Everyone knows that the poultry industry is big business. But how can you manage a profitable poultry operation? That’s what this post is all about! We’ve rounded up some of the best blogs and websites to help you start out with the basics of chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and other farmed birds. Find out what breeds are best for which climates; when to breed them; how to care for them from day-old chicks through laying or raising them yourself as a food source. There are also sites here devoted to raising game birds like quail and pheasant commercially or on small farms.
Poultry Business Blog
The Poultry Business Blog is for the beginning and experienced poultry keeper. Have you been raising chickens at home and now are thinking about becoming a small time producer of eggs or meat? Maybe you already raise them commercially and are looking to expand with ducks, turkeys or other farmed birds? Either way, this site has tons of information for beginners to advanced chicken farmers. Though the blog isn’t updated very often (and there could be an entire archive from 2012 that I haven’t gotten through yet!), it does have some great information for those just starting out.
Poultrykeeper
Poultrykeeper is one of the best sites on poultry keeping. It is a comprehensive site with information on breeds, care, food and other topics for chicken and other poultry keepers. It even has the free CD of “The Poultry Expert” DVD series that gives step-by-step instructions on how to raise chickens and other poultry. If you are thinking of taking the plunge into raising your own food or starting a small business in this industry, this site is worth looking into.
Raising Poultry
This site is great when it comes to keeping up with everything that is going on in the poultry producing world. It covers subjects like health issues, housing, breeding, etc. A good site for those who are looking to learn about poultry keeping on a commercial level.
The Poultry Site
This is the ultimate in commercial poultry, as well as breed and egg information. There is an entire section on the different types of poultry breeds for sale (chickens, ducks, turkeys) with beautiful descriptions of all that they have to offer for the producer. This site was created to help farmers and prospective breeders from around the world learn more about breeding gamebirds (such as pheasant, quail and partridge).
The purpose of poultry business management is to maximize profit in this competitive industry. A successful poultry business will typically include a large investment in animal housing, feed processing, equipment and workers who process meat chickens into marketable products. There are a number of factors that affect the profitability of a poultry operation including: the retail price of eggs or broilers (young chicken raised for meat), feed costs, labor costs, utility costs and government regulations. Poultry operations are subject to stringent environmental regulations, which can vary by location.
Profit in the egg industry is derived from selling eggs and/or chickens raised for meat. As a result, a successful poultry business management will include the price that an egg or broiler operation receives for its product is influenced by the production costs of other farmers. The retail price of eggs is influenced by the familiarity and demand of alternative protein sources such as beef, pork or chicken. Producers must understand that market prices fluctuate periodically in response to these and other factors such as demand and cost of production.
There are a number of things being done at the farm level to increase egg shell quality and bird performance including medications.
