Layer Chicken
Gallus gallus domesticus
Domestic chicken bred and managed specifically for commercial egg production, as distinct from broilers (meat) or indigenous/kienyeji dual-purpose birds.
Species
Avian
Family
Phasianidae
Climate requirements
Tolerates a wide climatic range but performs best at 18-28C; requires well-ventilated, draught-free housing to manage heat stress in hot lowland areas and cold stress at high altitude, since both extremes depress egg production.
Husbandry guide
House layers at 4-5 birds/sqm in a well-ventilated, predator-proof coop with individual or communal nest boxes (1 box per 4-5 birds) and 10-12 hours of light per day (supplemented artificially) to sustain lay. Feed a balanced layers mash (16-18% protein) ad-lib alongside free-choice calcium (oyster shell/limestone grit) for shell quality, and provide clean water at all times - a laying hen drinks roughly 200-250ml/day. Vaccinate on the standard schedule (Newcastle, Gumboro/IBD, fowl typhoid, fowl pox) and collect eggs at least twice daily to reduce breakage and egg-eating.
Economic importance
Egg production is one of the fastest cash-cycle livestock enterprises available to Kenyan smallholders, with layers reaching point-of-lay in about 18-20 weeks and producing an egg roughly every 24-26 hours for 12+ months, providing steady weekly income and a widely traded, price-stable commodity.
Breeds
Naked neck Frizzle Feathered
Primary uses: Meat. FAO DAD-IS conservation risk status (Kenya): Unknown.
White Leghorn
A small-bodied, light layer breed that converts feed efficiently into eggs rather than body mass; alert, active and a poor sitter/brooder, laying white-shelled eggs.
Among the highest egg producers of any layer breed: 280-320 white eggs/year under commercial management, reaching point-of-lay around 18-20 weeks.
Rhode Island Red
A hardy, deep-red-brown dual-purpose breed commonly used as a commercial layer parent line in Kenya; more heat and disease tolerant than White Leghorn, with brown-shelled eggs.
Produces 250-300 brown eggs/year with a heavier carcass than Leghorn, giving useful spent-hen meat value at the end of lay.
Frizzle Feathered
Primary uses: Eggs, Fuel Manure, Meat. FAO DAD-IS conservation risk status (Kenya): Unknown.
Kenyan Indigenous Chicken
Primary uses: Eggs, Fuel Manure, Meat. FAO DAD-IS conservation risk status (Kenya): Not at risk.
Naked neck
Primary uses: Eggs, Fuel Manure, Meat. FAO DAD-IS conservation risk status (Kenya): Unknown.
Red Leghorn
Primary uses: Eggs, Fuel Manure, Meat. FAO DAD-IS conservation risk status (Kenya): Unknown.
Sussex
Primary uses: Eggs, Fuel Manure, Meat. FAO DAD-IS conservation risk status (Kenya): Unknown.