September
25, 2015
Homerange
Seeds of Gold Poultry Farming Clinic Held on 17 - 18th September
2015 at Wambugu ATC Farm - Nyeri County:
They
came in buses, others in sleek cars while some walked. And
the carnival mood they made at the picturesque farm on the
slopes of Mount Kenya painted the picture of a colourful wedding.
But
the guests who thronged the Wambugu Agricultural Training
Centre that warm Thursday morning for the first of a series
of Seeds of Gold farming clinics were united by one goal:
to learn the poultry management practices that would put more
money into their pockets.
Ian Mutwiri, CEO - Homerange Poultry Kenya explaining
a point to participants during the poultry farming clinic.
One of
the hundreds of farmers who were eager to learn was Rachel
Njoki from Muthithi in Murang’a.
Rachel,
who ventured into poultry farming in June this year after
injecting into the business over Sh300,000 which she had saved
from her previous job in a non-governmental organisation,
wanted to start hatching her own chicks.
“I
also wanted to learn how to make my own feeds using locally
available materials. Since I am quite new in poultry farming,
I need to attend as many trainings as possible,” she
said at the two-day event that began on September 17.
Jeremiah
Kamia, a 45-year-old poultry farmer from Machakos, said for
over 20 years, he has been able to maintain his agribusiness
by using simple techniques and locally available materials
to make his own feeds on the farm, but he needed to update
his knowledge as technology is dynamic.
GOOD
DIET
“I
want to know how to choose the best eggs for incubation,”
said Kamia, who leads the Machakos County Indigenous Chicken
Farmers Association.
And the
farmers were not disappointed. They went through the best
poultry farming practices from incubation of eggs to hatching,
proper housing, feeding to the control and treatment of common
diseases, all for free.
And most
of the methods of control were as simple as they come; a mix
of modern medicine, traditional applications and basic hygiene.
For instance,
that ash from your jiko or fire place comes in handier than
you thought. Just a little sprinkle on the floor of your poultry
house prevents a number of deadly diseases like New castle
and Gumbaro.
A collaboration
between Nation Media Group, Egerton University, the County
Government of Nyeri and Homerange Poultry Kenya, the symposium
was held at a time the cost of feeds has soared and the concern
on many farmers’ minds is how to reduce costs and maximise
profit.
There
are also concerns that some unscrupulous companies are making
fake feeds, a situation which has driven many farmers into
huge losses.
“The
solution is in your hands. You can bring down the costs and
enhance productivity through the application of simple skills,”
Mr Ian Mutwiri, the chief executive of Homerange Poultry,
who took the enthusiastic farmers through most of the lessons,
said.
He stressed
that chickens, just like humans, require a balanced diet that
has all the food categories namely proteins, carbohydrates
and vitamins.
For carbohydrates,
one gets from maize, millet and sorghum. Termites, insects
and cotton cake offer good proteins while sun dried eggshells
are good for minerals and greens and sunlight for vitamins.
“What
few farmers know is that feed ingredients should always be
dried in the shade and not under direct sunlight as nutrients
are lost. Home-mixed feeds should also not be stored for more
than a week to avoid contamination,” Mutwiri cautioned.
According
to him, chicken droppings are a wonderful feed.
Ian Mutwiri, CEO - Homerange Poultry Kenya explaining
a point to participants during the poultry farming clinic.
“Sweep
the droppings to a corner, sprinkle water on them and cover
using a nylon paper. After a few days, the droppings will
develop maggots which are a good source of protein for chickens.”
Farmers
can also turn fresh cow droppings into chicken feed, as the
birds search through the waste to get insects, a good source
of proteins.
Farmers
who keep their chickens for egg production should also crush
egg shells and dry them to use as feeds.
“Farmers
should regularly consider feeding their chickens with green
vegetables to provide them with enough vitamins,” advised
Mr Mutwiri.
He said
a balanced diet helps in provision of high quality eggs that
have yellow yolks.
PROPER
HOUSING
According
to Joseph Wang’ombe of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock
Research Organisation Naivasha, farmers should add some glucose
into chicks’ drinking water for energy.
Farmers grab a copy of the Kari Improved Kienyeji
Rearing Guide available from Homerange Poultry Kenya exhibition
stand.
For those
with small plots, Mr Ronald Kimitei, an animal expert from
Egerton University was at hand to dispense lessons on hydroponic
fodder growing, a soilless technique, which has intrigued
many farmers with some complaining the feed produced through
this method was inadequate.
“Hydroponics
works, but it is not for everyone. It is for those with land
issues like urban dwellers, but who need to keep livestock.
Even then, it has to be supplemented with other feeds,”
Kimitei told Seeds of Gold on the sidelines of the symposium.
He also
took the farmers through the short courses available at Egerton
University, including those on feed formulation.
But it
was not all about feeds. Farmers were also taken through proper
poultry housing which makes all the difference between a healthy
and productive brood and sickly loss-making chickens.
Mutwiri
said a chicken house should be well ventilated, spacious and
should be built in a rectangular shape. This is to ensure
the house has sufficient ventilation to avoid the buildup
of ammonia from chicken droppings.
“If
living in a very cold area, it is recommended that the farmer
puts curtains on the long sides that he can close or open
if it is hot or cold.”
Farmers
are also discouraged from building houses facing North-South
directions. “We advise farmers to always ensure that
poultry structures are constructed on the East-West as this
ensures that the sun passes over the roof of the house, preventing
the chicken from being exposed to direct sunlight,”
he said.
For farmers
who use broody hens to hatch their chicks, the laying nest
should be kept on the back side of the house far from feeders
and drinkers to avoid disturbance and to reduce noise.
A storied
poultry house helps in reducing cost and space. It should
have a wire mesh on the upper wall to allow ventilation, the
farmers learnt.
A poultry
house should also be built in a way that the entrance has
a footbath for a farmer or her visitors to disinfect their
feet. This is to prevent diseases from being introduced in
the pen.
A farmer
should keep a vaccination programme, added Mutwiri. A day-old
chick should be vaccinated below the skin against Mareks.
The chicks are given the first dose against Gumbaro at 10
days, and the second dose is administered on the 18th day.
At week
three, they are vaccinated against Newcastle Disease, at week
six they are given a jab against fowl pox through a wing stab
and at week eight, they are given the second dose against
Newcastle and fowl typhoid. At week 18, the chicks are given
the third dose of Newcastle and deworming is done at 19 weeks.
To ensure
this is adhered to, keep chickens of different ages in separate
houses.
A farmer attending the event seeks clarification from
the trainer during the poultry farming clinic.
“If
you follow this programme strictly and supplement it with
aloe vera drink and a regular sprinkle of ash, you will not
have problems with diseases,” Mutwiri assured.
BRIEFLY
How to
ensure you achieve a near 100 per cent hatching of eggs:-
- Have
a ratio of one cock to five hens to guarantee fertilisation
of all eggs.
- Do
not brood eggs which are more than 14 days old.
- The
fertilised eggs for incubation should be stored with their
broad side facing up. This is where the air bag which keeps
the embryo alive is.
- Fertilised
eggs for hatching should never be washed as it destroys
the outer protective cover on eggs, hence reducing their
shelf life.
- Wash
your hands before collecting eggs as this avoids transfer
of germs to the unhatched embryo.
- If
you are using an incubator, ensure you have a power back-up
in case there is a blackout as your incubator should never
stay for more than an hour without power.
For further
reading please visit https://nation.africa/kenya/business/seeds-of-gold/ash-is-good-for-your-chicken-coop-and-other-lessons-from-clinic-1130880
-----
THE END -----
|