Homa Bay residents decry rise in chicken theft

Ms Keziah Onunga, a resident of Karachuonyo in Homa Bay County is a worried woman. Of late her chickens have been disappearing without a trace.  Two of her hens, which were brooding, are the latest losses.

Not long ago, the farmer lost 52 mature ones in unclear circumstances. Now the thought of this becoming the new norm is worrying her sick.

BIRDS

"I didn't know the two hens were gone. It was only in the evening when I realised their laying boxes were empty. We searched everywhere including neighbouring homesteads but it yielded nothing. That’s how they vanished," Ms Onunga said.

Ms Onunga and her husband Henry kept a flock of birds in a mud-walled coop. Thieves broke in and disappeared with 52 birds, 20 of them were brooding.

That day, Mr Henry Onunga had woken up early as usual, went about his chores before realising later in the day that the doors had been broken and the chickens missing.

“The chicks walked out but they looked stressed. It didn’t occur to me they were harassed the previous night,” he said.

“That’s when I realised the thieves had broken into the poultry house. I later found one of the cocks dead by the roadside.”

STOLEN

That loss, Ms Onunga estimated, amounted to Sh26,000 (Sh500 per bird). Today, she keeps just a few birds in the structure, hoping they would not be stolen.

“I feel discouraged. Nowadays I just keep a few birds and quickly sell them off before the thieves come.”

But the Onungas are not the only ones facing this problem. 

Homa Bay residents are now worried over the rampant chicken rustling.

“We are starting to believe the chickens we see being ferried on matatus to Kisumu are actually stolen from our village,” said Mr Onunga.

KISUMU

The thieves, whose identity is still a mystery, raid homes as early as 3am while folks are asleep, then they board matatus early morning heading to Kisumu, some 70km away, where the demand and pricing is higher.

There is even more worry. Chickens often make a lot of noises when a fox enters the coop, for example. Not when these thieves in Homa Bay raid, something that baffles the locals.

The thieves have devised a method of carrying the birds without a single cluck.

The villagers believe they must be using some chemicals to silence the chickens before they get away.

“They have done it on several occasions. They took 36 birds. It puzzles me how they silence the birds," said Mr Shadrack Okello, another farmer.

THIEVES

"They first broke the kitchen window where the birds take shelter for the night. That was in November last year. This time round, I was alert, as soon as they broke the door I intervened and they disappeared," Mr Okello said.

 “The situation has forced us to shelter the chicken in the house,” he said.

Silver Onyango, a farmer in Oriang Korato, has resorted to securing the chicken in his house.

For the past two months, Mr Onyango has created room for chicken to shelter during the night. He has set one of the bedrooms and bathroom for the new guests.

"With the rampant theft in the village, at least they are secure when they are in the house. During the day we let them roam freely in the compound for a few hours before we lock them in the wire-meshed structure," he said.

HOMA BAY

Mr Onyango believes the lower-end hotels, which have mushroomed along the Home Bay-Kendu Bay road, may have contributed to their plight.

He said many farmers have opted to abandon poultry keeping.

Mr Ezekiel Owino, another farmer, thinks he knows the perpetrators of chicken rustling in Karachuonyo.

"I feel the chicken theft is a well co-ordinated crime. The mastermind knows the geography of the area well and seems to know all the poultry farmers," Mr Owino said.

He believes the mastermind must be a former herdsboy, who was once caught stealing chicken.

CHICKEN

"This herdsboy used to be a street urchin in Kisumu. We suspect he is one of the masterminds of the chicken theft racket," Mr Owino said.

Despite reporting the matter to relevant authorities, it has not borne fruit.

"We have reported the cases to the chief but he keeps asking us to investigate the matter. I wonder who has the capacity to probe such cases," Mr Onyango said.

Kogwen Oriang location assistant chief Kilion Abeka confirms there has been rampant chicken theft in Karachuonyo, Oyugi and Kasipul.

Mr Abeka said theft has been contained in some villages where residents keep vigil throughout the night.

"I raised the issue with the county commissioner during a meeting sometime back. We have contained the theft of birds in areas where villagers have co-operated with us," he said.

"The problem with our people is they don’t attend public barazas. Some farmers have had luck in tracing and recovering their birds."