After years of rearing livestock with little success, a chicken incubator has changed the lives of a conservation group in Laikipia.
Members of Marura Environment Conservation Group, an organisation based a few kilometres from Nanyuki, decided to venture into poultry farming three years ago, thinking they had little to lose.
They also figured it would be easier than trying to rear livestock. But they were wrong, and right from the beginning, things did not go as the group had anticipated.
The failure
The first eggs put in the incubator had a 34 per cent success rate, with only 180 chicks hatching from 528 eggs. But the 20-member group was not ready to give up on poultry.
“We had not taken any precautions when we started, hence the failure that we witnessed,” said Patrick Muriuki, the secretary of the group.
The group got its incubator, which was worth Sh78,000, from the Laikipia County Government.
Initially, most members of Marura depended on livestock farming, but this ended up being very expensive during dry seasons when they had to buy feed.
They decided to think of cheaper means to earn a living that would enable members live on at least a dollar (Sh100) a day.
Three years later each group member has at least 50 chicken in their homesteads.
The second round of incubation gave much better results, with 217 of 352 eggs hatching — an almost 62 per cent success rate.
The first and second batch of eggs that were incubated were for improved indigenous birds, and were bought from the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro).
During the third incubation, the group decided to allow members to bring their eggs for incubation. This paid off, as there was no money spend in purchasing eggs.
“We clustered our members into groups, with each member of a particular group bringing 88 eggs for incubation,” said Mr Muriuki.
Each group got 21 days to allow their eggs to hatch before another group brought in their 528 eggs.
Today, the efficiency rate of the incubator is at about 70 per cent, which has minimised losses.
The group decided to venture into improved indigenous poultry farming because of the ease in caring for them as opposed to exotic breeds, which are labour intensive and vulnerable during disease outbreaks.
With each egg from the improved breed going for Sh20 as opposed to Sh15 from traditional breeds, the group says each member can earn more than the set target of a dollar a day, set under the Household Economic Empowerment Programme.
Muriuki said a member sells at least a tray of eggs a day, thus earning about Sh450. On a good day, one can sell two trays.
Higher prices
Members also sell the chicken. The group’s vice chairman, Kinyua Mwangi, said the improved breed, which is meatier, fetches higher prices than local poultry breeds.
“A fully mature cock goes for about Sh1,500, while a hen costs Sh700. Each month-old chick is sold at Sh300,” he said.
The major costs the group faces include power consumption at an average of Sh2,000 a month, and poultry feed bought at Sh70 a kilo.
The group is now looking to open up egg incubation to non-members to increase production and incomes.
“Our plan is to take over egg distribution in Nanyuki, Nyeri, Meru, Embu, Kerugoya, Karatina, Timau and Nyahururu,” said Mr Mwangi.
jookoth@standardmedia.co.ke
