Broiler Farming in Hathazari Region of Bangladesh: A Study of Management Practices

Broiler farming has greatly improved the socio-economic status of people in underdeveloped countries like Bangladesh. The productivity and profitability of broiler farming largely depend on good management practices. The present study was conducted on selected broiler farms to know about the socio-economic status of the farmers, the managemental practices adopted by them and the overall production performance of the broiler chicken in Hathazari region, Chittagong. The data for this study was collected using direct interviews with farmers, visual inspection of farms and farm records through a pre-formed questionnaire. In the study, it was found out that most of the farmers are young (60%), started the farm with their own money (60%), received no training (90%), had an experience of 6-10 years (50%) and has taken farming as a main occupation (70%). Considering management practices, 50% of the farmers collected day-old chick (DOC) from Kazi Farms Limited through local dealers. The housing system was intensive, open-sided with kacha (60%) and paka (40%) floors and tin shed roof. In all farms, sawdust was used as litter material due to the unavailability of rice husk. An electric brooding system was used in all the farms with a duration of 5-7 days in summer and 10-15 days in winter. About 50% of farmers reported that they did not monitor nor measure air temperature during brooding. The most common disease in this area is infectious bursal disease (66%). Most farmers maintained vaccination schedules but hygiene conditions were minimal, with no foot bath and unrestricted public access. All the farmers used different growth promoters, antibiotics, liver tonics, and vitamins in broilers. The average mortality rate of the studied farm was 3.36%, the average final body weight was 1.7 kg and the average feed conversion ratio (FCR) was 1.26. It is concluded that the information gathered through this study would be beneficial in developing enhanced poultry management strategies in the study area.