BROILERS: PROCESSING AND BY-PRODUCTS.

The 42-day rapid return on investment in broiler production makes it a lucrative business.The beauty of the venture is that no part of the birds is a waste,all by-products is a money-spinner. 

 The processing of the birds are done in processing plants which come in various capacities depending on your type of venture.

The birds are processed in the following sections; Stunning, the birds are stunned before slaughtering to prevent blood in the meat,thus tainting the meat.

 Slaughtering: this is done using the slaughtering cone, the birds are placed in cones and slaughtered. 

 Scalding tank: birds placed in scalding tank operated at proper temperature to prevent cooking the birds. 

   

 De-feathering; the feathers are removed in the defeathering machine,that ensures the birds are clean . \

Evisceration; the visceral removed, also the head/ neck is removed. Washing; the birds are passed to the washing section where they are hosed down with clean water. The birds are then sent to packaging unit. 

 The packaging unit is the last phase of processing,the birds are packed using clean transparent bags and these are sent to chillers for onward supply to supermarket. Investors in this venture can make more money by processing other birds from other farms at a price,this will also reduce over head cost.

The investor can position himself as a producer/ processor in an area bringing more opportunities to that zone.

This can also be another empowerment opportunity for young school leavers,who can easily raise broilers and process in this plant and sell as premium chicken . The investor can also work with other farmers ,who will sell to him and he will process and sell as premium chicken thus increasing his finances without increasing his cost of production.

 Broiler waste can also be collected and processed to produce bio-gas and also electricity.The waste is channeled to a digester fed with anaerobic bacteria to give bio-gas for cooking and also energy.This can be transferred to grid which can power the poultry farm and save overhead by reducing electricity bill. 

 The feathers are collected in a vat,washed and dyed.These are then used as fashion accessories, pillow stuffing's,table decor,office decor and writing materials. 

The blood collected can be processed and included into feed of animals.

Breeding pigs for profit.

Pigs   are mono gastric animals usually bred for commercial purposes. The raising of pigs is for reproduction, fattening and sale. Pigs properly managed and housed in a clean environment reproduce at a fast rate and bring about good return on investment.
 
                                       Breeds of pigs.
   There are various breeds of pigs available such as land race,large white,Duroc and Hampshire. The indigenous breeds available have been crossed over time with exotic breeds such that some of their traits are passed down.

   The cross with indigenous breeds ensures that the pigs are hardy and are stable in this environment. Pigs must be chosen for high productivity, sexual soundness, rapid growth,good mothering ability and excellent health and breeding soundness.

                                         Selection of stock. 
 When setting up a farm, your stock must be chosen from proven sources with excellent health and breeding records.
 Boars, to be chosen must be from a sow with high reproductive capacity at least 8 -10 piglets/litter. The boar must be active with 10-12 rudimentary teat. The boar must be from a disease-free stock, with no record of lameness .
 The boar must have well developed feet with uniform curve at the back and must be long in length. The boar must be selected from stock with well developed sex organs.
 The boar must be at least 8 months to be suitable for service.

                                                           Gilts. 
 These are virgin females, they must be selected from fast growing weaners. The gilts must have good body conformation, strong legs and feet. The gilts are selected from sows with good mothering abilities and high farrowing rate of 9-11 piglets/litter.
 The gilts must not have any defects such as inverted teats,or fat deposited at the base of their teats. 

                                                          Housing.
 A piece of land of about 120×60 ft can house about 400 full grown pigs.    The land should be fenced to keep out predators.
There must be a borehole to supply water on the farm . The pens are solid structures with dwarf walls that have metal gates,the floors are cemented but roughened to prevent falling of pigs. Houses should have in built feeding troughs and feeding troughs.

                                                               Feeding.
 Pigs are to be fed a balanced ration for optimal growth, development and reproduction. The ration should not be fatty to prevent the pigs from depositing fat to produce fatty pork instead of lean meat. Feed can be sourced locally or commercial feed can be purchased. Feed ingredients are as follows,maize,p.k.c, wheat bran, brewers waste,full fat soya,vegetables, fishmeal, with salt and minerals.

                                                             Breeding. 
Boars are put to work at about 9 months of age when they are sexually matured. Gilts are mated at about 8 months, the gilts are growing and also feeding their fetuses, thus the nutrition must be such to cater for the growth and development of the fetuses, the gilts are flushed 3 weeks to the mating by increasing feed intake.
     When the gilt is on heat and ready for mating stands to pressure and allows the boar.The mating is down twice at 24hr interval.The gestation period is113 days,the sow is moved to farrowing pen 2 days to expected delivery. The farrowing house must be warm and have extra floor covering to prevent damage to knees and feet of piglets.

The piglets are exposed to colostrum immediately after birth.The sow milk does not contain enough iron so iron injection must be given to the the piglets.

                                                    Management of piglets. 

They should be started on creep feed at about 9 days, this is high in protein and stimulates rapid growth. The piglets have 2 teeth on the upper and lower jaw, that have needle points that can damage the udder, this must be clipped
   .Boars that are to be fattened must be castrated to remove the smell taint from the pork when sold.Tail tip is cut to prevent tail biting..  Deworming and antibiotic treatment are given at stipulated times.

BROILER PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING.

The raising of broilers for profit is no new venture, but not many people know the rapid turn over potential in this venture. Broilers are birds raised for meat, they grow rapidly and have good feed conversion ratio.The beauty of this venture is that the birds mature at a fast rate within a short time span of 8 to 10 weeks, and the farmer gets to make a steady income every 8/10 weeks. The fast food industry major in the use of broilers for most of the dishes they serve ,because of the taste , the quality of the breast meat and the size . The broiler can also be processed and hygienically packed as premium birds and sold in stores and retail outlets. The raising of the broiler starts from the day old, which must be from a good hatchery as the type of breed purchased has a lot to do with the outcome of the venture. The main purpose of the broiler production is to produce birds with good breast muscle, that reach market size at the appropriate time and have high return on investment. The Cobb broiler chicks will give good breast meat, have good feed conversion ration, reach a weight of 2.24kg in 42 days, mortality rate is 2- 4% and the feed intake is about 4-4.2 kg, the average weight in the first week is about 160gm . The cobb broiler will give a high return on investment. The management of the day old chicks include the brooding stage, the birds are kept warm using a source of heat that is monitored, the temperature of the house should be monitored , feed and water should be available for the chicks, a brooder guard should be available to keep them near the heat source and their must be shavings on the floor , there must be extra lightening for the birds so as to access feed which promotes growth in broilers. The birds are fed on broiler starter from 0-5 weeks. The growing/finishing stage the birds are fed with the broiler finisher from 6 weeks to slaughter when they reach market weight.The health status of the birds are important if they are to perform optimally,thus vaccinations, vitamins, antibiotics and worming are important. The birds must have access to good quality feed, and clean water always. The production is a continuous one so the flock should be replaced as soon as they reach market size. The Cobb broiler breed is more than just appearance, its efficient feed conversion is a plus in this era where feed costs are high and also its well suited for hotter temperatures.

Biogas from human waste - Appropedia: The sustainability wiki

Biogas from human waste - Appropedia: The sustainability wiki

AGRO-VETERINARY : Animal identification and treatment strategies with microchips .

 Animal identification and treatment strategies with microchips The animal world is undergoing a positive turn around,it called microchip in pets. What? Micro chip in pets, is about identification and registration such that animals can easily be traced and monitored.

 The microchip allows the information of the animals to be stored in a database for proper record purposes. The microchip implant is fixed on the left arm region of pets, it is placed just below the skin,while in livestock,the implant is in form of tags ,this is usually placed on the ears. These implants can then be identified using scanners. 

 The microchip implants play an important role in animal. The uses of the implants are enormous and they include 1) identification of pedigree . 

            2) tracking of animals into and out of a country.

            3)finding lost pets. 

            4) easy verification of pedigree of animals and ownership.

            5 )to prevent dog theft. 

            6) planning health protocol for animals. 

 The identification of livestock and pets is of paramount importance if any health preventive strategies are to be formulated and enforced. The identification process will provide adequate data which will depict, the specie, the number,sex and location, this simple data will make disease monitoring easy and also facilitate rapid response in case of disease outbreak. 

 Disease surveillance and disease preventive/treatment protocol will be easy and budgetary allocation will be accurate. Budgetary allocation is key in planning of preventive protocols,so if data is not available, no meaningful strategy can be implemented.

MONEY AND ENERGY FROM POULTRY.

The poultry industry is a viable sector ensuring food security and contributing to the GDP of the economy. The revenue generated from this industry has been harnessed to drive growth and development but better management practices can actually increase the figures and provide more by- products that will further propel growth. The waste produced by the birds is a threat to the environment because of improper disposal and utilization of millions of tons of manure and litter soiled droppings produced daily. The waste generated by poultry is a problem to farmers as the high nitrogen content of the waste releases ammonia fumes in the air making environment unbearable, hence most poultry farmers are at a loss at how to manage the waste. Poultry waste normally is used as fertilizer for vegetable farm but it must be stored for about a period of 6 months before it can be used,the use of poultry waste to make bio-gas is a much better way. Chicken waste can be used to produce eco-friendly bio-gas which will provide energy in form of heat,gas(methane) for cooking and electricity and the digested slurry is disposed as treated fertilizer which has better market value. The use of the chicken manure to make gas requires specialized digester: the chicken manure is a peculiar waste to use to generate bio--gas because of the high nitrogen content ,but technology has found a way around it . The use of a specialized pre-treatment technology makes the anaerobic digestion easy, and the gas generated can be used to power homes and business across the country. The use of waste to generate electricity in the world today has various advantages to the individuals,nation and the environment. The waste generated in the poultry industry, the livestock farms,agricultural waste,food waste and human waste can be channeled into a bio-gas plant to produce methane,heat and electricity. The power generation in most countries need to be upgraded to serve the populace better,drive industrial growth and maintain a safe environment.The millions of tons of chicken droppings/litter can be channeled and put in a bio-gas plant to generate electricity. Waste of poultry has before now been a menace to the society because of improper management and disposal,but with the introduction of a pre-treatment technology that treats the waste before its passed to the anaerobic digester,for breakdown to produce the desired products. The use of chicken waste to generate power will reduce cost of production in the manufacturing industry,which will translate to lowered overhead cost,lower prices of products and more profit for manufacturers.

AGRIBUSINESS: E-WALLET IN AGRICULTURE.

Information is vital to growth of any economy.The rate at which information is generated,disseminated and utilized is rapidly changing how businesses are run thus imparting the economy. Information communication technology has changed the playing field in various strata of the economy,with the advent of mobile phones,internet ,apps, and cloud services.

E-WALLET IN AGRICULTURE. Telecommunication has been utilized to collect data,analyze data,process the data and disseminate this as information to individuals and corporations thus ensuring perfect operations in these fields resulting in economic development. 

 The possibilities of telecommunication as a growth driver of the economy is endless.The world itself is a global village, making communication,transfer of documents across continents at the speed of a click.

The role of telecommunication as a force for economic change are as follows; 

 1) Education; this gives access to books,articles,journals learning aids and teaching aids.Telecommunication also facilitates obtaining degrees online,by provision of online universities and self-help courses,which open up individuals to wealth of information and advanced technology which they can apply to their various fields.E-WALLET IN AGRICULTURE. 

 2) health, this gives access to unique health care facilities,interaction with experts all over the world and exposure to latest medical procedures and diagnostic tools. This is so very useful in the rural areas where they can access a medical personnel by simply making a call,joining in conference calls and also . 3) AGRICULTURE; this allows forum discussion, dissemination of real live updates on weather,price, improved seeds, insurance, pest control and animal management.There are several program mes that transfer information through info graphics,animation or videos educating farmers so that they cut losses and expand the business.

 4) Time management; with telecommunication every aspect of production is simplified making work fast and easy.Every information can be easily accessed, and quickly disseminated,thus saving time and over head cost. 

E-WALLET The role of telecommunication as a growth driver for the economy is made possible and workable because of the mobile phone,one in every 2 people has a phone even in rural communities,there is an access to pay phone points. Telecommunication is a game changer in the business world and especially the agriculture sector where so many innovations and strategies are springing up to ensure food security; one of such programme is the phone -a-farmer initiative® to boost the agricultural value chain in various sections.

  E-WALLET IN AGRICULTURE. The company employs the use of data to profile information relevant to each farmer and as such render quality information that saves moneys and boost the revenue of the farmer.

The success of the project is hinged on the large number of farmers with a phone and on dedicated network that gives real time information through SMS or MMS. The initiative includes all sectors of agriculture value chain, processing and packaging. 

 The aim of initiative is to get all real time farmers down to grassroots where majority of farming is operational. E-WALLET IN AGRICULTURE. HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLO!!! NIGERIA. .