Duck Farming in Kenya. The Complete Guide.
WHY DUCK FARMING IN KENYA?
There are two species of ducks reared in Kenya; wild and domesticated. Duck farming is not such a common mode of poultry farming. They are a delicacy in many countries but it is not as common as chicken in Kenya. Most Chinese restaurants are the main market for duck farmers in Kenya. Uganda is more prone to buying ducks from local farmers in Kenya. Ducks are hardy and not susceptible to diseases. Because of the rarity of duck farmers in Kenya, there is an open market for farmers to venture into this type of farming.
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HOW TO START DUCK FARMING IN KENYA.
A duck egg takes 28 days before hatching. You are required to keep your ducks in a place with a lot of water and average heat. Keep them under a brooder bulb for approximately a week before you remove the bulb.
STARTUP CAPITAL.
You do not need a lot of capital to start duck farming. All you need to do is to consider their housing and feed. In comparison to chicken farming, duck farming does not require a large input of capital into feeds, vaccines, and housing.
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HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM IT?
An average duck egg goes for 50kenya shillings on the market. In comparison to the normal kienyeji chicken, the duck fetches more money per kilogram of meat. Again, within two months, it is possible to sell a fully grown chicken for meat! Most Chinese restaurants In Kenya purchase ducks locally from duck farmers in Kenya. Duck is a common delicacy in most Chinese menus. To make the most out of your venture, just take care of all aspects of the project; from brooding to feeds and finally to the marketing of your product.
MAINTENANCE OF DUCKS
Not all ducks go broody. Only Muscovy ducks are blessed with the ability to brood their own chicks. Brooding of ducklings naturally can be properly done by the muscovy duck. If a farmer has used an incubator to hatch their own ducklings, then here are some quality tips to reduce the mortality rate of the ducklings;
- Provide enough feed and water. Ducklings drink a lot of water. Pay attention to not keeping any open sources of water in the brooder as the ducks will spill it and dampen the brooder. Use the required drinkers that reduce spillage within the brooder.
- Maintain the temperature of the brooder for the first four weeks before the ducklings are able to provide enough heat for themselves.
- Provide a mixture of liquid paraffin and glucose to support the digestive system of the little ducklings.
- Generally, keep an eye on the brooder ducklings and keep checking on them while cleaning their brooder from time to time.
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- DISEASES
Ducks are very resistant to diseases. Compared to a chicken, ducks only need a brooding temperature to keep them warm. Just like chickens, ducks suffer from a wide range of diseases if kept in poorly managed environments. Keeping chicken together with ducks will be a source of cross infections. So, keep your ducks separate from other poultry birds always. You can mix them during the daytime when they are free-ranging in the sun.
- HOUSING
Ducks love watery areas. Always make a pond for the ducks to regularly swim from time to time. Accommodating ducks is very easy since they are resistant to disease. If you would like to construct a house for them, just use locally available materials and try to make the house spacious enough for each duck.
The main idea would be to construct a simple housing structure to protect the ducks from predators, theft, and from harsh weather conditions at night. During the day, depending on your system of keeping them, they will be out in the open swimming.
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- FEED
Ducks eat insects, worms, and grain. Farmers are advised to feed ducks on a larger quantity of the food as compared to chicken. Feeds that are used for ducks are just the same as the ones given to chickens. Farmers are however advised to add a few more additives to their food because ducks lay more eggs and consume more food. Since ducks are larger in size than chicken a normal duckling may eat twice the feed consumed by a normal chick.
- MARKETING
Marketing your ducks is a very important part of creating and managing this business. Marketing is essential to be able to gain some sort of income to be able to feed the ducks themselves. This is because taking money from your pockets to feed the ducks is a loss and getting used to it can sometimes be very discouraging.
That is why it is best to properly market the ducks that will either be sold to hotels for meat or to the potential starter or beginner farmers.
The market is fairly conducive for farmers. Basically cutting the middleman out will ensure that every duck farmer can sell a kilogram of duck meat for at least 45o Kenya shillings and a duck egg at 30 Kenya shillings. So, there is light at the end of the duck farming tunnel!
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Can I make my own feed?
When mixing your feed, you know exactly what is in your feed. 70percent of your capital spent on your ducks should go to feed if you decide to make your own feed.
- DUCK FEEDING SCHEDULE;
| FEED | PERIOD |
| CHICK AND DUCKLING MASH/ PELLETS | DAY 1 TO DAY 30 |
| GROWERS MASH | FROM MONTH 2 |
Three types of ducks according to production;
- Pecking
- Black Swedish
- Blue Swedish
- Runner
- Muscovy
BENEFITS OF KEEPING DUCKS IN COMPARISON TO OTHER POULTRY;
- They require less input from the farmer.
Ducks are relatively easy to manage. Considering the minimum input in feeds, housing, and their resistance to disease, ducks may just be the easiest poultry type to keep today. Am not saying that you need not care about your ducks, am simply saying that you don’t have to worry much about the management of your ducks. Which is a great place for beginner poultry farmers to start from.
- Can be easily free ranged.
Free-ranging is a method of keeping poultry where the poultry are left to forage for themselves. Ducks are able to be kept in this system because they are hardy birds. Different breeds react to different systems of rearing. However, the common system of keeping ducks in my country is the free-range system. This makes the farming venture quite easy.
- Cheaper housing is required
Ducks do not require complicated forms of housing. A simple housing structure is fine for ducks of any kind. The right spacing for each bird within their housing should be at least one square meter.
Although duck housing is easy to handle and construct, a farmer should take care of the housing structure from time to time by maintaining its cleanliness.
- Feeding is easy
Feeding ducks is as easy as feeding free-range chickens. They do not need a lot of input in feeding. I say the best way to feed indigenous ducks is to simply create a pond for them and a source of pasture. This way, the duck is able to swim and equally regulate the kind of feeds that it takes. The only thing that a farmer can do to help the feeding situation is to provide the ducks with some source of starch to help them with an energy boost as they swim and move around throughout the day. Some sources of feed with starch are majorly produced from cereal crops.
- It is a great source of employment for unemployed youth.
Duck farming is a great way for youth to keep busy and create an extra source of income. Keeping ducks as a business has become a common and a great opportunity because of the rise of Asian and Italian restaurants in Kenya. Duck is considered a staple feed in those parts of the world.
Selling or supplying ducks to Italian and Asian restaurants is a great way to make an income.
- Ducks are sort of ornamental.
I have ever sat down to watch ducks swim and move around in a pond. According to me, it was a beautiful sight. How do they even float on water? Ducks are beautiful birds to watch especially when they are well taken care of by the farmer.
They are specifically adapted to water in a way that they cannot get wet. Fascinating!
