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Karurumo farm, Karurumo, Embu (2025)

11/12/2022

Will be selling this toggenburg for 15k three months pregnant

11/05/2022

Animal fodder intertwined with bees,mangoes,avocado & macadamia

11/05/2022

Dairy cows at the farm

11/05/2022

Dairy goats at the farm(not for sale yet)

31/01/2021

Morning,i am need of a dairy farmhand willing to start asap, to work in farm around karurumo
Salary 7500ksh
Duties milking and selling milk
I'd prefer someone who doesn't drink alcohol
Inbox if interested
Thank you

01/12/2020

She arrived two months ago a girl now she's a woman

08/01/2020

THE RISE OF FARM-BASED MILK PROCESSING ENTERPRISES – By MD. Thuita

In our six and a half years of dairy advisory practice, we have been very keen about the nature of the enquiries that get registered on our commercial services desk. Part of the reason for this registry is to know what the markets ask for, so that our products can as much as possible reflect the needs of our market.

The first and the leading enquiry so far is from dairy investors who have been running their farms for some time, and who over time, have developed doubts about whether their dairy farm makes business sense. Such clients call to ask for a detailed assessment of their farms so as to get further recommendations on how best to continue running their farms, a handful of them in this category are even open to the idea of shutting down the enterprise if it turns out not viable. The second category of inquiries is the clients who want to set up a dairy farm from scratch. On their first call, they explain their ambitions, their passion and the land resources available. This category according to our records are mainly professionals and business people aged between late 40’s and mid 60’s. Their main interest being to set up a commercial dairy production enterprise where they can exercise their management skills and make some income after retirement. This group, perhaps because of their professional orientation, have a culture of consulting experts before embarking on any project, especially where returns are expected.

Narrowing down to the second group, if you listen to their story, the interest is all about cows. In fact, the mention of fodder is much less, compared to the mention of cows. It gets complicated because for those who say they have a passion for dairy, they hardly (also) have a passion for fodder. In their dreams and imaginations on how the enterprise will look like, what they see is the cows at the various stages, all looking healthy and shiny, grazing on lush pastures, producing a lot milk and keeping the farmer’s pockets full of money every day! But of course, the reality is always quite different. As soon as the farm is set up, and especially in cases where viability testing is skipped or assumed, the reality comes closer and the harder part kicks in.

Seemingly, in the minds of the would-be investor way before the viability of the investment is tested, is to have an enterprise that just produces and sells milk. Very few of such starters want to process milk as a way of increasing their farm gate prices. As a first option, they would just wish to supply milk to a processor who can give a fair price that can keep their production unit running, and the investor can enjoy their passion without having to be punished (through losses) for it! So why then do we see farms beginning to set up processing units? Why do we see farms selling processed products instead of just fresh milk as initially designed? If they did not have any plans to process milk, is it a clamor for high profits, or is it a form of self-defense from a possible loss of the entire investment? Talking to a few of these farm owners, it emerged that the idea of the processing unit was actually an afterthought, because the existing market for fresh milk could not fully compensate for the investments made in the primary production unit.

Picture this, the farm kicks off on a high capital, a modular barn with steel structures and the required cow comfort standards, initial stock of pregnant heifers, a first season fodder production, formally contracted labor, the equipment, the concentrate feeds and the list continues. Then the farm hires a consultant who sets up the standard operating procedures to ensure that the farm observes best practices across all its routines. But when the milk finally comes the market offers a net farm-gate price of USD 0.3 per liter of fresh milk. If the farm takes the price offered by the market, the investment will go belly-up right from the start. The enterprise will report negative cash flows year after year and the investor will keep sourcing for more and more funds trying to subsidize it and the debt hole will only get deeper. At that point it is impossible to reverse the investment. Abandoning it or leaving it to die will be unreasonable, putting it up for sale will be untimely, cutting down on the main costs will be beyond the control of the owner especially where a bulk of feeds are bought. When all the easy options are out of reach, the only way out becomes, finding a way to increase the farm gate price, and the idea of processing milk at the farm becomes a reality, in as much as it was not in the initial design.

Of the farms that have started in the last ten years, the inclusion of the processing unit is unmistakable. It is now clear to the investors that one cannot invest in a commercial farm, and get a good pay-off by selling to a mainstream processor who will pay off a liter at below USD 0.4. The farm will shut down slowly but surely. This explains the rise of the farm-based milk processing units. But for an investor whose initial intention was to produce and sell fresh milk, the additional processing enterprise puts him in the realm on a new challenge of competition. This is because his product will certainly face off with older and stronger brands at the shelves. The game at the shelves is totally different from the game in the barn. It’s a totally new enterprise, a new set of skills, new genre of competition, new sets of licensing and other compliances, new outlook of costs and profitability, a different game altogether! But what to do? Just like some investors decided to mix their own feeds when the market could not deliver consistency in their feed supplies especially concentrates, investors have also taken the challenge of controlling their route to market, and it’s now clear that unless there is a increase in the farm gate price of fresh milk, this trend will continue growing.

What then becomes a new headache is the question of volumes. Can the farm producing 400 liters a day optimally run a processing unit without suffering huge losses occasioned by idle processing capacity? In most cases, such farms then begin to collect milk from other surrounding farms, bulk it up, process it and pay back the supplying farmers at a rate slightly higher than that of the dominant buyer in the area. The farmers become loyal due to the price offered, certain agreements especially on quality and volumes, are reached and the business kicks off.

21/11/2019

....Silage preparation is one of the important methods for storage of green fodder for dairy animals & it is necessary to adopt this method by Indian dairy farmers on large scale in situations like drought or scarcity of green fodder availability during summer months (Mar- June).Silage making means preservation of chaffed cereal green fodder in anaerobic condition by way of fermentation method. In anaerobic condition (no air inside pit/tank), with the help of micro- organisms, sugar contained in green fodder is converted in to Lactic acid, which helps to preserve the green fodder for longer duration. Respiratory function of living cells present in green chaffed fodder utilizes the oxygen in air tight condition & releases water & carbon dioxide in closed environment in pit/tank. Due to Carbon dioxide releases in pit/tank, air inside is expelled outside.Further, the aerobic organism which depends on oxygen (Like putrefying bacteria & Fungi) cannot withstand in CO2 atmosphere in Tank/Pit. These effects into preservation of chaffed green fodder in silo pit/tank as silage for longer duration (6 months or maximum a year, if good care is taken while preserving the chaffed fodder and maintaining the silage).Essential fodder crops for silage makingTo prepare best quality silage, cereal green fodder like Green fodder maize, Fodder sorghum, Bajara, Hybrid Napier, Sugar cane tops, Oat, Marwel, etc. are required. The monocotyledons cereal green fodder crops are preferred as they have more sugar content than protein crops (such as berseem, lucern, cowpea, etc.). The sugar present in cereal fodder crops is utilized in fermentation process to produce lactic acid by microorganisms. These cereal fodder crops have hard stem, which takes more time for drying in making hay process. As such, it is better to use these kinds of crops for making silage than hay.Benefits of silage makingSilage is storage system of green fodder which keeps all parts of fodder in appropriate condition for feeding than any other system of storage of fodderSilage requires less space for storage (as it is pressed in pit/tank) compared to hay makingThe daily cutting, transporting & chaffing of fodder in traditional way, requires more labor & time, however, in case of silage, fodder cutting, transport, chaffing is done at one time only. As such, it is less labor & time consuming practice.Land under fodder cultivation is emptied, and immediately it is used for plantation of other crops. So farmers can take more number of crops in same area of land in a year against traditional way, where land is reserved for fodder until all crop is harvestedSilage is prepared in closed & air tight condition so there is no danger of fire. (In hay making, dry fodder is stocked & exposed for fire like situation)Due to lactic acid in silage, it is easily digestible to animals, so energy required for digestion of fodder by animals is used for other purposes like milk production, etc.Silage is tasty & flavored, so it increases appetite of dairy animalsImportant factor to opt for silage is, making green fodder availability in scarcity. Silage provides supply of fodder to dairy animals even during summer months, when green fodder are not available in abundance.Situations like drought, high rainfall & scarcity of fodder (due to any reason), is addressed by using silage for feeding dairy animals. The rain-fed areas, where shortage of green fodder is there from March to June or in high rainy area less fodder availability due to water logging, silage serves as an important feeding tool.Just by treating silage with food additives (like; energy, mineral & vitamins, etc.), farmers can enrich the silage for dairy animals.Methods for silage making:There are four methods for silage making: (1) Tank or Silo (2) Pit (3) hill side pit (4) silage buns (stacks). Of these 4 methods only two are generally used i.e. Tank (silo- above the ground) method or Pit (below the ground) method. These two methods are economically viable for dairy farmers. For planning of silage requirement, following aspects needs to be kept in mind:How many dairy animals farmer has?How many days farmer need to feed his animals with silage?Is there sufficient green fodder available with farmer to prepare required quantity of silage?Example: - suppose a dairy farmer has 4 adult milch animals and he need to feed his animals with silage for four summer months (i.e. March to June)! Please see the following points:The silage is to be made for 4 adult milch dairy animals for 4 summer months (Mar to Jun) i.e. for 120 days Maximum per day feeing requirement of silage is 20 kg per animal. Per day need of silage for four animals would be 80 kgSo for four months i.e. 120 days for four animals requirement of silage would be 9600 kgThis means 9600 kg of chaffed green fodder is require to make silage for four dairy animals for four monthsOne cubic foot- in pit or tank (1 cubic foot = 1 foot long × 1 foot wide × 1 foot high), contains 16 kg of chaffed green fodderTo decide dimension of pit/tank for 9600 kg chaffed green fodder, divide 9600 kg by 16 kgMeans the farmer may have to make 600 cubic feet of pit/tank – in dimension of 20 foot long × 6 foot wide × 5 foot high.Pit/tank method for silage making:Depending upon local situation like; ground water level, number of animals & duration of feeding silage to animals, the shape & size of constructing silage pit or tank is decided. Look at following steps:select location for making pit at higher level on ground so that rain water should not percolate into the pit.In rectangular pit, corner edges should be made round, so that while filling & pressing chaffed fodder, air will not be trapped inside the corners of pit or tankWall of pit/tank should be air proof to avoid air to get into the pit/tank through cracks. To avoid this situation, the silo pit or tank walls should be plastered with cement or moistened soil. If ground water table is high (water comes out with digging of few feet of soil), then go for building tank (silo) and avoid pit method. If plastering cement to the wall of pit/tank is uneconomical, then farmers can use HDPE plastic paper (200 micron) to cover pit/tank inside out position.Picture 3: stage-wise finishing with proper coveringTreatment for Silage:For making best quality & balanced silage, it needs proper treatment of additives described below:-Per ton of chaffed green fodder requires 1 kg Urea, 2 kg jaggary, 1 kg common salt, 1 kg mineral mixture & 1 liter of whey (to activate the fermentation process).Prepare separate solution in 15 to 20 liters of water for Urea, Jaggary, Mineral mixture & common salt in separate pots/buckets & then spread it on layer by layer of chaffed & pressed green fodder, while filling silo pit/tank.Procedure for filling silo pit/tank:When fodder crop is in cob stage or tussling stage (milky stage), it is best time to harvest it for preparation of silage. Mature stage of fodder crop is not good for preparing silage as its sugar content is decreased as well as the fiber percentage increased; this kind of fodder is less suitable for silage making.After harvesting fodder crops, let it get dry for 5-6 hours in shed so that moisture content of fodder will decreases from 80% to 65-70%. Care to be taken to avoid silage making in rainy days or crops containing dew drops in winter season because moisture is more in this situation so there may be chances for development of mold in silo pit during storage period.Following steps to be taken while filling silo pit/tank:Prior to filling silo pit / tank, clean it & dry it.Cover with plastic film inside pit/tank in such a way that it will cover all sides of pit/tank.For making silage, chaffing of fodder is essential. With the help of chaff cutter machine, make pieces of 1.5 cm to 2 cm length of green fodder crop (fodder maize, sorghum, sugarcane tops, Marwel, Fodder bajara, etc.) before filling it to silo pit.Prepare separate solution in 15 to 20 liters of water for Urea, Jaggary, Mineral mixture & common salt in separate pots/buckets & then spread it on layer of pressed chaffed green fodder while filling silo pit/tank.Start to fill chaffed green fodder in silo pit or tank.After making 4” thick layer of chaffed green fodder, press it with wooden plank(Like Mortar) in such a way that air will not entangled in chaffed fodder. Then sprinkle it with prepared solution of Jaggary, Mineral mixture, Urea, Common salt & whey.Follow the same procedure until filling of pit/tank 1 to 1.5 feet above the ground level (Inside pit).Then covet it from plastic film from all side carefully.Covet it with Trash, Wheat straw, Soil & dry hay to protect it from entering rain water in to it. If possible, temporary arrangement of thatched or any shed above the silo pit/tank should be done.It will require 45 to 60 days to make good quality of silage.Use of silage:After 8-10 weeks, silage is ready as feed for animals. Open pit/tank initially from one side of for use. Keep the area covered where from the silage is not in use. Then cover the pit very carefully by with plastic film by pressing, so that air will not go inside in the silage. Initially fed animals with 5-6 kg silage by adding it with chaffed green fodder to develop taste. Once animal likes sweet-sour taste of silage; they will eat it with good palatability.Quality of Silage:Mold : Good quality silage is free from Mold (If silage while filling pit/tank, not well pressed there could be chances of growth of mold (silage with mold is not considered to be a good quality).Odor : Good quality silage has sweet & sour taste.Color : Good quality silage has faint green or brownish color. Rotten silage has black color.pH : Very Good quality silage has pH of 3.5 to

11/10/2019

HOW FARMING DESTROYED MY LIFE

The moment you go into farming...It feels like the beginning of the most intelligent business venture.You spend the money that you budgeted for the farm...then you spend the money you didnt budget for the farm...then you spend the money that is going to get you killed...Every year as you learn from the past mistakes and gain broader experiences, all those who are closest to you certify you as a retard.The biggest fool ever. Relationship yone lebala. I have been the fool for the longest time and I didnt mind. I never get affected by opinions. Even my family thought I was bewitched at some point. Luckily I dont believe in hocuspokus. I was told to invest in property but my heart was in farming. I lost everything and almost everybody around me as I continued with my dream to become a great farmer. At some point I caved in and almost sold. Nature had struck all my power sources with lighting and destroyed my structures. I learnt that farming is a battle against all the people who say they care about us and the powers of nature. The bigger the farm...the bigger a fool you look. 5years later...I found the bloody formular to farming. I am now rated as one of the greatest farmers in molepolole. The farm finally pays for my everything and I can proudly say that there is money and a future in farming. The problem is the time, the expenses and pressure you have to go through. Mama I made it in farming! The only person who can make your dreams a success is you.

09/06/2019

Banana farming in Kenya

Varieties :Apple, Gross Michel, Kampala, Dwarf Cavendish, Uganda Green, Giant Cavendish, Williams, Grand Nain, Valery, Poyo, Paz, muraru, Kiganda, Sukari

Agro-Ecological Zones: Banana- growing zones range from Coastal Lands to Lower Highland zones. Bananas require the following ecological features

Altitudes: Below 1800 m above sea level are generally recommended for the production of bananas.

Temperature: For optimal growth, bananas require a warm humid climate. An average temperature of 20°C to 30°C is required. Below 20°C, normal plant growth is re****ed. Lacatan and Valery tolerates cold weather better than other varieties. Cooler areas (higher altitudes) slow down plant development and the inflorescence may also fail to emerge.

Rainfall: Bananas can grow well with an annual rainfall of 1000 to 2500 mm. optimal yields require a well distributed annual rainfall of 1400 mm or more, without long dry spells.

Soils: Bananas can be grown in a wide range of soils as long as there is good drainage and adequate fertility. They can tolerate short periods of flooding but do require good soil aeration. Light to medium, well drained loam soil is the best. Fertile deep soils rich in humus should be chosen wherever possible. For best growth, a pH range of 5.5 to 6.5 is recommended.

Soil Management: Several steps can be taken to replenish or increase soil nutrients; they include:

1.) Mulching of banana fields is a traditional agronomic practice favored for its suppression of w**ds, conservation of moisture and maintenance of soil fertility. This can be done through the following ways:

Spreading pruned banana leaves and plant parts remaining after harvest on the plantation floor. This can also be supplemented with materials from crop fields, fallow fields, swamps and livestock manure.

Household wastes are distributed near the homestead resulting in a soil fertility gradient that causes higher yields near the homestead and lower yields as the distance from the house increases.

2.) Soil fertility embraces the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil and is associated with the management practices within a cropping system. Soil nutrient levels in banana fields are generally higher than in other parts of the farm, probably due to several factors:

more fertile fields are selected for banana production initially rates of nutrient loss from banana fields may be less nutrients are transferred from other parts of the farm to banana fields, especially in form of mulch.

However, recycling of residues alone will not provide sufficient mulch for both moisture conservation and nutrient replenishment. Nutrient amount removed in fruit are more than those immobilized in other above ground parts. Consequently about 86% of banana farmers in the Lake Victoria basin supplement the banana residues with one or more additional inputs. It can be observed that farmers adding field crop residues and cattle manure obtains more fruit fields and often represent 55% increase in banana residues alone.

3.) Intercropping of bananas with other crops is also a common soil fertility improvement effort, which when it occurs, is sometimes a secondary benefit to the primary purpose of the practice.

Perennial crops such as coffee can be intercropped with bananas for the provision of shed especially at establishment. They also benefit the banana by recycling nutrients from deep capture, because of their rooting system, via litter fall.

Bean is the annual crop most commonly associated with banana. The two crops are compatible in a multi-story system as bean does not compete with banana above ground and is more shade tolerant that most other food crops.

Maize and sweet potatoes are intercropped with the young banana plants and are phased out at canopy closure.
Other upper fruit trees can be established around the plantation as sources of fruit and to serve as wind breakers.

Good Agricultural Practices

Keep up to date farm production records in order to maintain consumer confidence in food quality and safety.

Apply proper crop protection strategies in order to reduce the use of chemicals.

Observe the required standards during transportation, storage and disposal of pesticides in order to minimize detrimental impact on the environment while conserving nature and wildlife.

Observe hygiene requirements during harvesting and post harvest handling of produce

Adhere to environmental protection regulations.

Land Preparation: Before planting, deep soil cultivation by ploughing and harrowing is recommended. The fields should be free of trees, bushes and especially perennial w**ds.

Spacing: The spacing depends on the variety, soil fertility level, and rainfall (water availability). The following spacing is recommended under a five-year cycle on a fertile soil with adequate rainfall:

Short variety (Dwarf Cavendish, Giant Cavendish) 2.5m × 3m.

Medium variety (Valery, Williams) 3.0m × 4.0m

Tall variety (Lacatan, Poyo) 4.0m× 4.0.

Planting: A planting hole measuring 90 cm ×90 cm × 60 cm is recommended although this may vary depending on water availability. In dry and semi arid areas it is recommended to use larger holes measuring 90 cm × 90 cm × 60 cm. the topsoil and the subsoil should be kept separately. Mix the topsoil with one debe (about 20 kg) of well decomposed manure and 150 g of TPS. Refill the hole with the top soil first followed by the sub soil.

To ensure good anchorage, a sucker or a corm with the eyes facing upward should be placed 30 cm deep in the planting hole. A heavy cover of mulch should be placed around each plant to conserve soil moisture. Under rain fed conditions, planting should be carried out only at the onset of the rains. However, if irrigation water is available, planting can be done throughout the year. The material commonly used in Kenya is the sucker and Tissue Culture seedlings.

Suckers
There are two types of suckers, namely: the sword and the water suckers. The sword sucker emerges from the lower part of the stem, has a well developed base and narrow sword shaped leaves. The water sucker emerges close to the soil surface and has a limited number of roots and broad leaves. The sword suckers are preferred for planting. The larger the sucker, the faster the plants will come into production. Defoliate the suckers before planting.

Tissue Culture

The use of tissue culture plantlets in Kenya is the most recommended method of propagation because of the following advantages:-

Rapid seedling multiplication

Healthy planting materials free of disease and pests.

Minimal replacement after planting and immediate continuation of growth.

Early bearing/ maturity.

Higher yields

Fertilizer and Manure Application At planting , about 200 g of triple super phosphate (TSP) should be applied per plant. An early and good supply of nitrogen fertilizer is essential to accelerate the growth of pseudo-stems and faster flowering. To 300 g of calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) should be distributed around each stool per year, together with 125 g of TSP, which is worked into the soil.

Or two to four debes of decomposed farmyard manure is applied per stem per year before the rains. This is applied on the outer diameter of the canopy. A short forked hoe is used to incorporate the manure shallowly and carefully, to ensure no root damage

Tissue Culture Main Varieties

FHIA 17

GRAND NAINE

William Variety among others

Weeding: Cultivation should always be shallow because a banana plant is shallow rooted. If mechanical w**ding is done, care should be taken to avoid any disturbance of the roots. Earthing up of the stem base is required in windy areas.

Mulching: A well maintained, heavy mulch cover will suppress unwanted w**d growth, retain moisture, and provide humus for a good soil structure. Grass, banana leaves, or old pseudo-stems mulch can be used to return the nutrients to the soil. However, the use of old pseudo-stems can encourage banana weevil infestation. The stem should therefore be well chopped and allowed to dry before use.

Pruning and Staking: To provide bigger and higher quality bunches, bananas have to be desuckered regularly to control any unwanted sucker growth. Only three pseudo-stems should be allowed to remain on each corm: one bearing, one half grown, and one just sprouting. Surplus suckers should be removed as early as possible in their development and perhaps used as planting material. Dead leaves should be removed at least twice a year. After harvesting, the pseudo-stem should be cut off from the plant at ground level.

Staking of the fruit bearing pseudo-stemshould be done to prevent breakage caused by heavy bunches. Staking with wood or bamboo requires digging a hole about 40 to 60 cm deep at the base of the stem to install the prop. Tie the bunch to the prop near the portion where the fruit stalk emerges from the stem. Y-sticks can also be used for staking.

Irrigation: Water is needed particularly at flowering. Therefore, in drier areas supplemental irrigation may be necessary during this time.

Wind Break: Bananas are adversely affected by strong wind. Planting in sheltered positions and in blocks, rather than in strips, is recommended. If planted in blocks, the plants provide each other with some protection against the wind.

Fruit Protection: Skin blemishes can ruin the value of the banana bunch. The bract and stem leaves that may rub against the developing fruit need to be removed on a regular basis.

The male flower bud is removed after it has grown 15 cm below the last hand. Bagging developing bunches with polythene bags can be done to protect the fruit. The bags can be clear or colored and are perforated to allow air circulation. Bagged fruit develops three to four days earlier.

Inter-cropping: In orchards with wider plant spacing, inter-cropping is possible during the entire cultivation period. Orchards with close spacing can only be inter-cropped in the first year.

Maturity/Harvesting: The time for planting to maturity of a banana depends on area and variety. A plant takes roughly 8 to 12 months to mature. Maturity indices vary widely among varieties. Angularities or fullness of fingers, as well as color change are some of the standard criteria used. Immature bananas are very angular but fill out to a rounded shape at full maturity.

Fruits are ready for harvesting 90 – 150 days after fingers start to form. Fingers are considered mature for harvest when they are ¾ round (75% maturity)

Bananas are harvested green at varying stages of maturity depending on market requirement. While harvesting, bunches should never be allowed to fall on the ground after severing from the plant, to avoid fruit damage. For home consumption, the bunch is cut from the stem after fingers begin to turn light green and the edges of the fruit change from angular to round. Bananas harvested at this stage will ripen within one to two week’s time. After harvesting the bunch, the pseudo-stem is cut off with a clean implement at ground level. The cut is covered with soil to avoid easy entry by the banana weevil.

Yields: The average yield is 35 to 45 t/ha under good management. The economic lifespan of a banana plantation is 8 to 10 years, after which productivity declines.

Field Handling: Bunches must be handled gently and protected from direct sun. When cutting bunches, padded trays on which the bunch is received should be used. The padding material can be in the form of number of gunny bags or dry banana leaves folded together.

27/11/2018

GOOD VS BAD LAYERS
know how to spot all the major differences
Quality egg production is the primary goal for keeping layers, and to some extent Improved Kienyeji chickens.
It is, therefore, important to monitor production of your flock, identifying poor layers that eat into your profits with minimal or simply no benefits.
During this process, you are likely to notice those birds that do not lay as much as others or those that don’t even lay at all.
Physical indicators to help you identify poor or good layers
Now, before starting to point fingers on the birds, ensure you are not the problem. Ask yourself if you are providing good quality feeds, enough light and clean water. Check also if the birds are stressed or probably there are abrupt changes in their routine.
Also, assess the age of the birds because as your flock gets older, their production drops, with some even stop laying altogether.
Well, there are several physical indicators to help you identify poor or good layers.
For a good layer, the combs and wattles should be full, large, waxy, bright red and warm. A poor layer has small, scaly, pale, and shrivelled comb and wattles. This is also a sign of possible illness.
A good layer should have flexible p***c bones, wide apart to allow three fingers to fit between them while those of a poor layer are tight, quite rigid and narrow, not allowing the fingers. This wide p***c bone space normally facilitates easy passage of eggs.
When you pull back the tail feathers of the bird and inspect the vent, it should be wide, oval, moist and warm for a good layer. The poor laying bird will have the vent dry, small/tight, round and cold.
Clean-cut, strong and refined heads
The eyes of a good layer should be large, bright, prominent and sparkling. A poor layer often has small, sleepy/dull and sunken eyes.
Good layers have clean-cut, strong, refined heads while poor layers have coarse, meaty/thin, blocky, weak looking head.
A good layer has an abdomen that is deep and soft, easily pliable without body fat accumulation by probing fingers while a poor layer has a hard and shallow abdomen. This depth of the abdomen is measured between the breast bone and the p***c bones.
Poor layers have dark-pigmented or dull skins, earlobes and shanks, while good layers are generally bleached or bright, though sometimes it depends on when you check them.
The bleaching is due to the diverting of yellow colour from the body portions to be deposited into the egg yolks. The loss of colour/bleaching effect is easily seen in yellow-skinned chicken on diets with sources of the colouring agents. The effect is less pronounced in white-skinned breeds, thus, more difficult to detect.
By behaviour, a good layer is normally alert to her surroundings and is not lazy. The bird is active and exhibits normal chicken behaviour like scratching litter and running around with others.
Poor layers, on the other hand, look dull and are most of the times droopy.
Delaying culling
Moulting period (when birds lose feathers) requires better understanding of the feathers. It is, thus, advisable to delay culling when a significant portion of the flock is moulting, lest you remove some good laying birds.
During this time, most hens stop producing eggs until moulting is complete. Laying for some chicken may not be affected, but their moulting may be lengthened.
Moulting in good layers starts late and is quite rapid while in poor layers, it starts early and is slow, making the latter appear better groomed.
The grooming does not reflect good laying, in fact, in late moulters, the feathers are replaced at the same time they are lost, enabling them to return to their full production sooner.
Dirty and ragged feathers
The feathers of an active laying hen should be dirty and ragged looking. This is because they use much of their energy on producing eggs and are more prone to playing in the dirt or being followed by roosters. A hen that looks clean and perfect most of the time could be a poor layer.
Be careful when dealing with pullets (young hens), lest their size makes you rule them out as poor layers.
Some good laying hens mature late, therefore, allow the pullets to mature and show characteristics suggesting their laying potential. They may develop into good layers.
Egg lay per hen is best described in a flock. A flock of good layers would have a laying percentage of over 80 per cent, then starts dropping laying after molting to about 50 per cent. On average, in a week, a hen in this flock can give about five eggs.
A poor laying flock’s lay is below 60 per cent, after molting, they hardly go above 10 per cent.
In general, all the indicators will help you do away with the unproductive part of the flock, a practice known as culling.
Ideally, culling should be a continuous exercise throughout the entire production period until the whole flock is productive no more.
Benefits of cullings
While disease is not an important reason to cull the unproductive birds, farmers cull to allow more space for feeding and watering the productive lot. Culling enables you to realise an increased growth rate per bird and overall egg lay per hen ratio. It also ensures that resources are not wasted on unproductive flock.
These indicators may, however, vary between breeds and individual birds. Therefore, before you finally cull, adopt the most obvious method of telling whether a hen is laying or not by separating suspected unproductive birds from the rest of the flock and monitoring their production for a few days under plenty of feed and water. This may sometimes pose stress to the separated birds, but should put the last nail on them before you are sure to cull.
Most chickens that are culled, commonly known as ex-layers, are sold as meat. The best approach is to put them into a separate housing in a free-range setting so that their retirement doesn’t cost you any more feeds.
Proper planning, however, requires that you know best how you will deal with the eventual decline in egg production of your

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