Kenchic Limited has announced a five-shilling increment for its day-old layer, broiler, and Kenbro chicks. The price change which will take effect on Monday of next month means they will now retail for Sh140, Sh100, and Sh110 respectively.

In a letter to its customers, East Africa’s biggest supplier of chicks cited a weakened shilling and rising fuel costs as the main reasons for the price hike.

Related News: Water helps avoid deaths in day old chicks

Related News:Kiambu farmers reduce young chicks’ deaths by half

“Since the start of the year, changes in global economic conditions have resulted in a weakening Kenyan shilling versus the dollar,” read part of a statement from the company’s Managing Director Jim Tozer.

This, the company said, had made it expensive to source quality breeders, raw materials, and goods such as packaging material and hatchery spares both locally and internationally.

Further, Kenchic said it has had to shoulder unprecedented fuel costs which broke the 200-shilling barrier earlier this month. “This has influenced our operations both directly and indirectly in terms of transportation, manufacturing, and production processes.”

Related News: Achieving 300 chicks per year with 10 indigenous (kienyeji) chicken

Earlier this week, Kenya Poultry Breeders Association Co-ordinator Humphrey Mbugua warned of a looming chick shortage in the country as a result of sub-standard and unaccredited hatcheries littered across the country. “These sell chicks with high mortality rates to farmers in a country where the existing daily demand isn’t even being met,” he said.

Are you a farmer looking to grow the most profitable crop on your farm, with or without irrigation. Use FarmBizAfrica’s HarvestMAX on https://harvestmax.farmbizapps.com and it will tell you in less than a minute what the highest income-earning crops are for your weather, soil type and this season, based on your seasonal weather forecast. Don’t make weather losses ever again, and more than triple your income.

Photo Courtesy: Kenchic