Kienyeji Chicken: Improving Yields through Improved Management

Proper chicken management is one of the core topics covered in our Improved Kienyeji chicken Farming Manual (you can order a copy for Ksh.1000) and feeding is very central to this. You will be keeping the KARI Improved Kienyeji Chicken or the Kuroiler chicken breeds either for meat or egg production and good feeding will directly lead to improved yields for both.

Improved chicken can be reared in the free-range or semi-free range systems and this can lead to a drain of energy hence low yields unless proper feeding management is instituted.  Even as they scavenge for food and lower your feeding costs, it is important to provide supplementary feeding in order to increase their weight and ensure they lay more eggs. The KARI improved kienyeji chicken breeds can lay up between 200 and 250 eggs with proper feeding. That is almost 67%-75% of the output of the exotic breeds with minimal feeding costs! For farmers, this means greater profit margins.

The kienyeji chicks will need food with high protein content like the balanced starter feeds.  You may also purchase simple supplementary starter feeds such as omena  in order tom lower costs.  One of the most popular protein-rich starter foods is called ochong’a and can be purchased from the fish vendors. They are much smaller than the popular omena and are very rich in proteins. Termites are also a rich source of proteins. In our Improved Kienyeji Chicken Farming Manual, we have even covered how you can “grow” termites through very simple methods so that you chicken has very rich access to proteins in the free-range or semi-free range system of the kienyeji chicken rearing.

By controlling these dietary conditions as well as the health conditions carefully, your chicken will begin laying eggs as early as after 22 weeks. Indigenous chicken typically begin laying eggs after 28 weeks so the improved varieties also offer you significant advantage as you begin harvesting eggs earlier. With poor health, diet and development, you may have to wait up to 32 weeks before the indigenous chicken begin laying eggs. So there is a strong economic imperative for small scale farmers to upgrade their breeds to the KARI Improved Kienyeji Chicken and the Kuroiler chicken and also incorporate good management practices in the rearing of the indigenous chicken.

During the laying stage, you will need to introduce calcium rich dietary sources.  Some of the options for supplementing the calcium in the chicken diet include the crushed egg shells, limestone and the bonemeal.  The egg shells to be crushed must be dried properly before in the sunshine before being fed to the chicken to avoid transmission of diseases.

You can purchase feeders and drinkers for feeding purposes. These are relatively cheap nowadays and you can buy them for a bargain in Nairobi and other major urban centres.  One of the best places to purchase these for a bargain is the Gikomba market.  Provide feeding every morning and evening.  You must also provide clean drinking water at all times.

Ensure the housing is ultra spacious and well aerated. You will need to build in perches and put in place a proper waste disposal routine. Our Improved Kienyeji Chicken Farming Manual contains various housing models that you can incorporate including tips on how you can save on costs and the number of hens that you can accommodate in a house of a particular size for sustainable chicken rearing.

  You can use several methods to control parasites in the poultry housing and all these are covered in our Improved Kienyeji Chicken Farming Manual.   For additional information or to place an order today, give us a call on 0717444786 or drop us an email at improvedkienyeji[at]gmail[dot]com. The guide costs Ksh.1000 and includes comprehensive guidelines and tips on every aspect of kienyeji chicken rearing.