Page 139 - Calculating Agriculture Cover 20191124 STUDENT - A

CH 12] Calculating Agriculture 12-9

Example: A broiler grower annually raises 150,000 birds for market. This grower has recorded
an average annual mortality rate of 4.2%. How many birds are actually delivered to
market?

Solution:
# Delivered = [(100% - Mortality rate %) / 100%] x birds in flock

# Delivered = [(100% - 4.2 %) /100%] x 150,000

= [(95.8 %) /100%] x 150,000

= 0.958 x 150,000

# Delivered = 143,700

EGG PRODUCTION
12
Modern egg production for high volume have hens housed in cages, under controlled
environmental conditions that produce the least amount of stress on the birds so that the egg grower
produces the highest number of eggs from their flocks.
Specialization and business are the key to modern
egg production. The egg industry has changed and
advanced over the years providing new opportunities
for those who can meet its requirements. Gone are the
days when egg production was considered a small side-
line operation, worthy only of the leftovers of the
farmer’s time and money. Current commercial egg
production units represent major enterprises in which
success or failure depends largely on good production
and business management practices. An important tool
in the business management of the egg producer is the
maintenance and use of accurate records.
The number of flocks have declined and the size of Figure 12.4 Single layer Caged hens with
the flocks have increased to meet the demand of eggs hand collected.
consumers. Flock numbers range from 75,000 layers to
more than 1,500,000. With these large numbers a good
description could be that they are “egg factories”,
where the inputs of housing, equipment, pullets, feed,
supplies, and labor are combined to take advantage of
economies of scale to produce eggs profitably.
Table 12.6 identifies a variety of egg laying breeds
including the average number of eggs each breed lays
per year and the color of the egg. Market demand
determines the egg color that is dominant in that
market. On the West Coast of the United States the
dominant egg color is white and the dominant bird
breed is the Leghorn with an average egg production of
280 eggs per year. The East Coast market demands a
brown colored egg, and the hybrid bird (Leghorn x Figure 12.5 Stacked layer Caged hens with
Rhode Island Red) is the breed on the East Coast egg eggs conveyored to collection.
farm. The hybrid was developed to increase the overall
number of eggs a bird produces for a factor of feed efficiency and profit margin.

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