This archive report was first published on 2 December 2019.
At a recent farmers' exhibition in Nakuru, a group of roosters caught the attention of visitors with their impressive size. The birds, weighing up to 6 kilograms, were a crossbreed of turkeys and were being showcased by farmer Ann Walubengo.
Ann, a poultry farmer from Green Valley Estate in Njoro, has been keeping mainly broilers for years. Her farm is a few kilometers from Egerton University in the Rift Valley, where she keeps both layers and broilers under a mixed system.
Her unique approach to farming involves letting the birds roam freely in her compound, where they scavenge for worms and other nutrients. This method, combined with a diet of kienyeji mash, worms, and maize germ, has helped her birds grow to impressive sizes.
Ann's detractors have accused her of injecting her birds with hormones to enhance their growth, but she denies these allegations. Instead, she attributes her success to her mixed feeding method and the importance of providing her birds with a stress-free environment.
According to Dr. Githui Kaba, a Nakuru-based livestock expert, the average weight of Kenbro roosters is 5 kilograms, but they can weigh up to 7 kilograms if fed well and stress-free.
Ann sells her broilers for between Sh1,500 and Sh1,800, depending on their weight, and supplies fertilized eggs to consumers and farmers. She has now reduced her flock to 30 broilers and 20 hens, but is in the process of restocking.
