Poultry - Fish integrated farming system for Goa

 

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      CULTURE MANAGEMENT

      Chicken Husbandry Practices

About Poultry fish integrated system in Goa

 

Goa has a large meat eating population. About 90% of Goans are fish eaters. While marine fish is preferred most, fresh inland fishes are welcome alternatives par­ticularly during monsoon periods when marine fish is scarce. However freshwater carps are recent introductions. While Goa has a large inland water potentials for aquaculture. it has only a reasonable fresh water areas which include 100 ha of perennial and long seasonal ponds besides bhandaras. irrigation catchments, reserviors and about 200 ha of old mine pits, all of which could be put to optimum use.

While utilizing these water bodies for aquaculture, it would be possible to integrate poultry rearing and re­cycle the bird dropping through fish. In regular fish culture. the pond is mannured and fertilised for the production of the fish food organisms called 'Plankton' and in addition, the fishes are also feed with supplemen­tary fed to enhance production. By integrating poultry with fish. the expenditure on pond fertilization and fish feeding can be avoided. as the droppings of the birds are sufficient for the production of natural fish food in the pond.

 

CULTURE MANAGEMENT

a) Pond management practices

The scientific practices detaIied below should be followed for successful culture:

1. The pond has to be prepared by strengthening the bunds. prevention of water overflow, closing the inlet and outlets by fixing screens to prevent escape of stocked fish and entry of unwanted local and carnivorous fishes.

2. If possible. the pond is dewatered and the bottom dried prior to commencement of culture. Let in the water after a few days of exposure to sun or during the onset of monsoon.

3. All the aquatic weeds and vegetations are eradicated by removal.

4. All local fishes are removed by netting and poisoning with mohua oil cake and lime.

5. About 300 to 500 kg of lime is applied per hectare of pond

b) Selection of fish species and stocking

      The composite fish culture combination of 4 species namely catla, rohu, mrigal and common carp, which could be simultaneously cultured in the same pond. could be selected for the poultry-fish farming as well.

These carps are fast growing varieties and would grow upto one kg individual average weight in one year culture period. The four varieties namely catla, rohu, mrigal and common carp should be stocked in the ration of 2 : 2 : 1 : 1 at the stocking density of about 6.000/ ha. To avoid predation by fish themselves, it is important that slightly grown up fish seeds of the size of about 100 g each should only be stocked in the pond.

c) Fish Harvest

      Harvest of fish from pond can be made either when the fish attain the marketable size of 1 kg average or after one year of culture or when the water level in the pond is reduced less than a metre. Over 3.500 kg to 4.200 kg of fish could be harvested per ha for 3-4 species combi­nation. under the system.

 

Chicken Husbandry Practices

a) Night Shelter

      Night shelter can be simple structure made up of bamboos either constructed on the pond or erected inside the pond itself with supporting pillars.

1 Band Shelter : Bund shelter should be pref­erably made with concrete floor. The sides of the shelter may be covered with welded wire mesh or split bamboos. Similarly, roof can also be bamboo thatched or with any other light roofing material. Care should be taken to provide adequate ventilation and provision of trays for feeding and watering should also be made. A slope has to be provided from poultry shelter to the pond so that droppings can be washed daily into the pond. Birds can also be kept in cage system if the shelter space is limited.

2 Pond shelter: Alternatively, the night shel­ter can also be errected inside the pond in one corner of the pond. The structure can be either With bamboos or RCC pillars for support. The floor of the shelter has to be preferably of 1" x 1" welded Wire mesh. The floor should be atleast 60 cm above the maximum water level. Other provisions like roof, feed & water troughts should also be provided as mentioned earlier. Approach to the shelter from the bund can be made by a wooden plank. Advan­tage of this type of shelter is that the droppings & spillover feed Will fall directly into the pond, there by saving labour.

The space requirement per bird is about 0.3 m2. Therefore poultry shelter of the size of 100 to 120 m2 area is required to accommodate 400-500 birds which are sufficient to fertilize a pond of 1 ha size. The size of the shelter and the number of the birds can be accordingly reduced depending on the size of the pond.

b) Selection and rearing of birds

      Birds are raised either for eggs or for meat. For the poultry-fish combination, layer birds are more suitable as they can be maintained for one complete year. Any commercial layer like Babcock and Hysex are suitable. Astrowhite hybird birds are found to be suitable for the combination. Six week old chicks can be housed for the combination as they don't require any brooding arrange­ment. They start laying eggs after 20th week and can be reared for 10 to 12 months. The birds attain about 2 kg weight per year.

It should be ensured that all prophylactic vaccines are given to the birds (strain vaccine for Mareck's dis­ease, RK.D vaccine for Raniket Disease and fowl pox vaccine for fowl pox disease).

c) Feeding

From 6th to 8th week, every bird requires about 2kg feed, from 8th to 20th they will require 8 kg feed per bird (grower mash) and during laying period they take about 35kg layer mash per bird for a year period.

d)-Egg laying

      Birds start laying after 20 weeks. Laying nests in the form of wooden boxes, are the provided to facilitate the birds to lay eggs and to avoid breakage of the eggs. A healthy bird will give about 250 to 280 eggs/year.

e) Poultry droppings

      A bird voids about 100 g per day. With 400 to 500 birds/ha, about 40 to 50 kg of dropping are recycled daily through fish by the production of sufficient plank­ton.

 

ECONOMICS (for 0.2 ha pond with 80 birds)

 

A) . Non recurring expenditure

 

 

 

Cost of poultry shelter (30m2)

Rs.

8,000-00

B)

Recurring expenditure

 

 

 

a)

Cost of 6 week old birds (hybird) @ Rs. 40/-

Rs.

3,200-00

 

b)

Cost of feed

 

 

 

 

1) Grower mash @ Rs. 560/- per 70 kg bag for 640 kg

Rs

5, 100-00

 

 

ii) Layer mash for one year

 

.

 

 

@ Rs. 560 of 35 bags of 70 kg.

Rs.

19600-00

 

c)

Cost of fish seed (600 fingerlings)

Rs.

1,200-00

 

d)

Miscellaneous

Rs.

300-00

 

e)

20% of the capital investment for poultry shelter maintenance.

Rs.

1,600-00

 

 

Total

Rs.

39,000-00

C)

Receipts

 

 

 

1)

From sale of fish 800 kg @ Rs. 40 per kg.

Rs.

32,000-00

 

2)

From sale of 22000 eggs @ Rs. 1.50 per egg.

Rs.

33,000-00

 

3)

From sale of poultry meat 120 kg @ Rs. 45/- per kg.

Rs.

5,400-00

 

 

Total Receipts

Rs.

70,400-00

 

 

 

 

 

D)

Profit

 

 

 

Total Receipts

Rs.

70,400-00

 

Total expenditure

Rs.

39,000-00

 

Net Profit

Rs.

31,400-00

 

SALIENT FEATURES OF POULTRY – FISH CULTURE

1) Fish utilize the spilled over poultry feed and their droppings.

2) Poultry droppings save the need for pond fertili­zation and fish feeding.

3) No additional space is required for poultry rear­ing.

4) Fish, eggs and meat are produced in a single unit area and it ensures higher profit with fewer inputs.