Dorper sheep farming is recently gaining popularity in Kenya as farmers shift to easy to manage yet profitable agribusinesses.
Dorper, a sheep breed developed in South Africa, is known for its superior characteristics, including resistance to diseases and high tolerance to harsh environmental conditions.
Even though the breed is said to gain market weight faster due to its good grazing ability than the indigenous breeds, farmers have realized a method of fastening the market weight-gaining process.
Jackson Naikuni from Nturumenti village in Narok county who has been a livestock farmer for more than 40 years uses the feedlot system to fatten his animals.
Feedlot is a system where animals are confined and fed high-quality feeds to reach market weight faster.
Naikuni says he learned the technology through training by the Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organisation (Kalro)
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The farmer says the feedlot system is a game changer as it helps to save time, space and other resources required under conventional systems.
With a flock of 100 sheep, he estimates the cost of production to be about Sh9,000 per sheep. This will total to Sh900,000 for the targeted sheep.
“I expect that within three months, I will generate about Sh1.5 million revenue from the sale of the Dorper sheep, making a profit of close to Sh60,000.” He says adding that there is a ready market for dorper sheep.
George Keya, the national coordinator of the AgriFi Kenya Climate Smart Agricultural Productivity Project, says that for the feed lotting system to be profitable, one needs a minimum of 40 sheep.
“We can estimate that within three months if you have between 40 and even 100 Dorper sheep, you can make Sh1 million.” He says.
Dr Margaret Syomiti, principal investigator of the AgriFi Kenya Climate Smart Agricultural Productivity Project says Dorper sheep are usually fed 1.5kg of the feeds every day for three months.
This ensures they acquire the 45kg weight recommended. She says the high nutrition given to the early maturing Dorper sheep has a fast growth rate.
