Meeting the market for indigenous birds

Meeting the market for indigenous birds Cue: Despite the growth of commercial poultry farms rearing highly productive chickens for expanding urban markets, local, indigenous chickens continue to be popular among many consumers. Local chickens that are kept in free range conditions are widely regarded as having better flavour than mass-produced birds, and less likely to have any kind of contamination. Hence the rearing of indigenous chickens continues to be a good way for small-scale farmers to earn income, and if farmers are taking the right steps to keep their birds healthy and well-fed, the business can be profitable. In our next report, Busani Bafana talks to Alphious Moyo, a farmer from Matabeleland North province in Zimbabwe who takes a keen interest in crossing local breeds of chickens to produce hardy, productive birds. Speaking through a translator, Mr. Moyo begins by explaining the advantages of raising indigenous chickens. IN: ?The advantages of raising indigenous chickens are .? OUT: ?. feed their families and send their children to school.? DUR?N 3?42? BACK ANNOUNCEMENT: Mr. Alphious Moyo, a poultry farmer from Matabeleland North in Zimbabwe. Transcript Moyo [Vernacular] The advantages of raising indigenous chickens are: one, they mature early. The second one is that they are cost effective, meaning that there are minimum overheads required or things like electricity, you don?t need electricity to raise them. You don?t need to go to the market as people are the ones who come and buy them at home. Feeding these chickens is also not expensive as they do not consume much and I always supplement their feeding by giving them crushed grain, sunflower which I grow in my field and sorghum. The other great advantage is that they are resistant to diseases. For an example flux and lice. Normally when we have got a problem with such diseases we treat them by using naturally grown aloe, which we add to their drinking water. Bafana Have you received any technical assistance for your chicken breeding project? Moyo [Vernac] Yes I have received assistance from the Agritex Officers. They have taught me that my chicken, my fowl runs should always be clean so as to reduce diseases and pests. I have also learnt to look out for symptoms of diseases by examining chicken feathers, eyes, the beak and the position of the wings and this can also show me that my chicken is not healthy. Normally if the chicken is not healthy I use my aloe treatment to take corrective measures. If my aloe treatment does not do any good to my chickens I always consult the Agritex Officers for further treatment of my chickens. Bafana There are concerns by some urban residents about chickens that are raised commercially. Do you think your free-range chickens are considered organic and therefore more healthy? Moyo [Vernac] Yes I believe my chickens are very healthy than those that are raised commercially because they are free-range, they exercise and they are fed on natural grains. Bafana With the high price of beef is there a market for your chickens and approximately how many do you sell a month? Moyo [Vernac] Yes I have got a ready market. Per month at times I sell about ten chickens and this numbers varies depending on the demand. Normally when there are functions, like wedding functions or funerals a lot of chickens are bought and the profit, normally I plough half of my profits back into the business while the other profit I normally buy things for my family. Bafana Would you then encourage other farmers to go into chicken breeding? Moyo [Vernac] Yes I will encourage a lot of farmers to raise these chickens as the demand is getting higher and higher on a daily basis. And these chickens they help to complement their diets as well as they might get a lot of money so that they can feed their families and send their children to school. End of track.Alphious Moyo, a poultry farmer from Matabeleland North in Zimbabwe, explains why and how he rears local breeds of chicken