We have been key advocates for local chicken over the years, and in 2022 we made a pivot from commercial layers, into breeding and raising local birds, based on parent stock from a reputable breeder.

Strategy for Maximizing Outputs

The key to maximizing the outputs for local chicken is based on:

• Improved nutrition – rather than feed the birds on leftovers, plain maize bran leverage concentrate based feeds like commercial hybrids (while managing costs)
• Proactive care and treatment – vaccination (following the same schedules as commercial hybrids), regular deworming and vitamin boosts
• Management – clean and airy rooms, dry litter, clean water and feeding utensils, birds per square meter, number of birds per drinker and feeder
• Dark laying boxes for hens for eggs
• Debeaking of hens so that they do not eat their eggs, additional trimming of claws for cocks so that they do not tear the backs of the hens for breeding stock

Market Opportunity

This is always a key question to adoption, and there are two paths:

1. Home Farming – this approach is for anywhere between 10 to 50 birds, a great place for those who are new to the poultry business. The focus of this approach is:
   • Improve household nutrition – when the hens start laying, chicken for meals (cocks are best for this), as a starting point for households
   • Increase household incomes – once the family has sufficient nutrition, the extra eggs can be sold off, the hens/cocks can be sold off not just for meat but for breeding too
   • Provide training for children home – to understand how to raise chicken, responsibilities, maintaining clean living spaces for them, repairs and creativity in solving common problems
2. Commerical Purposes – the dual purpose birds are competitive with commercial hybrids if you target different aspects
   • Cocks/hens do not grow as heavy as kuroilers but are preferred for traditional ceremonies, gifts, even slaughter during Eid and for discerning customers
   • Hens do not lay as much as commercial hybrids, only up to 75-85% depending on management, however their offlaying prices are almost 100% higher. Adding green to get yellow yolk eggs provides a premium over the numbers that hybrids produce making breaking even much easier for smaller numbers

Overall the market opportunity is with premium pricing for the birds, eggs and their meat, rather than going head to head with the hybrids broilers and layers, like the marketing books say “Change the rules of the game so that you can compete”

Where do I begin?

The most important question, depends on where you are, however our recommendation is to always start small to what you can manage and afford

1. Home farming – 10 to 30 birds which helps balance the amount of investment and effort to the outputs
2. Commerical farming – 50 to 100 birds, for a beginner, and more depending on your experience however targeting a specific market is very important to get clarity on the birds you will select to invest in

How can we help you get started?

We breed and sell all ages of birds, you can select the gender from 4 to 6 weeks when anatomical features become more prominet

1. Day old chicks – the lowest cost starting point, best if you have experience, capacity and resources for brooding
2. 4 week old birds – these are the sweet spot for many farmers, the birds are just out of the brooder, not needing additional heat in the evenings
3. 8 week birds – after fowl typhoid vaccination
4. 16 weeks – adult birds which are usually adversely affected by any environment changes, thus gives sufficient time for recovery before laying commences from 20 weeks

Resources

What do they look like?