Why you should consider Kuroiler chicken

Kuroiler is a rural-specific, multicolu­ored, dual-purpose bird. It was developed through selective and controlled crossing of high yielding indige­nised poultry germplasm. Keggs Farm in India introduced them to Uganda in 2009 f.

Some of the benefits of this breed of chicken are as follows:

1. It’s unique as it enables rural households to achieve almost four times the normal pro­duction, in both eggs and meat. The birds are disease-resistant.
2. The males are tall, majestic, active and agile and can attain the body weight of over four kilos at full maturity.
3. The females are large, full-bodied and pro­duce over 150 eggs and can attain body weight of well over two-and-a-half kilos when scavenging on household, agricultural and natural waste
4. It’s quality of meat and eggs is similar to that of kienyeji birds.
5. They are backyard chicken and survive on household waste making them suitable for households

NOTE:

There are two varieties of the Kuroiler chick­ens but only a few farmers can differentiate them. Kuroiler F1 hens take five months to start laying eggs and have a high survival rate. The F2 takes eight months, and F3 up to a year.

At maturity, the F1 variety weighs about five-and-a-half kilos unlike the rest, at about 3.2kg. Kuroiler’s quality goes down when crossed with indigenous chickens.

Feeding the Kuroiler chicken

1. Before bringing your chicks home make sure you have enough heaters, feeders, drinkers, clean litter, brooder guard and light. Set up the brood­er guard and heaters, spread out the litter and ensure drinkers and feeders are in good condi­tion to avoid cannibalism
2. Clean and disinfect, the house and all the equipment thoroughly.
3. The bird age, genetics, production status and reproductive state determine their ener­gy requirements. Kuroiler chickens are heavy feeders. Therefore, provide the right nutrition for optimum growth, production and health. Source for commercial feeds from reputable feed producers.

The bird’s diet must include a combination of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals and water for optimal growth and production.

4. Provide access to plenty of cool, fresh drink­ing water that is low in salt to prevent increased water intake and wetter droppings.
5. Feed your birds with chick mash for the first five weeks.
6. After two months, practise free-range rear­ing. Where possible, a farmer can mix his/her own food formulation ranging from kienyeji mash, worms, to greens such as sukumawiki and agricultural wastes.

Sell the chicken at a maximum of five months as the longer you keep them the higher your expenses will be.

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