Poultry Farming

booding essentials

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

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.

kuroiler chicks brooding

Kienyenji Chickens Brooding Guide –Natural Brooding And Artificial Brooding Techniques

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

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

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

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.