Course Overview

Through the INVEST Africa partnership of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), representatives of Thika Technical Training Institute and Rift Valley Technical Training Institute in Kenya developed a course on poultry keeping for non-formal community training. Poultry keeping is one of the most popular forms of business among small-scale farmers. This is because poultry requires little capital, is easy to rear and easy to manage. Poultry keeping thus provides farmers with a great opportunity to start an income generating activity. The aim of this course is to provide learners with all the knowledge and skills needed to raise poultry for meat and eggs and manage a small-scale commercial poultry business.

Learning Outcomes

1. Explain the economic importance of poultry farming
2. Determine the best housing design for your poultry project
3. Identify a suitable breed for your poultry project
4. Determine the best poultry management system to use for your project
5. Formulate feed rations based on the nutrient requirements of your chicken
6. Implement routine poultry management practices such as, poultry hygiene, debeaking, pasting and detoeing;
7. Identify poultry diseases and take the necessary control measures

Syllabus

Unit 1: Introduction to Poultry Keeping
Unit 2: Poultry Housing
Unit 3: Breeds of Poultry
Unit 4: Poultry management systems
Unit 5: Feed management
Unit 6: Routine poultry management practices
Unit 7: Health management
Unit 8: Poultry products and marketing