Feature: Kenyan poultry farmers make own feeds to cut costs

Kenyan poultry farmers are formulating their own feeds to cut the rising cost of production.

The price of feeds in the East African nation has been on upward trend, eating into the profits of many poultry farmers as the cost of eggs remain low.

An egg in retail shops across Kenya is going for between 0.11 U. S. dollars and 0.13 dollars, with a tray of 30 being sold from as low as 3.1 dollars by wholesalers.

Prices of fertilised eggs, however, are a little higher, with each going for an average of 0.16 dollars. The low prices, coupled with high cost of feeds, has made the poultry business a struggle for many farmers.

Feeds comprise of up to 30 percent of the cost of production in the business. Making own feeds, therefore, becomes the easiest way to bring the cost down. Some of the ingredients used include maize bran, wheat pollard, sunflower seeds and fishmeal.

"Commercial feeds have become too expensive that you cannot survive on them if you are to make profits. Making own feeds is a necessity for any farmer with a huge flock," said Nairobi-based poultry farmer George Andanje on Wednesday.

"I buy a kilo of maize bran at 0.24 dollars, lime at 0.08 dollars and salt at 0.16 dollars. The other ingredients like wheat pollard and fishmeal go for not more than 0.33 dollars a kilo," said the farmer.

Andanje, who learnt making feeds from a fellow farmer at a fee, mixes the ingredients in a ratio he was reluctant to reveal.

"The most costly ingredient is chicks' premix that I buy at 5.5 dollars a kilo, with that of layers and growers going for 3.2 dollars. It costs me 18 dollars to make my own 50kg bag of layers mash," he said.

A 50kg bag of chick mash is sold in Nairobi at an average of 33 dollars. Growers mash and layers mash, on the other hand, are going for 26 dollars.

Making own feeds helps farmers to compete favorably in the market, which is flooded with cheap imports, that come from Uganda and South Africa.

Farmers have complained of the cheap imports but Kenya is a free market. However, making own feeds is not good enough to significantly bring down the cost of production for Kenya's poultry farmers.

Many are now adopting in droves the semi-intensive system as they embrace indigenous (kienyeji) breeds. Under the system, the birds are allowed several hours every day to roam the compound and forage for feeds.

"Roaming to scavenge for feeds helps them feed on grass and insects, which help in quality egg formulation. It also helps a farmer spend less on feeds," said Christian Wachu, who keeps kienyeji birds in Kitengela on the outskirts of Nairobi and makes her own feeds.

Bernard Moina, an agricultural extension officer in western Kenya, noted that when making own chick or layers mash, farmers should ensure the feeds have carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, grit and salt.

"However, chick mash should have at least 18 percent of proteins of the total nutrients because at this stage, the birds require plenty of the mineral for growth," said Moina. "Farmers should also watch against aflatoxin, exhibited in the form of mould, on cereal ingredients they use." Endi