As the rise in unemployment continues to bite in the country, many Kenyans have been looking for ways to survive rather than concentrating on white-collar jobs.
Such is the story of Immaculate Ochieng , who saw there was no need to remain a stay-at-home mom, but there was a need to start up a business that would bring food to the table
Here is her story as told by Awuorinspirationhub.
Immaculate’s business journey began when she received money from her chamaa savings, where she saw the opportunity to start a chicken business in 2012.
Initially, Immaculate purchased a 60-capacity egg incubator and two crates of eggs amounting to Sh. 1,800.
She also received support from her husband, who helped her expand her business empire.
“I started this business after getting tired of being a stay-at-home mom. I talked to my husband, and he agreed to support me. He bought the birds and built the poultry house. I later bought the incubator for Sh. 44,000 and the feed mixer,” she said.
Up to date, her business has grown to the extent that she now has more than 700 kuroilers chickens.
“I sell eggs and birds for meat and hatch chicks. I have been doing this for over three years now,” she said.
Immaculate also has a 3,000-egg capacity incubator that she uses to hatch eggs for sale and offers brooding services to farmers, which involves vaccinating chicks, keeping them in a brooder, and feeding them.
Immaculate claims that she collects 860 eggs every two weeks, keeping up to 350 for hatching. She also sells unfertilized eggs at Sh. 330 per crate and fertilized ones at Sh. 900.
She sells hatched chicks, ranging from 300 to 500 each week.
To avoid the high cost of buying feeds, she purchases ingredients, including maize germ, sunflower and cotton seed cake, pollard, grounded shells, and salt from dealers in Kisumu.
“It’s advisable to have one reliable supplier to buy the ingredients for accountability. Besides, some of the ingredients sold in the market are contaminated and may affect the chickens,” advised Immaculate.
Immaculate asserts that the poultry business has allowed her to sit with the high and mighty in the farming business.
