If you were asked the question of a poultry farmer, who is it, then most likely, something like this picture immediately appeared before your eyes: a person somewhere in the countryside, feeding domestic animals like chickens, ducks and geese. Everything is true, only in modern realities, when any industry grows to immense proportions, poultry farmers mainly work in factories.
What exactly does a poultry farmer do?
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Even in our age of universal automation, one cannot do without a person who will supervise all processes related to the feeding and growth of birds. The poultry farmer has a lot of worries, he must serve hundreds, or even thousands of chickens.
Its primary tasks include:
- preparation of feed in compliance with all technological standards and its distribution;
- control over the timely supply of water to the drinkers;
- measures for the cleaning of industrial premises;
- setting the necessary parameters in the room, such as temperature, humidity, air exchange.
It is the responsibility of the poultry breeder to monitor the optimal conditions for keeping chickens or other birds. In addition, the poultry farmer takes an active part in therapeutic and preventive measures. He must carefully observe the condition of the animals and, at the slightest symptom of disease, take appropriate measures.
Naturally, random people are not allowed into poultry farms. Poultry breeders receive specialized education and, depending on the length of service, they are assigned ranks. The duties of a second-class poultry farmer include grazing birds, maintaining equipment and inventory, screening out weak birds and collecting animals that died prematurely.
Poultry farmers of the fourth category perform actions aimed at increasing productivity, are engaged in sorting and culling of live goods, cleaning trays in cages from slags. Pyatirazryadniki use the latest methods in selection and breeding work, look after the young, monitor compliance with the conditions for growing breeding birds.
Of course, there is nothing to do in this without love for animals. The poultry farmer must not only carefully handle the birds entrusted to his care, but also be very observant in order to react with lightning speed to changes in the behavior of his wards.
If you forget about personal qualities for a while, it is important for this specialist to understand;
- rules for care and maintenance;
- composition of disinfectants;
- basic veterinarian and sanitary standards;
- rules concerning sorting and packaging of egg products.
It would be useful for the poultry breeder to have responsibility, since oversight or negligence in his duties can easily lead to irreparable consequences. They teach this seemingly simple profession in agricultural technical schools, and future poultry farmers undergo internships directly at poultry farms.
It's nice that every day, thanks to the efforts of domestic poultry farmers, the growth of the Russian feathered population is increasing. And finally, it is worth noting that a real poultry farmer who he is is a person to whom doing his work brings incomparable joy.
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When I decided to get chickens, I focused on egg breeds so that I don’t kill chickens, don’t spend money on fun fights, but still have fresh eggs. E. Osipova
Of the egg breeds, traditionally the best are - leggorny and hybrids of this breed, originally bred in Italy (in Livorno), and now the most common almost all over the world. These chickens are small, up to 2 kg, and you can get 220-250 eggs from them per year. Not a record, of course, but a lot.
I was afraid to take chickens - there is no experience, young birds are fragile, tender, leaving them is a whole art. True, they cost only 50 rubles each, but still it’s somehow not for me to put living souls at risk. Stopped at 6-month-old laying hens. The price of each is -200 rubles, by the way, some exotic bantam beauties would cost one and a half thousand per head! Leghorns start laying eggs as early as 4 months old.
Number of layers, which was going to purchase, calculated in advance. It depends on the area occupied by the house under the roof and the paddock under the open sky. Of course, it would be possible not to let the chickens out at all, it would be easier and more economical to keep them. However, leghorns are temperamental and mobile, not like almost 5-kilogram meat cochinchins are real phlegmatic. In addition, eggs from chickens that have a range are much more useful than from birds that are constantly indoors.
I came from the size of the chicken coop, built last fall by my prudent husband. The area of our wooden shed, similar to a utility block, is 2 × 1.5 m. 6 hens will fit here - at the rate of 0.5 m2 per bird.
The principles of choice are as follows. Birds should be active, with bright red crests and wattles and yellow legs (pale is a sign of old age). Feathers - clean, shiny, close to the body, not thin, but not greasy, otherwise the chicken will not lay well.
A neighbor in the dacha, who has been keeping them for a long time and has achieved considerable success, helped to choose chickens from a poultry farmer. By the way, we used his advice.
Saved on the purchase of a rooster. Fertilized eggs are live, which means that this food is not for a vegetarian.
Commandments of the chicken breeder
Don't overfeed!
Do not enter the chickens from 9.00 to 15.00.
Always praise them
In addition to the usual door to the chicken hostel, the husband also built a small one (30 × 40 cm) - only for layers. Of course, there is a feeder in the aviary.
Under the drinker We have a deep bowl. We are going to treat the birds not only with compound feed, but also with healthy and tasty additives: grass, the remains of the broth with bread, millet, grain, fish, dairy products and boiled potatoes.
There is also a separate wooden trough for mineral dressing - shell rock, shells or special fodder chalk. In a word, everything is according to the advice of experts.
We hope to receive 4-5 organic eggs per day, 55-60 g each.
Indeed, in the summer, chickens rush much better. In general, a neighbor somehow received 255 pieces in a year from one laying hen!
In addition, I will have my own valuable fertilizer - chicken manure. Truly wasteless creatures!
Reference
Wild ancestors of chickens produced only 10-30 eggs per year, modern ones - more than 300.
The record was set in 1930: the feathered champion carried 361 pieces in 364 days.
Japanese doctors from the University of Kyoto found that chicken egg protein is a drug that blocks the growth of human cancer cells.
Noticed that chickens love blue food (you can buy this).
The feeder should be red, not yellow. Green and orange colors soothe them, and blue is perceived by birds as pitch darkness.
Diet eggs are those that are no more than 7 days old.
Expert opinion
Vladimir Malik, one of the authors of the collection "1000 tips for amateur breeders"
If the summer resident wants to achieve the maximum number of eggs from chickens, you need to choose the most productive laying hens and feed them with high-quality food. These birds eat a little more. For the formation of 12 pieces, 1.6-1.7 kg of a full-fledged balanced feed is spent.
Today, the French breed of chickens is very popular in the world. isobraun, from which you can get 300-320 eggs per year.
Egg hens are usually kept for a maximum of 2 seasons. Longer is unprofitable. They run less and less. Modern summer residents, leaving home, slaughter their birds in the fall, as they have nowhere to put them.
A bit of arithmetic
Balanced feed for layers, they are prepared according to a special program developed by scientists. The ingredients are mixed automatically and under the control of the operator.
Knowing the composition of the recipe, you can cook food yourself. For young laying hens (not chickens!) The diet includes: wheat, barley, wheat bran, fish meal, phosphate, fodder chalk, reverse, sunflower and soybean cake, table salt.
Whether it is necessary to mess around, making up a nutrient mixture, everyone decides for himself.
Complete food (PC-1) costs 490 rubles. per bag (40 kg). It can be bought in the market or ordered online in bulk. Then you will pay 11,750 rubles per ton. and the price for 40 kg will be 20 rubles. below.
For 6 layers one bag is enough for 38 days (one bird eats 180 g per day). A little more than 2 rubles will be spent on chicken feed, even at expensive prices. per day, and she will lay one full-fledged egg. The benefit is obvious. E. Osipova
Feeder for chickens
ALL THAT: EGG OR CHICKEN?
Eight o'clock in the morning. The howler warns about the beginning of the working day at the Molodezhnaya poultry farm. It has been installed here for a long time, since the last century, and, apparently, not in vain: the siren has a sobering effect, and I instantly tune in to labor exploits. As the saying goes, the trumpet calls to duty.
By the way, I prepared for them in advance and read a curious article on the Internet about what appeared first: an egg or a chicken. A couple of years ago, British scientists used a computer to simulate the process of the appearance of a chicken egg. As it turned out, the protein ovocledinin plays a key role in its formation. It is he who, being in the body of a bird, is involved in the creation of the shell. Therefore, in the beginning there was a chicken, the scientists concluded. On this interesting fact, my knowledge of poultry farming, unfortunately, ended.
Moreover, something else is much more important for the reader: how does the egg get on the dinner table? What are laying hens fed? And is salmonella as terrible as it is painted? For answers to these and other questions, I go to the village of Pervomayskoye to the Molodezhnaya poultry farm as an ordinary employee. So, I'm on the threshold of new discoveries!
NO ENTRY FOR UNAUTHORISED PEOPLE
I am not just going to become an assistant to the senior livestock specialist Nikolai Mutylin, I am going to learn from a person who wanted to work in agriculture since the seventh grade. Imagine, for him, everyday work is not a routine, but a childhood dream come true. I think that a mentor who is in love with the profession is a real find for a beginner. Shoulder to shoulder with him, I have to learn the basics of poultry farming - the most high-tech area of animal husbandry, according to Nikolai Petrovich.
I will say that getting into the territory of the factory is not so easy. It is impossible for a person from the street to take and come here. “No entry to outsiders” - warning signs are easy to notice on the most important objects - poultry houses and the fodder shop. At the checkpoint, packages and bags are inspected if necessary. This is eloquently "says" a sign on the wall. Of course, tough precautionary measures are not a whim of the management and not even a desire to keep a trade secret. Winged pets are highly susceptible to infections and stress, so their peace and health are above all else.
OMELETTE WITHOUT CONCERN
Strictly observing all the requirements for the appearance of employees, dressed in a white uniform - a bathrobe and a cap, having received several pairs of shoe covers, I set off for the first task. True, we pass by the incubator: even an "agrarian" journalist will not be allowed into it - all for the same security reasons. Like it or not, this is a maternity hospital - only for birds, and sterility is a priority.
The first on our route is an acclimatizer, a poultry house for rearing young animals aged from 1 to 105 days. A kind of kindergarten for chickens, where they reach adulthood and become laying hens. By the way, the Dutch Leggorn breed is bred at the poultry farm - Cross Hisex white.
- At this stage, the cockerels are culled, leaving only the hens. By the way, do you know that chickens lay eggs without the participation of a rooster? - the livestock specialist asks me, to which I round my eyes in surprise. A fact known to many since childhood, for me - a villager - turned out to be real news!
- The rooster is needed only for the fertilization of the egg, - the chief mentor continues, - in order to have feathered offspring.
It turns out that chickens will never hatch from store eggs. Fu, now I will fry an omelet without remorse! Indeed, live a century - learn a century.
SILENCE AND PEACE
In the aviary, where we went next, it seems dark out of habit. But gradually the eyes adapt to lighting at 10 lux - dimly, as if a nightlight is on. The intensity of light is the most important condition for the development of a bird. Its deficiency will make the chickens underdeveloped, and an overabundance will provoke too rapid growth. Another paramount requirement is temperature and humidity, as well as a strictly defined amount of feed per day. At Molodezhnaya, all technological indicators are monitored by imported equipment. The monitors display the data necessary for the smooth operation of the poultry house. The task of locksmith operators is to see deviations from the specified parameters in time and prevent changes in the mode. Any error in poultry farming is fraught with serious consequences.
- You know, a chicken lays eggs like an automaton, - Nikolai Mutylin resorts to such a comparison in order to describe the process of the appearance of eggs into the world in an accessible way. - The thing is that the follicles inside the chicken resemble a bunch of grapes. The largest "berry" comes out first, then the next one, and so on. Any stress - and the follicle may not form. - At this phrase, I began to intensively photograph pretty chickens, peacefully pecking at the grain.
The bright flash that illuminated the room obviously did not please the Corydalis: cackling loudly, they nervously flapped their wings. Apologizing to the laying hens for the invasion of privacy, I hastened to retreat. But the loud uproar of discontent was transmitted through the poultry house for a long time. “They let the Fox into the chicken coop,” I thought, realizing that my last name in this situation can be interpreted in two ways.
In general, the conclusion suggests itself as follows: sudden movements, loud sounds and extraneous noise are not allowed in the house - birds shy away from all this and are stressed.
TECHNOLOGIES AND TRADITIONS
Poultry workers have perhaps the most peaceful job on earth. Marina Varaksina has been working at the factory for ten years and knows all the intricacies of the process. In the morning, before 11 o'clock, and in the afternoon, she, in professional terms, "drives" the egg. At this time, the primary sorting takes place - dirty and beaten are placed separately. “The work is monotonous and stressful,” says Marina, not distracted. The fingers of her hands quickly go through the eggs - ten by ten, a hundred by a hundred.
The way the products move along the conveyor is monitored by the mechanic-operator Valentin Martynov and the poultry keeper Elena Shavrina. With their eyes closed, they will show why there are so many levers and buttons on a huge shield. After the initial sorting, the eggs go on an hour and a half journey to the warehouse along the "anaconda" - this is how the workers dubbed the long, winding conveyor on the street, which looks like an ordinary pipe.
And those eggs that are stained with chicken droppings, and therefore turned out to be rejected, leave on a horse harnessed to a cart. As I see it, modern technologies peacefully coexist with proven old-fashioned methods. Although the horse is one of the exceptions. Molodezhnaya has been moving along the rails of progress for a long time. It is modern technologies and imported equipment that make the production process at all its stages fully automated.
PLEASURE FROM THE PROCESS
We are moving to the warehouse - the final point in the route of zootechnics Mutylin. I feel like I can barely move my feet. Tired. Was. "How much do you wind in a day?" - I'm interested, referring to the huge area on which the factory is spread. “Kilometers 10, probably, together with the distance to the house,” answers Petrovich, as his subordinates call him.
The warehouse is busy and noisy. The process of packing eggs in plastic or cardboard containers is also fully automated. Manual labor is reduced to zero. Locksmith operators, most of whom are the fair sex, monitor the operation of the equipment.
- Probably, this is the main thing in the work - to see the results of your own work in the form of finished products? I ask Mutylin.
- Great pleasure - when we carry out the plan. A fascinating process - you need to think over the diet so that the products get exactly as much as you need. For poultry farmers, every minute counts - in time to feed, remove litter, get vaccinated and much, much more, - the livestock specialist answers.
- And who monitors the quality of products and, most importantly, their safety. How do you fight the notorious salmonellosis?
- For this part, we have specialists from two laboratories - zootechnical and veterinary. Each batch of feed and products is checked, - says Nikolai Petrovich. - By the way, my wife, Galina Nikolaevna, is in charge of the veterinary laboratory, so we vouch for the quality of our products as a family, - he smiles.
- Do you breed laying hens at home?
- Not now. By the way, our workers can only keep the breed of chickens that is in the factory. Strict rule.
HALF A MILLION PER DAY
So the walk is over. The head is spinning from the flow of information. One, of course, can not cope. It is not for nothing that about 125 people are assigned to the poultry house. They, in turn, are divided into teams - for rearing young animals, parent stock, industrial laying hens, an incubator, a feed workshop. Each one has a specific task.
Now I understand that the main thing in the work of a poultry house is patience and meticulous scrupulousness, because birds react with lightning speed to a negligent attitude towards themselves. As a result, mortality and reduced productivity are possible.
The scale of the Molodezhnaya poultry farm is impressive. 500 thousand eggs are produced here per day. An enterprise from the category of "monsters": its structure includes both field cultivation and animal husbandry, as well as the production of its own dairy and meat products, and a chain of stores. The staff is about 800 people.
It is all the more terrible to realize the situation that has arisen at the enterprise in connection with a crop failure in this dry year. “What we managed to prepare has already been eaten,” director Yevgeny Davydov states the fact. - The high price of grain is one problem, another is its shortage. There's just nowhere to buy it." With the most unfavorable outcome, Molodezhnaya may stop. But then it will be possible to reach the current level of production not earlier than 2018.
The editorial staff of the newspaper thanks for the help in organizing the project "Journalist Changes Profession"
Evgeny Davydov, director of JSC Poultry Farm Molodyozhnaya.
Olga FOX
Pervomaisky district
Today we will talk about who raises chickens. In private farms, this is usually done by the farmer, since there are few birds. In poultry farms, the situation is different. Several hundred hens live here and young growth is constantly appearing. You need to feed them all, monitor productivity and health. Therefore, many specialists are assigned to the birds, divided into teams. Some are engaged in growing young animals, others make feed and monitor the condition of the poultry house, and others treat chickens.
Poultry farmer
What it does: task list
There are no random people at the poultry farm, because the work is responsible and requires certain knowledge. The profession of a poultry farmer includes a wide range of tasks:
- production of feed taking into account technological standards;
- bird feeding;
- control over the state of drinkers;
- organization of regular cleaning of premises with chickens;
- control of climatic conditions in the chicken coop: humidity, temperature, natural air circulation.
Discharges
Only specialists with diplomas of agricultural technical schools are allowed to work. Depending on the work experience, each poultry farmer is assigned a category. Tasks among specialists are distributed in accordance with the category.
The functionality of specialists of the second and third categories includes grazing chickens, monitoring the state of household equipment, resettling sick birds and collecting the dead.
Quarters are engaged in increasing the productivity of the herd. Their tasks also include sorting chickens and monitoring the cleanliness of the cages.
Specialists of the fifth category are engaged in selection and breeding work, monitor the offspring and monitor compliance with the conditions for growing chickens.
Skills and knowledge
It is important for the poultry breeder to understand the nuances of keeping birds. He must know the basic aspects of bird care, sanitary and veterinary standards.
It is important to be able to choose the right means for disinfecting the chicken coop, to understand how to properly sort and pack eggs.
In addition to theoretical skills, the profession of a poultry farmer requires responsibility and diligence from a specialist. Oversight of chickens or inattentive attitude towards them can adversely affect productivity and cause the death of birds.
The poultry farmer should enjoy taking care of the hens and constant contact with them. After all, he interacts with birds almost all day.
poultry farm operator
Main tasks
Poultry farms employ operators whose task is to control the progress of incubation. Specialists monitor the condition of the eggs and the incubator, fix possible violations and eliminate malfunctions.
The main task is to prevent the death of embryos in the eggs and to get them out of the device in time. Operators evaluate the development of the embryo and compare it with established indicators.
The profession of a poultry farm operator requires complete knowledge of the incubator. The specialist must understand the principle of operation, be able to select the optimal mode and establish the cause of problems with the development of the embryo.
Other nuances
The operator must comply with sanitary standards and know the safety precautions during incubation.
It is important for the poultry farm operator to have excellent eyesight and be observant. Mindfulness is useful in establishing the reasons for the decline in successful egg incubation.
Representatives of this profession can work with adult chickens. In this case, they need to achieve maximum egg production with minimal maintenance costs.
feed engineer
The task of a zoo engineer is to organize comfortable conditions for keeping chickens, feed them properly and breed them.
The specialist needs to know the signs by which the selection of farm birds is carried out. Veterinarians and livestock specialists are also involved in this task.
The specialist supervises feed production operators, machine milking operators, livestock specialists.
The range of tasks is extensive, so an assistant, a graduate of a technical school, often works in tandem with a zooengineer. He helps to prepare feed and control the feeding of chickens, keeps zootechnical records.
livestock specialist
The livestock specialist must have the education of a biologist, since he constantly interacts with chickens, deals with issues of their life. Also, a representative of this profession needs to understand the economics of production and mechanization.
The livestock specialist is engaged in planning breeding work to increase the number of replacement young animals and the quality of the herd.
A specialist needs to understand chicken embryology. Understand what affects egg quality and embryo development. Know the device of incubators. Also, the livestock specialist is engaged in sorting hatched chickens.
Another task of this specialist is to organize the movement of chickens from one room to another. He maintains a technological map and plans the exact timing of the life of the chickens.
The map indicates when you need to lay eggs in the incubator and take them out, how long it takes to grow young animals, when the laying hen starts egg work. The date of slaughter of adult birds is also planned.
Veterinarian
This specialist is engaged not only in the treatment of chickens from various diseases. The range of its tasks is more extensive.
He conducts epidemic prevention at the poultry farm. It does not allow the negative impact of chicken diseases on people. Monitors the sanitary condition of manufactured products. Another task is to solve veterinary problems while protecting the environment.
The specialist must have a higher profile education, be attentive and take care of the wards. For successful work, the veterinarian needs to know the structure of the skeleton, the vital activity of healthy and sick chickens, and understand how medicines affect the body of birds.
A specialist needs to be able to prevent the development of diseases in time. Know when treatment becomes useless and chickens need to be slaughtered or disposed of. Also, the veterinarian studies the degree of influence of external factors on the health of the chicken.
Dear readers, have you learned new information about the work of poultry farms? Please like and repost.
In the comments, please tell us if you had to take care of chickens, and what kind of work you did.