The occurrence of Covid19 has presented both challenges and opportunities for businesses. Some people have made positive changes and successfully tried out new ventures while others have had their long-standing ventures shaken.
When the pandemic hit the country exactly a year ago, lives were disrupted as children had to stay home following closure of schools, parents had to look for alternative sources of income and businesses changed their normal operations as people were discouraged from visiting crowded areas.
This affected even the small holder farmer in many ways. For some poultry keepers, there were more expenses as they were forced to buy locally feeds and other inputs that they were used to importing at cheaper prices after borders were closed. At the same time markets started dwindling. Many poultry keepers have cried foul that the occasions such as wedding celebrations and other events that offered markets were prohibited and so their sales became slow. But even as these challenges frustrated some poultry keepers, one Karanja Mung’ethu, 92 noticed a gap, as new entrants sought to join the poultry business, owing to the need to generate more income to cater for increasing household needs while making better use of time spent at home. He saw a great opportunity and wittily set up a business to supply chicks, feeds, training, and vaccine programmes to farmers, including youth, looking to start rearing chickens.
Mr Mung’ethu partnered with Brenda Wavinya 24, and they established Blissful Birds Enterprise, in their home area in Kitale, TransNzoia County. The model farm was established with an aim to benefit all those interested in starting a poultry business in the area.
“When coronavirus started to affect the country in March 2020, many people were stuck at home,” remarks Mr. Karanja. “Parents were in the company of teenagers and young adults and a source of income to sustain the increasing household needs was needed. There was a demand for chicks as more and more families utilized small spaces to keep chicken,” says Karanja.
At the farm, the duo provides training on how to successfully keep chicken for profits; feeds for those already in the business and vaccines for the birds.
“We source ingredients from local stores and mix to make our own feeds to sell to farmers. A 50 kg bag sells at Kes1900 and a kilo at Kshs50. We also sell packs of 5kgs, 10kgs and 25kgs. The feeds include chick mash, growers mash and kienyeji mash.
On average, Blissful Birds Enterprise sells 2 trays of 30 eggs each daily. The eggs for consumption range between Kes10 to Kes13 depending on market demand.
Approximately, 50 mature incubation eggs are sold weekly. An incubation egg costs between Kes25 toKes30. On average, Blissful sells 100-200 day-old chicks at Kes100 to Kes120 per bird weekly and with good business, the enterprise can sell up to 500 chicks in a week. Recently, demand for 2 weeks old chicks has been on the rise and the enterprise sells approximately 80 -100 chicks after 2-3 weeks at Kes250 per bird.
“We also partner with local Agrovets and veterinary extension officers to help with supply and administration of poultry vaccines to our customers,” says Karanja.
The business boasts a variety of birds including turkey, geese, Muscovy ducks and Guinea fowl. “Our vision is to have a variety of birds, including ornamental birds,” says Wavinya the business co-owner pointing out that demand for bird pets has risen sharply in the recent past.
To ensure a sustained availability of chicks, the duo purchased electric-powered incubators with a hatching capacity of more than 560 eggs per cycle to complement some of the natural incubation approaches like using turkey to produce at least 70 chicks within 43 days.
Karanja observes that the improved kienyeji species is slowly gaining popularity in Kenya, whether at home or in the public, owing to its competitive attributes including the short time it takes to fully mature, a relatively lower feed expense and their rich nutritional value.
Hi, am a farmer in Kitale. I want to compare notes and bench mark from the featured farmers. Kindly help