A majority of farmers may want to increase their poultry flock size in order to enter the path of commercialization of poultry production but are unaware what to do or how to start. Sometimes it is not about the money but knowledge of the right things you need to do to increase the number of your birds and thus your income through organized chicken production. Today we introduce you to a process called synchronization.
This is a process of organizing your chicken to produce a set number of chicks you want at the same time through manipulation. If for example you have 10 laying hens and already three have hatched their chicks, you first activity will be to take the day old chicks away from the mother and confuse her with some bad eggs that did not hatch. Place a few bad eggs in the hatching tray or basin (or whatever it is the hen sits on) and the hen will continue lying there as if on another round of sitting on the eggs for another 21 days. In the meantime you will be buying time and waiting for the other 7 hens to hatch the chicks and take them away. Assuming all the ten hens hatch an average of 10 chicks, it in effect means that the farmer now has 100 day Old Chocks (DOCs).
Now that all your 10 hens are now free, the next activity is to place eggs for them again in the hatching item and have all of them begin another round of sitting on the eggs, thus giving you another batch of 100 chicks or more in another 21 days. This effectively means that in less than two months, the farmer has built her flock to 200 chicken or more through this simple process. You can do a number of rounds 3 or four times provided you feed them well when they leave their eggs briefly because this is a time they may grow thinner due to reduced feeding time. In five months, a farmer can have 500 – 600 Kienyeji chicken in this simple way. And this does not involve a lot of MONEY!You only need your ten hens, a hatching tray, a little feed for your hatching dynamos, new eggs to sit on and above all the commitment of an Entrepreneurial Mind!
We have made this so easy for you using a simple calculation on how you can grow your flock from the birds that you already have categorizing the farmers as GOLD,SILVER and BRONZE to symbolize farmers who want to raise an average of 1000 birds, 500 birds and 300 birds respectively.
‘GOLD’FARMERS
These are farmers who may be having 30 breeding hens and 3 cocks (We always recommend one cock for 10 hens). 30 hens each produce an average of 20 eggs per month and may have at least 3 lays per year. This translates to this farmer having (200 eggs per per year if it doesn’t sit on the eggs) 1800 eggs from the 30 hens.
Assuming each of 30 hen each produce 12 chicks for 3 months in a year; the farmer will have 360 day old chicks 3 times in a year which translates to 1080 day old chicks.
Finally if we allow for the probability of death and 80 % of all chicks survive to maturity, then this farmer will be able to sell 864 chicken in the year assuming all chicken surviving will be sold. At a conservative price of kshs. 500 per bird, this farmer will make Kshs. 432,000 before expenses.
‘SILVER’ FARMER
The middle level or what we call here ‘Silver’ farmer is the farmer who has 15 hens and 2 cocks and is determined to commercialize indigenous chicken production. The 15 hens each produce 20 eggs per month (at least= 200 eggs in a year if it doesn’t sit on the eggs) which translates to a cumulative total of 900 in a year giving an allowance of 3 lays in a year.
Assuming each of 15 hens each produce 12 chicks for 3 months in a year; (360 DOCs), the farmer will have therefore 540 day old chicks. If we give allowance at 20% for deaths, then it means 432 chicken will survive to market. At a conservative price of Kshs. 500, this farmer will reap Kshs. 216,000 before expenses, assuming all the mature surviving chicken are sold.
‘BRONZE’ FARMER
Finally, the Bronze’ Farmer. These are the smallholder farmers who may have 10 breeding hens and one cock. The 10 hens each produce 20 eggs per month on average with at least 3 lays per year (200 eggs in a year if it doesn’t sit on the eggs) translating into 600 in a year. Assuming the 10 hens each produce 12 chicks for 3 times in a year, this translates to 360 day old chicks. If 80 % of all chicks survive to market or production weight the farmer remains with 288 birds after allowance for chicken deaths. At a conservative price of Kshs. 500, this farmer gets Kshs. 144,000 before expenses.
So organized and informed keeping of indigenous chicken can be a game changer in your home or household.
ARE YOU A GOLD, SILVER OR BRONZE FARMER?