How The Big Farms Do It: From The Hatchery to The Shop

Well, the journey to the millions that big poultry farms make isn’t quite a walk in the park. However, it is nothing like rocket science and with a little determination you too can scale great heights in poultry farming. This short article gives a detailed procedure as followed in top farms around the world.

Hatchery to farm

Newly hatched chicks are transported to broiler farms, in ventilated chick boxes, in air-conditioned trucks that are specifically designed to carry chicks. It is important that chicks receive feed, water and warmth soon after hatching, however the remains of the yolk sac can sustain each chick for up to 72 hours post-hatch.

Brooding or Starting

On arrival at the broiler farm, day-old chicks are placed onto the floor of the shed, where they are initially confined to an area of between a half to one third of the total shed area (the ‘brooding area’) and given supplementary heating from gas heaters or heat lamps (referred to as brooders) for about three weeks. This period of time is called brooding. Extra feed pans and water dispensers are provided in the brooding area, and the bedding may be partly covered with paper to stop dropped feed from getting into the bedding and spoiling. Both male and female chicks are reared as meat chickens. While the flocks are usually of mixed sex, some operations may grow male and female chickens separately, depending on market requirements. For example, one company grows out only male chickens in one area, allowing its operations and processing plant in that area to be geared up specifically for larger birds, while sending female chicks to another area.

The air temperature under the brooder should initially be 35oC and reduced by 1-2oC per day until it reaches 23oC when the chickens are approximately three weeks of age. Sophisticated brooding systems have been developed which include gas-fired radiant heat sources, through gas-fired hot air blasters, and fully controlled environment sheds with special heated air passed through ducts to the chickens. High protein (22%) starter rations are fed to young meat chickens to ensure they grow as much as possible early in life. This may be continued for 18-24 days. A medicine, called a coccidiostat, is added to the feed of meat chickens to prevent the intestinal disease coccidiosis. Australian meat chickens are raised on litter floors, but some overseas companies use wire-floored cage systems. The number of chickens in a meat chicken shed is usually high, with some Australian sheds containing up to 30 000 meat chickens.

Growing or Finishing

At this stage, growth is still very important, but since feed is expensive careful costing is carried out to keep expenses to a minimum. Thus a diet that is lower in protein (19%) is fed to the chickens for the remainder of their life (usually until 42 days of age). Heavy weight birds that are required for chicken fillets are slaughtered at up to 56 days of age. A coccidiostat, sometimes a different one from that used in starter feed, is added to the finisher feed. Some meat chickens go through a separate rearing stage, with a special rearing ration being fed to them before they are placed on a finisher feed, but most go straight from starter to finisher feed.

Harvesting

Getting finished meat chickens from the farm to the factory is a delicate business. Most catching is done at night when the birds are quieter, and this also gets them to the processor early in the morning with less delay before slaughter. Delay means stress and weight loss. Mechanical devices for harvesting meat chickens have been invented, however results are variable and most Australian meat chickens are still caught by hand. Birds are placed into plastic crates or aluminium modules designed for good ventilation and safety from bruising during transport. These crates or modules are handled by specialist forklift equipment and loaded onto trucks for transport to the processing plant. In Australia, a percentage of chickens are harvested at up to four different times depending on the need for light or heavy birds. Harvesting is also know n as ‘partial depopulation’, ‘thinning out’, or ‘multiple pick-up’. Thinning out sheds allows more space for the remaining birds and reduces the natural temperatures in the shed. The first harvest can occur as early as 30-35 days and the last harvest at 55-60 days.

Shed clean-out

Broiler processing is highly mechanised

Once all the birds have been harvested (after approximately 60 days), the shed is cleaned and prepared for the next batch of day old chicks, which generally arrives five days to two weeks after the previous harvest. Not only does is the time between batches used to clean the shed, but it also reduces the risk of common ailments being passed between batches as many pathogens die off in this time. Many farms undertake a full cleanout after every batch. This involves removing bedding, brushing floors, scrubbing feed pans, cleaning out water lines, scrubbing fan blades and other equipment, and checking rodent stations. High pressure hoses clean the whole shed thoroughly. The floor bases are usually rammed earth and because low water volumes are used, there is little water runoff.

Once the shed has been thoroughly cleaned, it is disinfected. This is carried out using low volumes of disinfectant sprayed throughout the shed. If insects, such as beetles, were a problem in the previous batch an insecticidal treatment may also be used. Any disinfectant or insecticide that is used must be approved by the Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) as safe and fit for use in broiler sheds. After a full cleanout, company veterinarians or servicemen will test the shed to confirm that it has been adequately cleaned and any potential disease agents removed. Sometimes, a partial shed cleanout only is required which involves removing old litter and / or topping up fresh litter and cleaning and sanitising equipment. However, a full cleanout is done after every second or third batch of chickens.

Processing line

When chickens arrive at the processor they go through the following sequence:

• Hung by the legs on a shackle
• Stunned using an electrically charged water bath
• Killed by cutting the blood vessels in the neck
• Bled so that most of the blood leaves the carcass
• Scalded to soften the attachment of the feathers
• Plucked to remove the feathers
• Head removed
• Gutted or eviscerated to remove the internal organs
• Washed to remove blood and soiling from the carcass
• The hock is cut to remove the feet
• Chilled to prevent bacterial spoiling
• Drained to remove excess water from the carcass
• Weighed
• Cut selection to divide the carcass into the desired portions (breast, drumsticks etc.)
• Packed in plastic bags to protect carcasses or portions
• Chilled or frozen for storage

Removal of breast meat

The carcasses are graded during the processing sequence to remove poor quality meat. This meat is used for cut-up (further processing) purposes or, if badly affected, might be used for pet food or condemned and cooked to be made into meat meal for stock feed.

Further Processing and storage

Further processing includes cutting up the carcasses into portions, deboning carcasses and preparing special ready-to-cook products. Cooking is an additional process which is carried out at some processing plants. Almost all chicken meat is sold chilled. Chilled chicken meat must be cooked before it spoils. The shelf life of chicken meat is usually eight to 12 days, depending on the processing, handling and storage conditions.

Marketing

In Australia most chicken is sold under the brand name and market competition is very strong. The average amount of chicken eaten has risen rapidly as prices have fallen. These changes have taken place at the expense of the beef and lamb industries.

Omondi’s 2000-Plus Chicken Empire Is Just A Side Hustle: His Dreams Are Bigger!

Dressed in a white overcoat, a black trouser and gumboots, Nicholas Omondi digs his hand in a sack of poultry feeds and offers his birds at his farm in Dunga, Kisumu.

The farmer keeps 42 ornamental birds that include silky and bantam chickens, doves, guinea fowl and fantail pigeons.

But these are just to beautify his one-and-a-half acres Victoria Eco-Farm. His mainstay are the Kari Kienyeji, Rainbow Rooster and Kuroiler chickens, all which total 2,000, excluding the chicks.

He hatches eggs from the chickens in 15 incubators. “I have two incubators with a capacity of 10,000 eggs. The rest have a capacity of between 2,500 and 8,000 eggs,” says the poultry farmer.

Every three days, he collects over 6,000 chicks for sale. “When they leave the hatchery, I pack them in boxes and deliver to our clients in Kisumu and other counties, including Nairobi.”

Omondi sells to other farmers the day, a week, two weeks, a month and two months old chicks.

A day-old chick goes for Sh85, a week-old at Sh120, two weeks at Sh150, a month at Sh250 while two months chicks go for Sh400.

On the other hand, he sells a mature breeding cockerels for Sh1,500 each.

“The best hen to cockerel ratio in poultry breeding is 1:7. Most farmers over-work their cockerels and this lowers the quality of eggs and, thus, chicks.”

He sells mature bantam and Italian silky chickens at Sh13,000 when they are four months old, mostly to the Asian community.

With contracts from several outside catering firms, the farmer in a good week supplies 1,500 mature birds for events such as funerals and weddings at an average of Sh1,000.

The 35-year-old collects 1,800 eggs per day. He further sources from farmers to ensure he does not run out of the fertilised eggs to hatch.

“We are encouraging contract farming. We have farmers who buy our chicks, once they start laying eggs, we buy back the fertilised eggs from them,” says Omondi, who works with over 100 farmers in different counties.

Interestingly, his poultry business is a ‘side hustle’ as Omondi works as a journalist at Radio Lake Victoria where he presents an evening show.

So how did he built his poultry empire? “I started the business in 2008 with a capital of Sh250,000 from my savings. I really wanted to keep poultry with the passion making me to save nearly every coin I made.”

He used Sh40,000 to buy 50 mature Kienyeji birds comprising of 40 hens and the rest were cockerels. He spent Sh15,000 on feeds in three months and Sh187,000 went to the construction of a one-storey poultry house.

With time, his brood increased as he expanded his hatchery using skills he picked in trainings and seminars sponsored by the USAID, Plan International and others NGOs.

Each day, the father of two, who doubles up as the farm manager, starts his day at 5am by feeding the birds with the help of his workers as he monitors if they have any diseases before leaving for work later in the day.

“We formulate our own feeds from maize germ, cotton seed cake and fishmeal (omena). I add in the feeds coccidiostat and mineral supplements to curb diseases. In a day, we use 12 50kg bags of feeds,” explains Omondi, who has six workers.

He says the few the number of workers in a poultry farm, the more efficient work is done and overall farm management.

His main challenges include diseases like Newcastle, gumboro and fowl pox, which in many cases strike when he is least prepared.

“Each year, I must lose some birds to these diseases. It happens to every farmer before they identify the disease and take preventive measures,” says Omondi, whose dream is to be the biggest supplier of chicks and other poultry products in western Kenya.

Amos Amenya, an agronomist at the Lake Basin Development Authority, while using a charcoal brooder, one should guard against suffocation due to carbon-monoxide.

“For chicks, Gumboro vaccine should be administered when they are a day-old. After 14 days, the chicken should be vaccinated against Newcastle Disease followed by small pox.”

Grab The Opportunity To Make Big Money With Kienyeji Chicken Now: Learn From Regina’s Success

Chicken is one component of those meals we love to prepare. For a long time, we were used to the broilers sold in most hotels and fast food points. However, those who know how the birds are bred and feed will tell you that you would rather buy kienyeji chicken.  As more Kenyans realize this, the demand for these chicken has over the last few years increased tremendously. This is the opportunity that Regina saw and tapped into to make a kill.

Regina started her business in 2009 with 2 hens and a cockerel. Today she has more than 100 layers and breeding cockerels and can hatch more than 700 chicks in a month, using her incubator. Here are a few tips that we got from Regina that might help you to commercialize your indigenous poultry project like she did.

Hatching Chicks Using an Incubator

Regina has an incubator that has a capacity of 750 eggs. The incubator operates on electricity but can also be powered by the use of a generator or solar energy. She also has invented a cheap way of providing the eggs with warmth incase of power loss. "I boil water and put it in 5-litre jericans which I place in the incubator. I change the water with freshly boiled after every three hours. This to keep the incubator warm," She explained. Incubated eggs hatch after 21 days. The egg to chick turnover is directly attributable to the layers and how the eggs were handled.

Choice of Layers and Handling of Eggs

Below are some of the best practices in selection and handling of incubating eggs.

Layers of incubating eggs should be served by cockerel at the rate if 1 cockerel for 10 hens to ensure that the eggs are fertilized.

Incubating eggs should be incubated not more than two weeks after being laid. The more the eggs are kept before being incubated, the more you reduce hatching probability.

The eggs should be kept in well aerated places before being incubated. This is to ensure good supply of air to the York.

Eggs should be handled with clean hand and well labeled to ensure that openings in the shell are left open. Eggs should not be handled with oily hands as this may cause the York to suffocate.

Handling Young Chicks

After hatching, young chicks should be placed in brooders; structures that are well aerated and regulated heat to keep the chicks warm. Chicks should be kept in brooders for up to two months when they have fully developed wings.

Feeding

Chicks should be fed with broiler starter marsh for up to eight weeks as they are easily introduced to other types of food that are more traditional such as grains and food leftovers. The good thing is that kienyeji chickens are hardy and once fed in the morning, they spend the rest of the day scavenging for food outside.

Maturity

If well fed and taken care of, the indigenous chicken matures in between four to five months and hens start laying eggs.

Diseases

Kienyeji chicks are resistance to diseases though it is advisable that you vaccinate them and also give them antibiotics regularly.

Marketing

Indigenous chickens have a large unsatisfied market in Kenya. According to Regina, she is not able to satisfy the demand for chicks that she receives. "Marketing of kienyeji chicks is not a problem. They are usually ordered before they hatch", she explained. "Chicks that are left to grow to maturity are used as layers and fetch between Kshs. 1000 to Kshs. 1200 in Nairobi", she added.

Fertilized eggs are sold for between Kshs. 15 to 25 depending on where you are buying them.

Now that is a great opportunity to make huge profits. 

How Caleb Karuga Overcame Major Handles To Build A 800K Chicken Empire

Immediately after he was forcefully retrenched from his TV job at K24 in 2013, Caleb Karuga ventured into poultry farming. Two years later, he has no regrets to boot. In fact, the founder and CEO of Wendy Farms Limited has gone on to build a poultry empire that rakes in over Sh. 800,000 from KARI Kienyeji Chicken, and trainings of other farmers.

However, his journey into successful poultry farming has not been a walk in the park. When Karuga first ventured into farming he acquired 200 pigs because pigs were the ‘it’ thing at the time. With no proper research, the venture failed.

He made another attempt, buying two hens and one cock. “When the two hens started laying eggs I decided to buy more hens from neighbouring farms. That was my biggest mistake because some of the hens were not vaccinated. In a span of about one month and a half, I had lost about 200 hens. I learned that you should never buy birds that you are not sure whether or not they have been vaccinated.”

Not one to give up easily, Karuga purchased 500 day-old chicks from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, but once again made loses as his employees sold the chickens in his absence.

“Theft by employees was the major challenge we have faced. I bought the chicks at KSh. 100 each and after a month of feeding them my employees were selling them off for KSh. 50 each. When they matured I would be told the hens had ‘died’ of diseases.”

 

Caleb Karuga Trainings

Karuga, nevertheless, soldiered on and bought another 1,500 chicks, but because he used cheaper feed, egg production was poor. Eventually Karuga realized that he would make three times more selling day-old chicks than what he was making selling eggs. “I learned that in indigenous chicken farming the money is in day-old chicks, not eggs. It was like a light bulb moment for me. I realized that I had been sitting on a gold mine.”

Today, Mr. Karuga has chicken farms in Kikuyu, Nyeri and Nanyuki. Although the Kienyeji chicken take longer to mature, Mr. Karuga chose them because they are cheaper to feed and are quite disease resistant. “I sell a one day chick at Sh 100 and a kienyeji egg at Sh 15 or Sh 20. A full grown Kienyeji chicken goes for about Sh 800 while the broilers/ ex layers go for Sh 270-Sh 300. When you do your maths, you realize that the Kienyeji chicken is more profitable,” quips the former TV reporter.

At times, he sells cocks at Sh 1,200 and above during holidays such as April, August and December. “In most cases, I determine the cost of the chicken since the demand for Kienyeji meat far outstrips supply. It’s a very good business.”

On a good month, Caleb says the Kienyeji chicken can earn him a handsome figure in the neighborhood of 600,000 shillings or more. He charges his trainings at Sh. 1,000 per person per session.

“I don’t regret having left employment, God has been very faithful to me despite the challenges I face every day,” he says. “You cannot satisfy demand for Kienyeji chicken in Kenya, East African region and the rest of Africa. As matters stand, the orders I have for day-old KARI Improved Kienyeji Chicken and Kuroilers is overwhelming me, but I am not complaining.”

Despite his initial losses, Karuga says he has learnt a lot along the way. “I believe in going through the learning curve. When a venture fails I don’t take it personally. It is the business that has failed, not me. I might have made a mistake but I choose to keep on the ball. I don’t make permanent decisions based on temporary situations.” While it is encouraging to see more young people going into agribusiness, Karuga says the industry should not be romanticised.

“What we are seeing is people going into farming because they read a story in a newspaper. They don’t do thorough research and they have no passion for farming, but because it seems sexy they decide to take a loan and bury the money. Don’t make farming sexy because it is not.” He warns that anyone looking to get into agribusiness needs to first have a passion for it. “If your only motivation is to make money then you are getting into the wrong business.”

Kwa kweli vijana tunaweza make doh na farming

I Have Market for Eggs, Where Are the Farmers?

Dressed in a white overcoat, gumboots, red dress and a matching cap, Rose Nyamunga scoops fish feeds from a bucket and sprinkles them in a fish pond. The fish scramble for the feeds.

Nyamunga, the Kisumu Woman Representative, owns the two-acre fish farm on the outskirts of Kisumu town. The farm has six hatcheries, 10 fish ponds and several breeding cages. “Welcome to my fish farm,” says a cheerful Nyamunga.

The catchiest thing is that the politician has a poultry farm, says she started the farm in 2013 with the help of her husband after realising the bulk of fish and eggs consumed in the region were from Uganda. Most traders in the county import the items from the neighbouring countries through Busia and Serare border points because of low supply.

“It pained me that we were importing things that we can produce locally. My aim of starting the ventures, particularly the poultry business, was to try and provide local farmers with affordable but quality chicks to boost poultry farming,” says Nyamunga of the business that she invested over Sh4 million, most which went to buying incubators.

Besides the incubators, she further bought 5,000 fertilised eggs for hatching to get started. However, she has since contracted over 100 farmers keeping Kari indigenous chickens who supply her with fertilised eggs.

“We buy the eggs at Sh30 each, which is higher than the market price but still I have a huge deficit. All my 11 incubators have not operated optimally since I started,” she says.

Nyamunga only hatches 4,000 eggs yet she has a capacity of 40,000 after every 21 days. “I am really in need of fertilised eggs to hatch because I want to empower our farmers. If there is a farmer out there with the quality I want, then he should supply me.”

She sells the chicks to farmers at Sh85 instead of Sh120 market price. Bernard Otieno is among farmers who have benefitted from the low-cost chicks. He keeps over 900 chicks at his home in Kisumu. “We pick the chicks after they have been vaccinated which helps in cutting costs,” says Otieno, who sells eggs.

Nyamunga says if the poultry and fish sectors are given the attention they deserve across the country, they can uplift the livelihoods of thousands of people.

“As Kisumu, we can export the eggs and fish to other counties and even to Tanzania and Uganda if people rear chickens and keep fish. Fish from Lake Victoria has dwindled thus we must embrace ponds,” says Nyamunga, who sells only male tilapia fingerlings to farmers at Sh3 each, instead of Sh5.

Most farmers, according to her, prefer the male fingerlings because they grow faster and do not divert energy into reproduction.

“I hatch both the male and female fingerlings but after birth, we place them in caged ponds where we reverse the female ones into male using feeds. The process takes 42 days, enabling us to have between 10,000 and 30,000 fingerlings after every two weeks.”

“On average, I sell over 20,000 fingerlings every month to farmers but demand is still double that amount,” she adds of the project that has so far reached 20 groups.

The poultry project, on the other hand, she says has reached 1,500 farmers but her aim is to cover the entire county, and if possible neighbouring ones. She says that being in farming helps her spend time wisely when she is not attending to political matters as she reaches out to farmers who have bought her fingerlings and eggs.

“I know my projects can make a difference but I cannot do everything on my own. As I struggle to offer farmers chicks and fingerlings at subsidised price, the county should help me in reviving the ponds and promoting poultry farming.”

By ANGELA OKETCH

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The Greatest Mind In Agribusiness I Have Met So Far: Simon Mbuto

This place looks ordinary, just like any other by-the-road establishment along the winding Nairobi-Nakuru highway. Its name too is kept so simple one can easily think “…ABC? The guy must have run out of ideas.”

For a long time I passed through this place without taking any keen interest in it. During one of my chats about agribusiness, a friend asked whether I knew ABC. I struggled to remember where I had seen it, which I had to because she seemed too ready to get disappointed if I didn’t. “I would like you to meet him.” The way that was said sparked great curiosity in me. I had to meet him and luckily, we managed to get an appointment with Simon Mbuto, the owner of Agri-Business Centre.

As we took seats in a small office at ABC, Simon, a well and soft spoken man started telling us the story I couldn’t wait to hear.  “Although Agri Business Centre is a fairly developed business focusing in farm inputs, dairy, aquaculture and poultry activities both in production and value addition, it has not had a lush beginning.” He said.

“As you know, farming has not been viewed as a business in Kenya for a long time.” He continued. “Unfortunately, I initially swam with the currents and the best I did was to set up a dairy farming unit in my backyard. But I like reading and travelling a lot. It is through this that I got inspired to develop ABC.”

“So what is the idea behind ABC?” I eagerly asked.

“Do you know McDonalds?” Simon asked and my answer was an obvious yes. He had barely finished asking what their business is when I shouted “selling hamburgers” and felt a little less challenged. He laughed. 

“The business of McDonalds is not selling hamburgers.” He said and you can imagine my reaction. “Their main business is real estate. The hamburger business is the face of the business. Notice that most of the McDonalds are located along main highways. What they do is that they identify a location, buy the land and then set up the McDonalds hamburger eatery. Owning to the big name of McDonalds, the value of land around the franchise shoots up and they sell it.” That left me mouth agape. I had never thought of it that way.

“So how does that relate to ABC?” My inevitable question came. Simon smiled and then went on.

“ABC is the face of our real business as much as it is part of our business.” I noted the use of ‘our’ instead of ‘my’. “We are farmers and our main business is production. I work with farmers who have come together to form Bamboo Rafiki Self Help Group. They have an immense potential for production which ABC seeks to promote.” He went on.

“ABC owns two plots measuring 2.5 and 5.0 acres about 3km from here. On the 2.5 acre land is our Zero Grazing Dairy Unit and Chicken Breeding facility. On the 5.0 acre land, we grow fodder and are currently developing another dairy and poultry unit there. Together with Bamboo Rafiki Self Help Group, we plan to have a minimum of 12,000 improved Kienyenji/Rainbow Rooster chicken (majority cocks) by the end of the last quarter of 2015.”

The real ABC is still in the mind…

“The ABC you see now is simply a consolidation of the ideas making up the bigger picture. On this plot that we are seated, we have 0.5 acres of space on which the actual Agri Business Centre will be set. It will consist of a restaurant, a garden, a water-well, fish ponds and a chicken-run.

The construction of the restaurant is underway and since we want to provide a relaxing stopover for travelers, we have called in landscaping experts to create the ambience. There will also be an ample parking space even for busses. We intend to install one or two dispensers for a quick serve of fresh milk.

The garden is also in place, and apart from providing the fresh supplies for the restaurant, it will also be redesigned so that it offers a quick refreshing get-away. Can you imagine yourself in pathways surrounded by lush green vegetables being watered by sprinklers?

The chicken-run is also not complete yet. We intend to have about 50 rainbow roosters to colour the run. The design will allow the brightly coloured roosters to perch high such that travelers can see their beauty from the road. This will be besides the fish ponds which will also serve the restaurant.” By this time, I could clearly see the beauty of the place.

“Since ABC is just the face, the farms will also have the same unique touch of design. We will have large flat screens on site to entertain the visitors and showcase what the farms bear. We will also allow people to visit the farms and buy directly from us.”

Simon is surely one of the great people bringing a revolution, turning agriculture into agribusiness. It is clear how far the venture would have been by now had he started earlier. Just like I have always been, Simon believed there is gold, especially for the youth in farming. What touched me the most is that he is working with youths in Bamboo Rafiki Self Help Group. He even invites interested people to and organisations to invest in ABC which he says will be replicated in many other parts of the country.

Kwa Kweli, tunaweza make doh na farming.

How Immaculate Built An All-Round, Thriving Poultry Empire At 23

Matatus, boda boda riders and heavy trucks are competing for the little space left by earth movers constructing the Kisumu-Busia highway. We manage negotiate our way to Tiengre Shopping Centre, a 20-minute drive from Kisumu Town.

From here, one can see Kit Mikayi rock, a famous tourist attraction to the north and to the east, you can see aeroplanes landing and taking off from the Kisumu International Airport. We are looking for a young farmer who has set up a poultry empire here. He name is Immaculate Ochieng and her farm is called Green Farm.

We find her busy tending to her birds when we arrive. Her little child tucked firmly on her back, Immaculate, 23, goes about her business in her poultry farm with a lot of ease. She puts more layers mash in the feeding troughs, collects eggs and cleans the water cans.

She has 700 kuroiler chicken, 200 which are cockerels and the rest hens. “I sell eggs and birds for meat and hatch chicks. I have been doing this for over three years now,” she says.

Immaculate started chicken rearing as a hobby in 2012. She bought a 60 capacity egg incubator using her ‘chama’ savings. She also bought two crates of eggs at Sh1,800. Through the support of her husband and the youth group in which she is a member, her business has expanded.

Poultry Empire

Immaculate is an all-round farmer who is carving a niche in the business as she works on her dream of building a poultry empire. She also makes poultry feeds using a machine called drum mixer that she owns. She feeds her chicken with some and sells the rest to other farmers. Immaculate further has a 3,000 egg capacity incubator that she uses to hatch eggs for sale. Also, she offers brooding services to farmers.

“I started this business after getting tired of being a stay-at-home mum. I talked to my husband and he agreed to support me. He bought the birds and built the poultry houses. I later bought the incubator at Sh44,000 and the feed mixer.”

The farmer collects 860 eggs after every two days. From this, she keeps 350 for hatching. She sells unfertilized ones at Sh330 per crate while the fertilised Sh900. “I put the fertilised eggs into the incubator after every seven days to ensure I have chicks all the time.”

For brooding services, which involves vaccinating chicks, keeping them in the brooder for several days and feeding them, the charges differ depending on the age of the birds. The cost ranges from Sh130 to Sh240 per chick per week, with brooding a month old birds attracting the highest fees.

She says many farmers buy three- week old birds because they are easy to manage as they have been vaccinated. She sells between 300 and 500 chicks each week.

She sells mature cocks at Sh1,200 and hens at Sh1,000. She disposes the cocks at four months at Sh500 to avoid inbreeding. If she does not get ready market, she separates them from the rest and waits for them to mature so that she can sell at Sh1,200.

“I market my products through Seeds of Gold and free online classified websites,” says Immaculate, who is studying an online computer science programme at the University of the People, California, US.

To make feeds, she buys the ingredients that include maize germ, sunflower and cotton seed cake, pollard, grounded shells and salt (iodine) from dealers in Kisumu. She says salt is important during the formulation of feeds because lack of it in feeds or diet may result to diseases.

A 50kg bag of maize germ retails at Sh860 while the same amount of pollard goes for Sh1,050. “It is advisable to have one reliable supplier to buy the ingredients from for accountability. Besides, some of the ingredients sold in the market are contaminated and may affect the chicken,” says Immaculate, who researches heavily on poultry farming on the internet, and sells 50kg at Sh2,000.

Balancing

For shells picked from the shores of Lake Victoria, she gets a kilo at Sh25 from a supplier in Ahero market. “I have no problem balancing between studies, my family and rearing poultry. I submit my assignments every week which gives me time to concentrate on poultry and family.”

“As a married woman, I would get visitors, and I preferred cooking for them chicken. This prompted me to start rearing the birds,” says Immaculate, who is a member of Mazingira Youth Group, which gives her loans whenever she is in distress.

However, it has not been all rosy. Only 28 eggs out of the two crates she started with hatched. “By then, I had no idea that there was something like a candler to determine whether the eggs are capable of hatching.”

Poultry farming has made her sit with the high and mighty in the farming business. She recently travelled to Israel to learn from farmers there. The trip was sponsored by the UN Women, which seeks to equip them with leadership skills.

Jackson Achila, a poultry consultant based in Homa Bay at Blue Bound Farm, says the common poultry diseases are Newcastle, infectious bronchitis and gumboro, foul pox, foul typhoid and salmonella. “When birds are confined in one place, a farmer should be careful because one of these diseases may break out. However, these diseases can be managed through vaccination.”

He says it’s important to keep records of all birds especially the history of the parent birds so that the farmer is able to keep track of the diseases that have at one time affected them.

He advises farmers not rely on internet because they can be misled. “Unless it’s a site that gives the opinion of a well-known poultry consultant, then be cautious to use the information.”

By Everline Okewo, Nation Media.

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How To Become a Successful Small-scale Poultry Farmer in Kenya

The road to becoming a successful poultry farmer is littered with obstacles, but success is not beyond the reach of small-scale farmers, if only they came together in well organised associations.

Small-scale farmers put a lot of effort and successfully raise a significant number of chicken. However, many of these small-scale poultry farmers have no choice but to sell a batch of fully-grown chickens one at a time. This is not conducive to running an efficient poultry farming business. This is why I am encouraging the formation of cluster groups to overcome these and other challenges, such as access to feed, vaccines and funds for expansion.

“People must stop working in silos and stop with the jealousy,” Ajallon Zondi, South African poultry expert once said. “Ajallon is a hatchery owner and observes that, “Farmers living in the same area are growing 500 chicks at the same time and then fighting for a market where each manages to sell just a few chickens at one at the lowest imaginable prices. Yet if they operate as a cluster, and co-ordinate and stagger production, they could go to a local market with a steady supply of 500 chickens a week. Transport and abattoir clusters can also be formed. Clusters working together can become a business unit.”

Secure a market first

I will borrow a leaf from another South African expert, Dr Shelley Johnston, a director and consultant facilitator at the KwaZulu-Natal Poultry Institute (KZNPI), who says, “Too often, we see farmers producing chickens and eggs and then trying to find a market for their goods. That’s the wrong way to go about things,” she says.

“If you don’t have customers, you don’t have a business. Ask your neighbours and local shops where they source eggs and chickens from. Find out what they pay, what quantity they buy, and whether or not they’re happy with their current supplier.”

The next step is to scout for a suitable area to farm.

Dr Shelley Johnston observes that the common business dynamics of supply vs price perfectly applies in the poultry business. She says, “If there are too many poultry farmers in an area, the price of poultry products drops. But if there’s a shortage in the area, the price goes up. So find an area where there’s a broad range of farming activities on the go.”

Another reason to find land far from other poultry farms is to prevent the spread of airborne diseases. “You also need to find a site with clean water, electricity, good roads, a moderate climate and close proximity to markets,” explains Johnston.

Start small

“Find yourself a niche market and go through the process of learning and expanding. Don’t expect overnight success,” she advises. While large agribusinesses benefit from economies of scale, small farmers can make more money per unit because they often sell directly to customers. “They may sell small volumes, but margins will be higher,” Johnston says.

She adds, however, that marketing is an active process. “Go and look for customers. Don’t wait for them to find you.”

Manage the money carefully

Once income starts coming in from selling eggs and broilers, it is crucial to manage the finances well. “Always have cash in the bank,” says Johnston. “The income you earn is not your profit. Don’t blow it. Put it in the bank and draw a small salary.” Now that is a point most of us miss.

The profit from the first and subsequent ventures should be banked and used to expand the business. “In this way, your business will grow, you will employ people to help, and your salary can increase,” says Johnston.

“The golden rule for new businesses is simple. The first aim is to stay in business. The second aim is to make profits!” The ultimate one is to grow!

How To Make Your Own Poultry Feed And Realize More Profit

With the rising cost of poultry feeds, farmers rearing chickens are increasingly finding it difficult to make profit from poultry keeping. While it is difficult for farmers to formulate feeds for hybrid chickens such as broilers and layers, they can do so for their indigenous chickens or dual-purpose breeds such as Kenbro under intensive management system. The biggest challenge on how to make one owns chicken feeds has been the formula on mixing the individual components.

This can be done using the Pearson Square method.However, this is only possible if farmers have the right quality of ingredients or raw material for formulating feeds.The Pearson Square method relies on the Digestible Crude Protein (DCP) as the basic nutritional requirement for feed. The most common ingredients used are whole maize, maize germ, cotton seed cake, soya beans, sunflower or omena (fishmeal).

Example 1: Feed for LayersAssuming that the farmer wantsto make feed for their chickens using the Pearson Square method, they have to know the crude protein content of each of the ingredients used in feed making. The farmer may use whole maize (8.23 % DCP) Soya (45 % DCP) Omena (55 % DCP) and maize bran (7 % DCP) Sunflower (35 % DCP). To make a 70 kg bag of feed for layers, a farmer would require the following ingredients:34 kg of whole maize12 kg of Soya8 kg of omena10 kg of maize bran6 kg of Lime (as a calcium source)Each category of chickens has its own requirements in terms of nutrition. For example, feed for layers should have at least 18 per cent crude protein.

If one were to formulate feed for layers, then they would have to calculate the percentage of digestible crude protein in each of the ingredients to ensure that the total crude protein content is at least 18 per cent to meet this nutritional requirement. To find out if the feed meets this standard, a farmer can do a simple calculation as follows:Whole maize = 34 kg x 8.23 ÷100 = 2.80 kgSoya bean = 12 kg x 45 ÷ 100 = 5.40 kgOmena = 8 kg x 55 ÷ 100 = 4.40 kgMaize bran = 10 kg x 7 ÷ 100 = 0.70 kgLime = 6 kg x 0 ÷ 100 = 0.00 kg(Total crude protein 13.30 kg)To get the total crude protein content of all these ingredients in a 70 kg bag, you take the total crude protein content of the combined ingredients, divide by 70 and multiply by 100 thus, (13.30÷70) x 100 = 19.0 %. This shows that the crude protein percentage in the above feed formulation is 19.0 % which is suitable for layers.

Before mixing the feed, whole maize including the other ingredients has to be broken into the right sizes through crushing or milling to make it palatable for the chickens. Add 250 g of table salt on every 70 kg bag of feed.Feed for chicken meant for meatChickens meant for meat production require feed with a higher content of DCP. From the first to the fourth week, thechicks require feed with a DCP content of between 22 to 24per cent. From the fourth to the eighth week, the chicks require feed with a protein content of 21 to 22 per cent crude protein.

To attain this requirement, farmers can formulate feed using the same method given above. To make a 70 kg bags of feed, they will need to have all the right the ingredients in the proportions given below:Whole maize = 40 kg x 8.23 ÷ 100 = 3.20 kgOmena = 12 kg x 55 ÷ 100 = 6.60 kgSoya beans = 14 kg x 45 ÷ 100 = 6.30 kgLime = 4 kg x 0 ÷ 100 = 0.00 kg(Total crude protein 16.10 kg)

To determine if a 70 kg bag of feed has adequate crude protein content for birds meant for meat production, the same methods is used: (16. 10 ÷ 70) x 100 = 23 %. The feed given in this example has a total crude protein contentof 23 % which is adequate to feed chicken in this category. In every 70 kg bag of feed, add 250g of table salt.

Ration for kienyeji chickenIndigenous chickens are less productive in terms of egg and meat increase. They may not require intensive feeding and management. For this category of chickens, farmers can constitute feeds with a DCP of between 15 - 16 %. Theycan use the following formulation to make feeds for the indigenous chickens:Whole maize = 33 kg x 8.23 ÷ 100 = 2.70 kgMaize or Wheat bra = 14 kg x 7 ÷ 100 = 0.98 kgOmena = 7 kg x 55 ÷ 100 = 3.85 kgSoya = 7 kg x 45 ÷ 100 = 3.15 kgLime = 5 kg x 0 ÷ 100 = 0.00 kg(Total crude protein 10.68 kg)Percentage of total crude Protein in the ingredients = (10.68 ÷70) x 100 = 15.25 %

For farmers rearing hybrid layers and broilers, it is advisable to buy already constituted feeds from reputable companies that sell quality feed. The main reason is that it is very difficult for farmers to constitute micronutrients such as amino-acids, trace minerals, fat and water soluble vitamins that these breeds of chicken require for proper growth.

To be sure that their feed is of the right quality, farmers cansend a sample of the constituted feeds for testing and advice to KARI Naivasha, which has modern equipment for testing feed quality. A sample costs Ksh 1,000 to test. Send samples by courier to the following address: KARI Naivasha P.O. Box 25, 20117 Naivasha, Tel. 0726 264 032. Results are ready within a day.

Some tips on how to feed chickenAn egg-laying chicken requires 130 g of feed per day (provide clean water at all times).

• 1 chick requires 2.2 kg of feed for 8 weeks (thus 100 chicks = 2.2 kg x 100=220 kg. Chicks should be allowed to feed continuously and given adequate clean water at all times). If they finish their daily rations, give them fruit and vegetables cuttings to feed on.

• 1 pullet (young chicken about to start laying) should be fed 4.5 kg of feed for two and a half months until the first egg is seen. It should then be put on layer diet. Supplementwith vegetables, edible plant leaves or fruits peelings in addition to the daily feed rations.

• All ingredients used must be of high quality and palatable. Never use rotten maize (Maozo). Chickens are very susceptible to aflatoxins poisoning.

• When using omena as an ingredient, ensure it is free of sand and seashells. Ifyou use maize germ, it should be completely dry.

• Feed should be thoroughly mixed to ensure the ingredients are uniformly distributed. It is preferable to use a drum mixer instead of a spade for mixing.

• Note that even after giving them the formulated feeds, chickens should be put on free range to scavenge for other micronutrients not provided for in the feeds.

All You Need Is A Well Formed Agribusiness Idea to Get Funding

Joseph Mungai left his hotel job in Dubai and returned to Kenya to help farmers with great agribusiness ideas achieve their dreams.

His mission started in Kirinyaga County, where he has helped several farmers groups to present documents that have attracted funding from both local and international financiers.

Mr Mungai set up Mkulima Empowerment Foundation (MeF) which links farmers with innovative ideas to non-refundable funds.

He talked to Seeds of Gold:

What were you doing before venturing into agribusiness?

I used to work Dubai as a reception manager at the Sheraton Hotel. I met many Kenyans who kept asking me what I was doing in a foreign country yet there were so many opportunities back home.

Though I was not seeing the opportunities, I came back anyway in 2007 and got a job with Plan International as a community appraisal manager. I had earlier earned a diploma in business administration from Kabete Technical Institute.

So how did you find yourself in agriculture?

Back home in Kirinyaga I could see women holding gallons of milk at 6am waiting for middlemen to come and take the milk at the price determined by the brokers. I felt sorry for the fleecing that was going on. I thought of doing something that would impact on their lives in a bigger way.

That was when I looked around, and attended workshops on accessing finance. I realised financing was one of the farmers’ biggest challenges.

I mobilised other farmers into a group which is today putting up a cooling plant under the Inoi Milk Cooling and Value Addition Project with the help of the European Union.

What is your day-to-day job?

We connect our registered members to organisations that give non-refundable capital and capacity building for free. We help farmers to have their innovative ideas funded through training.

VIABLE IDEAS

Many people have very viable ideas that can work if financed but most of the available financiers demand conditions which many people cannot afford. From banks to micro-finance institutions, loans are prohibitive and inaccessible because many people do not have collateral.

Donor organisations should have come to their aid, but writing proposals that can secure funding is the impediment. We bridge that gap.

You secured funding of more than Sh6 million. How did you do it?

I didn’t get the money as an individual. But my group was awarded Sh6.7 million by the European Union for the proposal I did last year. I was rated the best community mobiliser out of the 11,000 applicants who did proposals. Only 124 proposals were funded, eventually.

In these workshops I realised there is a lot of money out there, but many needy people don’t know how to access it. But a warning to those who might think you can do anything with the money: If you do anything other than that intended, the donors will force you to refund every coin.

You charge individuals Sh50 and Sh100 for membership. Yet that is hardly enough to sustain a business. How else do you earn a living?

Mkulima Empowerment Foundation, as the name suggests, is not exactly a business. But, we officials and members, are business people.

We are farmers. I am a dairy farmer. The membership fee payable by phone as you can see in our website is just to facilitate our operations.

Being a member qualifies you to get our funded proposal as well as training on viable activities. Once you apply for funds using by filling in the form in our website, we visit you on the ground to access your farm. We have mainly been working with groups in the dairy industry, the most successful being the Inoi Farmers Processing Plant, which was funded by the European Union to a tune of Sh6.7 million.

There is also Kifaice Women Group and several home industry projects available in our website. Now we are opening it up because the more we are the more we can do.

What would you say the government does not do in agriculture that it ought to do?

Countries that are food secure have a keen interest in private enterprises that are doing commercial farming. We do not have enough incentives from the government.

We are yet to fully encourage young people that agri-business is a rich area to earn a living. The government should mobilise young people to engage in profitable agriculture because this will create very many jobs.

Other firms that advance start-up credit facilities to funds well documented farm ideas include the KCB foundation mifugo ni mali project and the Youth Enterprise Fund. 

How to Keep Thousands of Chicken in Your Small Backyard

A few days ago I shared a story of the Most Ambitious Poultry Project by a Teenage Girl. Her's is an inspirational story of humble beginnings. Today, I came across a seasoned cage system poultry farmer with over 8000 chicken is a small farm. Here's his story.

The rows upon rows of red-to-tan birds furiously peck their marsh dishes, creating a symphony which is only disrupted, now and again, by a cacophony of clucking.

The birds occasionally tilt a small metallic knob above the feeding trough using their reddish-brown beaks and water trickles from the pipes into a small dish.  Water only trickles when the knob is touched and the birds have learnt so.

It is a hot afternoon and workers are seen collecting eggs with minimal disturbance to the hens. The floor of the cages is slightly inclined, with narrow vertical opening at the front side such that when the hens lay eggs on the floor of the cages, they roll out and only stop at a raised end.

Welcome to Reuben Chirchir’s poultry empire, which he has been building for the last three and-a-half years.

He is now uprooting a section of tea bushes at his Chebang’ang, Bomet County home to create way for a lorry that will be collecting eggs at his chicken farm gate.

“Egg production from my 8,600 chickens has doubled since I moved them from deep litter to the caging system,” Chirchir, an accountant at a government institution, says.

The birds are kept in twos inside each cube of long running cages arranged in rows. Each of the ladder-like cages holds a total of 120 chickens in lower, middle and upper storeys.

Eggs are collected after feeding in the morning and in the evening.

Chirchir and his three workers collect 128 trays that carry 30 eggs each daily, which amounts to an average of 3,500 in total, which are supplied to hotels in various destinations using a family pick-up.

Every Friday, about 800 trays are transported to Nairobi, 200 trays to Litein on Wednesdays while 350 trays are sent to Narok on Mondays.

Though the operations at the farm may now seem perfect, Chirchir says it was not always easy.

He began rearing chickens in August 2012. “As an entrepreneur, I dared to buy 2,000 chicks, despite having no experience in the industry,” Chirchir told us.

The high cost of feeds, getting committed and trained personnel are some of the challenges he has braved.

LACK EXPERTISE

“Many people lack expertise to manage large numbers of delicate chicks. I engaged an expert from Parksons Agrovet in Kericho, who gave me the basics of caring for the chicks and was very supportive in the subsequent journey,” he says.

Then his chicken fell victim to diarrhoea and loss of feathers, making them less productive. He spent a lot of money on treatment.

After an extensive reading of books and research on the internet, the beleaguered farmer learnt of the caging system which is preferred because it is hygienic, comfortable and safe to birds. It is also efficient as it is cheaper and takes a high number of birds in a little space.

Armed with a bank loan and savings, he made an initial order of 42 cages from China last October, which were delivered two months later.

“When I saw the prices, I knew it was not easy but I was passionate to adopt the system. It cost me Sh40,000 to buy and ship each cage,” says the 41-year-old farmer.

Another problem arose when the cages arrived with manuals written in Chinese, making it difficult to assemble the parts.

“We did a lot of trial and error with a local fundi but the design would not come together well. I called in different people, all in vain,” he said.

It was only when they followed the pictorials that they managed to install them.

In March this year, another 84 cages were brought in, bringing the total to 126.

He says the management of cages was much easier than the deep litter system, which he says exposes chicken to disease.

Instead of using water troughs that can be unhygienic, water is supplied by automatic pumps that only allow water to trickle down when pecked by chickens.

“I can easily account for every chicken and know which one is laying eggs so that those that have stopped laying are sold off,” he said.

High standards of hygiene are maintained at the farm. The gates are locked and visitors have to disinfect their feet before entering the poultry grounds while the houses are disinfected every month.

DEEP LITTER UNSUITABLE

Chicken are vaccinated from when they are young and therefore are free from many diseases.

According to David Rotich, an animal health technician and artificial insemination expert for Parksons Agrovet in Kericho, the deep litter system is unsuitable because it exposes birds to itchiness that de-feathers them and coccidiosis that causes diarhoea.

De-feathering, he explained, is as a result of small mites that hide in the dusty floors of the deep litter systems and feed on chicken at night.

“The chicken will scratch and end up losing feathers. But the worst is coccidiosis, where waste comes out with blood stains. It affects the feeding system of chicken and lowers the production of eggs,” Rotich said.

He said cages also reduce cannibalism and increase productivity.

Chirchir said he chose to keep Rhode Island breed because they lay eggs longer and do not grow old early.

To ensure continuity, the farm brings in 1,000 chicks every month.

“I am targeting 21,000 chickens by the end of the year. That is why I am making way for the lorry because after the increase, the eggs will no longer fit into the pick-up,” he said.

Currently, his chickens feed on 14 bags of 50kg marsh every day, with each going for Sh2,300.

An attempt by Chirchir to use mixers to prepare his own feed and cut costs proved disastrous when workers failed to produce the right ratio of feeds for the chickens which led to reduced production of eggs by 30 per cent.

They were to strictly measure various amounts of a total of 14 ingredients, among them lysine (6kgs) and lime cement (20.8 kgs) both for egg-shell hardening, bone meal (6kgs), cotton cake (3.8 kgs) maize meal (78 kgs) and wheat pollard (28.6kgs).

“With the kind of set up in cages, we don’t need a lot of staff. However, two interns from Egerton University will report to the farm next week for two months,” said Chirchir.

The cage system has helped Mr Chirchir take up more birds than would have been possible under the deep litter system.

“With my half-acre, I would have kept a maximum of 2,000 chicken. Now I have four times that in the same space.

Sophie Miyumo, a poultry scientist with a smallholder indigenous chicken improvement programme, says the cage system is economical because some cubes extend upwards, allowing more room for birds.

“It is recommended that the deep litter system takes up four to six birds per metre square whereas in caging, each cube takes up a maximum of four birds, providing floor area of 450 to 525 square centimetres per bird.  This makes it ideal for urban areas where land is scarce. “ says Sophie.

The Egerton University lecturers, however, advise that caging is more suitable for layers, and not broilers or indigenous chicken which tend to grow too big for the cubicles in the cages.

Story by Anita Chepkoech: Nation Media.

Gated Farms: New Frontier In Commercial Farming

Along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway, near Emali Town, a curious sign post arrests the eye. It reads; “Esidai Farms, 4-acre gated serviced farms,” in bold green letters against a white board.

Everyone know about gated real estate communities and the name might persuade one to think it should read; ‘Esidai Gated Homes’. The gated farm lies some 14km off the Mombasa Road in the direction of Amboseli National Park. It is 100 acres.

Peter Njagi, the manager of the project at HassConsult Real Estate is at the farm to check on the progress of electricity connection. Njagi is a professional borehole driller and says the land is sub-divided into 25 plots, each measuring four acres and was sold for Sh5 million.

Some of the owners have fenced their parcels and are waiting for electricity connection before they start tilling. There are three boreholes that can produce 500,000 litres of water daily. Each farm therefore has about 20,000 litres of water for irrigation daily.

“We have analysed the soil on each parcel and received recommendation of the suitable crops to grow,” explains Njagi, adding that he plans to grow mangoes on his land.

Herbs For Export To India

“The owner of this piece wants to specialise in Indian indigenous herbs for export,” Njagi says as he walks me from one piece to another.

“This other one is owned by three brothers,” he adds while pointing at a fenced parcel. “They will construct a farmhouse and each of them will be travelling here on a weekend as they alternate to check on their greenhouses where they will grow tomatoes and capsicum.”

So far, two farmers have expressed interest in commercial livestock keeping. One of them, according to Njagi, plans to keep dairy cows while the other rabbits and poultry.

Gated farming is a new concept billed as a response to rapid urbanisation, which has seen real estate developments kill agriculture. It will also address the worry about future access to, and affordability of, food in the cities.

Many of the owners know exactly what to grow, but none has expressed plans to settle there permanently. Says Njagi, “We will have a total of 2,700 assorted trees all around the farm. We have started planting them even as one farmer plans to establish a commercial tree nursery.”

Currently, the vast farm has one worker who takes care of security. The farmers are expected to start tilling and planting next month and will jointly contract a firm that will provide workers including a general manager, an agronomist, a plumber and security staff.

“By having a general manager, no worker would release any produce from any farm without his knowledge as well as informing security,” says Njagi. This will minimise theft. Each farmer will sell their produce independently. However, the contracted company will monitor demand for produce and help in getting the best prices in markets.

So, how did the idea of gated farms come about?

“I conceived the idea over a year ago,” says Njagi. “My friends and I owned land in different areas outside Nairobi, and each one of us wished to farm.” Born and bred in Nairobi, Njagi says he has always had a passion to have a taste of village farming life.

“After talking to my friends, who had land in Kajiado, Naivasha and Machakos, I realised we shared a similar problem. Getting power connection, drilling boreholes, making roads and high cost of labour was a big challenge.”

However, while his friends liked the idea of farming together, trust remained a big setback considering the many technicalities that surround land buying and joint management.

“That was when I approached HassConsult, who introduced the gated concept.”

The project sold out in two months, creating more demand. “We introduced the concept to potential clients during a home’s expo in Nairobi in November last year. We sold out all the 25 pieces,” he says, adding that plans are underway to put up similar farms in Kajiado, Nyahururu, Naivasha and Nanyuki, where they have identified land. Residents are happy since they will get jobs.

Cuts Costs

Stanley Karimi, a senior technical officer at Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation, says community farming only helps to cut costs by sharing resources like water and farm workers. Farmers also learn from each other.

“A single farmer will need the same number of security guards as 25 farmers meaning it is cheaper to join hands.”

The farmers will jointly invite experts to speak to them on farming and then share the cost. But he advises that the soil samples from each farm must be tested separately for the farmers to be advised on the suitable inputs and crops.

“The fact that you are all on the same vast farm does not necessarily mean you need similar types of fertilisers because soil in some sections vary in terms of nutritional content.”

He advises the farmers to use certified, high quality seeds to prevent diseases caused by low quality seeds. Such diseases, Karimi says, would pose risks to other farms.

“Farm owners must also control soil erosion by digging trenches at the edges of their farms to prevent spread of soil-based diseases to different farms.”

Wambugu Farm – Most Ambitious Poultry Project by 18 Year Old Girl

When she opened the gate leading to a colourfully flowered drive, one could hardly believe that the young, very clean and beautiful lady was going to be our host during this farm visit. Joy Wamahiga Wambugu, who recently finished her secondary education at Precious Blood Kagwe, is indeed the most ambitious young girl our team has ever met in the field of agribusiness. As she took us round her small farm explaining critical aspects in detail, you couldn’t fail to notice a sharp focus on and a clear vision for the project. Here’s her truly inspiring story.

 “The love to watch and care for birds runs through my veins as does my blood. Since I was in high school, I always wanted to do this.” She answers when I ask what motivated her to do this project. The project started in 2014 while she was still in school.

“I really thank my mom; she oversaw the construction of the houses and the battery cage unit when I was away. She considered my ideas and I loved the results.  She even bought the chicks for me and got someone to care for them before I came home.” She explains how the project started as her supportive mother smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.

While Joy’s project is her first, she surely isn’t fumbling around. “This is where I apply the concepts I learned from Mr. Rioba, my agriculture teacher.” She says adding that apart from what she learned in class, she has been reading wide about agribusiness ventures on the internet and other journals. She acknowledged that her passion would not have been enough to help her steer the project that far without knowledge, a fact I strongly agreed with.

The project currently has slightly over 350 layers. The initial number was 400 but 4 chicks were lost in the brooding stage. The others were lost thanks to a recent sweep of Newcastle over Kahawa Sukari Estate in Nairobi where her farm is located.

The layers are kept in two poultry houses. In one, Joy uses the battery cage system where she keeps 180 layers. The cages are tilled one above the other in four rows on either side of a pyramid-like structure. Each row has 8 cages of about 45cm by 45cm each. In each of the cages, she keeps three layers or two in some. The battery cage system which is fitted with nip drinkers cost her Sh.100,000.

The rest of the layers are kept in the other house where Joy uses the deep litter system. However she says that even though the battery cage system is expensive to install, it has a lot of advantages over deep litter system. One is that the eggs collected are clean. The risk of having the eggs broken by chicken is also low since they roll to a collection space out of the cage. Feeding is also easy and the feeds do not get contaminated by chicken droppings. Cleaning is also easy and since the chicken waste drop out of the cage, the chicken are always in a clean environment.

When I asked about her profit margins, Joy’s face became a little dull. “The recent disease made them reduce their productivity. I used to collect 9 to 10 trays a day but now I collect 5; or 6 on a good day.” She said and attributed the loss to the fact that she had skipped one immunization. It’s a lesson she learned the hard way. However she said that she was lucky to have a regular customer who buys the eggs at Sh.300 per tray. A bag of layers mash, which costs her Sh.2200 takes her for two days. With that, she still makes good profit.

She plans to expand the farm to include kienyeji chicken and broilers. She actually had an open space ready for the kienyeji chicken and preparations were underway for the broilers. She hopes to move the project to a bigger land, a firm vision that is reflected in the way she has constructed her poultry houses: they are bolted together in such a way that they can easily be detached and moved.

The cage system

Joy in the deep liter house