Shika brown chicken, one of the best in the world – NAPRI

As an animal research institute, do you have anything that Nigerian farmers need to know in the area of poultry?In the area of poultry, particularly, we are proud of our achievement because in this institute we have developed what I call Nigerian chicken, which is known as Shika Brown. We developed it in this institute […]

As an animal research institute, do you have anything that Nigerian farmers need to know in the area of poultry?
In the area of poultry, particularly, we are proud of our achievement because in this institute we have developed what I call Nigerian chicken, which is known as Shika Brown. We developed it in this institute after about 30 years of research. The chicken is now everywhere and it is very hardy and resistant to all known diseases. Even when we had the Avian Influenza that affected most of the poultry industries in this country, the Shika Brown was not touched. That is to tell you how resilient this bird is.
Apart from doing research, we are also concerned with the pastoralists because they constitute over 90 per cent of animal requirement in this country. We are concerned with them because of the incessant crises they have with farmers. We are intervening in the way of ameliorating the conflicts. I am particularly interested and I am working with pastoralists for the past 30-35 years, and we are getting the desired results.
Can you shed more light on the issue of Shika Brown?
As I said, the research took about 30 years, and the result of this cotton-age research which took the ingenuity of scientists in NAPRI resulted to the registration of this bird. This is the first registration of any kind of genetic material in this country of animal source. We were recognised by the federal government and NAPGRAB, which is an organisation that is charged with research and validation of different products, including animals. We were given the certificate to popularise this bird. Before we did that, we conducted multi-location testing in different agro-ecological zones, including humid and dry zones in places like Sokoto, Maiduguri, Lokoja, Ibadan Abeokuta and other areas. When it was certified okay at different agro-ecological zones, we started to produce. Its resistance to various avian diseases means a lot for the farmers.
The target of Shika Brown is largely the small farmers. Our aim is to be able to empower the small and medium scale producers to give them some money in their pockets. This is becoming more effective because a farmer spends less in medication and feed. A farmer can use locally available materials to feed these birds unlike the imported ones. The imported ones cost about 10 times the Shika Brown; this takes it out of the reach of the small farmers.
Another important aspect is the mortality rate. For the imported ones, it can be as high as 50 to 60 percent, but with Shika Brown, up to the time of laying, it is less than five percent. So, it is really a poor man’s bird. Right now, the federal government is asking us to embark upon Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) to bring this technology to the doorsteps of every Nigerian poultry farmer. It is a big challenge for us, because this Shika Brown is expected to meet every farmer, small or medium scale.
Do we also have broilers and layers among the Shika Brown?
The Shika Brown we have now is the layer type: that is, the egg laying type. But it would interest you to know that the Shika Brown lays longer than the imported brands. For the farmer, he can keep on picking eggs for long period and keeps on having money in his pocket. However, we are about to conclude research on the broiler type – that is the meat type. Research has reached an advanced stage. In fact, we are almost going for multi-location testing the way we did for the Shika Brown. This is to test the viability of the bird in all the agro-ecological zones of the country. Once it has passed that stage, we can now export to West and Central Africa. In fact, there is a plan that it would be adopted by the countries in West and Central Africa. This means a lot for us, especially for the ministry and the university. It means that we are contributing to the empowerment programme of the country.
To make comparison between the Shika Brown and imported chicken, what is the difference in their laying periods?
The Shika Brown lays one and half times more than the imported ones. For instance, if the imported ones lay for one year, the Shika Brown would lay for one and half years. And if you give the Shika Brown shock-treatment, which is done by experts, where you starve the birds of feed and water for some time, it would affect their reproductive system where it would become dormant. When you restart feeding them again, they would start laying all over again and it would take them about one and half years laying, again. But this has to be done scientifically. This is the beauty of this bird; it is so tough, you need little capital to start. For instance, the Shika Brown fullest, that is, the day-old chick, sells for N160, while the imported ones cost about 10 times of this. By this, where would the farmers get this money? So, we had the farmers in mind when we developed this technology. A farmer would get the desirable eggs and body weight within the period of 28 weeks and with low feed. At this period, the bird can weigh up to 2kg. These are some of the advantages.
A smallholder farmer that wants to start a poultry business with 100 birds of Shika Brown, what are the things he would require?
In fact, that is what the federal government’s idea is; that we should get 10,000 farmers in each state and each farmer to have 100 fullest. They are expected to take care of them up to the time they would start laying eggs. By the time they start laying eggs, the chickens would be paying for themselves. A farmer doesn’t have to spend his money again but save money. At the end of the day, the farmer would sell the chickens as spent-layers and make as much money as he would make with broilers.
As individual farmer that wants to start with 100 Shika Brown, you need very little. What you need is to construct a deep-litter not battery cage because they are more expensive. This deep-litter can be 10 by 12 like the size of a bedroom and safeguard it with mesh and zinc. Depending on the direction of the sun, a farmer has to shed them from direct sunlight. A farmer also needs sawdust, feeders and drinkers those are the things a farmer needs. Including the chicks, the structures and other materials, a farmer would not need more than N50,000 through direct labour. A farmer would need a veterinarian for guidance on when to do vaccination and other activities. As time goes on, a farmer can learn from veterinarian, because most of the drugs are put in water for the birds.
How long does it take for Shika Brown to start laying from the day it was hatched?
It takes about 28 weeks when a farmer would start picking his eggs. Their feed is largely made from maize, soya beans cake and groundnut cake. The institute can also assist farmers in confounding his rations. We can give farmers the formula. We have formulas for confounding rations for different types of birds according to their level of growth. A farmer can make his feed himself, and that is the best way of making profit in poultry farming. In the total cost outlay of poultry, feeding takes about 80 per cent. A farmer should confound his ration to be sure of his ingredients.
We are a public organisation. We are here to serve Nigerian farmers. Our scientists are more than ready to attend to farmers. In fact, we have been encouraging people to come in and ask questions. We would take them round to see what we have. There should be an active collaboration between the institute and our farmers, therefore farmers are always welcome to the institute.
Are there challenges that are hindering the operations of the institute?
We were set up originally to do research. The researches we conduct are supposed to be passed on to private organisations to commercialise. The demand for Shika Brown is so overwhelming, because of its performance on the field. This makes it difficult for us to generate fullest, day-old chicks, to go round the country. We have a limited capacity in our hatchery. Right now, we don’t have more than 33,000 egg capacity to distribute in the country. This is like a drop in the ocean. This makes it imperative to partner with private sectors in different agro-ecological zones. This would allow us to give them our fertile eggs to hatch for farmers within their vicinities. This is the only way, because even acquiring bigger hatchery cannot serve the whole country but would only increase our capacity. If people know our Shika Brown, they would stop going for imported birds.