There are certain questions that farmers seek to know on how they can set themselves up for successful chicken farming.
Here, we take a look at some of the questions whose answers can lead to successful chicken farming.
1).How do I keep healthy chicken?
Consider the Issa Brown breed for layers and these may be sourced from Kenchic Ltd. The birds should be fed chick mash between 0-8 weeks at 35-75g/day/bird (amount to be increased gradually), growers mash between 8-20 weeks at 75-90g/day/bird (increase gradually) and layers mash from week 20 at amount 90-120g/day/bird.
Laying should start between 20-22 weeks of age, depending on your management, and this should continue until the birds are about 74-86 weeks old.
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However, it is economical to let the birds lay for one year (52 weeks), thereafter you dispose them off for meat at 74 weeks of age since by this time the egg production usually has dropped to 30 to 40 percent.
2). How do I use a Jua Kali Incubation that uses gas or paraffin?
Gas or paraffin incubators work as well as the electrical incubators as long the temperature and humidity conditions are adhered to regarding the first 18 days of incubation and the last three days before hatching.
However, note that hatchability will not be as high as the electric incubator due to the differences in how both equipments work.
Depending on the design of the jua-kali incubator, you need to consider how you will provide the correct environmental conditions to enable you to obtain at most 60 to 70 percent hatchability rate. In addition, also consider the economics of using gas and kerosene during the incubation period.
3). How do I build the most ideal chicken house?
For detailed information on the design of the housing for your 2,500 kienyeji chicken, you will need to contact the Smallholder Indigenous Chicken Improvement Programme (InCIP) of the Department of Animal Sciences, Egerton University on either email: [email protected] or Tel: +254 51 221 7684.
4). How good is the Rhode Island chicken breed?
Rhode Island Red is a dual purpose chicken breed mostly used to improve indigenous chicken. For production purposes, the strains available are those that have been heavily selected for egg production (they are smaller in body size, less broody and lighter in colour) and those selected for meat production.
Consider rearing females for egg production for about one cycle (52 weeks), which thereafter can be sold for meat while males can be reared for meat production given their weight.
