Poultry farming is one of the most profitable agribusiness but most farmers often face the dilemma of whether to venture in layers or broilers.
According to Ann Mwangi, the founder of Meved Dairy Farm located in Rukanga, Kirinyaga County, poultry farming is highly paying despite the numerous challenges.
Her farm hosts over 3,000 birds for egg production. Mwangi revealed she started with the Kienyeji chicken before upgrading to improved kienyeji and later layers.
The birds are housed in well-structured battery cages which she says are important in controlling diseases as well as in feed management, unlike the dip litter system where feeds are scattered all over.
Her birds take 18 weeks before they start laying their first eggs and can lay for up to 24 months.
”Before they start laying we feed them growers mash and after they begin the laying cycle we switch to layers mash’’ she explained.
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She notes that each bird produces one egg per day in their entire laying cycle.
The farm also hosts broilers which are slaughtered for meat after 35 to 42 days. Unlike the layers chicken, Mwangi says broilers are heavy feeders but are easier to manage given their short period of life.
She keeps the birds mainly for slaughter at her grill while the rest are sold to her rural customers.
”The main vaccination for broilers is the Gumboro and Newcastle. We don’t give them supplements like we do to the layers. For the layers we give them supplements as they age due to calcium deficiencies which can make the eggshell weak,’’ she said.
She advises anyone intending to venture into poultry farming to do so when they have a ready market to avoid losses.
According to her, there is no guaranteed success in either broiler or layers poultry farming, what matters is market availability for the products.
She notes that the biggest challenge in poultry farming is diseases notably Newcastle disease and costly feeds. Getting quality feeds has also been a major concern with the farmer saying low-quality feeds lead to low egg production.
