Feedback: Six questions you should answer before starting a poultry enterprise

A poultry farmer attends to her birds in her farm in Nakuru. Before embarking on a chicken agribusiness, there are factors that you have to put in mind first. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Goat meat farming is a venture with great potential as there is ready market in almost every town, more so in Nairobi.
  • Poor egg hatchability is a great loss to a farmer since there is wastage of not only the eggs, but also time (21 days) the hen or incubator has been in operation.
  • Goat meat will find market in the butcheries, nyama choma joints, hotels and processors like Kenya Meat Commission.
  • Currently there are no pure Suffolk sheep in the country, what you get will be crosses, unless imported.

QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU START CHICKEN AGRIBUSINESS

Please advise me on the best type of chicken to keep, considering I have a budget of Sh100,000 to begin with.
Kirimi

I must admit that this is the toughest question many investors ask before putting their hard earned money in any venture.

I would like to appreciate that you have already answered the first two important questions, in that you have identified the business “poultry farming” and has set aside the funds to start the investment.

The next set of questions you should answer are, how much land is available for the project?

Where do you want to put up your investment?

What market do you want to target?

Meat birds - broiler or Kienyeji? Egg market - layers or Kienyeji?

Lastly, how first do you need to get your returns?

These set of questions answered well will help take your project off.

Musyoka Duncan,
Department of Animal Sciences, Egerton University.

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LAND SUCCESSION

I read an interesting article you published on March 13, 2015 titled, “The perils in selling land before succession in done”.

I was fascinated with how informative it was. We have a similar land dispute between my father and his siblings regarding a piece of land that was fairly given to him in 1995 by my grandfather.

While my uncles and aunties equally inherited and successfully transferred their parcels, my father did not. My grandfather passed away before he completed the transfer.

My father and him, however, did manage to meet the Land Control Board and he received a consent to transfer before he died.

My father has the original title deed given to him and documentation from the Land Control Board. Is it possible to use what he has to complete the transfer?

If this is not possible, could you advise us on how to complete the transfer? The land is agricultural and is free of debts. My father’s siblings are unwilling to testify or consent on his behalf.

Muchene

I had almost a similar case with my siblings when my parents died before the succession. From my experience, you could follow this procedure:

1) Close members of the family or clan can organise a meeting about how the land should be shared and the minutes taken to court.

2) The minutes should indicate that the owner of the land with title deed NO. X died before the succession process was complete.

3) Based on the direction from the minutes, the court will order the Land Control Board to help you do the succession with the help of a government land surveyor.

4) Note, do not use a private surveyor to avoid any dispute that may arise due to claims of biasness.

Peter Caleb Otieno,
Department of Crops, Horticulture and Soils, Egerton University.

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MY WISH IS TO KEEP GOATS FOR MEAT

I would like to keep goats for meat on a small land in Kantafu, off Kangundo Road. Thus, I would like to know the challenges I may face and the availability of market for my products.

Farming meat goats is a venture with great potential as there is ready market in almost every town, more so in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

I have half acre, with water on site and I plan to put up a small modern shelter for a stock of 50 goats with a target peak stock of 100.

Where can I source good breeds for the market? The animals will graze four times a week in the field and be fed the rest in the shed.

Oriemaa

Goat meat farming is a venture with great potential as there is ready market in almost every town, more so in Nairobi.

Goat meat will find market in the butcheries, nyama choma joints, hotels and processors like Kenya Meat Commission.

From your location, the targeted number of animals and the production system you have suggested, “free grazing with little supplementation”, I can foresee a number of challenges.

They include lack of quality and quantity feeds to ensure continuous reproduction and consistent growth keeping in mind goats are browsers, poor disease control to guarantee better products and uncontrolled breeding, among others.

The best and most available meat goat for your suggested production system is the Galla goat, which you can get from breeding farms like Gicheha in Ruiru, Marula Estates in Nakuru and many other government goats breeding farms.

Musyoka Duncan,
Department of Animal Sciences, Egerton University.

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PEARS MARKET

Where is good pears market? Mine are about to ripen but as usual, I give surplus to livestock.

Jeremiah Njugi, North Kinangop 

A trader arranges her pears for sale in a market. The fruits have a huge market in almost every town in the country. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Yes, there is huge market for pears. The fruits have good market in all major towns. You can also advertise in the Seeds of Gold green market.

Peter Caleb Otieno,
Department of Crops, Horticulture and Soils, Egerton University.

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MY EGGS DON’T HATCH

I am a small-scale poultry farmer with about 60 Kienyeji birds and two cocks. At any one time, 10 birds would be laying.

For the last three months, however, none of the eggs have hatched. Please advise on what could have gone wrong since for the last three years, hatching has been between 90 and 100 per cent.

Claris
Kisumu County

Poor egg hatchability is a great loss to a farmer since there is wastage of not only the eggs, but also time (21 days) the hen or incubator has been in operation.

There are a number of reasons that could lead to this, among them change in diet leading to nutrition deficiencies, disease on breeding stock, age of the male, male-female sex ratio, hormone imbalances, use of certain drugs, environmental conditions such as light and extreme weather, among others.

With information given, it is difficult to pinpoint the problem unless one has done some follow up on what is happening on the farm.

It is, therefore, advisable you work with a specialist to identify problems. This makes it easier to manage or get better solutions.

Musyoka Duncan,
Department of Animal Sciences, Egerton University.

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I WANT TO REAR THE SUFFOLK SHEEP BREED

My name is Philip and I would like to start keeping the Suffolk sheep. Where can I find it?
Kipkemoi

Currently there are no pure Suffolk sheep in the country, what you get will be crosses, unless imported.

Currently there are no purebred Suffolk sheep in the country and what interested farmers can get are crosses. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

I would advise you to go for other breeds like the Hampshire down, the Corriedale or the Dorper, which are easily available and still do well in Kenya.

Musyoka Duncan,
Department of Animal Sciences, Egerton University.