Choosing The Best Broiler Species For your Poultry Business
If you’re a poultry farmer, understanding the specie of birds is the best way to avoid most of the problems with stunted growth, Newcastle infection, height and weight challenges and general carcass quality.
I’ve heard from farmers countless times that their broilers don’t do very well as the other stocks they raised. It is possible too that they are from the same hatchery but what happens why they don’t grow at the same rate
First, note that unless you are getting your chicks directly from the hatchery, they can be compromised. Forget the carton, delivery agents or suppliers can change your chicks for other chicks.
Secondly, general management practice is another determinant of your broilers performance.
Now Let’s Get the Real Gist.
I’ve heard people say too that all broilers are the same it doesn’t matter which one you go for. That is a pure lie. All broilers are not the same unless you don’t care to know the different species of broilers and their growth and weight performance. They may look alike but the differences are always very clear in their growth performance and overall health.
I’ll be discussing the 3 major types of broilers species.
Note: there are numerous species of broilers including Ross 308, Marshall Broilers, Cob 500/700, Arbor Acre, Hubbard and Anak, but I’ll be discussing the 3 major ones in this post.
Abhor Acre Specie of Broilers
Ross 308 and 708 Species
Cobb 500 and 700 Species
Although the result for all broilers remains meat, they perform differently and meet their target meat value at different stages. Understanding this simple truth will help you always have the best experience as a broiler farmer.
Before going for the type of broiler specie, you should have an aim. I mean who are you producing your broilers for? If a suya man is your main target, you should consider raising a broiler that doesn’t have much fat and reach the market size within 4 – 5 weeks. Why? Because the suya men don’t buy too big chickens that has too much fat since it’ll be more difficult for them to roast. Also, to them, the price remains the same however big it is.
Now let’s look at these;
Ross 308/708: these are the major products of Agrited and Sayed. They are known for their fast growth rate, good breastmeat, excellent feed conversion and considerable lean meat (low fat meat)
Abor Acre+-: these are the major products of CHI. They are known for their heavy feeding, good weight and carcass and (good feed conversion)
Cobb – Cobb are some of the products from NPG Zartech, NPG Fidan, ,Cascada, Vertex, Goldsmine. Note: I use the word some here because all their products are not always Cobb species either 500 or 700. The REAL Cobb species of broilers are known for their lean meat, good height, and good breast mean and good feed conversion.
Now, looking at the above analysis it is obvious that all broiler species are not the same especially in growth performance, height and weight including their lean meat and breast conformation.
So?
If you’re a seller looking to market your chickens live, it is best to go for Cobb and ROSS species because of their height and growth performance.
If you’re a farmer who does frozen chicken sales, Abhor Acre species are best because of their heavy weight and overall carcass quality. These species may not grow as tall as the Cobb and Ross species but their weight may take a match.
Note: this is just my opinion from research and practical experience with these broiler species and it is not. Some farmers have raised Cobbs that gave general live weight far better than Abhor Acre – this boils down to the management practices.
The Ross 308/708 species will produce a perfect result for frozen chicken sales too.
The truth is, what works for someone else may not work for you too so, always do your investigations before going for your broilers understanding that there is a slight difference between the species which may determine your overall experience at the end of the day.
Credits : Usman Bello Poultry
