Why a Rooster in Vihiga County Costs Sh.1200 this Festive Season

Business men and women in Vihiga County have a double share of happiness because of the booming poultry business at this time of the year. The reason the farmers are smiling all the way to the bank is because of the cultural circumcision ceremony that is ongoing.

The boys from the region especially of the Tiriki sub tribe of the larger Luhya community are undergoing this important rite of passage. The ceremony is conducted after very five years and in the fifth year it is celebrated in a more special way, usually during the August and December holidays when children are out of school. More so, it is almost the end of the year and the Christmas and New Year festivities are just around the corner meaning that there is so much going on business-wise in Vihiga County.

Chicken farmers and business men are the happiest lot compared to others in Vihiga. At the circumcision festivals for the Tiriki people, what the initiates eat during the period they are in the forest matters a lot and chicken is a must, especially on the first day when the initiates they leave their homes for the forest.

“During circumcision only cocks are the required species for the initiates concerning the exercise they go through while in the forest and during this time a cock coasts sh. 1200 up from sh. 800 that it normally costs,” says Meshack Lunalo a business man who has been in the business for almost 10 years now.

He adds that since the circumcision period takes longer before another one is conducted this is the time they have. Aside from that, with the Christmas and the New Year’s festivities, families are bonding after a long year of ups and downs with busy work schedules and the chicken delicacy is what tightens the bond for the Luhya families.

This can only mean a normal chicken specifically in most parts of the Vihiga County markets costs between sh. 800 to sh. 1000 each up from between sh. 500 and sh. 600 on normal occasions.

Article by Shillah Mwadosho.