Feeding is one of the important aspects of poultry farming, and a single mistake in chicken feeds can lead to serious losses.
Feeds account for 80 percent of the total production cost in poultry farming. This means that any farmer intending to cut production costs should first look for ways to keep the cost of feeds low.
According to Abubakar, a Uganda-based poultry expert, for poultry farmers to maximize their returns, they need to embrace homemade feeds.
Besides cutting the overall production cost by 40 percent, homemade chicken feeds are said to be of high quality and cheap compared to commercial feeds.
From his small space in Jinja, Uganda, Abubakar makes chicken feeds and supply to farmers in the region. He uses various ingredients, including cotton cake, sunflower cakes, shells, animal bones, soya beans, maize, and maize bran.
The farmer notes that not all types of cotton cake are ideal for chicken feed. He uses the decorticated type of cotton cake as it does not have too much fibre as well as poisonous substances that can lead to chicken deaths.
This is how I make Sh. 650,000 per month from farming
For sunflower cake, this ingredient is mainly used when making layers feeds as it helps in reducing fats.
On the other hand, shells and animal bones are used as sources of calcium, which is essential for bone and eggshell formation, blood clotting, muscle contraction, and transmission of nerve impulses.
The soya bean must be milled and roasted to kill poisonous chemicals before mixing it with the other ingredients. All these ingredients are mixed at certain ratios.
”The first thing we do when making feeds is ensuring the place is clean to prevent contamination of the feeds. Then we make sure our weighing scale is in the proper position. For layers, we use the concentrates as they help the birds to produce quality eggs.’’
”In 50kgs of concentrates, we put on 100 kgs of maize broken, 75 kgs of maize bran(no.2), and 25kgs of black lime(calcium). When you tamper with the formula when mixing, you can miss the desired results or even kill the chickens,’’ he said.
Abubakar notes that making your own feeds as a farmer can be beneficial but can also be costly if you do not find the right raw materials at a competitive price.
