14 May 2018

Botswana Poultry Association (BPA) on Wednesday organised a workshop to train Kweneng poultry association producers on good management practices as well as feeding for broiler chickens in Molepolole.

Capacitating producers on good management practices, Feed Center representative, Ms Martha Ntshole told farmers that the first 14 days of a chicken’s life was the most crucial as the rest of its life depended on those first two weeks.

Therefore, it was important for producers to observe three important elements being suitable temperature, quality food, clean water as well as proper ventilation.

She urged them to practice bio-security on their farms saying that most of the farmers’ losses could be attributed to lack of proper bio-security in most of their farmers.

She further advised producers to always make sure that before they collected day old chicks from suppliers, they should make sure that chicken houses were clean by ensuring that there was fresh saw dust and be warmed upto 48 hours prior to collection.

Ms Ntshole urged farmers to buy thermometers and weighing scales for proper recording keeping adding that chickens should be weighed when they were seven, 21 and 28 days until slaughter.

For his part, Opti Feeds representative, Mr Jack Moagisi opined that producers should learn the nutritional content of the feed they are giving their chickens, know how the feed looks like and observe its digestible energy, vitamins and minerals as well as fat content on the package material.

Briefing producers on progress made on poultry strategy by the ministry of Agriculture and Food Production, Ms Kebonye Phorego from MoA told farmers that after government realised that small poultry farmers were shutting down their farms because they lacked basic skills and did not have slaughter facilities and skyrocketing prices of feed, government then recommended that farmers group themselves so that they could be assisted with funds to get the poultry business back to its feet.

She also said government decided to procure from them so that those who took loans from CEDA be able to settle their debts hence a deliberate decision that schools should be supplied by producers only.

Kweneng Poultry Association vice chairperson, Mr Balesitse Moeng announced that the association had been awarded a tender to supply four secondary schools in Gaborone after producers had long complained about lack of market.

He also said that government decided to assist the association build an abattoir facility at the association poultry farm.

However, poultry producers have complained about high prices of feed saying it is cheaper to buy in South Africa than from local suppliers.

Some however, felt that big local producers should consider exporting to other countries in order to create growth opportunity for small producers. ENDS