Sh100,000 loss lifted up my poultry business

Carol Awino in a poultry coop in her poultry farm in Kapita, Homa Bay. After her first poultry flock was swept away by Newcastle disease, she had to make readjustments before restarting her now thriving poultry venture. PHOTO | BARACK ODUOR | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Carol is now too aware of why she must vaccinate her birds and maintain high standards of hygiene, among other good management practices.
  • Her preference for broilers is because they have a high turn-around, just after eight weeks and their low-price makes them move faster.
  • The first days in the life of chicks are very critical. It is, therefore, important for poultry farmers to ensure that there is proper aeration, enough warmth and good sanitation to avoid diseases

Several chicken houses made of iron sheets welcome one to Carol Awino’s farm in Kapita estate in Homa Bay town.

Carol, 33, is ready to take me round her poultry farm that she started in May last year.

Inside the cages are 250 broiler birds that feed from the various troughs.

“The birds are now doing well unlike the batch I started with. So far, they have not been attacked by diseases because I followed the vaccination schedule,” she offers.

Carol is too aware of why she must vaccinate her birds and maintain high standards of hygiene, among other good management practices.
She lost about 250 chicks after they died one by one soon after starting the agribusiness.

“I started with Sh200,000 loan I borrowed from a bank. I used the money to build a shelter for the birds and to purchase feeds and the 250 broiler day-old chicks from a poultry farmer,” she recounts.

The venture, however, did not go as expected when the chicks started to die, about a month later.

“The chicks would huddle together and make some sharp noises. They then started collapsing one by one in June despite vaccinating them as instructed by a veterinary officer,’’ says Carol, adding she later realised the disease that wiped out the birds was Newcastle.

A veterinary officer from the Department of Agriculture after inspecting her chicken houses identified poor sanitation and improper aeration as things that fanned the disease.

‘‘Initially, the feeding troughs I was using were not regularly cleaned while the sawdust spread on the floor was not turned upside down after every three days as required. It was also not changed regularly.”

She also realised that the birds had inadequate warmth in their early stage of growth making them vulnerable.

‘‘At first I thought that vaccination was enough to enable me make money from the birds. So I paid little attention to several management issues,’’ recalls Carol, noting the birds began to die after about two weeks.

STRICTLY ADHERED TO INSTRUCTIONS

If she had sold the chickens at maturity, she would have ended up with over Sh130,000.

Of the birds she purchased, 237 died, and she had to release the remaining 13 out of coop because they were also indicating signs of sickness.
She dug a compost pit and buried the dead chicks according to veterinary officer’s advice.

She later fumigated the chicken house and left it for a month before bringing in another batch sometime in October last year after putting in Sh50,000, which she used to purchase 250 day-old chicks.

She strictly adhered to the instructions given to her by the veterinary officer, with the venture starting to pay off in January.

“I sold my first broiler chickens starting from week eight to 12 at Sh550 each to hotels,” says Carol, who is currently in her third batch, adding she keeps records on vaccination dates, mortality, feeding and sales.

She notes that her preference for broilers is because they have a high turn-around, just after eight weeks and their low-price makes them move faster.

Her main challenge is fluctuating prices that sometimes fall to as low as Sh400.

Prof Paul Kimurto, an agricultural expert from Egerton University, advises poultry farmers to uphold good management practices.

‘‘The first days in the life of chicks are very critical. It is, therefore, important for poultry farmers to ensure that there is proper aeration, enough warmth and good sanitation to avoid diseases,’’ says Prof Kimurto.

Tabitha Ajwang’, the Homa Bay County Director of Agriculture, says that exposing chicks to low temperatures in the first three weeks makes the bird uncomfortable. Consequently, they are less likely to eat and drink and are prone to diseases.

‘‘The behaviour and sound of the chicks will indicate their comfort level. Comfortable birds will form a circle under the lamp and make soft noises,’’ says Tabitha.