Sep 2016In 2015, Clement Pilusa (then 26) walked away with the title of SAB Kickstart and an accompanying grant fund of R500 000 for the development of his business, Pilusa and Mabotja Farming. This amount was in addition to the R170 000 seed capital received at the start of the year. However, what is so special about Clement is not only the fact that he is an achiever, but that he is intent on helping others learn and grow with him, so that they can also become achievers in their own right.
Read more Apr 2014I started at Alfa Chicks in September of 2009, and one of the things I have noticed in my four and a half years in this business is that the presence of young people in the market which we supply (being the small and developing farmers) is noticeably lacking.
According to Statistics South Africa, in the third quarter of 2012, 71% of unemployed people were between the ages of 25 and 34 years.
Read more Mar 2014Many broiler farmers with whom I come into contact will often ask me if I can assist them in finding a market for the sale of their chickens. I respond by asking them whether they know of any suppliers who assist their customers in finding a market for the products they purchase from those suppliers. Can you imagine a corner grocery store that purchases groceries in bulk from Makro, then asking Makro to find them customers for their product?
Read more Feb 2014If you want to succeed in broiler farming, you have to participate in the process. Too often I see producers limiting their involvement to buying day-old chicks, feed and medicines, throwing them all into a cage and hoping that mortalities will be low and production weights high.
Other meanings of the word ‘participation’ include: contribution, input, sharing, partaking, involvement and membership.
Yes, dear producer, you need to participate in the process of taking a day old chick and raising it to the correct weight and conditi on in the most efficient or cost effective manner and in as short a time span as possible.
Read more Jun 2013In response to Carte Blanche’s onesided and incomplete representation of the problems affecting the poultry industry in South Africa, I would like to raise the following points or concerns.
The show was very one-sided and edited in such a way that the local poultry industry was made to look like crooks who are hell bent on cheati ng the South African poultry consumer. The complete story was not in my mind presented to the viewers, and it would appear as though the smaller chicken farmers and their dependants were not even considered.
Read more Jun 2013In our previous article we discussed the importance of temperature in the production of broiler chicks. My plan was to discuss ventilation in this article, however due to the cold winter that we are experiencing and the problems that we are seeing in the field, it is clear that we need to revisit the importance of temperature control in the cage.
Temperature Remember, temperature is king! If you can maintain the cage temperature as required you are well on your way to raising healthy, big and uniform chickens within the shortest possible period.
Read more May 2013The continuous growth in the South African demand for poultry has always attracted farmers, both big and small, who have identified potential markets for their poultry products, be they live or slaughtered chickens. As a result, many people and families take up poultry farming on a small to medium scale to supplement their income - and some of the more serious small farmers manage to provide for their families’ basic and other needs, such as the cost of higher education, from their poultry businesses.
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