13 Aug 2014

Gone are the days when poultry business was the special domain of adults, especially pensioners.

Two youths, Onalethata Seiphi, 25, and Oreemetse Lekang, 26, partnered to form a company, Smell and Taste which they hoped to grow into a formidable player in the poultry market.

In an interview , Seiphi said they were granted P100 000 in 2013 by the Department of Youth to kickstart their business in Leribi cattle post, adjacent to Bobonong. Smell and Taste chicken production specialises in selling slaughtered broilers to individuals and small businesses.

Seiphi said they had constructed a big chicken farm and they had installed big solar panels as a source of energy. He said the installation of solar panels had reduced the cost of spending on electricity.

He added that the chicken they had reared were sensitive to noise and that was why they decided to operate the business at cattle post to avoid noise. He said they usually bought chicks from Selebi Phikwe feed centre at an age of one to two weeks whose transporting was often a challenge.

The cost of feeding the chicks, he said, were high as they consumed at least 50 kilogrammes of starter Mash a week which costs P300.

At six weeks, Seiphi said, they slaughter for selling in the market that keeps fluctuating in Bobonong. They planned to supply bigger wholesalers and retail outlets such as Choppies and Shoppers. ENDS