Nigeria: Kano poultry farmers adopt new measures to beat high cost of feed

Kano State poultry farmers have adopted a new approach of cooperating with smallholder farmers in the production of birds. Weekend Trust gathered that chicken farmers, particularly those who work in hatcheries directly or indirectly, sell day-old chicks to smallholders and then purchase the chicks back after two or three weeks to complete the production cycle. The new synergy enables shared breeding demand at a lower cost to both parties. According to a poultry farmer in the state, Malam Shehu Caji, the adoption of the technique became necessary for the business to remain afloat due to the high cost of feed being experienced nation-wide. He said a 25kg bag of starter poultry feed is now N20,700 as against less than N10,000 which it sold for late last year. “The technique is a child of necessity because the poultry business is dying slowly and believe it or not, the sector is considered dead by some practitioners because they have already closed down their farms. However, this new ...