There Is a Productive Chicken Breed Out There

High feed prices, inflation has hit hard on chicken Farmers in Kenya.  Matters have not been helped much by the lack of  a  breed that maximizes  there profitability like the new Kenbro breed from Kenchic. This breed is a layer but on maturity it sells fro meat as well. Such a bread is sure to fetch any farmer more cash at the end of of one cycle as they will benefit from the sell of  eggs as well as chicken meat.

Kepha Maina has been rearing indigenous chickens for many years in his one-acre farm in Wanyororo in Nakuru. But he was disappointed with their rate of growth, egg production and hatching rate. This changed in November last year when he learnt of Kenbro, a dual-purpose breed of chicken that lays more eggs and has quality meat. He ordered 50 Kenbro day-old chicks and went into rearing them. Within six months, his hens were already laying eggs. Maina started selling Kenbro eggs for breeding to other farmers in his area. He hatched Kenbro eggs using his indigenous hens would sell them as day-old Kenbro chicks. Maina has now become known as a breeder of Kenbro chickens in his village. Customers are streaming to his one-acre farm to buy eggs and day-old chicks. But he cannot meet the demand, and he has been forced to put many farmers on the waiting list. He is planning to buy an egg incubator to increase the number of chicks for sale to farmers. “This breed is a blessing to us. It is laying eggs almost daily, and its meat is on high demand in town. The only problem is that I cannot produce enough eggs and chicks for my customers which is why I need an incubator as soon as I can get one”, he says.

Good prices

James Gathogo, an engineer and farmer at Ondiri near Kikuyu town is another Kenbro breeder. He has two incubators, which enable him to incubate and sell Kenbro eggs and day-old chicks to fellow farmers. He sells 400 day-old Kenbro chicks at a price of KSh100 each in a month. A Kenbro cock goes for KSh 1500, while a hen goes for KSh 1200. Due to the many farmers in his waiting list, farmers who ordered Kenbro chicks and eggs from him in April will get their supplies this month. So far he has sold more than 10,000 day-old chicks to farmers. Using his engineering skills, Gathogo produces incubators for interested farmers. He has already developed one from a refurbished refrigerator with a capacity of 500 eggs. He is designing another incubator with a capacity of 3000 eggs to meet the needs of his customers.

What makes this breed attractive?

The two farmers named above are just two of the hundreds of small-scale farmers who have improved their chicken production by buying the Kenbro breed. Why are so many farmers going for the Kenbro breed?


Kenbro has become a breed of choice for farmers due to the following reasons:

• It is a dual-purpose breed that lays more eggs than indigenous chicken and has lean, soft, high quality meat. Kenchic Ltd developed it for poultry farmers interested in a breed that can be both a layer and a broiler.

• Kenbro is a hardy breed with low mortality (death rate).

• Compared to hybrid chicken, it is more resistant to diseases.

• The breed grows and matures fast. With proper feeding, it will start laying eggs at five and a half months and will continue laying eggs continuously with the usual break of five to six weeks while molting.

• It can attain up to four kg with proper feeding.

• Kenbro has high quality meat that is very popular with consumers.

Kenbro chicken breed is a protected brand

The Kenbro breed has been developed and introduced into the Kenyan market by Kenchic Ltd. The company’s marketing manager Humprey Mwangi says that the company felt a need to offer a dual-purpose breed suitable for local conditions and which would require less intensive management than hybrid chicken.

But the main issue that is being raised is whether farmers are allowed to breed Kenbro chicken and sell to other farmers. According to Kenchic Ltd, the farmers are breaking the law because Kenbro is a registered trademark of Kenchic Ltd. Kenbro chicken can only be bred and sold by farmers if the farmers have acquired a license from the company.

Secondly, it is clear that farmers are not selling pure Kenbro chicken if they do not separate Kenbro cocks and chicks from other chicken stock. Inbreeding will therefore spoil its qualities.  Good breeding demands that the breeder has to have a carefully selected breeding stock – the breeder has to start from the grandparent, parents and then their progeny.

In this case, it is only Kenchic that has the grandparents and parents of the Kenbro breed. What farmers are now selling to other farmers is the second or third generation breeds, which may not have the qualities of a pure Kenbro breed. By purchasing Kenbro at this stage they are diluting the genetics and vigour of the original Kenbro breed. Eventually this will dilute the breed to a point where the breed they will be selling is no longer Kenbro.

One reason why farmers are trying tobreed their own Kenbro chicken is the huge demand for the breed, which the company has not been able to meet. However, Mwangi says that soon the shortage will be a thing of the past because the company is working to double its production capacity for this particular breed to meet the demand.

Contact: Kenchic Ltd P.O Box 20052-00100, Nairobi, Kenya Tel. 020 2301 518/20 3560 102-3, 20 555 009, 558 102 Mobile 0722 202 163, 0734 600 204. Email:info@kenchic.com

Adopted From Organic Farmer

DEMO Scholarship Program-Free Publicity

As part of a newly announced DEMO Scholarship Program, 20 unfunded companies and 10 student-run companies can apply for free spots at the DEMO Fall Conference, October 1-3 in Silicon Valley.

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Bamboo farming in Kenya

For sometime now  momentum has been gathering over bamboo farming. Many whispers in bar corners go unnoticed over how many thousands per month one can make while growing bamboo.
The bug has caught up with me, but unlike my peers I thought it best to get the word going. The next big thing is here, well  it has always been with us,but do wee see?
Experts don't get that name for nothing , they always know what they are doing and those in the agricultural sector are not any different.
Here lies a PDF book that will give you insights on how to grow bamboo and join the millionaire club if you will.

How to Feed Chicken

An egg-laying chicken requires 130 g of feed per day (provide clean water at all times).

• 1 chick requires 2.2 kg of feed for 8 weeks (thus 100 chicks = 2.2 kg x 100=220 kg. Chicks should be allowed to feed continuously and given adequate clean water at all times). If they finish their daily rations, give them fruit and vegetables cuttings to feed on.

• 1 pullet (young chicken about to start laying) should be fed 4.5 kg of feed for two and a half months until the first egg is seen. It should then be put on layer diet. Supplement with vegetables, edible plant leaves or fruits peelings in addition to the daily feed rations.

• All ingredients used must be of high quality and palatable. Never use rotten maize (Maozo). Chickens are very susceptible to aflatoxins poisoning.

• When using omena as an ingredient, ensure it is free of sand and seashells. If

you use maize germ, it should be completely dry.

• Feed should be thoroughly mixed to ensure the ingredients are uniformly distributed. It is preferable to use a drum mixer instead of a spade for mixing.

• Note that even after giving them the formulated feeds, chickens should be put on free range to scavenge for other micronutrients not provided for in the feeds.

how to make your own chicken feed

With the rising cost of poultry feeds, farmers rearing chickens are increasingly finding it difficult to make profit from poultry keeping. While it is difficult for farmers to formulate feeds for hybrid chickens such as broilers and layers, they can do so for their indigenous chickens or dual-purpose breeds such as Kenbro under intensive management system. This can be done using the PearsonSquare method.


However, this is only possible if farmers have the right quality of ingredients or raw material for formulating feeds. The Pearson Square method relies on the Digestible Crude Protein (DCP) as the basic nutritional requirement for feed. The most common ingredients used are whole maize, maize germ, cotton seed cake, soya beans, sunflower or omena (fishmeal).

Example 1: Feed for Layers
Assuming that the farmer wants to make feed for their chickens using the Pearson Square method, they have to know the crude protein content of each of the ingredients used in feed making. The farmer may use whole maize (8.23 % DCP) Soya (45 % DCP) Omena (55 % DCP) and maize bran (7 % DCP) Sunflower (35 % DCP). To make a 70 kg bag of feed for layers, a farmer would require the following ingredients:


34 kg of whole maize

12 kg of Soya

8 kg of omena

10 kg of maize bran

6 kg of Lime (as a calcium source)


Each category of chickens has its own requirements in terms of nutrition. For example, feed for layers should have at least 18 per cent crude protein. If one were to formulate feed for layers, then they would have to calculate the percentage of digestible crude protein in each of the ingredients to ensure that the total crude protein content is at least 18 per cent to meet this nutritional requirement. To find out if the feed meets this standard, a farmer can do a simple calculation as follows:


Whole maize = 34 kg x 8.23 ÷100 = 2.80 kg

Soya bean = 12 kg x 45 ÷ 100 = 5.40 kg

Omena = 8 kg x 55 ÷ 100 = 4.40 kg

Maize bran = 10 kg x 7 ÷ 100 = 0.70 kg

Lime = 6 kg x 0 ÷ 100 = 0.00 kg

(Total crude protein 13.30 kg)

To get the total crude protein content of all these ingredients in a 70 kg bag, you take the total crude protein content of the combined ingredients, divide by 70 and multiply by 100 thus, (13.30÷70) x 100 = 19.0 %. This shows that the crude protein percentage in the above feed formulation is 19.0 % which is suitable for layers. Before mixing the feed, whole maize including the other ingredients has to be broken into the right sizes through crushing or milling to make it palatable for the chickens. Add 250 g of table salt on every 70 kg bag of feed.


Feed for chickens meant for meat


Chickens meant for meat production require feed with a higher content of DCP. From the first to the fourth week, the chicks require feed with a DCP content of between 22 to 24 per cent. From the fourth to the eighth week, the chicks require feed with a protein content of 21 to 22 per cent crude protein. To attain this requirement, farmers can formulate feed using the same method given above. To make a 70 kg bags of feed, they will need to have all the right the ingredients in the proportions given below:


Whole maize = 40 kg x 8.23 ÷ 100 = 3.20 kg

Omena = 12 kg x 55 ÷ 100 = 6.60 kg

Soya beans = 14 kg x 45 ÷ 100 = 6.30 kg

Lime = 4 kg x 0 ÷ 100 = 0.00 kg

(Total crude protein 16.10 kg)


To determine if a 70 kg bag of feed has adequate crude protein content for birds meant for meat production, the same methods is used: (16. 10 ÷ 70) x 100 = 23 %. The feed given in this example has a total crude protein content of 23 % which is adequate to feed chicken in this category. In every 70 kg bag of feed, add 250g of table salt.


Ration for kienyeji chickens


Indigenous chickens are less productive in terms of egg and meat increase. They may not require intensive feeding and management. For this category of chickens, farmers can constitute feeds with a DCP of between 15 – 16 %. They can use the following formulation to make feeds for the indigenous chickens:


Whole maize = 33 kg x 8.23 ÷100 = 2.70 kg

Maize or wheat bran = 14 kg x 7 ÷ 100 = 0.98 kg

Omena = 7 kg x 55 ÷ 100 = 3.85 kg

Soya = 7 kg x 45 ÷ 100 = 3.15 kg

Lime = 5 kg x 0 ÷ 100 = 0.00 kg

(Total crude protein 10.68 kg)


Percentage of total crude Protein in the ingredients = (10.68 ÷70) x 100 = 15.25 %


For farmers rearing hybrid layers and broilers, it is advisable to buy already constituted feeds from reputable companies that sell quality feed. The main reason is that it is very difficult for farmers to constitute micronutrients such as amino-acids, trace minerals, fat and water soluble vitamins that these breeds of chicken require for proper growth.


To be sure that their feed is of the right quality, farmers can send a sample of the constituted feeds for testing and advice to KARI Naivasha, which has modern equipment for testing feed quality. A sample costs Ksh 1,000 to test. Send samples by courier to the following address: KARI Naivasha P.O. Box 25, 20117 Naivasha, Tel. 0726 264 032. Results are ready within a day.




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