Chapter 1 - Egg production

PRODUCTION

Poultry enterprises may vary from basic backyard poultry keeping to mechanized and automated production plants. Various types of poultry enterprises are illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1

Types of poultry enterprises

Backyard poultry production is at the subsistence level of farming. Birds live free range and hatch their own eggs. Their diet is supplemented with crop waste or food leftovers. The labour involved in backyard poultry production is part-time.

Farm flock production is slightly more specialized. Eggs are hatched at a separate location where the hatch and the sexing of the birds are controlled.

Commercial poultry farm production involves full-time labour and is geared toward producing on a sufficient scale for the sale of both eggs and poultry meat.

Specialized egg production consists of separating poultry for meat and egg production. In the egg producing plant, specialized employees oversee specific aspects of egg production.

Integrated egg production is the most advanced enterprise and involves full mechanization and automation of the egg production cycle including battery egg laying, temperature controls, scientific feeding and mechanized egg collection methods.

Types of brooders

Basket brooder

Oil barrel - charcoal

Source: Reid et al., 1990

All of the above poultry-keeping methods are used in the developing world, but the majority of the enterprises are backyard poultry and farm flock production. The poultry and egg sectors are highly fragmented. Most of the production is carried out by a large number of farmers, each with a very small flock. The greater part of produce is sold in markets close to the farms.

Day-old chicks are usually obtained from local hatcheries licensed by international hybrid breeding companies. Farmers or cooperatives of farmers may choose between varieties of chickens for egg production and meat production.

The small chicks can be either naturally or artificially brooded. If artificially brooded, small chicks must be placed in a separate house from laying chickens and it is necessary to protect the chicks from predators, diseases and catching colds. This stage of brooding lasts for eight weeks. In the first four weeks of life, small chicks need to be housed in a brooding box. Some typical types of brooders are shown below and on the previous page.

Kerosene brooder

Storm lantern brooder

After the first month, small chicks are removed from the brooder box and placed in the brooder house. At two months of age, the chicks enter the grower stage which lasts until they are five months (20 weeks) old. Growers may either be housed separately from small chicks or continue to be reared in brooder-cum-grower houses. It is important to properly manage the growers as their reproductive organs develop during this period and this will affect their egg production capacity in the future.

When the growers reach 18 weeks of age they are moved to laying houses and begin to lay eggs, which are, however, small and unmarketable. It is not until they are 21 weeks old that the growers reach their commercial laying stage. Layers may be placed in intensive, semi-intensive or free-range types of housing.

The choice of housing is determined by climate, type of production desired and the farmer’s financial resources. Some examples of laying houses are shown on the next two pages.

Photographs 1 through 5 (see photograph section) are other examples of laying houses.

Factors affecting egg production

Typically, a layer’s production cycle lasts just over a year (52-56 weeks). During the production cycle many factors influence egg production; therefore, the cycle must be managed effectively and efficiently in order to provide maximum output and profitability. The following factors influence egg production.

Breed. The breed of the laying bird influences egg production. Management and feeding practices, however, are the key determining features for egg production.

Mortality rate. Mortality rate may rise due to disease, predation or high temperature. The mortality rate of small chicks (up to eight weeks of age) is about 4 percent; that of growers (between eight and 20 weeks of age) is about 15 percent; and that of layers (between 20 and 72 weeks of age) is about 12 percent. The average mortality rate of a flock is from 20 to 25 percent per year.

Types of laying houses

Housing for hot - arid climates

Open house type

Moveable type housing

Sources: Kekeocha, 1985; Oluyemi and Roberts, 1979

Age. Birds typically begin producing eggs in their twentieth or twenty-first week and continue for slightly over a year. This is the best laying period and eggs tend to increase in size until the end of the egg production cycle.

Body weight. In general, optimum body weight during the laying period should be around 1.5 kg, although this varies according to breed. Underweight as well as overweight birds lay eggs at a lower rate. Proper management and the correct amount of feed are necessary in order to achieve optimum body weight.

Laying house. The laying house should be built according to local climatic conditions and the farmer’s finances. A good house protects laying birds from theft, predation, direct sunlight, rain, excessive wind, heat and cold, as well as sudden changes in temperature and excessive dust. If the climate is hot and humid, for example, the use of an open house construction will enable ventilation. The inside of the house should be arranged so that it requires minimum labour and time to care for the birds.

Lighting schedule. Egg production is stimulated by daylight; therefore, as the days grow longer production increases. In open houses, found commonly in the tropics, artificial lighting may be used to increase the laying period. When darkness falls artificial lighting can be introduced for two to three hours, which may increase egg production by 20 to 30 percent.

In closed houses, where layers are not exposed to natural light, the length of the artificial day should be increased either in one step, or in a number of steps until the artificial day reaches 16 to 17 hours, which will ensure constant and maximized egg production. Effective day length should never decrease during the laying period. An ideal artificial light schedule is shown in Figure 1.

Feed. Free-range hens will produce more meat and eggs with supplemental feed, but only if they are improved breeds or crossbreeds. The selection of local hens is done on the basis of resistance and other criteria rather than feed utilisation for production.

Fresh and clean water should always be provided, as a layer can consume up to one-quarter of a litre a day.

Figure 1 - Lighting schedule

Source: Smith, 1990

Culling. Culling is the removal of undesirable (sick and/or unproductive) birds, from the flock. There are two methods of culling:

• mass culling, when the entire flock is removed and replaced at the end of the laying cycle; and
• selective culling, when the farmer removes individual unproductive or sick birds.

Culling enables a high level of egg production to be maintained, prevents feed waste on unproductive birds and may avert the spreading of diseases.

Climate. The optimal laying temperature is between 11° and 26° C. A humidity level above 75 percent will cause a reduction in egg laying. Figure 2 indicates the effect temperature has on egg production.

Figure 2

Temperature and its effects on egg production

Source: Kekeocha, 1985

When the temperature rises above 28° C the production and quality of eggs decrease. Seasonal temperature increases can reduce egg production by about 10 percent.

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)

Figure 3 - Percentage of productive laying flock over a period of time

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

As indicated on the chart, the first layer flock was hatched at 0 weeks to become productive after 21 weeks. The second flock of layers was hatched at the 21st week to be ready to lay after the 41st week, as the first layer flock starts to diminish production. This type of production entails having flocks of birds of different age groups.

Clean and hygienic living quarters and surroundings are essential to control disease. There should be no more than three or four different flock age groups present at one time. The mortality rate on average is between 20 and 25 percent. This means that if one wants 100 birds to lay, it may be necessary to buy between 120 and 125 small chicks.

PRODUCTION COSTS AND PROFITS

Records should be kept of costs incurred during the operation and of proceeds from the sale of eggs. Costs must be covered by the sales of eggs. The difference between the proceeds from the sales and costs incurred represents profit.

Brooder-grower stage

The costs to be considered are not only those concerned with the birds during the laying period, but also those incurred in the brooder and grower stage during which time no eggs are being produced. The brooder-cum-grower stage lasts about five months (0-20 weeks). The main costs to consider during this stage can be seen in Table 4.

Laying birds

Once the costs for the brooder-cum-grower stage have been calculated, it will be possible to calculate costs for the laying birds. Calculations may be made on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. However, the most useful calculations are made at the end of the laying cycle. Daily, weekly or monthly calculations give approximate indications of costs and relative profits or losses. The main concern for farmers during this period is probably whether or not the proceeds from the sale of eggs cover feed and rearing costs. Feed cost is generally estimated to be about 75 percent of the production cost of eggs.

Comparing feed and rearing costs and egg proceeds for a week or a month may give an indication of profitability or loss. A farmer would have to subtract the cost of feed for a week from the proceeds for the total number of eggs sold that week. Furthermore, the rearing costs (expenses incurred before the birds start laying) should be amortized. This can be calculated by dividing the total rearing costs by the laying period. If rearing costs are US$ 10 and the laying period is 52 weeks, cost per week for rearing is US$ 0.19. Table 5 shows a simple record of weekly costs and sales.

Costs and income for the laying cycle

Calculations for the laying cycle (52 weeks) are more accurate and enable the farmer to determine whether the egg laying enterprise is running at a profit or a loss.

Table 4
Expenses for rearing

Table 5
Weekly costs and sales

Costs. When calculating costs for the laying cycle, the main expenditures to consider are:

• rearing - rearing brooders until they become layers;
• housing - building or maintaining laying house and brooder house;
• equipment - the cost of miscellaneous items such as feeders, buckets, etc.;
• feed - total feed used during the year;
• labour - labour costs incurred to manage birds;
• vaccinations - medicines and veterinary visits;
• mortality - loss of laying birds due to disease, etc.; and
• various expenses - lighting, water, etc.

Income. When calculating income for the laying cycle, the earnings to consider derive from:

• the sale of eggs;
• the sale of culled birds after the first cycle of production; and
• where applicable, manure sold as fertilizer.

Table 6 shows an example of record keeping for yearly production costs and income.

Initially, capital is required to start an enterprise; proceeds from the sales of eggs should, however, provide funds to continue with the business before the end of the first laying cycle. Indeed, three months after point of lay (30 -31 weeks of age), when the birds should normally have reached peak production, the proceeds from the sale of eggs should be sufficient to operate the business on a revolving fund basis. The three-month period is sufficiently long even for the low producing birds or those that peak late.

Figure 5 shows the various factors that affect the profitability of an egg enterprise.

Table 6
Costs and income for a production cycle*

* This table does not include marketing costs (see Chapter 5, Pricing and sales policy).

Figure 5 - Gross output and factors affecting the profitability of an egg enterprise*

* Draft Farm Management Training Manual, AGSF, Rome, 2002.

The following guidelines have been selected from the FAO Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) Diversification Component, May 1997.