Pecking order

There are nine chicken houses at The Shed, and Ken built every one of them. The floors are covered with wood shavings, and chicks are given plenty of food and fresh water. The houses are ventilated, and expansive curtains hang above every window, ready to be dropped in cold weather.

“Chickens can take cold but they hate a cold wind. When they’re cold they don’t eat – they sit and try to keep warm. And if they don’t eat, they don’t grow as fast,” says Ken.

Farmers don’t escape load shedding. With power cuts and failures a common occurrence, the Colletts bought gas heaters for the broiler houses and huge gas lights that heat 1 500 chicks at a time. “The first two weeks in a chick’s life are critical. Chickens need to be settled quickly and kept warm, or mortality increases and production decreases. Dayold chicks are placed on a bedding of wood shavings and given a ‘stress pack’ of vitamins and amino acids for the first three days. They are brooded under full lights, at between 25˚C and 30˚C, for two weeks in summer and three weeks in winter. They need an extra week in winter so they grow more meat and feathers to cope with the cold nights.”

Climate change has caused temperatures to rise here, leading to more heat-related deaths. “We’ve had to invest in freestanding fans and sprinklers on the roofs to cool down the chicken houses,” says Ken.

They were also forced to buy a generator after political unrest in December 2014 prevented their staff from coming to work. “Between the unrest and load shedding, we lost R60 000 in December. We couldn’t make deliveries or do any processing, so we bought a generator to prevent a repeat.”