Why You Should Consider Noiler Chickens As A Beginner

I have been in the poultry business for nearly a decade and feel I have the best experience to mentor and guide beginners. Over the years, I have reared broilers, pullets, cockerels, turkeys, and noilers; I can share insightful tips on how to rear these poultry birds successfully.

My experience with each of the birds is not the same. Broilers and turkeys, for instance, require much time and attention due to their fragile nature. Cockerel and noiler are hardy and require less time due to their hardy nature.

From my experience, I can tell that Noiler chicken is the best for a beginner poultry farmer. I have my reasons and I am sure you would agree with me at the end of this article if you have some reservations.

About Noiler Chickens

Noiler chicken is an improved chicken breed developed by the Amo Farm Sieberer Hatchery (AFSH) with the support of the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) in Nigeria. Noiler is a dual-purpose breed, meaning, they can be reared for their meat and their eggs.

However, noilers are primarily reared for their meat and not eggs. Noiler chickens are available in cock (male) and hen (female), however, the noiler cock are the most sought after because of their fast growth weight and high meat deposition.

Noilers have a fast growth rate and are ready for slaughter at about 4 months old reaching an average weight of 3.8 – 4kg. Noiler hen starts laying at about 20 weeks of age and can lay till the next 20 months producing about 150 – 200 eggs per year.

Health-wise, noiler chickens are hardy and can withstand extreme weather conditions. Noilers are resistant to several poultry diseases that affect other poultry birds like broilers and turkeys. Also, noilers can thrive on household and kitchen waste, you do not need to worry much about feeding noilers.

Why Noilers Are Best For Beginner Poultry Farmers

As promised, I will list and explain some of my opinions on why any beginner in the poultry business should consider noilers. Read with me.

1. Less Risk of Failure:

As a beginner with little technical knowledge of rearing chickens, there is a high probability of recording high mortality and other risk factors as you progress, however, with noiler chickens, the risk of failure is reduced because noiler are naturally hardy.

Majority of what causes mortality in chickens are environmental factors, noilers are bred to adapt and withstand varying environmental factors like high heat and cold temperatures. Noilers are likely to survive conditions that cause mortality in broilers and turkeys.

2. Best Way to Learn Chicken Management:

I have trained lots of first-time farmers and I encourage them to start practicing with noiler before graduating to birds of their choice. There are lots of technicalities you will learn in rearing chickens, particularly day-old chicks during the first 10 days of their life.

80 percent of mortality occurs within the first 10 days of rearing day-old chicks, there is a lot to learn in that process.  With noilers, you can experiment several lessons you have learnt without the fear of them dying if you do the right thing.

3. Reduced cost of production:

The cost of rearing chicks is really high. Feeds account for up to 65 percent of the total cost, and medications like vaccines, dewormers, and antibiotics, take up to 20 percent. As a first-time poultry farmer, you can start small by raising noiler chickens instead of broilers or turkeys.

Noilers can survive on household food and kitchen waste, though you may need to supplement with commercial poultry feed like starters during the first 4 weeks. After that, you can consider supplementing household food and kitchen waste with commercial grower feed. This way you have reduced the cost of feeding.

Similarly, noiler chickens do not need regular administration of vaccines and antibiotics because they are naturally hardy and will thrive in varying conditions. In fact, the overall cost of rearing noiler is cheaper compared to other poultry birds like broilers and turkeys.

4. Free choice of feeds:

Unlike broilers and turkeys which need specialized diets for good growth and development, noilers can thrive on kitchen leftovers and household food. Noilers are excellent converters of any feed resource. In fact, some poultry farmers prefer to rear noilers in a semi-intensive system.

In conclusion, noilers are indeed the best choice for practicing and learning how to rear poultry birds. These are solely my opinions, you are free to add yours or shed more light in the comment section.