ELDORET: In the outskirts of Eldoret town, Uasin Gishu County, there is an innovative centre, which is championing artificial insemination (AI) technology in poultry.
Kukuchic Poultry Breeding Farm (which hosts the centre) is now one of the leading chicken breeding centres in Eastern and Central Africa.
According to Stanley Chelule, a director at Kukuchic Poultry Breeding Farm, the centre is the first hatchery in East and Central Africa who have embraced the AI technology in poultry breeding.
Using AI, the farm is breeding the unique Rainbow Rooster, a dual purpose chicken breed, in their Kapseret and Plateau farm in Eldoret.
The farm is interested in the Rainbow Rooster because it is a free range bird, has high immunity and matures in four months, which is faster than other breeds in the market.
Chelule takes Smart Harvest through how the initiative started.
“The breeding idea came as an accident. After working as a restaurant manager, I realised the shortage of chicken, prompting me to venture into small scale production for our hotel. It was then that I started experimenting on this. The community was so fascinated with the breeds, the orders started coming,” says Chelule.
Mr Chelule emphasises on the importance of observing standard housing requirements, which has direct impact on growth and production of the birds.
“... we decided to adopt the cage system since this birds are purely for breeding and we do not want them to mingle with the free range. We are trying to minimise spread of diseases. Cages are also good because they enhance feeding and are hygienic,” Chelule says.
The cages also ensure the heavy cocks do not mount onto the females, leading to injuries. The male chickens weigh up to ten kilograms while the hens weigh two kilograms.
At the Kapseret breeding centre where there are more than 9,000 parent stocks of cocks and hens, the AI procedure is conducted once every three days. The fertilised eggs are taken to the hatchery for incubation.
Apollo Gatua a veterinary officer at Kukuchic, says AI is so efficient compared to natural mating of the birds as it ensures 95 per cent rate fertilisation accuracy. It is also easy to determine what colour of bird you want to produce by using the semen of the preferred male parents’ colours.
So how do they do it?
“The procedure is skillfully conducted by trained animal health technicians who retrieve the cock’s semen on a cone-like container using syringe-like equipment. They then inseminate the female birds,” he explains. The new breeds have impressive yields.
The female hybrid stock, which begin laying at six months, give a minimum of 220 eggs per single laying cycle of eight months. The female stock is sold as table birds after the first laying cycle.
Gatua says despite the camouflage nature, the breed is distinct from the native bird because they can adapt to any environment.
“The rainbow rooster breed has unique characteristics. The most conspicuous trait is its multi-coloured wings that help the bird to camouflage when predators strike,” he explains.
One-day-old Rainbow Rooster breed chicks, which are hatched in multi-colour are sold at Sh100, one-week chicks sell at Sh200 while one-month-old chicks are sold at Sh300.
The dual-purpose Rainbow Roosters breeds are affordable as they are scavengers by nature.
They take three and a half months to mature and may weigh more than four kilos if they are fed on 50 grammes of mash per day. Female parents, which have a small body mass are fed on 160 grammes of mash per day.
The mission of the centre is to give poultry farmers a breed that promises good yield.
“Our mission is to ensure that in the near future, Central and Eastern African households are stocked with our hybrid breeds, which are easy to manage and have significant returns,” Chelule says.
The farm has spread its wings across East and Central Africa where they supply more than 40,000 birds of the new breed.
To reach more clients, the farm management has established several satellite farms across Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet counties. The counties that have embraced the new birds are Elgeyo Marakwet, Nandi, Homa Bay, Machakos, Kisii, Uasin Gishu and Bungoma among others.
The greatest challenge with establishing this technology is setting up and importing the infrastructure which cost Sh40 million.
Chelule a real estate manager in Eldoret, says increase in taxes by the Government on animal feeds is another setback.
“Three years ago, we did not have taxes imposed on chicken feeds and drugs. Such levies are prohibitive,” he notes.
The firm is working with multinational organisations that deal in feeding equipment and animal drugs for better deals.
