Chicken farming has become one of the best alternative’s to white collar jobs in Kenya, with many youths opting to start the business than wait to knock a thousand offices for employment.Poultry farming is dominated by chicken rearing in Kenya.This article focuses on chicken rearing and profits generated from the industry.
It all starts when you have a simple idea of only keeping a single chicken which you got as a present from your grandmother. After 12 months, you realize that it has grown so big and the surrounding is in need of one, you then decide to sell it for Sh 500.After thinking for a while, you buy two small chicks with the Sh 500,one at Ksh 100.Then keep them for three months and sell them at Ksh 500 each. This gives you hope that you could be the next Steve Jobs.
One morning, you decide to ask your father for assistance. As a parent he decides not to disappoint you, after all he has supported you ever since you were zero years.After revealing to him about the idea, he nodes and promises to give you a concrete answer in two hours’ time.
After exactly two hours, he comes with the Ksh 20,000 you asked for and he warns you against misusing the money he has toiled for for several years. The following morning you decide to purchase 100 chickens at Ksh 100.After 3 months, you sell them at Ksh 300 each. Making a cool Ksh 20,000.This is how business starts, we call it the power of entrepreneurship.
I had a chance to rear chicken in Mombasa in the year 2000 and from the experience I got, I must admit that the industry is swimming in money.
Chicken rearing is a lucrative business in Kenya, one of the few businesses where the owner is guaranteed profits. It doesn’t matter where one sets up the business, what matters is whether the chicken will mature for the market.
On average, chicken take 5 weeks to mature in Kenya-but the traditional ones take at least 3 months. It implies that if you buy your chicken today, you will wait for exactly one month to cash o them.
The secret to making good money from chicken rearing in Kenya is to keep at least 1000 at a time. This will assure you at least a profit of Ksh 50,000 per month.
One of the challenges of chicken rearing is that you must always be available to provide food at least thrice a day and also give them water at least twice a day.
Another challenge is that if there is an outbreak, you might lose a significant number of your precious chicken if you don’t use appropriate drugs.
All in all, no business lack risks, in fact businesses with good returns have the most serious risks, chicken rearing being among them.
In order to start chicken rearing business in Kenya, you require a capital of at least Ksh 5,000 if it’s small scale and Ksh 100,000 if it’s large scale.
Don’t fear to try even if it’s obvious you’ll fail, even if you’ll fail it you will learn something that could make you even better next time.