. In the fourth column the actual number of eggs produced is shown. On average a bird
produces 208 eggs over a twelve-month period, which is a weekly production rate of four eggs
per bird. At 21 weeks of age 20 eggs are produced (five birds produce four eggs each) and at
22 weeks 40 eggs are produced, etc.
The graph in Figure 3 shows the actual percentage of productive laying flock over a period of
time, and the graph in Figure 4 shows the number of eggs produced over a period of time for
100 birds. Egg production rises rapidly and then starts to fall after 31 weeks of age. When less
than 65 percent of the flock are laying eggs (71 weeks of age), it may become uneconomical to
retain birds. Feed costs and sales of culled birds for meat must be considered as well as prices
for eggs. In some instances when egg prices are high it may be viable to delay culling birds until
only 45 percent of the flock is still laying eggs (78 weeks of age).
Table 2
Production schedule in temperate climate (100 birds)
Age of flock (in weeks) % of flock laying No. of birds laying No. of eggs produced per week
21 5 5 20
22 10 10 40
23 18 18 72
24 34 34 136
25 52 52 208
26 65 65 260
27 74 74 296
28 84 84 336
29 88 88 352
30 92 92 368
31 94 94 376
32 - 39 88 88 352
40 - 47 83 83 332
48 - 59 77 77 308
60 - 64 73 73 292
65 - 70 70 70 280
Figure 3 - Percentage of productive laying flock over a period of time
Figure 4
Figure 4 - Number of eggs produced over a period of time
Clearly, egg production requires planning for costs as well as for profit generation and for
meeting market demand. Planning involves not only the number of eggs laid by the flock over a
period of time, but also when to hatch chicks to replace birds with diminishing laying capacity.
If production is to be kept constant, a simple chart as shown in Table 3, for example, will be
needed to plan when new chicks must be hatched so that they can be introduced to laying in
time to pick up on diminishing egg production.
Table 3
Production planning
Layer flocks 0 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 81
(......................... time in weeks..........................)
1st layers Born Lay
2nd layers Born Lay
3rd layers Born Lay
