INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

A poultry keeping information system is a database software system that can be used to record needed or relevant information pertaining a poultry farm. The system is needed because of the importance associated with adequately monitoring the activities in a poultry farm.

Poultry production is a very important source of livelihoods for most rural communities because it provides ready cash for emergency needs, supplies the fast-growing human population with high quality protein, contributes significantly to food security, poverty alleviation and ecologically sound management of natural resources. Since there is a continuing rise in the cost of production of cattle, sheep and goat meat, consumer preferences have shifted now for poultry meat (white meat) given the ecological, economic, social and health advantages it has over the other types of meat (red meat). The poultry is the most commercialized (capitalized) of all the Nigerian livestock agriculture. The types of poultry that are commonly reared in Nigeria are chickens, ducks, guinea fowls, turkeys, pigeons and more recently ostriches. Those that are of commercial or economic importance are chicken, guinea fowls and turkeys, amongst which the chickens predominate. Poultry production in the past was not counted as an important occupation. Poultry management system in Nigeria is of three types which are intensive, extensive and semi-intensive, they are differentiated on the basis of their flock size and input and output relationship. Flock size in intensive production are in thousands, whereas semi-intensive production system flock size range from 50-200 birds and keeping of big flock size in as a result of research development in artificial incubation, nutritional requirement and disease control. Poultry birds mature earlier than most breeds of livestock, they bring economic return within relatively short periods of about 10-12 weeks, poultry eggs and meat play a very important role in bridging the protein gap in Nigeria and they are generally accepted (Adedeji, Amao, Alabi, & Opebiyi, 2014)

A detailed set of records is essential to making sound farm management decisions. This publication discusses the importance of farm records, explains the basics of bookkeeping, and outlines other major record keeping components and concepts including asset inventory, depreciation, profit and loss, enterprise accounting, and cash flow. Computer based record systems are widely available and should be considered when setting up a record system. Software capability to support farm records has grown dramatically in recent years. Different software packages differ in complexity and price. However, the output“balance sheets, cash flow, income statements and enterprise accounts“provide the information necessary for farm business planning and management. Computers can be used to generate these documents Carkner (2000).

1.1 Theoretical Background

The need for, use and benefits of information for farm decision making has engaged the attention of farmers, researchers and policymakers over the years. Information is data that has been transformed into a form that is meaningful and useful for decision-making with data distinguished as raw facts, figures, objects et cetera. The ‘system’ about information relates to the connection or integration of components of collection, processing, storage, and distribution of information to support decision-making (Laudon & Laudon 2002). By extension of this non-farm definition, farm information systems (FIS), then, can be appreciated as a tool to assist farms in forward planning, risk management, and by the use of information (Doye, et al., 2000). Poultry production enterprises require good information systems to ensure success.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Many poultry farmers still make use of the manual approach of keeping farm records. The consequence of this approach are it is time consuming, needed information may easily be misplaced, un-organized and inefficient. Also, needed reports concerning different aspects of the farm cannot be easily retrieved when needed. This situation makes it to monitor the state of the birds in the poultry, income and expenses and other relevant information. To overcome these problems there is need for an information system for proper management of the poultry farm.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to develop poultry keeping information system.

The following are the objectives of the study:

• To automate the manual means of recording poultry farm records
• To develop a database application that can be used to maintain and provide information about the livestock and financial information aspect of the poultry farm
• To provide a system that can facilitate the update of poultry farm records
• To develop a system that will aid the presentation of reports pertaining the poultry farm

1.4 Scope of the Study

This research work covers Design and Implementation of a poultry keeping information system. It is restricted to recording information concerning the birds reared and the financial aspect of income and expenses of the poultry farm.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is that it will provide useful information and means to enable the management of the poultry farm automate their record keeping process for better updating and presentation of reports. It will also serve as a useful reference material to other researchers that need related information.

1.6 Organization of the Research

This research work is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is concerned with the introduction of the research study and it presents the preliminaries, theoretical background, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of terms.

Chapter two focuses on the literature review, the contributions of other scholars on the subject matter is discussed.

Chapter three is concerned with the system analysis and design. It analyzes the present system to identify the problems and provides information on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system. The system design is also presented in this chapter.

Chapter four presents the system implementation and documentation. The choice of programming language, analysis of modules, choice of programming language and system requirements for implementation.

Chapter five focuses on the summary, conclusion and recommendations are provided in this chapter based on the study carried out.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Automation: This is the use of technology or computers to control and process data reducing the need for human intervention.

Database: This refers to a large store of related data on a computer that a user can access and modify