Poultry

Olam International announces a US$150mn investment in animal feed mills, poultry breeding farms and a hatchery in the Nigerian states of Kaduna and Kwara

Animal feed manufacturer MolaPlus Limited have introduced an organic supplement that claims to improve the nutrition of poultry without the use of chemicals

Farmers in Zimbabwe have been seeking new food sources to keep their animals, birds and fish alive as the country is hit with its worst drought in 25 years

According to Lovemore Kuwana, an entrepreneur in Zimbabwe, prices for maize and soy-based feed have risen due to shortage. This had led Kuwana to produce maggots that feed on waste to provide protein for his breeding flock of 120 free-range chickens and 1,000 quail.

“I have struggled to find nutritious feed for quite some time now,” said the entrepreneur.

“The birds can’t resist the worms,” he added.

The industrial process of producing stock feed that contains maggots, using a number of tanks in a purposebuilt structure — produces five times less greenhouse gas emissions than soy or maize stock feed, according to Chinhoyi University research.

"We have been producing a sizeable amount of maggots that are killed in the biogas digester, dried and then mixed with the maize-based feed we produce," stated CEO Ephraim Whingwiri.

The mixed feed, which can also be given to pigs and fish, is given to around 300 chickens at Zim Earthworm Farms.

Laying hens and broilers perform best within a temperature range of 11-26°C. The behavioural and physiological changes that occur with progressive temperature increases beyond the top end of this range are well documented