Zambia Agribusiness Society

Many people think that for you to be successful in poultry farming you have to start with a thousand chickens. Don't be fooled. The likes of the late Nelson Muguku, the Kenyan chicken billionaire started with less than 10 chickens. It all boils down to passion. Do it with passion. Let money come second. You can multiply your stock quickly using only 3 hens. This is for the small-scale farmers who have small sizes of land, live in town or low income earners. Start by doing this using only 3 hens: 1.     Once the first hen shows signs of brooding give it one unfertilized egg from hybrid chicken to sit on. 2.     Once the second hen also shows brooding signs give it one unfertilized egg from a hybrid chicken to sit on. 3.     When the third hen now shows signs of broodiness give each bird 10 to 12 fertilized eggs to sit on but remember to remove the unfertilized egg you had earlier put for the two hens. Using this method you will be able to get at least 20 to 25 chicks aft

It’s no secret that most new entrants to poultry farming go bankrupt. Jan Grobbelaar, training director at Dumela Poultry Solutions, discusses common errors and how to avoid them. Over the past decade, Dumela Poultry Solutions has conducted more than 80 evaluations of failed emerging poultry farms in northern Gauteng, the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and elsewhere. In many cases it was found that poultry houses were empty and in various states of dilapidation. These houses, including equipment, chickens and other commodities, had invariably been donated by different donors – private and government. Why did they fail? This is difficult to answer, as poultry production is a complex farming enterprise that can be compared to a wheel with spokes – if one or more spokes break or malfunction, the wheel collapses. Poultry production is dependent on various role players and crucial management procedures. Here are some of the more common reasons these farmers failed: 1. No feasibility study