The
Kuroiler is a dual-purpose breed that was introduced in Uganda in the
year 2009 from Keggs Farms, India. Like Kenbro, Kuroiler can survive on
free range, but they need to feed continuously, a reason why they put on
weight faster than do indigenous chickens; at 4 months Kuroiler
chickens can weigh up to 3kg and 4kg in 6 months.
Farmers
rearing this breed say it has tastier meat compared to indigenous
chickens; their meat is also soft and tender. Its eggs are larger than
those of indigenous chickens. A Kuroiler hen can lay between 140-150
eggs in a year. However, Kuroiler’s quality goes down when they are
crossed with indigenous chickens.
Farmers
keeping them say Kuroiler birds are scavengers that can live on
household food leftovers and related agricultural waste. Like local
indigenous chickens, Kuroiler chickens are resistant to most diseases
although farmers are advised to vaccinate them in the same way they do
other chickens.
However,
one big disadvantage with Kuroiler chickens is that the hens cannot sit
on their eggs to hatch. Many farmers discover this fact too late.
Kuroiler chickens are therefore suitable only for farmers with
incubators.
Small-
scale farmers in the rural areas who rely on hens to hatch chicks can
only order fresh stock of chicks every time they want new stock for
breeding. Indeed poultry farmers in rural areas in Uganda are already
raising questions on the sustainability of this breed among resource
poor communities who cannot manage to buy new stocks every time they
want to rear new batches of birds.
“Unless
the government sets up hatcheries at the village level, small-scale
farmers will be exposed to businessmen with hatcheries, who will
increase chicks prices or even charge them more for hatchery services,“
says Henry Kijanji, a poultry farmer in Mafubira Sub-county, Jinja,
Uganda in a telephone interview.
Farmers interested in Kuroiler day-old chicks can contact Joseph Makumi on 0723 687 400, Gilgil.
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