About the Book
This comprehensive Chicken Farming Handbook is a professional, in-depth resource for anyone committed to building a sustainable and profitable poultry enterprise in today's rapidly changing agricultural landscape. Written in a clear yet highly educational style, it moves far beyond basic how-to advice, offering a complete journey through every stage of modern chicken production-from understanding the domestication and biology of Gallus gallus domesticus to mastering the economics and global market forces that shape the industry.
Readers begin with the global history and evolution of chicken farming, tracing how the junglefowl became the world's most important source of affordable animal protein. The handbook then provides a rigorous overview of poultry biology and genetics, explaining anatomy, physiology, and the principles of selective breeding that create today's high-performing broiler and layer lines.
Practical chapters cover breed selection and production models, guiding farmers through the advantages of heritage, dual-purpose, and commercial hybrids, while evaluating free-range, organic, pasture-based, and intensive systems. The book explains farm design and biosecure infrastructure, detailing housing options, ventilation, lighting, and disease-prevention protocols essential for productivity and welfare.
A series of chapters explores the core management pillars of successful operations: feeding and nutritional strategies across life stages; water quality and delivery systems; breeding, incubation, and hatchery management; and preventive health programs against major poultry diseases. From vaccination schedules and parasite control to early warning signs and veterinary partnerships, readers gain the knowledge to maintain flock health and safeguard food safety.
Recognizing the broader responsibilities of modern farmers, the handbook examines welfare, ethics, and regulatory compliance, explaining international animal welfare standards, humane handling practices, and the requirements of certification schemes such as organic or free-range. It also provides an in-depth discussion of sustainable waste and manure management, showing how to transform poultry litter into a valuable fertilizer while minimizing ammonia emissions and environmental pollution.
The marketing and business sections present professional strategies for branding, packaging, and distributing eggs and meat, comparing farmers' markets, CSA models, wholesale contracts, and e-commerce. Detailed guidance on farm economics and financial planning helps readers manage cash flow, assess risks, choose insurance, and scale operations profitably.
Looking ahead, the book analyzes climate change and future challenges, including rising temperatures, feed-crop volatility, and disease dynamics, while highlighting adaptive measures such as heat-tolerant breeds, renewable energy integration, and resilient supply chains. It showcases how chickens can be integrated into diversified farming systems, contributing to pest control, soil fertility, and rotational grazing within permaculture and agroecological designs.
Cutting-edge chapters on innovation and technology in modern poultry production explore precision livestock farming, automated feeding, smart sensors, IoT monitoring, data analytics, advances in genetics, alternative proteins such as insect meal, and renewable energy solutions. Finally, the book concludes by guiding readers toward building a long-term career and participating in the global poultry community, encouraging continuous education, mentorship, research collaboration, and active engagement in international conferences and food security advocacy.
