The first day of eight days of practical training here at the Grannies Poultry Project.  Poultry experts from Noch Solutions will conduct eight full days, over eight weeks, of hands-on, on-site training with the group.  After the first day, I’m exhausted.

The fist morning started by disinfecting and cleaning the coop, the waterers and feeders, and laying down fresh sawdust. The new coop, which was recently renovated by G.R.O. Foundation, can easily hold up to 400 meat birds.

By 12:00, Ntate Moshe and Jazzy arrived with 200 day-old baby chicks and 16 bags of feed.  Each chick was carefully unpacked and counted, while Thekanyane carefully dipped each chick’s beak in the waterers containing a special blend of electrolytes and sugars.

From day-old, these chicks will be 2.3kg butcher-ready meat birds in 6 weeks.  They will consume 1600 kgs of feed, and they will require a lot of work and attention.  The goal is to quadrouple production from 100 monthly to 400 monthly.  This major increase in production also means in increase in profits available to the Grannies Support Group.   The Grannies have recruited the help of three orphaned young adults in their community who will paid support workers on their project, creating jobs and developing sustainable skills.

We are looking forward to watching the Grannies and their chicks grow in 2010.  Thank you to everyone who helped purchase the chicks through the Gifts of Hope campaign, and to the Canada Fund who helped us provide the practical training. You can learn more about the project at www.grofoundation.org

Posted under Letters from Lesotho