| Information sheets | | | Elsenburg infopaks | | | Animals, management: 6 |
Small-scale chicken farming
Afrikaans | Xhosa
 Click to enlarge! |
Malnutrition can easily be put to an end by keeping a few laying hens for the household. Twelve hens kept under cover in a battery of cages can produce about 11 eggs per day.
A family can very easily manage such a unit and it supplements the essential protein requirements of the family, while the extra eggs can be sold to provide an additional income. It can also pay for the chickens laying mash. |
 Click to enlarge! |
Keeping chickens in this way is popular especially among women. It requires very little time, it is a constant source of food right in her backyard, and the eggs she sells teaches her the basic principles of marketing. |
 Click to enlarge! |
In order to extend the local poultry enterprise to prospective small farmers, an interchange between Australia and South Africa was effected. Full details with respect to the erecting of the cages as well as the obtaining and care of the young laying hens, can be obtained from the Australian-South African liaison. |
 Click to enlarge! |
As a rule, the young hens start laying within three weeks of having been put in the cages and, with good care, they can continue laying for ten months or longer. Then the hens can be sold to obtain funds to purchase young hens again. |
 Click to enlarge! |
The hens must always have clean and cool water to drink, and laying mash to eat. A 50kg bag of laying mash is sufficient for one month's feed. Laying mash can be purchased from co-operatives and feed merchants. Laying pills can also be fed, but this is more expensive. |
 Click to enlarge! |
In addition to the provision of basic materials, feed and laying hens, the Australian-South African liaison also provides training for prospective chicken farmers. Courses are presented on the management of laying hens, as well as on the raising of broilers and young hens. |
J du Preez
ELSENBURG / Private initiative
