LIFE AND NUTRITION OF COMMERCIAL EGG-TYPE CHICKENS

Abstract

As lucrative and enterprising as a poultry business can be, if adequate knowledge about the birds and proper managerial skills are lacking, it might end up as a disaster. Poultry production accounts for the major part of all meat produced in many developing countries and are of considerable significance to rural as well as national economies. Poultry birds have various nutrient requirement based on the objective for raising the birds, be it for egg production or meat production or both? This write up gives a brief history of egg type chickens, different breeds, their behavioral and production tendencies and an account of how they have become a source of financial income to the farmers who commercializes their production. The paper further explains the nutritional requirement of egg-type chickens and reasons for these requirements. Furthermore, the paper brings out the benefits of supplying the birds with their nutritional requirements as well as the danger in deficiencies of these requirements.