Under this enterprise, the chicken will be kept in poultry housing units that will be refurbished with the technical guidance of the trainers. They will be well ventilated to provide sufficient air circulation. This will enhance disease control and will minimise production of a foul odour. The poultry enterprise will therefore be intensive with the commercial chicken feeds supplemented with vegetables.
However, one area of chemical use will be vaccines in the poultry enterprise. Poultry vaccines are widely applied to prevent and control contagious poultry diseases. Their use in poultry production is aimed at avoiding or minimizing the emergence of clinical disease at farm level, thus increasing production. Caution in this project will be taken through training farmers on good poultry management practices to ensure that vaccines are only used when problems are observed, not as a preventative measure.
Each of the six groups will be given 100 (1) month old chicks. They will establish a demonstration farm at the first beneficiary home (“pioneer”), with the target of generating income and experience before they establish for the rest of the group members.
The chicken litter with droppings, will be used as manure for maize gardens. On the other hand, the harvested maize grain will be milled to produce maize bran, one of the ingredients of the chicken feed in addition to providing food for children to curb child malnutrition together with eggs. This integrated approach (Poultry – Litter – Maize – Maize bran) will promote a well-balanced ecosystem as well as synergy between the two enterprises.