Principles, fundamentals & strategy of poultry farming

Poultry farming has principles, fundamentals and strategy. All these ingredients are necessary for the success of a poultry entrepreneur.

I’d define principles as rules of the game. Fundamentals are how you play the game to win. Strategy is your approach to beating a particular opponent.

Whilst recently sharing lunch with a colleague, we got talking about this and that – then he dropped this question:

“Hey, do you play chess?”

I was instantly stumped, “umms” and “ahhhs” proceeded – I think mostly because I wasn’t sure if what was to follow would be an invitation to a match, or if he was simply motioning down a general branch of conversation.

But to answer his question honestly, I responded:

“Well, I know what the pieces do – if that counts…and I played the occasional match at school between classes. How about you?”

My colleague then proceeded to tell me how he was trained to play chess by his cousin, a chess grand master (…by the way, instantly thankful I opted for honesty, clearly way out of my depth here…)

Though my colleague said he never took chess too seriously, he did share that on one occasion that he and his cousin played, he got a stalemate.

My response: “Oh, so you know strategy…”

Afterward, this conversation made me think – ‘…playing the game, isn’t knowing the rules, or even knowing how to win…it’s beating the opponent.’

Surely, everyone plays to beat the opponent. Even amateurs play to win. Knowing how to win isn’t anywhere near as satisfying as actually outscoring the person in front of you.

But the reality is that even the best of us have to settle.

Even champions aren’t champions forever. No matter how long or illustrious their reign at the top of their game, there dawns a day where even they get beaten by ones that come after – forcing them to retire.

But notwithstanding, beating the opponent is without question the entire point. And no matter our level, there is a chance for everyone to experience a win.

That said, there’s no rushing the process.

It’s a fruit. All in its time and order.

You can’t beat an opponent unless you first know how to win. And you can’t learn how to win without knowing the rules.

Just think of the gulf that lies between professional sports players and amateurs.

Skill, talent, accolades (not to mention the material trappings that come along with mastering a high-profile craft).

But as far apart as amateurs and pros might seem, they’re only separated by 3 rudimentary steps.

Principles, fundamentals and strategy.

Most of us who play for the love of the game, learn the rules and no further.

This happens at school level. The incubator where pros and amateurs co-exist, before separation occurs.

Then those with promise are recruited into after-school academies and advanced leagues where high-potential players are pooled and taken through the rigours of higher-level training. Here, they learn how to win. They are coached to develop a mind, bodily fitness and practical finesse for how the game is really supposed to be played (following the footsteps of big names who made it in generations past).

Then those who excel are drafted into the pro-leagues and work their way up the divisions earning the attention of major scouts and clubs who are hunting those missing pieces to add to their line-ups for dominating top competitions.

The ultimate goal for the pro player is to play at the very highest level, against the toughest opponents and to achieve at least once in their career, undisputed championship status.

This is the dream.

Whilst many fall short – it isn’t impossible, for quite a few still make it.

And actually when you weigh up the difference between the notable stars and the nameless numbers that stayed playing for fun, or even made it part way but no further – the key differentiator is persistence, even more so – an uncompromising obsession.

To the exception of all other things in life – putting their craft first and improving (even just a few percentage points) every single day. Through obsession and discipline, even relatively unremarkable pros have achieved transformation to become worldbeaters.

But the process is the same.

First, learning the rules (principles), then knowing how to win (fundamentals) and finally mastering the best approach for beating each opponent, lawfully (strategy).

Most of us have learned the principles e.g. we’ve kicked or thrown a ball around with friends

Some of us have learned how to win e.g. been coached precise positional play, form and technique

Very few of us have competed professionally e.g. have been recruited by organisations willing to pay us a living to help their team win

But if given the chance, as with your current poultry business, for example – going pro i.e. earning a consistent living from this, is undoubtedly the goal here.

The rules? We can learn from guides.

How to win? We can learn from being coached.

To beat the opponent?…

When we examine the habits of the ‘best in the business’ across the sporting world, there is one trait all repeat champions possess:

Studying the opponent.

For the 99% of us who never made it to pro…this stage of development will be an alien practice to us.

Consistently executing victories over each opponent means you must be aware of their strengths and weaknesses.

PLUS, be able to identify the crucial phases in each match when you instinctively need to attack to exploit vs. defend to preserve.

(Constantly knowing ‘what time it is’ within a game and knowing ‘how to react’.)

Why?

Because the margins of victory vs. defeat are so thin!

Now, as I said, the poultry business follows this exact pattern.

Principles, fundamentals and strategy.

Rules; how to win; and how to beat each opponent…

• Rules: Layers, broilers, pastured poultry, breeder, grower etc.
• How to win: FCR, profitability, cost control, project management etc.
• Beating the opponent: little capital, adverse tariffs, low margins, shifting consumer behaviour etc.

How sharp are your poultry principles, fundamentals and strategies?