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Poultry farming is a good source of income and employment in the country as well as a source of protein for human growth which account for mass proliferation of poultry farms in Nigeria thereby reducing the intake of red meat said to be responsible for many complications suffered by those who eat beef frequently. Dieticians and other professionals that include medical doctors have advised that eating fish and white meat that include chicken is better for the body than beef.
But for Mayaki Isa, a civil servant in Kogi State, poultry farming is good business though the weather in the area and lack of patronage has been keeping people out of it, adding, “I am a veterinary staff with the state Ministry of Agriculture. My passion for poultry is what attracted me to it. I am using the little profit I am making to compliment my income.
“I picked interest in poultry when I was with the National Live Stock in Kabba, 18 years ago, but I actually started poultry farming fully in 1999 when I was transferred from Kabba to Lokoja.
“While in Kabba, I was using my kitchen as poultry farm and I only bred chicken during festive periods because that was the only way I could get little profit since I was not fully into the business,” he said.
Mayaki said his business suffered setback when veterinary staff in Kogi State were owed salary for over eight months and could not get money to sustain the business. He sold the stock he had to earn a living without replacement.
“Because of my passion in poultry keeping, I went to Union Bank to take N200,000 loan to sustain my poultry farm. That was how I started full poultry farming again in Lokoja. I started with 100 birds and increased it to 200 as business was good and I continued to increase the number despite the challenges. At a point, I had over 300 birds.
“But unlike Kabba, Lokoja weather is not good for poultry keeping because of the intensity of heat which make the chicken to die even without being affected by many disease. In Kabba, when you breed 50 chicken you will get 45 or 48 but here in Lokoja the chickens keep dying especially the boilers because of the heat. You would buy 50 chickens and you may not get 30 that will survive.
“I was not financially buoyant to put a fan or an air conditioner that would make the place to be cool. Normally, if one wants to enjoy poultry farming in Lokoja, you need an air conditioner or at least fan in your poultry pen to reduce the excessive heat. It is a bit good during harmattan,” he said.
He said when you buy boilers to breed, from the first to the eigth week, the birds would be doing well but as from that ninth week they will be dying without being afflicted with diseases and there is no drug you will give them to stop them from dying.
He said he vaccinates his birds regularly against disease but, “because of the intensity of heat in the environment, they still died, adding, “at the moment, I have about 60 boilers which I want to breed for Sallah festival. I don’t keep layers this time because of the weather and if you have them now you will almost lose all.
Apart from the unfavorable weather which resulted in sudden death of the chicken at the table stage, Mr. Mayaki said getting ready market for sales of the chicken is another problem poultry farmer’s face in the area, saying that it is only during festive period that they make profit.
“By this time, poultry farmers run at a loss because even if your chicken are matured, nobody will buy them and the hotels that come to buy, are buying according to weight and kilograms. They buy at N700 per kilo and most of our chicken always weigh two kilograms which is N1,400but during festive period, we sell a chicken between N2,000 and N3,000 and people will still rush to buy them,” he said.
According to him, he has two people on his payroll who assist him in taking care of the birds. He said that the major challenge they have is lack of fund and government assistant. He called on government at all levels to assist poultry farmers with single digit interest loans to enable them enhance poultry farming in the country.
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Nice one