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Five and a half , Jason came home to announce that 1000 chicks were arriving in two days’ time and “we are starting the chicken farm that you said you wanted.”
Little did we know, I was newly pregnant and while I had mentioned that I was interested in expanding the chicken project I’d been dabbling in, I hadn’t quite envisaged growing to 1000 day-old chicks with only a 48-hour head start.
But this is how Jason works.
Everything started in the garage of our rented home. We didn’t have a premises secured. We reconfigured the double garage, hung infrared warming lamps and hired some helpers, who would help us nurture the hoard. On both night before the chicks arrived, we worked well into the night with the welder and electrician to get the garage ready.
I also learned something important about the Shona culture. We had about four men working alongside us on one of the nights before the chicks arrived. It was approaching dinner time and I hauled some meat out of the freezer and whipped up a stew with mounds of rice to feed us all. I marched to the garage to announce that everyone should take a break and eat. The men declined the meal and knowing how much I had bubbling away in the kitchen, I needed to know why. They explained that in their culture if they arrive home to their wives not hungry, their wives would be furious and assume that they’d eaten at their mistresses’ house. Eating what I had prepared wasn’t worth the conflict at home. So, they proceeded to work until 10 pm without food.
As the grim experience of my first trimester ensued, it became clear that I would not be heading up this project and Jason took the reins, while maintaining his full-time job.
The rush of it all was harrowing and I always smile at our tenacity back then.
We swiftly found a plot of land to move to and for the following 6 months or so, we were in the business of chicken rearing. We made enough profit for us to go on a big overseas honeymoon (4 years after our wedding) and then we shut it all down. Our national electricity cuts were getting really bad and there were major water supply issues in our area. It felt like the chicken farm was a long-awaited way for us to make enough to travel and then it was all over.
Jas learned a heap and I picked up a lot of lessons, too. As we walked away we both agreed that we never wanted to go into chicken-rearing again.
Whilst we liked certain parts of it, it was so very frustrating how our breed of broilers we get here seem to have a life purpose of killing themselves from the stupid things they do.
5.5 Years Later
I picked up 23 chicks this morning!
14 x 1-week-old chicks
9 x 1-day-old chicks
And guess where they’re spending their first 2 weeks? … In the garage of our rented home.
I know.
But the difference is (to me) … that we have 23 and not 1000. That’s what I keep telling myself.
Jason isn’t as positive as me, but it was a decision we both made.
There are a number of reasons that we are both on board for this small project:
I just don’t feel qualified enough to explain everything that has gone on in Zimbabwe in the past few weeks. But to put it simply, our food prices have increased by 25–100% within the space of a few short weeks. As everything with Zimbabwe, there is a very long and intricate story around this, but the bottom line is that eating is expensive, and the more affordable options come from force-fed animal factories. And we aren’t into that kind of thing if we can help it. Raising our own chickens will save us money and make sure that at least one of our meat sources is from a wholesome source.
I asked around for a chicken breed that can lay eggs and will sit and hatch the eggs, as well as a chicken that tastes good. I received a few suggestions, one being Sasso 431 breed. The tricky part is that most suppliers of chicks are based far away, and we don’t have any reputable livestock couriers (that I know about). But yesterday, someone advertised Sasso 431 day-old chicks in our town WhatsApp group. Badda-Bing-Badda-Boom … I tootled off to the closest farming shop and got all the things we needed to.
On Carrington, we want to try our best to have livestock that can breed and replace themselves – if that makes sense? And apparently, Sasso chickens do this. So, we will send some of our chickens to freezer camp when the time is right but keep a few to lay eggs and hatch a new batch to raise.
As is common in Zimbabwe, we have both domestic and garden staff. When we process our chickens, they will also benefit from this project because over here, almost everything from a chicken is eaten: the intestines, feat, heads, hearts and gizzards.
My compost heap will LOVE the extra manure. My 10 layer chickens are free-range and so I don’t gather much manure from them. Having more chickens will add to the manure pile and then go into the compost heap.
Do you keep chickens? Is there anything you want to know more about raising chickens or our setup? You’re welcome to leave a comment.