The term Poultry refers to rearing of fowl, geese, ducks, turkeys and some variety of pigeons, but more often it is used for fowl rearing.
Fowls are reared for food or for their eggs.
● Poultry birds reared for meat are called broilers.
● Female fowls raised for egg production are called layers.
● Cockerel is a young male fowl and rooster is mature male fowl.
The hens normally start laying eggs from February and continue till
August. The average production by an Indian breed is about 60 eggs
per annum.
Poultry Feed
It includes bajra, jowar, barley, maize, wheat, rice bran, oil-cake, fish
meal, bread, green residue of vegetables, salt, vitamins and minerals.
Now-a-days, readymade poultry feed is also available in the market.
Poultry Products
The fowls are reared to obtain following useful products for human.
(i) Eggs These are the rich source of easily digestable animal protein. These are the good sources of calcium, protein, iron,
vitamins and a moderate amount of fat. Each egg consists of shell
and shell membranes (12%), albumin and chalaza (56%) and yolk
(32%).
(ii) Poultry Meat It is a good source of nutrition for non-vegetarians.
(iii) Feathers They are used for the commercial purposes such as for
making pillows and quilts.
(iv) Manure It is obtained from excreta of poultry birds and is highly
valuable for field crops.
Some indigenous breeds of fowls include
● Assel (best table bird) It has high endurance and fighting qualities.
● Chittagong or Malay It grows faster and have good taste.
● Ghagus Big and hardy breed found in South India.
● Bustra It is minor breed found in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Large increase in the egg production in India has been named as
silver revolution.
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