By General Beven Mundida
Indigenous chicken (roadrunner) farming is increasingly becoming a well-paying and profitable venture. Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans who have ventured in free range chicken farming are able to build sustainable businesses that earn them a regular income and create countless employment opportunities.
Most roadrunner (indigenous) chicken farmers do the farming in a free-range style which is the right way to raise these chickens. They will be foraging, scratching and eating the grass and grubs along with food leftovers from the kitchen. With a small flock, the cost of feeding is relatively low which makes barriers to entry quite low.
Almost every Zimbabwean family can afford indigenous (roadrunner) chicken farming.
Under a free range mode of raising your roadrunner chickens, the farming is generally less intensive and there is very minimal interventions from the farmer in terms of the quality of the housing, the labour required to raise the chickens, equipment, vaccination along with the treatment for common diseases and conditions. While free range chicken farming is a relatively low cost and healthy way of raising your chickens, it also has its constraints. The main one is that you will not be able to keep a large flock of roadrunner chickens that will mature to market size unless you have lots of space.
Roadrunner chickens generally require a lower stocking density unlike the commercial varieties that you can squeeze in small space within a factory farming setting. Since the free range farming is also less intensive, the chickens can be prone to diseases and predation from cats, dogs, wildlife or even theft by humans. Diseases can however be controlled by following a strict vaccination routine.
Commercialization of roadrunner chicken farming will involve the following aspects:-
Business planning
This is one of the most overlooked measures but one that you should endeavour to do if you want to carry out profitable and large scale roadrunner chicken farming. Decide from the very start the type of roadrunner farming you wish to undertake. Will it be for eggs or meat? What breeds are you planning to raise? Are you going fully free-range or semi free range? Remember that longer maturity period will eat into your profits so it is advisable to go for the improved indigenous breeds that mature fairly quickly and which will have good live weight at maturity to fetch good prices.
Boshveld, Black Austrolope and Sasso breeds are also a popular choice with Zimbabwean farmers. Others consider Koekoek, Kuroiler, White Plymouth, Light Sussex and Jersey Giant?
What will be the size of your stock? Are you planning to raise 300, 500, 1000 or 5000 chickens? Where will you market your products? What will be the labour requirements? What is the cost of housing? How much will feeding cost? How are you planning to scale up your farming operations? A good business plan will serve as a lighthouse that will guide you to successful poultry farming.
Housing
Do you have proper housing to accommodate your stock? To avoid overcrowding, you must have proper housing with optimal stocking density. Make sure the house is big enough to accommodate flock and account for future scaling up in production. Budget for the poultry equipment that you will use for rearing your birds as well as the chicken run where your chicken will roam about in a free range environment.
Good housing costs money, especially if it will be a large poultry house. Check out indigenious chicken housing manual for estimate on poultry housing for various stocking densities. Talk to a poultry expert to advise you on the housing requirements for indigenous chickens.
Good poultry husbandry
Good poultry husbandry is one of the key success factors when raising your chickens. The chickens must have adequate supply of food and water, must be vaccinated in time and the housing and equipment must be cleaned on a regular basis. Good husbandry should start with the chick quality. Make sure that you procure chicks that are healthy, alert, vaccinated and of the right breed.
Ensure that the flock is exposed to at least a few hours of sunshine especially after they are 8 weeks old when they are old enough to forage on their own.
When it comes to improved indigenous chicken farming, avoid taking shortcuts. Every little detail will be important. Successful poultry farming requires a great deal of commitment.
Start with the biosecurity measures. Choose indigenous breeds that will be suitable for your target market. Buy your chicks from a trusted supplier, put in place good breeding practices, provide adequate feeding and water and ensure the chicks are vaccinated on schedule. Following these processes to the letter will drastically reduce mortality and improve the yields of your flock. Good husbandry will also mean sweet and tasty meat, nutritious eggs and efficient feed utilization that will guarantee you profitability in your poultry farming venture.
Good record keeping is also one of good husbandry practices as it enables you to monitor the performance of your poultry farming venture.
Poultry marketing
At the end of day, you have to market your products and generate sufficient sales to sustain your poultry farming operations. Depending on where you live, there are many areas where you can market your poultry products. Start with your neighbours, the local markets, clubs, hotels, schools, restaurants, catering companies and more. You can even use the internet to market your poultry through platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp etc.
Value addition
If you have sufficient resources, you can also do some value addition in order to generate more income from your poultry farming operation. You can process your meat, ensure they are halal, label and package, do cut-ups and negotiate for supply contractors with supermarkets and other major retailers.
General Beven Mundida is a Livestock consultant and can be contacted on +263 776 420 161; email: gbmundida@gmail.com