7 Heavy Breeds Heavy Breeds are quieter, eat more, and in most cases go ‘broody’ (i.e. try to incubate their own eggs). Examples of heavy breeds are Rhode Island Red

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high initial capital is required in addition to the house;  It requires increased level of management;  In case of a disease outbreak, it can spread very fast;  Birds develop bruises on combs, breast and toes. 3. Semi Intensive System The semi intensive system can be divided into two: the fold system and the house and run method. A. The Fold system In this system, birds are confined in small structures called an ark or fold. A fold unit measure 3.5m long by 1.5m wide and 1.5m high. This is enough to hold 10-15 hens. One third of the fold is roofed to provide shelter. The rest of the fold is left open but it is enclosed with wire mesh. The unroofed part is used for sunning and exercise. The folds should be moved daily to a fresh ground to reduce build up of diseases, provide fresh grass, avoid accumulation of droppings and also to spread the manure. See figure 2.6 for an illustration of the fold system. Figure 2.6: The fold system with wheels Advantage of the fold system  Manure is spread uniformly in the field.  Less feed is used because the bird eat grass  This system reduces build-up of parasites and diseases. Disadvantages of the fold system  Few birds are kept per fold. Where many birds are kept, many folds will be required and this is very expensive  It is labour intensive in that folds have to be moved from one place to the other.  Individual egg production record is difficult to keep. Poultry Keeping & Management Page 22 B. House and Run Method This method is useful for keeping small population of birds, around 20-50 birds. It consists of solid roofed housing which is used for keeping birds at night, laying eggs and roosting. Birds are allowed to run freely around the house during the day within an area enclosed with chicken wire. It is desirable to provide two runs (Run A and B) for alternating use to avoid build up of diseases and parasites. As Run A is being used for poultry, Run B can rest under a vegetable crop. Birds should be rotated between Runs A & B after every 6 months or one year in order to give ample time for the parasites, worms and disease pathogens to die off. See figure 2.7 for an illustration of this system. Figure 2.7: House and run housing system Advantages of the house and run method  It facilitates the rearing of about 20-50 birds as a side (supplementary) business within a large commercial farm.  Security for the birds especially at night is good since the building is usually a permanent house.  The run does not need large a area as in the extensive method. Disadvantages of the house and run method  Accumulation of parasitic worms and pathogens in the fenced area.  Cost of fencing and permanent house is high.  Losses from snakes, wild animals and thieves. That brings us to the end of this section on poultry housing management systems. We hope you now understand the different systems and are able to pick one for your poultry project. Before you continue, review what you have just learnt by completing the following activity. Poultry Keeping & Management Page 23 You have now come to the end of our second unit on poultry housing. Let us review what you have learnt. Unit Summary In this unit we have discussed described the requirements for a good poultry house. We noted that these include good ventilation, enough space, and protection from weather elements and predators. Next we looked at how to design a poultry house. We hope you still remember that you need to allow 4-5sq feet per bird when designing the size of your poultry house. Lastly we considered the various poultry production systems used by farmers. These were broadly divided into three main categories, namely, the extensive or free range system, the intensive system such as the deep litter system; and the semi-intensive system such as the fold system. We hope you are now able to make an informed decision when choosing a housing system for your poultry project. In the next unit you will learn about poultry breeds. Activity 2.3 Poultry Housing Management Systems (Time: 15 minutes) Draw a line to connect a poultry housing management system with its unique feature. Housing management system Features Extensive or free range system Birds confined in arks or folds which are moved daily to fresh ground Battery cage system House surrounded by a wire mesh enclosure that allows birds to run freely during the day. Fold system Birds confined in a building and stay in doors for the whole of their life House and run system Birds are kept inside a cage throughout their laying period Deep litter system Birds roam freely in fenced ground with a simple house to provide shelter at night Poultry Keeping & Management Page 24 Unit 3 Poultry Breeds and Incubation Introduction In the last unit we learnt about the qualities of a good poultry house, how to estimate the size of a poultry house and the different housing systems used by farmers. In this unit we shall look at the common chicken breeds found in Kenya. We shall also discuss both natural and artificial incubation practices. As usual, let us start with our unit objectives. Unit Objectives By the end of this unit you should be able to:  Identify the common chicken breeds found in Kenya;  Apply the appropriate incubation practices in the hatching of chicks. Section 3.1: Common Poultry Breeds The term poultry refers to domesticated birds kept for meat, eggs and feather production. There are different species of poultry which are kept by farmers. These are:  chicken  ducks  geese  turkey  quails  ornamental chicken Chicken keeping dominates the poultry business as one of the species that is reared by a majority of farmers. In this section we shall discuss common chicken breeds found in Kenya. Chicken Breeds There are three breeds of chicken found in Kenya. These are:  Indigenous chicken  Exotic layer and broiler chicken Let us examine each breed in further detail starting with indigenous chicken. Poultry Keeping & Management Page 25 1. INDIGENOUS CHICKEN (Kienyeji chicken) Indigenous chicken are mostly kept under the free-range management system in small flocks of less than 30 birds. These are birds on which no selection of breeds or improvement by crossbreeding has been done. Many households in rural areas keep this chicken for domestic consumption. They are more robust and adapt to local conditions than hybrids. Indigenous chicken lay between 8 and 15 eggs per clutch depending on availability of feed. They are broody and hatch about 80% of the eggs they sit on. However only 20-30% attain maturity. This poor survival rate is caused by exposure to risks such as diseases, predators and poor nutrition, which reduce their productivity. If these risks are controlled, their survival rate can increase by 80%. Figure 3.1 shows a picture of indigenous chicken. Figure 3.1: Indigenous or Kienyeji chicken Advantages of Indigenous Chicken/Improved Indigenous Chicken (Kuroiler/Kenbro) include:  They are easy to establish for low income families;  They are more prolific and unproblematic to rear on small plots of land;  They are more genetically diverse, we adapted, and more resistant to local pest and diseases;  They are vital for future food security, leading towards self-employment and self-reliance;  Meat and eggs are tastier and preferred by most consumers compared to the exotic breeds;  They are more tolerant to harsh conditions including diseases compared to the exotic breeds;  They can be fed on cheap locally available feeds;  Local markets are readily available for both eggs and meat;  Survival rate of chicks high. 2. EXOTIC LAYER AND BROILER CHICKEN Exotic breeds are either good as layers or broilers or dual purpose. Layers are breeds used for egg production. Broilers are reared for meat. They can be categorized into:  Light breeds  Heavy breeds. Let us discuss each in turn starting with light breeds. Poultry Keeping & Management Page 26 Light Breeds Light breeds mature early and get into production earlier than the heavy breeds and have a lower incidence of brooding. They are smaller in body hence cheaper to maintain but the carcass is smaller and inferior. They tend to be more nervous than the heavy breeds and are easily upset by sudden and quick movements. You should therefore avoid sudden appearances as this frightens them. Light laying breeds include the White Leghorn, Brown Leghorn and Black Leghorn and the Black Minorca. Table 3.2: Types of light breeds  The white leghorn This is a good layer, which starts laying at 5-6 weeks. The leghorns do not normally sit. Its egg shell is white and has an attractive appearance on the market. It has been used extensively to produce hybrids for egg production. It is white in colour with a single and large comb.  Black leghorns This is a hardy and prolific breeder but very nervous.  Brown leghorn This is a hardy and prolific layer for egg production. It is a carrier of the recessive genes for golden colour carried on the sex which is used in breeding. Poultry Keeping & Management Page 27 Heavy Breeds Heavy Breeds are quieter, eat more, and in most cases go ‘broody’ (i.e. try to incubate their own eggs). Examples of heavy breeds are Rhode Island Red, Light Sussex, Plymouth rock, New Hampshire red. Many of them are dual purpose, meaning that they are both good layers as well as table birds or broilers, see figure 3.3 below. Figuree 3.3: Types of light breeds  Cambridge breeds or auto-sexing breeds Are pure breeds produced by crossing a non-barred breed with a barred breed for a number of generations? 1. Rhode Island Red This is a dual purpose bird, that is, it is a good layer as well as a table bird (broiler). It’s body is broad and deep, with a brilliant deep red coloured plumage. The comb is single or rose comb. This bird has great stamina and a high production capacity. It produces eggs with a brown or tainted coloured egg shell. The bird’s flesh is yellow. 2. Light Sussex This is also a dual purpose bird with white skin. The colour of its plumage is white with black only in the neck hackle, on the wings and on the tail feather. The comb is single and of medium size. It produces eggs with a tainted coloured shell. Because of its hardiness this breed is used for the production of many useful commercial hybrid crossers. Poultry

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Pig industry sustains livelihoods of many families in Kenya. Pig rearing has been one of wellestablishedindustry in Kenya following growing export markets and increasing number of health conscious consumers. Pig production if efficiently managed has great potentials for increasing protein supply in Kenya. Smallholder pig farms in Tharaka-Nithi County have been facing varying and dismal profits. The main objective of this study will be to establish which institutional arrangements and management factors affect the profit efficiency of small-holder pig farmers in Tharaka-Nithi County. A multi-stage purposive sampling technique will be adopted to collect cross sectional data of eighty (80) smallholder pig farmers in Maara Constituency by the use of semi-structured interview schedules. The work will employ Data Envelopment Analysis to come up with profit efficiency rankings among the farmers and stochastic frontier profit function will be used to analyze the factors that affect profit efficiency. The data will be processed using STATA and DEA Frontier packages. The findings could be useful to the stakeholders of the pig industry sub sector to formulate policies pertaining to pig enterprise inputs, marketing issues and financial products and also can establish benchmarks which can be used as a package for enhancing and stabilizing profit efficiencies of smallholder pig farmers which in turn could help improve the Kenya economy. An Overview of Livestock Sub-sector in Kenya Perspectives, Opportunities and Innovations for Market Access for Market Access for Pastoral Producers Recent statistics point that the livestock sub-sector in Kenya accounts for approximately 10% of the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is 30% of the agricultural GDP. It employs about 50% of the national agricultural workforce and about 90% of the ASAL workforce. 95% of ASAL household income comes from this sub-sector. This is despite the fact that the sector receives only 1 % of the total annual budget allocation. The livestock resource base is estimated at 60 million units comprising of 29 million indigenous and exotic chicken, 10 million beef cattle, 3 million dairy and dairy crosses, 9 million goats, 7 million sheep, 0.8 mi camels, 0.52 mi donkeys and 0.3 million pigs. (Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture (SRA) 2003) Kenya is broadly self-sufficient in most livestock products but is a net importer of red meat mostly inform of on-the-hoof animals trekked across the porous boundaries of neighbouring countries- Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania. Livestock supply in Kenya results from a complex set of interactions between Kenya and its neighbours and the traditional Middle East market and their respective livestock populations, demand and market prices. Kenya is part of a regional market where livestock flow according to markets and price differentials in a liberalized system throughout the region as a whole and where Nairobi represents a focus of demand for the region Supply of red-meat from domestic cattle, shoats and camels falls short of demand, and is almost permanently augmented by a traditional livestock trade drawn in from neighbouring countries, especially Somalia, Tanzania, Sudan and Ethiopia in varying quantities according to demand, which maintains a supply/demand [1.6MB]SIJAAMINI WEMA SEPETU ANACHOKIFAYA HAPO KWENYE HII VIDEO BOFYA UONE