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Vaccination Best practices: Importance of vaccinating your Chicks

Leave a Comment / Diseases, Vaccination / By

Poultry farmers face many challenges when it comes to disease outbreaks. Vaccination is always the best disease preventive measure they can undertake to keep a minimum or no deaths in their farms.

It is always important to engage a vet when it comes to vaccination of your chicken.  However, since it is a learning process, most farmers are getting more informed and would prefer to do it themselves. Main reason for this is because it will bring down the cost of raring chicken. Every farmer who wants to have a profitable chicken project would prefer to cut down every cost possible. It is a wise thing for a farmer to learn how to manage their own farm issues instead of hiring all the time. If vaccination is not done according to prescription it can lead to big losses.

Following the recommended chicken vaccination schedule will save a farmer a lot of headache. This depends on the type of birds you have in your farm. Some may require to understand the Kienyeji chicken vaccination chart if you are keeping improved birds or the broiler chicken vaccination schedule if you are keeping broilers. The chick’s vaccination schedules are available from the suppliers. In Kenya, KARLO has a very effective improved kienyeji chart that can be followed successfully. The following tips come in handy for the farmer who is willing to learn and take precautions when vaccinating his/her chicken.

Best Vaccination Tips for Poultry Farmers

  • Avoid vaccinating sick birds. Always make sure your birds are in good health before you administer any vaccine. If they are sick just give them enough time to heal completely.
  • Buy your vaccines from a reputable Agrovets with refrigeration facilities and always transport the vaccines in a thermos with ice which will help maintain required temperatures. Avoid using polythene bags since they can’t keep check on the temperature.
  • Handle your chicks, chicken well, avoid stressing them during vaccination. Chicken tend to get disturbed and distressed easily and this can make the vaccine ineffective.  
  • Ensure you vaccinate your chicks/chicken when its cool and avoid high temperatures since this can interfere with vaccine potential. You can do this by switching off or removing heat sources from the chicken house. You don’t have to withdraw heat sources if it is too cold. Best timing should be when it is cool e.g. in the morning or late in the evening
  • Direct sunlight of the vaccine to the sun may reduce the vaccine strength; you should avoid exposing it to sunlight at all cost.
  • Ensure you are following the recommended vaccination chart and intervals that your supplier issues together with your chicks and never mix two different vaccines.
  • If you were medicating your chicks / chicken, stop one or two days before the vaccination.

Vaccination Administered through water

  • If you are vaccinating your chicks through water it is important to follow these tips.
  • Do not give your birds any water for like two to three hours. However, this depends on the age of the birds. Older chicken can be starved longer.
  • Ensure you have enough drinkers to ensure every bird can access water with ease.
  • For large farms ensure that you have enough workers to dispense the drinkers and bring back the exhausted ones quickly.
  • Avoid using chemicals or detergents to wash the drinkers that are to be used for vaccination because the residues may render the vaccine inactive.
  • Rain water is always best when vaccinating chicks / chicken. Avoid using treated water since this may make the vaccine inactive.
  • Ensure you have everything ready and set before removing the vaccine from the flask to reduce the exposure time.
  • Vaccines administered through drinking water should be opened under the mixing water. This is because vaccines are vacuum sealed and opening in open air may let in contaminated air.
  • Use the vaccine as fast as possible to ensure its effectiveness in your chicks / chicken.
  • Help the birds that seem uninterested in drinking the vaccine, assist them by holding their beaks in drinkers to encourage them take the vaccinated water.
  • Issue your chicks / chicken with plain water immediately after taking the vaccinated water before giving anything else including food or drugs.
  • Issuing of an anti stress and multivitamin like Sangrovit the following day will help boost your birds immunity and will ensure effective disease control.

Information sources from Vet Aloysius.

Newcastle Disease Outbreak Attack: Successful Accountant got attacked and this is how he resolved the issue!

2 Comments / Diseases, Farmer's Experiences, Kuroiler Chicken, New Castle / By

Shared by Lamwa Vetcare
Not so long ago I shared with you the story of an accountant who started with a small flock of 200 birds and eventually increased this number to 60,000.

The story of this famer is quite inspiring considering that he quit his formal employment as an accountant to venture into poultry business. As you can possibly recall from the article that I shared on this platform is that this is a farmer who has taken poultry keeping professionally. As a result of this he has put in place all the necessary measures that a serious farmer ought to have such as; keeping farm records, having a means of weighing birds, having put in place bio-security measures and always seeking professional help. Most importantly, he has Lamwa Vetcare as the regular vets who happens to be yours truly.

Early this week he realized that his birds were dying. On Monday he collected three dead birds out of a flock of 8000 birds. He didn’t think that was something to worry about so he didn’t seek any professional help. On Tuesday he collected ten more dead birds and the mortality rate kept increasing and on Wednesday he found that eighty more had died. It is after Wednesday that it dawned on him that this was an alarming mortality rate and as such, he decided to contact me.

When the farmer explained to me how the rate at which the mortality rate was increasing I had to treat this matter as an emergency and so I dropped whatever I was doing to visit his farm. When I arrived at the firm I performed necropsy (post mortem) on the dead birds. I realized that the dead birds had succumbed to Newcastle disease.

It is good to remind you that Newcastle is a viral disease that has mortality of up to 100%. In other words, if your flock is infected with this disease then you could lose all your birds. This is therefore considered to be one of the most dangerous poultry diseases. At first the farmer looked surprised about how this disease could have spread to his poultry farm considering that he has put in place effective bio-security measures. For instance, he has a perimeter wall around his poultry farm and he also has foot dip to prevent the introduction of pathogens in the poultry houses. Moreover, he maintains a high level of hygiene.

After a considerable pause he recalled that some days prior to collecting the first three birds he had invited a butcher to come and weigh birds that were ready to be slaughtered. You see this farmer understands how to correctly administer Sangrovit Ws to his flock. So a sizeable number of his birds had already matured as they are in their 32 day. As you can recall from one of my posts Sangrovit WS not only boost the immunity of birds but also helps in improving feed conversion rate.

This means that after the 32 days his birds are normally mature having reached the market weight of 1.8kgs.
You see, when the butcher came to visit the farmer he was not around and so the butcher found the farmhand. Unfortunately, the butcher had come from another poultry farm that had been experiencing mortality rates. It appears that the butcher ignored to use the footdip and that is how he introduced the virus causing Newcastle disease to this farmers flock. Since the birds are already mature and ready for the market it would not be wise to use antibiotics to treat them as antibiotics require withdraw period. So in order to salvage this situation the farmer has doubled the dose of Sangrovit Ws in order to boost the immunity of his birds and by so doing help them not to succumb to this disease. The said farmer has maintained a very impressive attitude towards this whole situation and he even told me that poultry keeping business has its own fair challenges but one can overcome them by learning from his/her mistakes and always seeking professional help when needed.

kindly share widely and save a farmer from the Newcastle outbreak.
+254724616883/ +254780616883

Shared by Lamwa Vetcare

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Smart Brooding Techniques – Preparing for Chicks Placement

Leave a Comment / Kuroiler Chicken / By

Once a chick is hatched, its body is usually too tiny and feeble to produce enough warmth for survival. That’s why they naturally hide in their mother’s feathers for several weeks. If you are not using the natural brooding method, then you should provide an artificial source of heat. Its temperature levels should be carefully controlled, as a little heat or extreme heat can harm young chicks’ health. Chicks that are feeling cold cannot eat or drink properly, leading to retarded growth and poor development of the internal digestive organs.

With a poorly developed digestion system, chicks cannot benefit from eating highly nutritious feed, including an egg yolk. Speaking of an egg yolk, you should prevent a condition called omphalitis or yolk infection by helping the chicks develop a healthy digestive system. The infection is caused by multiplication and growth of bacteria in the yolk when it is eaten and not digested properly. The infection can lead to early deaths (called Early Chick Mortality, ECM) and growth retardation.

Ensuring proper chicks brooding

As we have noted in our previous articles, you should give the brooding process your best effort. By so doing, you will not only prevent early deaths but also painful injuries. So, make sure that you have a brooding house that is separate from your usual chicken pen or coop. Then, make a brooding guard in the form of a ring using a flexible sheet of material. Plywood is always the first choice among the top Kienyenji chicken raisers in Kenya.

How to make a perfect brooder guard or ring

If you are waiting to place 50 chicks in the brooder guard, then you should make a ring that is up to 20 feet in diameter. If you have double the amount (100chicks), then you need 5 feet more in diameter–a 25 feet ring. If you triple your chicks, 150 chicks, then increase the diameter of your brooder guard material (aluminum sheet or plywood) to 30 feet. This is simple math!

Ensure that your ring is about 0.6 meters tall so it can prevent curious birds from jumping out of the ring. Then, pad the ring with wood shavings or straw to about 4 inches thick and place newspapers on top. If building your own brooder ring is a piece of work you don’t trust you can do, get a customized brooder ring.

Once you make a ring, place its essentials inside, beginning with the heat source. Place your heat source in the middle of the brooding circle. Then place feeders, drinkers, trays and light source in the ring.  A bright light source is needed during the first week, mostly, to help the chicks see their feed and water.

Chicks’ placement process

Now you have a brooding house and a fully equipped brooder ring. The next thing you should do is to disinfect the entire brooding system. Use a sprayer to sterilize the entire brooding house and its components. Next, clean and disinfect your feeders and drinkers a few days before the arrival of your baby chicks.

Spread the litter on the floor and keep everything where it should be. As the brooding house has open ventilation holes, there should be curtains to cover them at night when there is a lot of cold.

These curtains don’t have to be bought; you can use old sisal sacks or old pieces of fabric you have no better uses for. Prior to chicks’ delivery, spray the brooding house for the last time using a high quality terminal disinfectant. There should be foot baths with lime powder or another disinfectant (TH4 or Ominicide) at the entrance. Once the chicks occupy their brooding enclosure, start protecting them from the obvious dangers: hunger, cold, heat stroke, injuries and deaths and so on.

Supporting your baby chicks

One thing you should always do is to check the crops of your tiny chicks in the morning. The way the crop feels will tell you whether a baby bird has eaten anything at all. If the crop feels soft and supple, the chick is well fed and not thirsty. About ninety-five percent of your flock should have found water and feed by the time you inspect their crops. If you notice a chick with a hard crop, give it some water immediately as it hasn’t drunk adequately.

On the other hand, swollen and distended crops are a sign that the chicks have drunk a lot of water and eaten very little. So guide them to where the feed is in the ring. As for the lighting in the brooder, light should be consistent and bright enough in the first week. Temperature is taken just a few centimeters above the litter level and the right time to watch and adjust your chicks’ responses to heat level is during the coldest time of day.

If you don’t have a thermometer to help you know when the place is cold, watch the chicks’ behaviors. If they sleep in bunches near the heat source, they are feeling cold. On the other hard, if they are feeling too hot, they will move away from the source of heat. Chicks that are receiving just the right amount of heat will spread out and cover the whole brooding ring. That’s because the heat is evenly distributed and chicks are feeling comfortable.

Conclusion

We cannot emphasize enough the importance of doing successful chicks brooding. If you make mistakes, even if simple, there will be a hefty price to pay. Thus, you should prepare financially to either put up a brooding structure or get a custom-made one. As well, you need money to buy feed and brooder appliances. Then, a lot of time commitment is a must as baby chicks will have you as their mother for several weeks. You should strive to copy the same strategies that broody hens use to bring up healthy chicks. With adequate information on how to rear free-range chickens from their brooding stage available, as well as artificial brooding equipment, you shouldn’t make costly mistakes at all.

booding essentials

Kuroiler Chicken Brooding Success Tips – 6 Essentials You Shouldn’t Ignore

2 Comments / Kienyeji Chicken, Kuroiler Chicken, Poultry Farming / By

Do you want to build a big flock of Kienyenji chickens within a short time? If so, learn the basics of proper brooding. This is the art of raising young chicks until they become less vulnerable adult chickens. Brooding can be challenging, if you lack motivation, knowledge and suitable equipment. It is a labor-intensive process that requires a lot of commitment and caution. Mistakes made during brooding can cause unexpected deaths of chicks, leading to wastage of time and money. Hence, an aspiring kienyenji chicken farmer like you should know everything about brooding even before you begin farming. In this article, you will learn the basics of the chicken brooding process.

kuroiler chicks brooding
Kienyeji chicks brooding, Kuroiler chicken.

Essentials of the brooding process

  • Litter management – Before chicks’ placement, lay a dry flooring material (like sawdust) on the floor of your brooding house. Up to four inches of dry bedding litter will be enough to provide enough warmth. The litter should be dry and clean; so, take the time to get rid of as much wetness as possible. Needless to say, you should lay fresh and dry litter when the current one becomes soiled.
  • Temperature management – Just like a new-born baby, a day-old chick needs a lot of warmth. Its feathers are not thick enough to shield its tiny body from the cold. As well as dying from the cold, chicks can succumb to extreme heat. So you have to regulate temperatures often to keep your chicks comfortable and safe. The best source of heat is the infra-red heating system, although some farmers start out with a charcoal jiko. This heat source should be placed in the middle of your brooding ring. In the first week, maintain the heat at 32 degrees Celsius. If your chicks are receiving excessive heat, they will move further away from the heat source and if it’s too cold, they will come closer to it and cluster together. When temperature is just right, your chicks will scatter all over the brooder ring.
  • Proper lighting – During their first week of life, chicks needs help locating something to eat. Thus, you should place a bright light source in the brooder ring to help your little birds locate their food and water. But, as they grow up and mature, your birds will no longer require very bright light as their eyesight will be stronger. Besides, a bright light source can encourage cannibalism among grown birds.
  • Good ventilation – As a small-scale Kienyenji chicken farmer, you should pay attention to the air quality within the brooder house and ring. This is particularly true if you intend to use a charcoal jiko as your heat source. Charcoal produces carbon monoxide when burnt and can cause gas poisoning that could kill your chicks. Perhaps a smoke emitter can help. Furthermore, you should always condition your litter to reduce the high concentration of ammonia gas in the brooding house. Otherwise, your chicken might suffer from blindness and/or ammonia burns. When constructing your brooding house, think about ventilation inlets. Don’t leave ventilation inlets that will let in excessive wind from the outside, though, as it might end up blowing your chicks along with their feed and water.
  • Make clean water and feed available – Pure water for drinking is ideal for young chicks. Plenty of it is necessary from the very day they are placed in a brooder ring. So you will require a device called a drinker. Get one that will suit your little birds’ height now and one they can grow with. As chicks will not drink as much water as adult birds, you should discard their water often to avoid contamination. Concerning the feed, chicks should eat the right kind to their fill from the first day onwards. During the first week, your concern should be less on the amount of feed that each bird eats and more on whether each one of them will access food. In short, providing adequate feeding space or a feeding chance to every chick is the most important thing to ensure when you receive your first flock. Even if every chick has an opportunity to eat, it may fail to do so if it feels too cold, hot or thirsty. Hence, a good chicken farmer should strive to maintain all the conditions that can boost the survival rate of the chicks.
  • Immunization – You can make your chicks as comfortable as possible and still lose most of them to death because you have not vaccinated them. So, following the Kienyenji chicks’ vaccination schedule is a must if you want to brood your chicks successfully.

If you follow the above-mentioned tips, you will greatly raise your chicks’ survival rate and build a profitable chicken rearing business.

kienyeji chicks brooding essentials

Chicks Brooding Success Tips – 6 Essentials You Shouldn’t Ignore

1 Comment / Kienyeji Chicken / By

Do you want to build a big flock of Kienyenji chickens within a short time? If so, learn the basics of proper brooding. This is the art of raising young chicks until they become less vulnerable adult chickens. Brooding can be challenging, if you lack motivation, knowledge and suitable equipment. It is a labor-intensive process that requires a lot of commitment and caution. Mistakes made during brooding can cause unexpected deaths of chicks, leading to wastage of time and money. Hence, an aspiring kienyenji chicken farmer like you should know everything about brooding even before you begin farming. In this article, you will learn the basics of the chicken brooding process.

Essentials of the brooding process

  • Litter management – Before chicks’ placement, lay a dry flooring material (like sawdust) on the floor of your brooding house. Up to four inches of dry bedding litter will be enough to provide enough warmth. The litter should be dry and clean; so, take the time to get rid of as much wetness as possible. Needless to say, you should lay fresh and dry litter when the current one becomes soiled.
  • Temperature management – Just like a new-born baby, a day-old chick needs a lot of warmth. Its feathers are not thick enough to shield its tiny body from the cold. As well as dying from the cold, chicks can succumb to extreme heat. So you have to regulate temperatures often to keep your chicks comfortable and safe. The best source of heat is the infra-red heating system, although some farmers start out with a charcoal jiko. This heat source should be placed in the middle of your brooding ring. In the first week, maintain the heat at 32 degrees Celsius. If your chicks are receiving excessive heat, they will move further away from the heat source and if it’s too cold, they will come closer to it and cluster together. When temperature is just right, your chicks will scatter all over the brooder ring.
  • Proper lighting – During their first week of life, chicks needs help locating something to eat. Thus, you should place a bright light source in the brooder ring to help your little birds locate their food and water. But, as they grow up and mature, your birds will no longer require very bright light as their eyesight will be stronger. Besides, a bright light source can encourage cannibalism among grown birds.
  • Good ventilation – As a small-scale Kienyenji chicken farmer, you should pay attention to the air quality within the brooder house and ring. This is particularly true if you intend to use a charcoal jiko as your heat source. Charcoal produces carbon monoxide when burnt and can cause gas poisoning that could kill your chicks. Perhaps a smoke emitter can help. Furthermore, you should always condition your litter to reduce the high concentration of ammonia gas in the brooding house. Otherwise, your chicken might suffer from blindness and/or ammonia burns. When constructing your brooding house, think about ventilation inlets. Don’t leave ventilation inlets that will let in excessive wind from the outside, though, as it might end up blowing your chicks along with their feed and water.
  • Make clean water and feed available – Pure water for drinking is ideal for young chicks. Plenty of it is necessary from the very day they are placed in a brooder ring. So you will require a device called a drinker. Get one that will suit your little birds’ height now and one they can grow with. As chicks will not drink as much water as adult birds, you should discard their water often to avoid contamination. Concerning the feed, chicks should eat the right kind to their fill from the first day onwards. During the first week, your concern should be less on the amount of feed that each bird eats and more on whether each one of them will access food. In short, providing adequate feeding space or a feeding chance to every chick is the most important thing to ensure when you receive your first flock. Even if every chick has an opportunity to eat, it may fail to do so if it feels too cold, hot or thirsty. Hence, a good chicken farmer should strive to maintain all the conditions that can boost the survival rate of the chicks.
  • Immunization – You can make your chicks as comfortable as possible and still lose most of them to death because you have not vaccinated them. So, following the Kienyenji chicks’ vaccination schedule is a must if you want to brood your chicks successfully.

If you follow the above-mentioned tips, you will greatly raise your chicks’ survival rate and build a profitable chicken rearing business.

kuroiler chicks brooding

Kienyenji Chickens Brooding Guide –Natural Brooding And Artificial Brooding Techniques

Leave a Comment / Kienyeji Chicken, Kuroiler Chicken, Poultry Farming / By

Kienyenji chicken brooding is easier now, thanks to modern brooding systems. Unless you don’t mind at all, you don’t have to wait until one or more of your hens turn broody. There are ways to maintain a fertile egg at a controlled temperature and humidity for around 28 days. And as soon as your chicks hatch, you can nurture them for weeks inside an artificial brooding house. Note that a brooding house is not the usual chicken coop. It is a separate structure used only when caring for young chicks–even one-day old chicks. When interested in raising and selling your kienyenji chickens, such as Kuloiler chickens, your best brooding technique should be artificial. However, you can combine natural and artificial brooding methods.

Natural brooding technique

If you intend to start a small chicken project, the natural brooding method alone will help. That means waiting until one or more of your hens stops laying eggs in order to become a mother. A broody hen is easy to identify because she will squawk all day long. As well as this, a broody hen will make a huge sacrifice just to hatch and raise her own broods. Thus, she will sit in her nesting box all day long instead of foraging with the rest of the chickens.

Moreover, a broody hen will become too protective of her nest and eggs and pluck her breast feathers to give her eggs direct heat from the body. If you notice a stubborn broody hen, it’s time to start the natural brooding process. Usually, a broody chicken will sit on eggs for 21 days and depending on her body size, she can hatch up to 20 chicks. If you are familiar with the typical birds raised in our rural areas, then you know that despite the broody hens having lice and other parasites, they hatch and raise chicks until they can forage on their own.

If you wish to brood your chicks naturally, that’s fine because there will be no extra costs. The downside is that you can only give your hen enough fertilized eggs for her body size. If you give her more eggs than she can sit on, you will end up with a few stale eggs that won’t hatch. That means hatching fewer chicks than you expected.

Artificial brooding method

This is all about producing and raising new-born chicks without a broody hen. So you will require a man-made, temperature-controlled brooder to take the place of a live broody hen. An artificial brooding technique is better than a natural brooding method when you are doing kienyenji chicken rearing as a full-blown business. Here are the pros:

  • There is no downtime because of conditions beyond your control: weather changes, broody hens to sit on eggs and so on.
  • You can hatch numerous chicks at once without requiring extra human labour or lots of broody hens.
  • You can take full charge of the brooding process, ensuring that the brooder is clean and sterilized, well-ventilated and warm enough to keep the tiny broods alive.
  • You can control the brooder temperature levels
  • Feeding can be programmed and done systematically.

If you are going to use an artificial brooding approach, then it will be important to determine whether you will personally hatch your own eggs inside an incubator or will purchase young chicks. To avoid the challenges of buying an incubator and a brooder, it would be wiser to buy chicks from a reputable kienyenji chicken farmer and brood them afterwards. Simply make an order for 1-day old chicks, 1-week old chicks and/or 2-weeks old chicks, and so on, in whatever quantity you can afford. The following essentials are a must-have:

  1. A round housing structure
  2. A heat source or a brooder
  3. Constant supply of clean, fresh air
  4. Proper lighting
  5. Clean, dry and germ-free living space
  6. Safety from fire accidents or predators
  7. Clean and disinfected feeders and drinkers

If you are trying to improvise your own brooding system, you can roll a flexible material such as plywood to create a brooder house. Then use a charcoal jiko for heat production, if you live in a rural area without electricity; one jiko can generate enough heat to warm up to 300 chicks. To create a clean, dry and germ-free living area, you can buy wood shavings. In short, you can use your own creativity to create an artificial brooder at home. Alternatively, you can buy a readily constructed brooder: electric brooder, gas brooder, an automatic heater, a hover and so on.

Kienyeji Chicken Farming and Business

2 Comments / Kienyeji Chicken, Kuroiler Chicken, Poultry Farming / By

It is believed that many Kenyans have a handful of jobs, so relying on just the one can lead to problems if it fails. One area that is more secure is Kienyeji chicken farming as the recent analysis shows that previous low yields are a thing of the past. Kari is to be thanked for the improvement of the breeds and now large flocks are owned by many but this is because of them investing both a lot of time and money into the venture. There is no need to worry though as projections show that the money invested will be returned in profits.

Benefits of Kienyeji Chicken Farming

The benefits are clear for all to see and by following guides that have been produced, there will be an improved standard of living in the near future: –

  • A great income for many of the farmers. As organic Kienyeji egg products and meat are in high demand, there will be an extensive market for the farmers to access.
  • Marketing help is given, so all farmers will be able to advertise their products widely and at speed so their investment will show quick returns.
  • Family members living in other parts of the country can also benefit from the business that has been established. It will be heartening to be able to support elderly family members as well as setting yourself up for a great future. With careful investment, the flock can be built up substantially and a large flock of chickens can be used
  • There is always going to be the demand for chickens in Kenya, so there is no need to worry that you have fallen behind and allowed others to get into this brand of farming before you. If you are well educated on the methods, and have the correct people working with you and lending a hand you will soon have an established chicken farming business in Kenya. Every part of this industry is in high demand, and there is also the chance to set up sales beyond Kenya.

Financial Requirements

If there are any concerns that the cost to set up a Kienyeji chicken business will be too high, then the fears can be dispelled. To buy a chick at a day old will cost KSH 100 and as many of the structures that will house in the region of 100 chicks, will set the farmer back somewhere between KSH10,000 and Khs20,000 depending on the sort of material used, the overall cost of building and 100 chicks is just between KSH20,000 and KSH30,000.

KARI will suggest some high breeding chickens, but there are others to select as well. Chicken breeds that are imported from countries such as India includes the Kuroiler and Rainbow Rooster. These are known to produce more meat than certain brands and can produce eggs quickly.

Starting Out

It is possible to start out on a small scale and then build up the business as and when finances allow. It will be easy enough to obtain a bank loan in Kenya and if you are not sure you know enough; training workshops can be attended. For more personal training, manuals are available.

 

 

The Main Types of Chicken Production Systems

5 Comments / Kienyeji Chicken, Kuroiler Chicken, Poultry Farming / By

Kienyenji chicken farming is a business like any other. It requires planning, implementation and supervision to provide successive profits. There are three kinds of management practices you can adopt without investing a lot of money. Here they are:

Traditional free range System

This is the most conventional method of raising Kienyenji chickens. The birds are set free to wander in a fenced area.  The traditional free is suitable when raising fewer birds, 1 to 10, for meat and eggs.  Furthermore, this sort of kienyenji chicken management system is practiced mainly in rural areas where indigenous birds are common. It’s easy to run this system; the labour is minimal. Also, indigenous birds do not have to be vaccinated, and they can scratch the ground to find something to eat. Their mortality rate is extremely high though, and their growth rate and productivity are low.

Improved Semi-free Range System

Like the free range system, the improved semi-free range system is designed for small scale farmers. Hence, you can raise five to fifty birds using using this system. As this method is improved, those who use it can produce enough meat and eggs for home consumption and income generation. The best type of birds to rear via this technique are indigenous and KARI Improved Kienyenji Chicken.

The birds require a slightly high level of attention than the free range birds. They have to be vaccinated against dangerous diseases like NCD and fowl pox. As a result, this management system protects chickens from diseases and this keeps their mortality rate moderate. As KARI improved chickens eat a lot, you will have to buy supplementary commercial feeds. They will scavenge and still not get full.

So you will have to get them more food to eat to grow quickly and normally. Their housing and run can be constructed with locally available materials. However, you have to build a suitable chicken structure. When it comes to productivity levels, birds living in a semi-free range system do better than their free range system’s counterparts. They can provide fifty to one hundred and fifty eggs per year. Finally, it is relatively easier to sell your birds now that KARI Improved Kienyenji Chicken is fully recognized in Kenya.

Small Scale Confined System

This management system does not suit indigenous birds at all. It is only suitable for Improved and kuloiler kienyenji farming.  This seems like the best technique for raising numerous birds— over one hundred. It is a labor-intensive method, as the chickens are housed in a small, restricted space. Various vaccinations must be administered to lower the mortality rate of the birds. As well, you have to buy commercial feeds time and again. For this reason, the small scale confined system requires a big initial investment than the other two systems. As this method is purely for commercial benefits, the farmer must look for a lucrative market before the chickens mature.  If well fed, vaccinated and housed, these chickens can lay 250 to 300 eggs per year. Finally, their broods’ growth rate is high.

Conclusion

So far you know the three main kinds of kienyenji chicken management systems. It is now upon you to determine what’s best for your needs. If you have a question, feel free to ask us.

Bio-security – Learn How to Prevent Introduction or Spreading of Diseases in Your Poultry Farm

1 Comment / Kienyeji Chicken, Kuroiler Chicken, Poultry Farming / By

It is vitally important to ensure that disease is not spread between chickens based on different sites. The practice that is in place to do this is known as bio-security. It is normally through the feeding process or cleaning of their feathers that they are most at risk of picking up infections. Once already wounded, additional infections can set in and at this stage certain internal organs can become damaged.

Spreading the Disease

Having spread throughout the body, the infection will enter into the bowel and leave the chicken’s body in the form of droppings. Disease can also be passed on through exhalation or on occasions, through cuts and wounds. As soon as other chickens mix with the infected birds, then they will also become infected. The problem is that the agents that have become infected do not die once they leave the body of the chicken. Coccidia and worm eggs can live for a matter of months outside the chicken, but fortunately others cannot withstand elements such as sunlight. Heat and disinfectant can also remove them leaving other chickens safe from picking up the illness.

How Disease is spread

There is still the risk of other chickens becoming infected even when the agent can be destroyed, but here there will have to be direct contact. When it is via agents that can survive, the choices are wider. It can be through animals, humans – chicken droppings can stick to shoes and be passed from site to site – and even certain materials. The infection may live on pieces of eggshell, or even on the body of a dead chicken.

How the Infection Develops

It will take sometime after the chicken has become infected before the signs of the illness emerge. This is called the incubation period and it is here that the organisms carrying the infection will multiply inside the bird. They are weakening the bird and also causing them to breathe out disease and excrete it in their droppings. This is a major problem as no one knows that the bird is ill or infecting others so no action is being taken. A major issue here is a hen passing the disease directly to its young. When this happens, commercial enterprises begin to suffer financially.

Controlling Diseases

When it comes to the likes of Newcastle disease it takes more than flock management and good production practices to control them. Such a contagious disease can lead to a high mortality rate and as the impact can be so great to the industry, they are classed as notifiable diseases. The authorities need to be informed as well as veterinary departments

Most Common Bio-security Measures

  • Avoidance of locations near to the infected farms – at least 500m is recommended.
  • Take note of the wind direction in order to protect against airborne infection.
  • Alteration to the rearing cycle can prevent some passing on of the infection.
  • Careful disposal of litter.
  • Keep the infected site as secure as possible. If personnel are not moving between sites, it will be easier to contain.

Kienyenji Chicken Diseases – Top 5 Viral infections You Should Know About

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Although kienyenji chicken farming is a lucrative venture to try, you should know there are challenges to face. One of these challenges is poultry diseases. It’s extremely important to know all the diseases you might encounter as a chicken farmer. Second, you should familiarize yourself with all the vaccinations your chickens need to survive the disease bouts. Keep in mind that without proper disease management and control tactics, your chickens could die. Even if some of your birds survive, their eggs and meat production levels could decrease.

What triggers chicken diseases?

The main cause is microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, viruses and protozoans. The secondary causes are normal pests that hide in the chicken fur and the internal parasites that live in the intestines. Other than micro-organisms and parasites, diseases could result from other factors: poor flock management, nutrition, husbandry and environmental elements.

Viral poultry diseases

1)    Newcastle Disease – NCD is a stubborn viral chicken disease and the virus that causes it can survive in a dead carrier or its secretions for a whole year. A disease with a high mortality rate, Newcastle Disease could kill 30 to 40 percent of your chicken flock. The symptoms to expect are:

  • Poor appetite
  • Poor digestion
  • Heavy breathing
  • Greenish droppings
  • Bloody diarrhea
  • Paralysis and nervous breakdown.
  • Swelling of the head
  • twisting of the head and neck

It is important to notice the early signs; otherwise, you could lose your birds. NCD is better prevented than cured, and it’s very contagious. There is a vaccination that can be administered to all birds and chicks.

2)    Avian Influenza or AI – This disease is almost similar to NCD. Although it affects waterfowls and ducks the most, Avian Influenza can ail chickens too. AI is not only highly contagious, but also extremely deadly. If your chickens have this viral disease, you will notice their bluish, swollen combs and wattles. Good hygiene and regular vaccination are a must if you want to prevent AI. If drinking water or food is contaminated, AI will spread incredibly fast and cause more deaths. It has no complete cure, just like the NCD. If you suspect it, disinfect and clean your chicken house right away. Eliminate sick and dead birds by burning them.

3)    Fowl Pox – This is another viral disease that is transmitted via contact. It affects chicks, mostly, and materializes as tiny lesions on their combs, face and wattles. Commonly seen during the dry seasons, Fowl Pox isn’t extremely deadly. It has no cure as well; and so, you should vaccinate your birds on time.

4)    Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) – Also called the Gumboro Disease, IBD is a viral disease that attacks broods below six weeks of age. It commonly occurs if many chicks are placed in a cluttered, small housing. The first sign is usually diarrhea and it is noticeable after 4 to 6 weeks after the chicks hatch. Other signs include a swollen kidney with urates, swollen bursa of fabricious, dehydration, PM-Skeletal bleeding and sudden death. You can only vaccinate your chicks to protect them from this deadly virus.

5)    Marek’s Disease – This disease only attacks chickens that are sixteen weeks and older. It may paralyze the chickens’ leg/legs or wing/wings. Marek’s disease triggers retarded growth, low productivity and moderate deaths.

Besides the viral diseases, chickens could also suffer from a wide range of bacterial diseases. The most prevalent ones include fowl cholera, fowl typhoid, Pullorum Disease, Infectious coryza, chronic respiratory disease and Colibacillosis. Moreover, we noted earlier that poultry diseases may be triggered by internal parasites such as roundworms and tapeworms. The commonest fungal disease is Mycotoxicosis or fungal poisoning, and it occurs when birds eat contaminated feed.