Karachuonyo villagers count losses as chickens disappear without trace

Keziah Onunga, a resident of Karachuonyo in Homa Bay County is a worried woman. Her chickens have been disappearing without a trace. Two of her brooding hens vanished just days ago.

Not long ago, the farmer lost 52 mature birds. The thought of this becoming the norm is worrying.

"I didn't know the two hens were gone. I only realised in the evening that their boxes were empty. We searched for the birds at our neighbours’ to no avail," she said.

Ms Onunga and her husband Henry kept their flock in a mud-walled coop.

Thieves broke into the house and disappeared with 52 birds, twenty of them brooding hens.

He woke up normally and went about his chores before realising later in the day that the chickens were missing.

DEAD COCKEREL

“The chicks came out without their mothers. It didn’t strike me that someone had broken into the coop,” Mrs Onunga said.

“I later found one of the cockerels dead by the roadside.”

The villager estimated her losses to be Sh26,000, since a bird in Homa Bay goes for Sh500.

These days, she keeps a few chickens in the structure whose door has been repaired.

“I feel discouraged. I sell the birds as soon as they mature,” she said.

The Onungas are not the only ones facing the problem. Chicken thieves rule most parts of Homa Bay County.

BOARD MATATUS

“We believe the many chickens we see being taken to Kisumu on matatus are stolen,” Mr Onunga said.

The thieves, whose identity is yet to be known, raid homesteads from around 3am.

After completing their mission, they board matatus heading to Kisumu, about 70 kilometres away.

In Kisumu, demand for the birds and their meat is higher than in Homa Bay.

And the villagers have more reasons to worry. Ordinarily, chickens make noise when a person or animal enters their coop.

Not so with the Homa Bay raiders. The thieves arrive at a home and leave with their loot silently.

USE CHEMICALS

Mr Shadrack Okello says he and fellow villagers believe the thieves use some chemicals to silence the birds.

“The thieves have done it several times. They took my 36 chickens. It is puzzling how the birds can remain quiet when being taken away," Mr Okello said.

"The thieves raided my home for the first time in November last year. They broke the window but I was alert and leapt out. They took off fast. These days, the chickens spend the night in the main house with us."

Mr Silver Onyango from Oriang Korato has also resorted to sheltering his birds in the family house.

The chickens now spend the night in one of the bedrooms and bathrooms.

"The birds are secure when they are in the house with us. We let them roam freely in the compound for some hours during the day. We then lock them in a wire mesh structure before transferring them to the house at sunset," Mr Onyango said.

MUSHROOMING HOTELS

He said most villagers believe the thieves sell their loot to the mushrooming hotels on the Homa Bay-Kendu Bay road.

“Many are giving up on chicken rearing because of the theft,” Mr Onyango said.

Mr Ezekiel Owino, another farmer thinks he knows the mastermind of the chicken theft in Karachuonyo.

"The theft is well coordinated. Obviously, the thieves know the geography of our area. They also know the families that keep chickens," Mr Owino said.

He points the finger at herdsboy, who was once apprehended for stealing hens.

"He used to be a to be street boy in Kisumu. We think he is one of the people behind the chicken theft," Mr Owino said.

He added that local administrators have done nothing despite receiving complaints about the herdsboy.

KEEP VIGIL

"We have complained to the chief but he keeps telling villagers to investigate the matter. Who has the capacity to investigate and make arrests? Aren’t they the ones who tell us not to take the law in our hands?" Mr Onyango asked.

Kogweno Oriang assistant chief Kilion Abeka admits that chicken theft is rampant in Karachuonyo, Oyugis and Kasipul.

Mr Abeka says the problem has been contained in some villages “where residents keep vigil throughout the night”.

"I raised the matter with the county commissioner during a meeting sometime back. The theft has reduced greatly in areas where villagers cooperate with police and administrators,” he said.