“Every morning, I can't wait to go see them! » Since September 23, 2024, Kenny Violette's alarm rings early. Very early. At the head since last fall of a breeding of 1,500 pairs of pigeons installed in a 700 m² building at La Roche aux Enfants in Gourgé, the thirty-year-old spends two hours there daily, from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., before take care of his two children aged 3 and 6 then continue with his main activity as a salesman in an agricultural concession, the Auriau establishments.
“A niche and very little-known profession”
“The pigeons are a supplement to my salary because I didn’t want to jeopardize my family lifeassures Kenny Violette, viscerally attached to his village of “Crémille” (commune of Saint-Loup-Lamairé). It's a project that I've been thinking about, it's been a long time since I saw this dovecote on the Internet. »
To get started with your news “small farm” and this “niche and very little-known profession”he had to put an end to the SCEA (Civil Agricultural Exploitation Company) that he orchestrated with his brother Kilian. Because Kenny Violette is not only commercial, he also took over the Assais-les-Jumeaux farm in 2022 from his cereal uncle, Didier Barré. With his SARL Les Deux Roches – in reference to La Roche Neuve in Assais whose management is entrusted to an entrepreneur and to La Roche aux Enfants in Gourgé – the breeder now wanted “fly with my own wings” with this project initiated in March 2024. Before seeing the animals arrive at the end of September.
Automation started
Two months later, on November 21, 2024, the first young pigeons, four weeks old and weighing at least 500 g, left for Volailles du Renard rouge, still in Gourgé, the exclusive outlet of Kenny Violette who invested €53,000 in its livestock and €75,000 in the building, the earthworks and the feeding system. “I am automating as much of the feed as possible, made up of 80% corn and the rest pellets, and I am considering installing a shavings vacuum cleaner: a pigeon farm is very dusty, but I want the building to is clean for animal welfare and to avoid rats”he continues, emphasizing the support and advice provided by his counterparts from Assais-les-Jumeaux and La Ferrière-en-Parthenay, Benoist Guérin and Jean-François Marteau. “ But every investment must be thoughtful and efficient, because it is a low-margin operation. » Kenny Violette, who intends to release 300 to 350 young birds per week, sells his animals for more than €7 per kilo.
