Beauty of keeping ornamental birds

Ornamental bird farming has expanded beyond the hobby-cum pastime side-hustle into a full-blown commercial enterprise. This slow but massive shift has taken place over the last three years as more farmers have embraced this farming system with good returns and stable market for ornamental birds. But what are ornamental birds?

These are birds kept in cages, aviary systems, or reared on the floor primarily for show, decoration, or as pets but not for meat or eggs consumption.

Farmers need to get a permit from Kenya Wildlife Service for each species of the birds kept. Wildlife Act cap 376 reads: “Any person who keeps any animal or bird in contravention of subsection (1), or fails to make an animal, bird, cage or enclosure available for inspection as required by subsection (3) of this section, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding Sh5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.” Here are varieties of ornamental birds that are kept in Kenya.

1.       Geese, ducks, pochards, Teals

Duck rearing for meat is not common in Kenya as few people have a preference for their dark and tough meat. The breeds include Pekin, Mullard, Blue, and Black Swedish, Rouen, and Khaki Campbell. They belong to the Anatidae family. Rouen and Khaki are beautiful and are highly looked for. Their fertilised eggs hatch in 28 days into lovely ducklings that are left to roam in the compound. A mature adult goes for Sh1,500-Sh2,000.

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Geese also belong to the duck family, they are however larger in size and mature in two years, they entirely feed on grass. They are majestic in nature and as a flock can easily scare away any intruders in a home. The demand for these birds is high simply because they are rare due to poor breeding ability. An adult female goose can produce 30-40 eggs in a year and one can sell an adult goose weighing 4kg at Sh4,000-5,000.

2.       Francolins, Partridges, Quails, Guinea fowls, Spur fowls, and Pheasants

These belong to the same family of Phasianidae and Turnicidae. Guinea fowl is the most popular.

There are several breeds of Guinea fowls, white chest, Lavendar (Blue), Pure White (in high demand), royal purple and dotted black (in high demand). These birds are hardy, vigorous, and generally disease resistant.

They are kept on free-range and only need extra supplementation on commercial chicken feeds in the evening. In the compound, they will get rid of rats and mice and crawling insects.

Like chickens, they need to be vaccinated regularly against Newcastle disease and fowl pox.

Unlike chickens, they are noisy neighbours.

3.       Pigeons and Doves

These are the oldest birds to be adopted from the wild as ornamental. They belong to the Columbidae family and quite common in most birds’ sanctuaries in the world.

The most popular pigeons include Silky fantails, Speckled pigeon and African Olive pigeon while the doves loved by bird watchers include Laughing dove, Red-eyed dove, Rock dove and the Lemon Dove.

These birds are kept in aviaries and can be fed on grass, vegetation, grains, and supplement of commercial poultry feeds. They mainly lay two white eggs which they incubate in turns to hatch beautiful juvenile chicks.

It is important to vaccinate these birds against Newcastle disease and Infectious Bronchitis vaccines on purchase and every three months. You can sell an adult pair of birds at Sh20,000.

4.       Peafowls

The males are called Peacocks while females are Peahens. They are large, colourful and are known for their iridescent tails. From the tip of the bill to the tail measures 110-115cm. The tail feathers can spread out to cover 60 per cent of the body’s length exposing colourful ‘eye’ markings of blue, gold, red trains.

These birds are highly sought in the market especially the blue Peafowls. They are ground feeders that pick insects, plants and crawling creatures. They are expensive and a mature breeding pair can cost you Sh300,000. They need to be vaccinated just like other poultry lines.

5.       Bantams

These are small versions of chickens or ducks; they are cute with feathers covering the whole body and face. They make very good pets and are in high demand and mostly reared in cages as they are calm, placid and friendly. They lay eggs just like chickens but not as prolific as commercial layers. One adult bird can be sold at Sh15,000. The common breeds include Sizzle, Silkie and Booted Bantam.