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Chicken Breeding 2023

Report on our chicken breeding and egg production program to help reduce food insecurity in Hait

With funding received from HDN in 2023 the following was achieved:

Main Measurable Results to Date

  • 1 poultry house constructed (839 sq. ft)
  • 1 solar energy system installed (1500 watt)
  • 1 water supply system installed
  • 100 breeding hens housed
  • 85 eggs produced per day
  • 16,470 eggs produced
  • 1,094 chicks hatched
  • 575 cubic feet of compost produced
  • 50 local farmers trained
  • 50 new chicken and eggs farms created
  • 500 chickens distributed to beneficiaries

Project Launch

The project began in March 2023 with the hiring of staff and the preparation of warehouses for building materials and inputs for the henhouse. We therefore hired a team comprising 1 permanent worker and 1 veterinary agent to ensure the smooth development and execution of the project, and we freed up the auditorium of the farm to serve as temporary storage until construction of the henhouse was completed.

Building the Henhouse

Thanks to the support of the HDN-funded project, we were able to build one (1) 839 sq. ft henhouse for breeding chickens. To achieve this, we hired a foreman/head mason to carry out the work, which was carried out as follows: Preparing the building area, laying the foundation with concrete footings and pillars and erecting the blocks, doing the woodwork and covering the roof, concreting and masonry work, installing the doors and protective grilles, and carrying out the finishing work.

Henhouse Preparation

Once the construction is complete, we prepare nests for the hens to lay eggs, lay litter on the floor to avoid excess humidity and the unpleasant odors of hen droppings, so that the hens stay healthy. We place feeders and drinkers in sufficient quantity (1 unit per 10 hens) to avoid competition between hens. Then we bought the laying feed stocks the chickens will need for the first production cycle.

Water Supply Installation

We set up a hydrolic system to ensure proper gravity-fed water distribution to the project’s semi-automatic water troughs. The system comprises a 400-gallon water tower, a metal support raised on four piles, 30 linear meters of piping and 10 complete semi-automatic drinking troughs.

Solar Energy Installation

The project has enabled the installation of a 1500-watt solar power system to run the henhouse, including the incubators. The incubators require a great deal of energy at all times during the incubation period. As a result, the system is dedicated solely to running the henhouse. The system includes 4 Trojan 225-amp batteries, 2 400-watt solar panels placed on top of the metal supports used for the hydropower equipment, a 60-amp regulator and power line accessories.

Egg Production

In order to produce eggs and chicks, we bought 100 ready-to-lay breeding hens and roosters and placed them in the henhouse. We give them food twice a day, water, vaccinations and other sanitary care to put the hens in good condition to give eggs. Twice a day, we collect eggs from the henhouse, enabling us to achieve laying rates ranging from 85% to 90%. We have already produced 16,470 eggs during the project cycle.

Egg Marketing

The project sold more than 451 egg cartons corresponding to 13,530 eggs over the period from March to December 2023. The remaining quantity was placed in incubators for chick production.

Chick Production

Chick production started in July 2023, but could not begin before then due to difficulties encountered in the incubator acquisition process, caused by availability problems on the Haitian market and insecurity problems during the period from April to June 2023.

All the eggs we produce have been sold in the community, as we haven’t yet started producing chicks due to difficulties in purchasing incubators. We’ve had difficulties acquiring incubators because of the general insecurity in the country.

We bought two incubators to incubate 240 eggs every 21 days, producing 1094 chicks with a survival rate of 90.59%.

Composting

Thanks to the project, we have already produced 575 cubic feet of compost using green and dry organics and chicken droppings that we collect at the farm. We have used the chicken droppings to fertilize the vegetable garden in the greenhouse and in the open field.

Creation of 50 Egg Production Companies

The selected beneficiaries received short-term training in chicken breeding and small business creation at the same time as the chicks were distributed under the project. The beneficiaries identified were mostly members of vulnerable households in the five sections of the commune. We distributed 10 young laying chickens to each beneficiary in order to initiate the creation of small poultry enterprises.

Chicken Distribution

Start of chicken distribution to project beneficiaries

Beneficiaries

A beneficiary posing with chickens supplied by the project

Project Description

The chicken breeding project for meat and egg production in Haiti is being carried out with the financial support of HDN (Haitian Development Network) to improve the need for animal protein in the diet of the inhabitants of the area, while promoting the production of eggs and chicken meat in the commune.

The project is based on entrepreneurship and the Environment, while organizing and training local farmers to set up chicken coops to produce meat and eggs.

The project will help alleviate food insecurity in the region and reduce malnutrition among families. In this way, the project will help create 50 new businesses (chicken coops) enabling families to raise chickens and sell eggs locally. Project beneficiaries will use the compost, i.e. the natural fertilizer prepared from the chicken droppings in the hen houses, to improve family agricultural production.

Implementation of the project begins in the first quarter of 2023, with the construction of a 78 m2 henhouse, the rearing of 100 breeding chickens, the production and marketing of eggs, and the installation of micro-incubators that have enabled us to produce chicks, and to contribute to the creation of 50 small businesses producing eggs and chicks in the commune.

Project Status

The project is coming to an end as planned. All the project’s activities have proceeded normally, except for the production of chicks, which has slowed down a little due to difficulties in acquiring incubators in the country, as the ones we had previously identified were located in the Artibonite department. This department is completely surrounded by armed gangs, making delivery to Port-au-Prince impossible. To overcome this problem, we managed to buy 2 mini-incubators and 2 other automatic incubators to produce chicks for the creation of small poultry businesses.

Major Challenges

Insecurity and socio-political problems represented major challenges in the development of activities and the supply of certain inputs for the poultry house, including the acquisition of the incubator for hatching eggs. To deal with these problems, we opted for bulk purchases of inputs so as not to have to travel regularly to acquire them. For the incubator, we had to wait for the country’s security situation to improve until July 2023.

Project Impact

The project has a positive impact on the community:

  • The community obtains good eggs to feed itself by adding animal proteins to its diet, which were not available in sufficient quantities in the area.
  • There are schools and many other members of the public who ask to visit the henhouse to learn how to raise chickens, which will make it easier to popularize raising techniques.
  • Chicken droppings are used in composting to reduce the amount of chemical fertilizers applied to the soil, helping to protect the environment and preserve soil quality.
  • Many young people in the area are interested in taking up poultry farming.

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