Put a male and a maximum of 10 females in a pen. The male will cross the females.
NOTE- 1male to 10 females is for light breeds like our local chickens. For heavy breeds like Broilers, Brahmas and Cochin, 1male to 5 females should be ok.

sodeeqsulaimon88:
@ Nativechicken can you please tell us the names of these things in Yoruba if possible and if a noiler is cross bred with a native chicken what are the characteristics of the chick as in size,resistance to disease,ability to lay egg and so

Pap is Ogi in Yoruba.
Rice Bran is the chaff u get after milling local rice.
You can get some of these chaff from those who mill/grind maize in the market with those big noisy engines. Sometimes they mill/grind elubor and amala powder. The chaff is also called bran.

Any Cock you want to breed with should be at least 1year old. At that age they are experienced and their fertility is higher.

Farouq94:
Scavenging Feed Resource Base (SFRB)

Because of the long time to maturity and the comparatively low prices of local chickens, it is of immense economic benefit to allow these chickens to free-range for their feed. To achieve maximum efficiency, supplemental feeding should be done in the morning, before they are allowed to free-range and later in the afternoon.

SFRB is basically the total amount food resources available in the environment that the chickens can use as feed.

Local chickens are very intelligent scavengers, they scavenge for insects to bulk up on protein, grits to help in digestion, grasses for vitamins, weed/grain seeds for fibre/energy and so on.

If you’re looking to raise chickens domestically, look at the volume of kitchen waste (in the form of leftover food) you produce, the expanse of the area in your backyard. How many chickens can they support?

If you’re raising chickens at farm level, look at your surroundings. Are there a lot of trees/shrubs/grasses in the area? Remember the presence of trees has a ripple effect on the environment. Leaves fall and decay, the soil becomes rich and a breeding ground for biota, which chickens feed on. Compost is another way to feed chickens. Chickens are excellent ‘composters’, they turn the pile and eat what they can.

This is an interesting concept which if well adapted can make one plenty of money from poultry farming.
Though am still adapting mine, but am begining to see a very wonderful end to it.
1. I have so far created to wire fenced pens as extensions to my poultry house. This is to rotate my birds on pasture.
2. I plant on one while the chickens have access to the other until i harvest my crops (maize, beans, g/nut, potato,green, okra).
3. After harvesting, i open up that range to the chickens and then plant on the one the chickens had access to. This ensures i have croos all year without using fertilizer, reduce disease risk, and the chickens get a lot of food by scratching/scavenging there. The fence protects them from predators and thieves.
4. The set-up also includes 4 compost piles in each range/yard. I get a lot of compost which sells for 1k a bag here in Abuja.
5. I intend getting a vehicle for collecting restaurant waste, fruits & vegerable waste from markets which i dump in the compost pile( Dem dey chop d things wella)
6. Feed cost will become nearly zero by the time am done with my set-up

sodeeqsulaimon88:
@ farouq if i want to cross breed how do i go about it??
how do i know a matured noiler that will mate with a local chicken??
can i raise noilers first then after maturity pair them with a local cock and chicken??
I'll be happy if you can teach us from start
pardon my manners you and jidestroud are really a rare gem.... wish I can be close to you guys to learn this things practically...thumbs up guys

@Nativechicken has pretty much given you the basics. If you’re raising noilers, choose the biggest noiler rooster with the best physical traits. After 6 months thr cock will be ready to start mating, then get like 5 local chickens (maximum of 10) and keep them together.

Remember somethings you can only learn by doing. You can get one noiler and 2 local chicken to start and learn as you go. If you have any questions you can always ask here, there are a lot of people willing to help.

Cattle Kraal

Cattle Kraal System of Raising Chickens

Part of the reason why the fulani chickens are the biggest breed of local chickens in Nigeria is because of the large SFRB available to them and their access to maggots and termites present in cattle dung.

So there is a symbiotic relationship between chickens and other livestock.

The Fulani pastoralists are known for moving from moving from places and so every time, these chickens have access to a new area to scavenge on. Most of the fulanis do not give supplemental feed to their chickens, the ones that do give their chickens a handful of millet or sorghum.

The SFRB is a concept that can be replicated in the farm setting. If implemented correctly, it can immensely reduce the high cost of feeding. Look around your environment and see what you can capitalize on. SFRB is dependent on environment and season.

During the dry season, the SFRB around my farm is very poor because everywhere is dry and hot, but my chickens still go out to scanvenge for termites and leftover paddy rice in nearby fields. My location is notoriously known for wood-eating termites, and the chickens love them.

I have been trying to find cheap alternatives to protein, and for a long time I have been studying the black soldier fly. The fact that the fly is not known to my locality means more resources and care is needed, which will make the whole endeavor more costly, and not worth it.

Fortunately enough, I have just recently stumbled on a paper that showed how a local farmer utilizes a clay pot and some wood to create the perfect home for these wood-eating termites, and after a while he will harvest them and feed them to his chickens.

I’ll be replicating something like that and see the outcome. If it produces satisfactory results, it will go a long way towards reducing my feed bill.

The pictures below show a typical fulani settlement, and you can see the chickens free ranging around the environment.

NativeChicken:


This is an interesting concept which if well adapted can make one plenty of money from poultry farming.
Though am still adapting mine, but am begining to see a very wonderful end to it.
1. I have so far created to wire fenced pens as extensions to my poultry house. This is to rotate my birds on pasture.
2. I plant on one while the chickens have access to the other until i harvest my crops (maize, beans, g/nut, potato,green, okra).
3. After harvesting, i open up that range to the chickens and then plant on the one the chickens had access to. This ensures i have croos all year without using fertilizer, reduce disease risk, and the chickens get a lot of food by scratching/scavenging there. The fence protects them from predators and thieves.
4. The set-up also includes 4 compost piles in each range/yard. I get a lot of compost which sells for 1k a bag here in Abuja.
5. I intend getting a vehicle for collecting restaurant waste, fruits & vegerable waste from markets which i dump in the compost pile( Dem dey chop d things wella)
6. Feed cost will become nearly zero by the time am done with my set-up

Yes the potential to make money is there, but its a lot of work setting up an artificial self-sustaining system/environment in place where chickens can basically fend for themselves, so a lot of people shy away from it. I can tell you’re already doing great.

Karl Hammer of Vermont Compost (google him) raises over 500 chickens without grains. He lets them free-range on his compost piles and they get all their feed from there. And he’s been doing it for ages, so the compost idea is a proven concept. The value of the compost will most likely offset the cost of transport and setting up the whole operation so its possible for you have very low cost of feeding.

Keep us updated please.

Farouq94:


@Nativechicken has pretty much given you the basics. If you’re raising noilers, choose the biggest noiler rooster with the best physical traits. After 6 months thr cock will be ready to start mating, then get like 5 local chickens (maximum of 10) and keep them together.

Remember somethings you can only learn by doing. You can get one noiler and 2 local chicken to start and learn as you go. If you have any questions you can always ask here, there are a lot of people willing to help.

Thank you so much
can we crossbreed broilers

Farouq94:
Cattle Kraal System of Raising Chickens

Part of the reason why the fulani chickens are the biggest breed of local chickens in Nigeria is because of the large SFRB available to them and their access to maggots and termites present in cattle dung.

So there is a symbiotic relationship between chickens and other livestock.

The Fulani pastoralists are known for moving from moving from places and so every time, these chickens have access to a new area to scavenge on. Most of the fulanis do not give supplemental feed to their chickens, the ones that do give their chickens a handful of millet or sorghum.

The SFRB is a concept that can be replicated in the farm setting. If implemented correctly, it can immensely reduce the high cost of feeding. Look around your environment and see what you can capitalize on. SFRB is dependent on environment and season.

During the dry season, the SFRB around my farm is very poor because everywhere is dry and hot, but my chickens still go out to scanvenge for termites and leftover paddy rice in nearby fields. My location is notoriously known for wood-eating termites, and the chickens love them.

I have been trying to find cheap alternatives to protein, and for a long time I have been studying the black soldier fly. The fact that the fly is not known to my locality means more resources and care is needed, which will make the whole endeavor more costly, and not worth it.

Fortunately enough, I have just recently stumbled on a paper that showed how a local farmer utilizes a clay pot and some wood to create the perfect home for these wood-eating termites, and after a while he will harvest them and feed them to his chickens.

I’ll be replicating something like that and see the outcome. If it produces satisfactory results, it will go a long way towards reducing my feed bill.

The pictures below show a typical fulani settlement, and you can see the chickens free ranging around the environment.

If a cockerel mates with an Isa brown layers and they lay fertile eggs will the offspring lay eggs
how do we know if an egg is fertile

Is it possible to breed local variety of layers from Nigerian local birds?

[quote author=Farouq94 post=91062070]Hello Everyone, so I had a number of exotic chickens at the farm including the huge Brahma/Cochin, Silkie and Polish chickens. I would usually allow local chickens to incubate their eggs, as these exotic breeds are not always broody. Around September last year, I sold them off and I absent-mindedly left the local chickens free-ranging around in the farm. Long story short, within a few months, my local chickens went from under 10 to over a 100. So I would occasionally buy feed and mix it with locally available ingredients for them, dispose of the males and keep the females around.

quote]

Is it possible to develop a local variety of layers?

sodeeqsulaimon88:
Thank you so much
can we crossbreed broilers

Yes you can if you get a matured broiler.

sodeeqsulaimon88:
If a cockerel mates with an Isa brown layers and they lay fertile eggs will the offspring lay eggs
how do we know if an egg is fertile

Yes they will lay eggs once they mature (at around 5-6 months). If you have a matured cock and he mates with the hen, then their eggs should be fertile. In some cases where where you have a lot of chickens free-ranging (like I do on the farm), even with more than enough roosters I get a few infertile eggs.

The best way to find out if an egg is infertile is to candle them at Day 7 when the hen is finally brooding. At Day 7, blood vessels will be visibly clear in eggs and you’ll be able to see a tiny embryo forming. I have posted a picture of that on the thread, check.

If the egg is infertile, you will not see any blood vessels, it will be very clear, as if it was laid today (only with a larger air pocket).

I think I’ll make a comprehensive post about egg fertility, the forming of embryos, embryo death...when I get fresh eggs from the farm, I’ll candle them and show the progress.

TAYO124:
Is it possible to breed local variety of layers from Nigerian local birds?

I don’t think so.

Local chickens have that instinct to brood their eggs and raise their young, so they lay eggs in small clutches. So unless you remove that instinct they’ll never be prolific layers.

Layers like ISA Brown are hybrid chickens that have been bred SOLELY to lay eggs.

[quote author=TAYO124 post=91627911][/quote]

I wouldnt say its impossible.
But u need to understand that the process of genetic improvement thru crosses takes many years. Can even b up to 20years depending on what qlty of animals and the traits u want to either remove or improve.
I know a Professor at FUUNAB has developed chicken strains for the commercial market. Maybe u have heard of the FUNAAB Alpha?

NativeChicken:


I wouldnt say its impossible.
But u need to understand that the process of genetic improvement thru crosses takes many years. Can even b up to 20years depending on what qlty of animals and the traits u want to either remove or improve.
I know a Professor at FUUNAB has developed chicken strains for the commercial market. Maybe u have heard of the FUNAAB Alpha?

I have read about the Funaab Alpha chicken one time, I likened them to Noilers and based on the information they provided, noilers were superior.

Farouq94:


I have read about the Funaab Alpha chicken one time, I likened them to Noilers and based on the information they provided, noilers were superior.

Noilers are definitely superior, but the FUNAAB Alpha is way superior to our local breeds.
They didnt say, but i suspect that the Fulani Ecotype was used in developing the FUNAAB

kudos to you@Nativechicken and Farouq
like you said that a matured rooster to 10 chicken if i may ask,Genetically will the offspring be more of a Noiler rooster or otherwise
if a Rooster mates with an Isa brown layer and lays egg how do we hatch the chick without using an Incubator
Can we rear these offspring in a caged area as in not letting them go on free range??

Farouq94:
This is what a Brahma chicken looks like:
Photo credit: Google (purely poultry website).

. Please how can I get to start a business with the mixed breed of braham chicken and how do I mix breed them 08065762679

NativeChicken:


Noilers are definitely superior, but the FUNAAB Alpha is way superior to our local breeds.
They didnt say, but i suspect that the Fulani Ecotype was used in developing the FUNAAB

It is very likely. Do you have them in your farm? I haven’t seen/heard about anyone who’s actually reared them.

sodeeqsulaimon88:
kudos to you@Nativechicken and Farouq
like you said that a matured rooster to 10 chicken if i may ask,Genetically will the offspring be more of a Noiler rooster or otherwise
if a Rooster mates with an Isa brown layer and lays egg how do we hatch the chick without using an Incubator
Can we rear these offspring in a caged area as in not letting them go on free range??

If you don’t want to use an incubator to hatch for a start, you can get a couple of local chickens, once they lay and start to go broody, take away their eggs and put the eggs you want them to hatch. Most people hatch guinea fowls using local chickens. And Yes, its actually best to rear the chicks in a cage for at least 6-8 weeks, before you finally let them out to free-range. Just make sure they are getting enough heat for the first 10-14 days. That way they full strong and less susceptible to predators, diseases etc...

I like your questions.

So once you start cross-breeding, the offsprings you’ll have will definitely have mixed results. If you’re crossing Isa brown with a noiler, some chicks will be more like noilers, some will be more like the isa brown.

This is where selective breeding comes in. You choose the ones you want out of the chicks, the ones with the best traits, and continue breeding them till you’re satisfied with the result.

For example, the chick below is a cross between a noiler cock and my brahma cross (75% local chicken). At week one you can see how thick the legs are and how big it is, at week two it was weighing 147grams (which is big for a local chicken), and see how the feathers have quickly formed. Now the other chicks that hatched were not all like this, there were small ones that looked like pure local chicks, despite being crosses with a noiler.

The goal is to select the best performers like this chick and continue breeding them, while disposing the ones with low performance.

timmond:
. Please how can I get to start a business with the mixed breed of braham chicken and how do I mix breed them 08065762679

Check the first couple pages of this thread, I mentioned how you can get them.

Farouq94:


It is very likely. Do you have them in your farm? I haven’t seen/heard about anyone who’s actually reared them.

Unfortunately i do not. Getting them in Abuja is a prob. I tried once, but couldnt get a supplier.

@SodeeqSulaiman.. Every bird can b reared in a cage system as long as u give it adequate feed & management.

As per your fertile eggs, u can either take it to a commercial hatchery to hatch at a price or u employ the services of ur local hen. Just replace her eggs with ur fertile eggs.

Every offspring inherits its genes from six(6) possible donors. The father, the mother and the four grand parents. Ur Noiler × Isa brown cross offspring will do same. There will be variation in the traits each offspring will inherit. But, most times u will get an improvement.

Farouq94:


If you don’t want to use an incubator to hatch for a start, you can get a couple of local chickens, once they lay and start to go broody, take away their eggs and put the eggs you want them to hatch. Most people hatch guinea fowls using local chickens. And Yes, its actually best to rear the chicks in a cage for at least 6-8 weeks, before you finally let them out to free-range. Just make sure they are getting enough heat for the first 10-14 days. That way they full strong and less susceptible to predators, diseases etc...

I like your questions.

So once you start cross-breeding, the offsprings you’ll have will definitely have mixed results. If you’re crossing Isa brown with a noiler, some chicks will be more like noilers, some will be more like the isa brown.

This is where selective breeding comes in. You choose the ones you want out of the chicks, the ones with the best traits, and continue breeding them till you’re satisfied with the result.

For example, the chick below is a cross between a noiler cock and my brahma cross (75% local chicken). At week one you can see how thick the legs are and how big it is, at week two it was weighing 147grams (which is big for a local chicken), and see how the feathers have quickly formed. Now the other chicks that hatched were not all like this, there were small ones that looked like pure local chicks, despite being crosses with a noiler.

The goal is to select the best performers like this chick and continue breeding them, while disposing the ones with low performance.

Thanks for the answers Boss
@ what week does the following matures for mating
female noiler
male noiler
male cockerel
isa brown
local hen ??



2.how do we know if a local chicken is matured for mating?
I'm thinking of buying a carton of doc noiler since there's no way I can get a matured Noiler or if there's a place i can get kindly notify me
3.Lets assume a local chicken laid like 7 eggs can't we add the fertile egg of another breed to it or its a must we exchange the eggs

I think for beginners that want to learn cross breeding we should use local chicken and any other breed coz of hatching and brooding till we learn more




@farouq Naturally the local chickens are literally Ajepako and Broilers are Ajebutter,mere looking at the way the local rooster will run after them before mating can broilers do the same.As in can broilers mate with local chicken




I saw something on fb today a reputable doc dealer posted broiler breeders for sale.
can you please explain the meaning

NativeChicken:


Unfortunately i do not. Getting them in Abuja is a prob. I tried once, but couldnt get a supplier.

@SodeeqSulaiman.. Every bird can b reared in a cage system as long as u give it adequate feed & management.

As per your fertile eggs, u can either take it to a commercial hatchery to hatch at a price or u employ the services of ur local hen. Just replace her eggs with ur fertile eggs.

Every offspring inherits its genes from six(6) possible donors. The father, the mother and the four grand parents. Ur Noiler × Isa brown cross offspring will do same. There will be variation in the traits each offspring will inherit. But, most times u will get an improvement.

Thanks for the reply sir
I'm learning new things from you and Boss farouq.

NativeChicken:


Unfortunately i do not. Getting them in Abuja is a prob. I tried once, but couldnt get a supplier.

@SodeeqSulaiman.. Every bird can b reared in a cage system as long as u give it adequate feed & management.

As per your fertile eggs, u can either take it to a commercial hatchery to hatch at a price or u employ the services of ur local hen. Just replace her eggs with ur fertile eggs.

Every offspring inherits its genes from six(6) possible donors. The father, the mother and the four grand parents. Ur Noiler × Isa brown cross offspring will do same. There will be variation in the traits each offspring will inherit. But, most times u will get an improvement.

Maybe they’ve not been widely accepted or they do not have enough funding to commercialize them.

Your eggs, have they hatched?

sodeeqsulaimon88:
Thanks for the answers Boss
@ what week does the following matures for mating
female noiler
male noiler
male cockerel
isa brown
local hen ??



2.how do we know if a local chicken is matured for mating?
I'm thinking of buying a carton of doc noiler since there's no way I can get a matured Noiler or if there's a place i can get kindly notify me
3.Lets assume a local chicken laid like 7 eggs can't we add the fertile egg of another breed to it or its a must we exchange the eggs

Generally chickens mature sexually at age 5-6 months. Though I have had some female noiler start laying even before 5 month. When they are sexually mature, the roosters will start mating with the hens, its a natural process.

Have you tried going to local markets and asking for noilers? You might be able to get. Some people call them “merger” in the markets. Or contact people that rear chickens at home.

3. Depends on how large the chicken is. An experienced chicken that is big can incubate as much as 15 chicken eggs. Thats the maximum I’d advice you to put. If the eggs are too much, you’ll notice that the chicken will not be able to cover all of them, in that case you remove some. Usually, an average local hen should be able to incubate 12 chicken eggs.

Farouq94:


Generally chickens mature sexually at age 5-6 months. Though I have had some female noiler start laying even before 5 month. When they are sexually mature, the roosters will start mating with the hens, its a natural process.

Have you tried going to local markets and asking for noilers? You might be able to get. Some people call them “merger” in the markets. Or contact people that rear chickens at home.

3. Depends on how large the chicken is. An experienced chicken that is big can incubate as much as 15 chicken eggs. Thats the maximum I’d advice you to put. If the eggs are too much, you’ll notice that the chicken will not be able to cover all of them, in that case you remove some. Usually, an average local hen should be able to incubate 12 chicken eggs.

Thank you so much Boss I'm learning a lot from you.

sodeeqsulaimon88:
I think for beginners that want to learn cross breeding we should use local chicken and any other breed coz of hatching and brooding till we learn more




@farouq Naturally the local chickens are literally Ajepako and Broilers are Ajebutter,mere looking at the way the local rooster will run after them before mating can broilers do the same.As in can broilers mate with local chicken




I saw something on fb today a reputable doc dealer posted broiler breeders for sale.
can you please explain the meaning

Lol yes the local roosters enjoy a good chase. But most time the hens are willing to mate with the rooster. Because a broiler is not as rugged, if you lock them in a cage they will surely mate.

Broiler breeders are the parent stock of DOC broilers. They are a male and female grown broilers that will mate and lay eggs. So when those eggs hatch, you rear them as meat birds.

Farouq94:


Maybe they’ve not been widely accepted or they do not have enough funding to commercialize them.

Your eggs, have they hatched?

Yes o.. I have 20 chicks for now , with another 70eggs being incubated. Will post a pix.
I actually think it will be a viable project if one can commercialize this poultry system, especially if we can minimize feed cost.
With 10 Cocks and 50 Hens, one can get at least 200 fertile eggs weekly. That is at least 800 fertile eggs monthly!!

Are you using an incubator to hatch or local hens?
And when you said one can get 200 fertile eggs weekly from 50 hens,are you refering to local hens or noiler hens?

NativeChicken:


Yes o.. I have 20 chicks for now , with another 70eggs being incubated. Will post a pix.
I actually think it will be a viable project if one can commercialize this poultry system, especially if we can minimize feed cost.
With 10 Cocks and 50 Hens, one can get at least 200 fertile eggs weekly. That is at least 800 fertile eggs monthly!!