FAST FACTS
- Helene Roodt ascribes her success in the poultry show ring to the individual attention she gives to each bird in her flock.
- Top-quality show chickens are quite expensive, and currently trade for between R700 and R1 200.
- Roodt’s favourite chicken breed is the medium-sized Wyandotte.
Nobody could ever accuse Helene Roodt, owner of the Royal Feathers show chicken flock in the Vredefort district, of not properly caring for her chickens and other poultry.
“I’m besotted with my poultry. If I didn’t have an individual relationship with each one, it would be difficult to perform well in the show ring. Some people’s opinions of chickens are that they’re dim-witted, but I believe they’re intelligent and sensitive animals that know exactly what is expected of them in a show,” she says.
Following the termination of her dog-breeding business about six years ago, Roodt considered a number of new options, but settled on breeding show chickens because, as she puts it, she wanted to farm something that she could cuddle and hug. And what was initially just a hobby for her has since become a full-time job.
A SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT
Show chicken breeding is a surprisingly complex and capital-intensive concern. Good-quality hens trade for between R700 and R1 200 each, and the Wyandotte and Speckled Sussex are the most popular, selling for around R1 000 each, according to Roodt. It costs her about R600 to raise one show chicken to point of lay at six to seven months old, and their eggs sell for up to R80 each.
Roodt has an extended clientele base in South Africa and has also exported birds to Botswana.
This story is from the September 10, 2021 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
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This story is from the September 10, 2021 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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