adminAN enterprising woman farmer from Umguza District in Matabeleland North Province has embarked on a massive indigenous chicken breeding project in a bid to tap into the growing market of people who prefer the chicken to broilers.
Mrs Eusebia Nezungai, a newly resettled farmer, started rearing Hyline and Boschveld indigenise chicken breeds commonly known as “road runners” or nkukhu makhaya at her farm in Mopane resettlement area in May and to date she has 800 birds.
“We started this project in May with about 400 birds mostly cocks and we added another batch on 1 September. At the farm we have 450 birds and at home there are 250 which are being nursed and raised under the requisite conditions and environment since they are still chicks.
“We embarked on indigenous poultry production after realising that most people preferred organic foods. We thought of grabbing the opportunity to explore this market as we realised there was a gap,” she said.
Mrs Nezungai said rearing indigenous chicken breeds was more advantageous that exotic or broiler production.
“One of the factors a farmer should look at when going into poultry production of either indigenous or broiler (exotic) chickens is the cost of production and the market including prices of each of these breeds.
“Indigenous chickens have many advantages over broiler breeds. They can be fed on home-made feed rations, can also be allowed to free range, therefore cutting down the amount of feed that the farmer has to give them and unlike broilers, indigenous are tolerant to many diseases, this reduces the veterinary costs,” she said. Although some challenges exist, raising indigenous chickens is preferable to the commercial breeds for small-scale chicken production.
For example, the broilers are more expensive to buy, susceptible to diseases, and require high maintenance for their development.
Broilers are best raised in confined conditions where disease can be managed through sterilisation, but the indigenous birds can be raised free-range as they are less susceptible to the harsh weather and environmental conditions of Zimbabwe.
This often forces farmers in broiler rearing to purchase expensive feeds rather than relying on nature’s abundant feeds, like worms and insects. Although the commercial chicken grows faster and can mature within six weeks, there is a high initial start-up cost and a greater risk.
“Broilers need special housing, lighting and certain conditions in terms of temperature unlike indigenous chickens that can even afford to be on bare soil of which they utilise to rub their bodies on to remove mites instead of buying drugs to get rid of these parasites,” Mrs Nezungai said.
The enterprising farmer is looking forward to enhancing her agricultural enterprise next year and increase the number to 1 600 birds and venturing into chicks production.
“We intend to cut down the number of cocks and remain with a few selected good yielding breeds while we increase the number of the chickens to 1 600. In the long run we intend to get an incubator whereby we will start producing chicks for sale. The market is available locally and we understand we can even export to Asian markets and Dubai but we will have to satisfy the local market before we think about exporting,” Mrs Nezungai said.
Matabeleland North’s Department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Services provincial officer Mr Dumisani Nyoni said indigenous chicken production was proving to be a lucrative venture as the birds are being highly sought after in the market.
“It’s (indigenous chicken production) an upcoming industry. What that farmer (Mrs Nezungai) needs to do is to be consistent and increase on numbers to be able to supply the market constantly. A number of restaurants are deceiving their customers by lying to them that they will have served them with nkukhu makhaya while in actual fact those will be off layers.
“I have envisaged a situation whereby you go into a certain supermarket and seeing fridges with broilers while others have nkukhu makhaya, which suggest that the market is there. What she needs to do is to ensure that they reach the dressing stage,” Mr Nyoni said.
He said there was also a need for Mrs Nezungai to embark in extensive small grains production so as to ensure a ready supply and sufficient feed for her birds.
“There is a need to integrate the (poultry) project with production of small grains such as sorghum, millet and sunflower because these constitute a lot to the feed requirement of indigenous chickens,” Mr Nyoni said.
Online Reporter