If you are thinking to start chicken farming, specially for eggs and meat production, then Sonali Chicken Breed can prove to be the best for you. in this blog post let’s discuss in details about Sonali Chicken Breed; their temperament, Appearance, Egg Production, Chick’s price, Feed and more.
Sonali Chicken Breed:
The Sonali chicken breed is a dual-purpose chicken breed that is native to India. This chicken is become very popular in different parts of India in the last few years due to its excellent eggs and meat production capability. This chicken breed is mostly reared in the region of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh etc.
| Characteristic | Description |
|---|---|
| Origin | Developed in Bangladesh through crossbreeding |
| Purpose | Dual-purpose (meat and egg production) |
| Growth Rate | Rapid weight gain |
| Size | Medium |
| Body Color | Multiple Color |
| Egg Production | 150-200 per year |
| Meat Production | Become 1kg within 70-80 days |
| Feed Requirement | Commercial feeds as well as Natural Feeds |
| Temperament | Polite and Gentle |
| Care and Management | very easy to care |
1) Origin of Sonali Chicken:
The Sonali chicken breed first originated in Bangladesh, by crossing Rhode Island Red (RIR) chickens with a Fayoumi chicken. In 1997, a farmer experimented with keeping both the chickens together and the chicks that emerged from the eggs of both the breeds were growing very fast. After this incident, that farmer told Bangladeshi reporters and thus Sonali chicken breed was born.
2) Temperament of Sonali Chicken:
The Sonali chicken breeds are known for their polite and gentle temperament. Their polite and calm nature makes them very easy to handle by the beginner poultry farmers who are wants to get knowledge about poultry farming or just want to start chicken farming. When you are choosing them make sure that they are good fit according to you goal.
3) Physical Appearance of Sonali Chicken:
The Sonali chicken breed is very easy to identify because this chicken breed is comes medium in size with multiple feather colors, but the very common body color of this chicken will mostly be seen golden-brown in color.
- Body size and color: This chickens are medium-sized birds, with an average weight of rooster around 2.5-3 kg and a hens can be maximum 2-2.5 kg.
- Comb and Wattles: The comb of a Sonali chicken is single and upright. It is red in color and is relatively large in size. The wattles of a Sonali chicken are medium-sized and well-developed. They are also red in color.
- Eyes and Beak: The eyes of this chickens are dark brown in color. Their beaks are yellow in color and strong.
- Legs and Feet: The legs of a Sonali chickens are yellow and strong. Their feet are also yellow in color and have four toes each.
4) Sonali Chicken Chicks and Price
The color of the Sonali chicken chicks will vary but most will appear to be pale yellow or cream colored, and the body weight of a chick will be 30 to 35 grams.
If talk about the price of Sonali chicks than you will get to see approx. 22 to 30 rupees per chicks. The price of the chicks are not fixed in everywhere, it’s depends on different factors including: Location, Quality, Breeder, Seasons etc.
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5) Sonali Murga or Rooster:
Sonali Murga (Roosters) are larger in size than the hens and their feathers are shinier and denser. Apart from this, the stomach of Sonali hen is thick and the body is longer in width and length, the lower part of the back is more full than the lower parts of the front.
A Sonali Murga (Rooster) are typically weighing, with an average of 2.5-3 kg. They have a single, upright comb that is red in color. Their wattles are medium-sized and well-developed, and they are also red in color.
6) Sonali Murgi or Hen:
Sonali Murgi (hen) are typically smaller than murga (rooster), hens are also play vital roles in the flock as they produce both meat and eggs. However, if you want eggs selling business either it’s fertile or unfertile eggs than you must have to keep more hens than roosters to ensure higher egg production.
The body weight of a hen with an average of 2 to 2.5 kg. They have a single, upright comb that is red in color. Here are some of the important roles of the hen in-to the flock:
7) Sonali Chicken Price:
If we talk about the price of Sonali chicken chicks, then currently the price of one chicken is available in India between ₹20 to ₹30, but still it is difficult to tell the exact price because the price is depends on many things. Sometimes it may be less and sometimes it may be more.
Apart from chicks, if we talk about the price of Sonali chicken breed meat, then the wholesale rate in India is around ₹170 to ₹190 per kg, apart from this the price in retail market can be at around ₹200 to ₹300 per kg. However, the price of Sonali chicken is depending on various factors including: demand, seasons, age of the chicken etc.
8) Mortality of Sonali Chicken:
It is quite difficult to estimate the exact mortality rate of Sonali chickens, as it depends on many things, such as how you are raising your chickens and how much experience you have in poultry farming. But most of the Sonali chicken farmers say that this chicken is relatively stronger than other chickens, but still Sonali chickens are also can fall sick in which the maximum mortality rate on the farm can be seen up to 5-10%.
9) Feed For Sonali Chicken Breed:
As like most of the native chicken breeds, this Sonali chickens can be fed in two ways, first is ready-made feed and second is homemade feed;
I) Ready-made Chicken Feed
Doing Sonali chicken farming by feeding them ready-made or commercial food is the easiest way because you can easily get this feed from the local market in which different types of feed are available according to different ages of the hen.
If you rear Sonali chickens by feeding them ready-made food, then you will get lot of benefits from it like the chickens will be ready sooner, the hen will lay more eggs, along with that the chickens will also fall sick less, because this grain contains all the nutrients which a chicken needs for their better health.
II) Homemade or Natural Feeds
If you want to raise Sonali chickens in free-range methods at home, then the homemade food will be more beneficial for you, because if you feed homemade or high protein natural foods to your chickens, then it will help you to cut feeding cost, there you will be able to earn more profits. It is very easy to make Balance Sonali Chicken Feed at home.
10) Weight of Sonali Chickens:
How much a Sonali chicken will weigh or how quickly it grows depends on what you feed your chickens. If you rear this chickens by feeding them only market or ready-made foods, then a chicken can gain 1 kg body weight by eating 3200 grams to 3400 grams of feed within 75 to 80 days.
Whereas, if you rear chickens in free-range and feed only natural or home-made foods, then a chicken will take little more time to reach the weight of 1 kg, approximately in 90 to 100 days.
11) Sonali Chicken Eggs:
The best thing about Sonali chicken breed is that they gets ready for meat very quickly and also capable of laying more eggs in a year than other chickens. If we talk about the egg production of this chickens, then a hen starts laying eggs from 140 days and lays 150 to 200 eggs in a year.
I) Price of Sonali Chicken Eggs
If you want to rear Sonali chickens for egg production, and if you go to sell its eggs in the wholesale market, then the price of one egg can be around ₹5 to ₹8. On the other hand, if you go to sell in retail market then the price of 1 egg can be around ₹10 to ₹12.
II) Color and Size of Sonali Chicken eggs
The color of Sonali chicken eggs will mostly be light brown to cream in color. In the initial days, when the hen starts laying eggs, the size of the eggs can be very small. As the days pass, the size of the egg increases and the weight of one egg becomes around 35 to 40 grams.
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12) Sonali Chicken Farming
Sonali Poultry farming is very good and profitable business if someone can do this with proper knowledge and research. There are many poultry farmers in India who are stablished a business and earning very good income by rearing Sonali Chickens.
If you are thinking to jump in this business, you have to get proper knowledge in this field, because there are lots of video in social media platform related to Sonali Murgi Palan, but you don’t have to get influence by seeing all those videos. If you want to be successful in this field then you should start this business after getting basic information.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Sonali chicken breed is good choice for both Backyard chicken keeper as well as commercial chicken farming business. These chickens have ability to grow faster and producing good amounts of eggs. Due to all these quality, a chicken farmer can earn good income in a short time.
FAQs
Q1: Is Sonali a Desi Chicken?
Ans: No, Sonali Chickens are not pure desi breed, they are hybrid that crossed with Rhode Island Red and Fayoumi chickens.
Q2: What is the weight of egg in Sonali chicken?
Ans: Average a Sonali Chicken eggs weight around 50-55 grams.
Q3: What age does a Sonali chicken lay eggs?
Ans: When a hens become 135-140 days old.
Q4: How many eggs does a sonali chicken lay?
Ans: A healthy Sonali chicken can lay around 150-200 eggs per year.
