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| brooding pots |
Poultry farming constitutes an essential part of Kenya’s economy and the backbone that protects the countries’ food security systems. It is a common occupation all over the country usually done on a small scale for domestic purposes. Here’s why it’s so important:
Boosting the Economy: Kenyan poultry farming remains a profitable venture that offers lucrative opportunities and is still growing.
Creating Jobs: Job-seekers find it a fertile ground with many available job slots.
Securing Food: Poultry industry is a major supplier of food products such as meat and eggs to Kenya, thus reducing the import dependency of the country.
Preserving Culture: This has become part of Kenyan social as well as cultural fabric as chicken keeps on being linked to many of the other economic sectors.
Promoting Sustainability: Poultry farming allows many small scale farmers to use locally available resources and hence, it is a sustainable practice.
Actually, poultry farming goes beyond an income-generating activity. It is an essential gear in the economy of Kenya and a stronghold for food security.
The concept of brooding and its importance.
Brooding can be categorized into two types: Natural and Artificial.
Setting Up Your Brooder Box
Cost-effective, low price locally available materials for brooding chicks.
Rearing chicks need not be a costly and complex undertaking. There are several products that can be supplied to poultry farmers but most of them are not necessary in the first few weeks after the chick is born. Here are some affordable and easily accessible materials that can be used for chick brooding:
Brooder Box: Carton boxes, use of plywood, old blankets and clothes,
Heat Source: Jiko, boiled water, charcoal and small pot.
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| Jiko brooder(image source: Facebook) |
To reduce chick mortality and maintain uniform temperatures in a cost effective brooder at about 30–33 °C. You should attempt some set up as possible to see which is ideal for your specific need.
In chicken production, brooding refers to looking after chicks since their hatching up to about eight weeks of age. Giving warmth and care to the little ones as they grow up. Brooding units are designed in a way to cater for chicks beginning with day one, whereby they do not require any extra heat in the end.
Natural Brooding: it also occurs in farms which rear chicken yearly. The number of chicks a hen can brood upon will depend on its own body size and may range between ten to twenty chicks. It is through the broody hen that the chicks get their heat.
Artificial Brooding: Raising chickens for meat involves taking chicks away from their hens. The chicks are kept warm using a temperature-controlled brooder. Artificial brooding is low but it allows chicken farmers to brood chicks all year round, follows hygienic and temperature controls besides feeding the chicks according to the feeding calendar.
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| heater brooder pot |
Brooding in chicken’s life cycle.
Keeping Warm: The hatchling chicks require a war environment for they lack capacity to alter the environment temperature. It is through this "brooding" which generates the heat energy in which they live up.
Safety and Security: Brooding involves keeping the chicks safe from predation by enemies as well as provision of the necessary environment for them to grow properly.
Quality feeds: However, brooding provides top quality feeds to ensure growth and good health of chicks.
Learning Together: At some point however, chicks, brood together and learn to feed and wash well.
Growing Independence: Chicks brood enables them to overcome heat fluctuation for future self-reliance.
Staying Healthy: Brooding refers to the watchful eye of the caretaker while monitoring early signs of an illness for a healthy condition in a flock.
This is a brooding nursery for baby chickens. These little ones are in the hands of caretakers who ensure these tiny beings are well fed, are taught properly in order for them to be ready grown in size as well as weight.
How to use locally available materials like large bins or boxes as a brooder.
box for your brooder, ensuring it's spacious enough depending on the number of chicks. Look for locally available materials. For instance a carton box can make a good brooder. You will need a box, old blankets to cover the box for warmth, two litre bottles filled with boiled water and covered with a sheet or old cloth to preserve heat the whole night. Put saw dust in the box as bedding.
This process helps you raise chicks easily. During the day you remove the bottle and open the box then put chicks feeds and water. Source of light sun during the day and at night they will be resting. If one has solar it can be a great source of light.
You can also use plywood if you have more than 100 chicks, make it a circle to prevent chicks from crowding in one place. Use jiko and charcoal for warmth. Wood Shelving feeds, water and lighting. Solar can also be a source of light and lamps.
How to Ensure proper temperatures and lighting conditions for your brooders.
Temperature Control: farmers cannot afford thermostats hence a farmer will have to notice a behavior pattern e.g. a flock near the source of heat means the heat/warmness is insufficient, while in the opposite situation where they are moving away from a hot zone it signifies that a reduction of
Ventilation: Make cuts on top of the brooders of small holes. Additionally, you can leave some gaps for fresh air. Overheating is avoided hence creating an ideal condition for the chicks.
Bedding Materials: Change the bedding frequently to avoid contaminating it with dirt. Use clean beddings to minimize cases related to infections and provide a good resting area to the chicks.
Lightning: Solar could provide cheaper paraffin alternatives or low-wattage lamps to avoid unnecessary bright for those with electricity. It also makes chicks to take food and water so as to settle down. This prompts chicks to feed hence settle down.
Natural Day-Night Cycle: Put out a carton box during the day but be wary of weather changes.
Safety precautions
Fire Safety: keep the charcoal from falling onto wooden racks to avoid burning chickens.
Regular Monitoring: Regularly look out for any indication of restlessness or unease in the chicks. Control the temperature, lighting, and other parameters.
Prevent Overcrowding: Make sure that every chick gets enough room to walk around and keep moving. Stress during overcrowding, temperature regulation negatively affected.
Adjust Based on Behavior: Observe the manner in which the chicks behave. However, in such conditions they cannot come close to each other for warmth as they may end up being too cold or stay away from the heat source which will lead to being very hot. Ensure their happiness by modifying accordingly depending on their actions.
Clean Water and Feeding Areas: Water and feeding areas should be maintained clean for example. Ensure a constant supply of fresh water and appropriate pre-starter diet.
Healthy feed and clean water is important for chicks.
Chicken raising goes hand in hand with clean water that they will use to drink as well as good food. The chicks also should be able to get clean water any time they need it. Thirdly, is the cleanliness of the water which needs to be achieved by daily cleaning and filling so as not to create an avenue for bacteria. All poultry metabolic processes such as regulating body temperatures, digestion process and waste removal involve water. Indeed, water covers up to 74% of an egg. Consequently, the absence of fresh and clean water may be relevant in eggs¹ if they occur in chickens.
The diet should be of higher protein content, necessary for the chicks’ growth and proper development. Generally speaking, their fertility is well while each of a hen may have up to ten chicks; however, no fewer than two to four offspring grow into adult birds from each clutch.
Utilizing Locally Available Feed Options and Managing Water Supply
Locally available feed resources can be effective in effective brooding of chicks. Some study areas have identified various cereals, pulses, horticulture crops, and home wastes as possible chicken food. A balanced diet primarily consisting of maize bran and number three meals in a 1:1 ratio was found to be effective.
The birds must always have clean and cold water for water management. During the dry season, the chicken’s water consumption would roughly triple its weight in feed. Under normal temperatures, it could double its feed consumption. Ensure that the water drinkers have water for your chicks to drink to make it the easiest way to ensure they get enough water.
feeding of chicks should be based on a strict schedule with well-timed changes in food and water management in order to prepare chickens for sale.
Addressing Mortality
- It should be noted that some of the chick mortality during brooding is normal. Nevertheless, there should never be a feeling of complacency because every loss should be avoided.
- In order to detect problems with the brooding set up, a high mortality count (mortality rate) might indicate that. The problem might entail a heat issue, feed deficit, or bad supply of water. These issues must be monitored regularly and corrected as soon as possible.
Conclusion
- In this blog post we have discussed supplying chicks with clean water and high quality feeds, local feed resources, and proper water management. Moreover, we talked about some mortality is expected when rearing chicks and various warning signs which should alert you of poor brood set ups.
- This is a challenge that, Kenyan small scale farmers should have a try with locally made material. It’s an economical way with healthy chicks and profitable poultry ventures. Note that even a little move will help realize the big objective.