MRDP Innovations in village chicken farming Gugu Mbatha
Introduction MRDP is an NGO that works in Msinga/Weenen in the Tugela valley We work with 500+ women chicken farmers We work on a Newcastle vaccination program and other interventions to improve local village flocks Farmers learn best from their own successful interventions We support farmers in these experiments and learning's We have described some of these ideas that led to experiments that led to changes in farmers practices
Feeding homemade mash Chicks don t survive winter Many eggs don t hatch out in winter Hard for chicks to scavenge enough protein in winter MaChonco Dlamini s solution Only allow one batch of chicks to hatch in winter Use winter laid eggs and unhatched eggs(dead eggs)- cooked and ground up with mealie meal to feed these chicks through winter
Chicken nests against predation Hens are laying any where even under the wood bundles. Eggs are eaten by dogs and predators since they are easily accessible. Youth solution Set up local youth groups as micro business They built different kinds of nest using local materials such Agave and Bamboo and sell it to farmers. Farmers put nests in the trees or long poles to avoid dogs. Some farmers have started selling eggs as a result of decreased egg losses
Teaching chickens to lay in nests Problems Hens competing for one nest. They lay too much eggs in one nest. The fighting over nests disrupts brooding eggs dont hatch out. MaMvelase s solution She built a cages with 10 rooms nest on top. She follows hens when they laying and take a hen and it s eggs to put it inside the room. She repeat this for few days until the hen get use to an idea.
Harvesting termites Chicks are not scavenging enough protein and so have hanging wings. Chicks are growing very slowly. MaMchunu Dlamini s solution She traps termites by breaking into a termite mound and covering the hole she has made with a clay pot and filled with wet grass in the morning she find a pot full of ants that are good protein to feed to chicks and hens
Laying without a cock Farmers didn t believe that indigenous hens can be layers. Farmers were convinced that hens cannot lay eggs without a cock. Mr Zakwe s solution He caged his hens for 2 months to experiment this. He fed maize to one crowd and layer mash to other crowd. They were all laying without a cock and he is selling eggs to the community The egg production on maize only is lower than mash so he is continuing with feeding mash
Growing out chicks in cages Farmers believed that keeping chicks in the cages results to hanging wings. Experiment We separated 14 chicks from the same mother and fed starter mash to 7 chicks and crushed maize to other 7 separated but in the same cage. The ones that were eating crashed maize had hanging wings and were looking younger compare to the chicks that were fed mash.
Mbesa for snakes Hens with chicks sleep under wood bundles and get bitten by snakes in summer. Other hens lay under wood bundles and get bitten by snakes. Solution Farmers mix thunder lightening bush mbesa with water and sprinkle around wood bundles to prevent snakes. Mbesa is a traditional medicinal snuff Farmers all claim a marked decrease in snake predation
Castration of cocks Too many cocks in the same kraal affect the production negatively because they fight a lot and make too much noise. Cock meat is tasteless and tough. Solution Farmer s have adopted the idea of castrating cocks. They became capon and stop bulling other chickens. The capon gets bigger than a cock The capon is tasteful and pleasant.
Layers vs indigenous chickens Farmers wanted to keep layers so that can increase egg production. Two farmers tried different options: 1. free range commercial layers comparing them with Nguni hens fed on the same scavenging diet and measuring comparative egg production. Caging indigenous and commercial layers and feeding them mash and comparing egg production Result Commercial layers lays every where and they don t remember where they have laid the first egg. In cages they were producing the same number of eggs as indigenous chickens fed the same food they just don t brood.
Trying out bigger breeds Nguni chickens grow very slowly. They are small in size compare to other Western breeds. Majozi s experiment Majozi tried x breeding Australorps with his chickens -- but they also have challenges. They roost on the ground so predators get them They are not as efficient breeders and lay randomly Majozi claims the cocks are not very good at what they supposed to do But he likes the bigger size
Conclusions Our up scaling methods We exchange information through farmer s days and x-visit with other organisations and DoA. Farmers share their ideas and come back and share their experiences of their experiments.
Thank you.