Poultry Farming in Pakistan

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The poultry farming has now become one of the most dynamic associated parts of agriculture throughout the world. Poultry culture in South Asian countries is expanding rapidly and the rate of growth of commercial layer and broiler (meat producing) farms is phenomenal to meet the ever increasing demand for proteins through poultry meet and eggs. In Pakistan, poultry industry had made considerable contribution to food production and plays a vital role in the economy of the country. Raising of poultry in Pakistan has virtually proven a profitable enterprise as it is the best source of cheap, palatable and nutritious food protein.INTRODUCTIONPoultry Farming describes that Poultry science is the study of principles and practices involved in the production and marketing of poultry and its products. Poultry farming is raising chickens, turkeys, ducks and other fowl for meat or eggs. Poultry farms can be:1. Breeding farms where they raise poultry for meat,2. Layer farms where they produce eggs.HISTORYThe poultry production commenced in Pakistan in 1963. Poultry as on a commercial scale in the private sector started due to pioneering effect made by PIA (Pakistan International Airline) in 1965, when the first modern hatchery unit in Karachi was established. Later on, the investments have taken keen interest in this sector, as was result of which substantial development has taken place towards expansion of this industry. The commercial poultry farming emerged through the combined efforts and foresight of the government and the private enterprises. Now commercial poultry production is concentrated around the large urban centers in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab and initially at Karachi, Lahore with the passage of time, it is now fairly well spread all over the country.Hen birds were mostly maintained in the backyard of the houses in villages on a small scale, with very little investment by the villagers in terms of money and material. The return on those birds was too little, and there was hardly any attraction for investments to operate the same on large scales.POULTRY STATES IN PAKISTANPoultry produced in Pakistan is being developed through two management systems i.e commercial farming and rural poultry farming. The commercial poultry farming sector is a classic example of private sector enterprise with a phenomenal growth of 20 to 25 % per annum. The achievement of this rapid growth was made to the incentives granted by the government time by time through income tax, liberal financing etc.In the provinces of Sindh, there are farms in Mirpurkhas, Sukhar, Nawabshah as well as in small cities. Similarly, in the province of the Punjab, poultry farms have been well established in the areas of Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Lahore, Bhawalpur, Rahimyar Khan, Mianwali.Now the large scale investment and proper incentives have resulted in the establishment of infrastructure comprising of 252 hatcheries with capacity to produce 346 million day- old chicks per annum, 141 feed mills with the capacity to produce 2540 thousand tons of compounds feed per annum and 13154 poultry farms with the capacity to produce 98 million broilers. The present total poultry population is estimated to be 319 million, out of which 137 million is rural (44%), 160 million broilers (50%), 17 million layers (5%) and 5 million breeding (2%) stock annually.WEIGHT VERSUS PRODUCTIONA laying bird produces an average of 250 eggs per year and the average live weight of the broiler is recommended as 1200 grams ( or 1.2 kg), at 8 weeks of age. Pakistan produces 6.5 thousand million eggs and 340 thousand tonnes poultry meat. The consumption of poultry feed increased with their ages. It reached its peak (135g/bird/ day) at 25 weeks age. Then it declined slightly reaching 124g / bird/ day at 33 weeks of age. There are also some local breeds, which are highly productive and are more adaptive to the local conditions. These important poultry breeds of fowls are cross bred with each other to produce. The product is concentrated around the large urban centers in the provinces of Sindh, Punjab and NWFP. The majority of such farmers are generally in and around the cities like Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and Faisalabad. The capacity of the layers farm varies from 2000 to 20000 birds and that of the broilers farms from 103 to 403 birds per annum. The higher cost of poultry feed is mainly due to the increase in the price of the various ingredients particularly fishmeal in their poultry feed. In these days prices of poultry are very high due to the cost of ingredients needed for the manufacturer of the feed meal.Types of Poultry farmsDifferent types of poultry farms cater to different segments of the market. Breeding farms are set up for the sole purpose of hatching and raising poultry for sale to other farmers. The farmers who buy poultry from these farms set up broiler farms. Broiler chickens are reared just for their meat. The usual procedure is to procure day old chicks, keep them for six weeks and market them. During the time that they are in the farm, their feeding, supplements, etc. is closely monitored. Another type of poultry farm is layer farm, where chicks are raised for the purpose of egg production.TYPES OF PAKISTANI POULTRY CHICKENSAsil (or Aseel) The Asil or Aseel is a breed of chicken originating from South Punjab/ Sindh area of Pakistan . Similar fowl are found throughout Southeast Asia and have names like Shamo, Taiwan, etc. Asils were first used for cock fighting. Aseel is noted for its pugnacity. The chicks often fight when they are just a few weeks old and mature roosters will fight to the death. Hens can also be very aggressive towards each other.•Madras asil•Reza Asil•Kulang Asil•Sindhi breed•Mianwali breed•Bantam AsilSadalSimilar to Asils are Sadal (called Malay in Europe). This is a very large breed of chicken from Pakistan . They have longer legs with thin thighs and little wattles with pea-combs.Afghan game fowlBuff chickenPakistani RoosterESTABLISHES POULTRY FARMS•Learn about chicken•Decide what breed of chicken you want•Find reputable chicken supplier•Plan a budget for your operation•Location for chicken farm•Gather your chicken farm supplies•Hatchery ManagementThe loans can be used to cover these aspects of the business:1.Start-up costs for the farm2.Construction expenses3.Animal feeds4.Operational expenses that need to be paid urgently.Approaches to increase productionIn order to increase the production of poultry the following approaches are considered necessary for implementation. Commercial poultry sectors be continued to boost up substantial marine in the productivity.•Rural poultry sector be enhanced. •Rearing of traits be introduced on large scale commercial production ducks, partridges and pigeons rearing be introduced. Encourage establishment of poultry farms in private sectors engaged in the production of birds for rural development to improve food availability.•Coarse grain production must be increased under target oriented programme like major crops. Price support must be granted. Oil cakes/ meat production can be increased through increasing oilseed crops. •To improve poultry health and extension services vaccination against contagious disease must be carried to several 60% of rural poultry production as against existing 25% to establish locally disease reference laboratory.•To establish small poultry units of varying sizes in the villages to increase production of village level.•Private sectors be encouraged to establish disease diagnostic laboratory and vaccine production unit to improve poultry marketing.•To establish poultry processing plants and cold stores to provide ready market for broilers. To establish poultry marketing center at different places in cities and towns.DISEASE RELATED TO POULTRYAvian influenzaAvian influenza, sometimes avian flu, and commonly bird flu, refers to “influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds. Of the greatest concern is highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).“Bird flu” is a phrase similar to “swine flu,” “dog flu,” “horse flu,” or “human flu” in that it refers to an illness caused by any of many different strains of influenza viruses that have adapted to a specific host. All known viruses that cause influenza in birds belong to the species influenza A virus. All subtypes (but not all strains of all subtypes) of influenza A virus are adapted to birds, which is why for many purposes avian flu virus is the influenza A virus.Swine fluswine influenza, also called pig influenza, swine flu, hog flu and pig flu, is an infection by any one of several types of swine influenza virus also related to brid flu of poultry animal.Symptoms of zoonotic swine flu in humans are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general, namely chills, fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness and general discomfort.People who work with poultry and swine, especially people with intense exposures, are at increased risk of zoonotic infection with influenza virus endemic in these animals, and constitute a population of human hosts in which zoonosis and reassortment can co-occur.DisadvantagesIt is a well known fact that poultry farming is a profitable business but it has also some disadvantages some disease such as Newcastale disease, Marek’s disease, infectious bronchitis, gum-boro disease, fowl pox, myco-plasmosis, coccidiosis, lymphoid, adino virus hydro-pericardium etc. are very common in the poultry chicken. These diseases affect very quickly and have a tremendous effects on the growth of the birds. The excess uses of meat also has ill-effects on the health of their users, because the feed they eat contains lots of unhygenic ingredients. Therefor the chickens should be vaccinated regularly and properly.SCOPE OF POULTRY FARMINGPoultry industry which provides cheap source of animal protein has taken a quantum leap in the last three decades evolving from a near backyard practice to a venture of industrial promotion. Poultry is one of the fastest growing segments of the agricultural sector in PAKISTAN today. While the production of agricultural crops has been rising at a rate of 1.5 to 2 percent per annum that of eggs has been rising at a rate of 8 percent per annum.

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