This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Raising chickens or other birdsfor the eggs and meat they produce is a popular family and businessactivity almost everywhere in the world. The birds eat grain, seedsand grasses. They also eat small pieces of food that people throwaway. Many of these materials would be wasted if the birds did noteat them. Chicken eggs and meat contain high quality protein andother substances important in the human diet.
For many centuries, chickens were allowed to run free to findfood by themselves. Then people used fences to keep small groups ofbirds known as flocks from running away. After the chickens werekept inside a fence, people had to provide food for them.
Early in the last century, raising flocks of thousands of birdsbecame a successful business for many people. But the size of theseflocks caused some serious problems, including pollution caused bychicken waste.
Disease is one of the biggest problems in large flocks. The birdsare kept close together all the time. So if one bird becomes sick,the sickness spreads. All the chickens in a flock can die from aserious disease. Diseases that affect chickens are different indifferent areas of the world. So medicines that have been successfulin treating chickens in local areas should be used
People who raise chickens should try to prevent disease. Expertsadvise these steps: Feed the birds a balanced diet. This will helpthem resist infections. Do not add adult birds to your flocks. Ifyou must add adult birds, keep them separate from the flock for fiveto fifteen days to make sure they are healthy.
Cover the floor of the buildings where the chickens are kept withmaterial like straw, rice husks or sawdust. Change this materialoften.
After you sell the chickens, completely empty the building wherethey were kept. Clean and wash the building. Then leave it empty forfour weeks before putting in new chickens.
Diseases affecting birds are not simple to understand and treat,so expert medical advice is important. You can get more informationabout caring for chickens and other birds from the organizationVolunteers in Technical Assistance. Computer users can reach VITAthrough the Internet at w-w-w dot v-i-t-a dot o-r-g. www.vita.org.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by GaryGarriott.