Manyeveni entrepreneur takes safety measures to ensure healthy chickens
Thembisile Mabuza said taking the right safety measures for her chickens helps her to attract more customers from different areas in and outside her community.
A local entrepreneur, Thembisile Mabuza (32), takes the necessary precautions to ensure that her chickens do not contract avian flu.
These measures will ensure that she will still be able to continue to earn an income for her family and her three employees.
In June, some chicken farms in Mpumalanga experienced an outbreak of avian flu due to the highly infectious H7 strain.
According to Mabuza, owner of Manthe Business Enterprise, who has been in the chicken business since 2020, it is important to vaccinate chickens as as soon as they arrive in their shelters. She grows broiler chickens for resale.
”I currently have three shelters that accommodate more than 3 000 chickens. Imagine if that number get sick. I will lose many of them and will not be able to pay my employees and expenses. However, once we see that a chicken is showing signs of avian flu, we separate it from the others and treat it. I also make sure that my shelters are always clean. I use different types of medications including the Gumbohatch vaccination for the 16-day-old chicks. After 16 days, we give them a dose of the Newcastle vaccine,” she said.
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Mabuza started her business after she received start-up capital of R2 800 from the Department of Agriculture.
She used to keep the chickens in her backroom, which was not big enough to have more than 100. She made sure that the capital was used wisely to grow her idea into a long-lasting business as she was unemployed.
Mabuza said she managed to build two more shelters for her chickens after she received funding from the Premier’s Youth Development Fund.
She also employed three locals from her community in Manyeveni.
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Despite load-shedding challenges, she said she uses social media to boost and attract more customers.
”Social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp have helped me get costumers from KaNyamazane, Pienaar and the surrounding area. This has motivated me and my team to make sure that we supply healthy chickens.”
