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