Boresha Farm owner Peter Maina collects eggs from his chicken farm at Lunza in Kakamega county. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

Noisy chicken welcome you to Boresha Farm at Lunza village in Kakamega County. Chicken

The two-acre farm along Sigalala – Butere road is owned by Peter Maina and is easily accessible to customers who want eggs, chicks and pigs.

Currently, the farm has 15,000 birds of which 6,000 are layers. The breeds are Rainbow rooster, Premium improved kienyeji and Kuroiler. Maina also keeps hundreds of pigs.

To protect the investment, Maina has installed CCTV cameras and has two German shepherd dogs and guards. 

Maina says that though the business has broken even, it has been a journey of highs and lows.

“I started poultry keeping in 2013 and as expected, I learnt rules of the game the hard way. Since I wanted to focus on egg production, I adopted the battery cage system of poultry rearing. Every day, we collect at least 5,600 eggs from the cages which we sell in various markets in Western,” he says.

For his improved breeds, every month, they hatch 8,000 chicks which are sold locally.  



“A month old chick costs Sh250, cock Sh1,000 each while day-old layers go for Sh650,” says Maina who also runs a security firm called Kleen Homes Security Services in Nairobi.

Diversify income

To diversify his income, ventured into pig farming in 2017. He keeps Large white, Landrace and Duroc pig breeds sourced from a certified farm in Nakuru. One of his main clients collects between 45 and 60 pigs from the farm every month.

“I was linked to them during the conception of our pig farm. When we were doing our research and approached them to guide us. They visited the farm and were impressed with our setup.

“We bought our first five pigs from them. Afterward we entered into a contract with them. They send a representative to the farm every month to check on the progress and give us guidance on where to improve our practices,” he says.



The farm fattens the pigs until they are 80 to 100 kilogrammes then sells them.

“We inject new born pigs with iron and do teeth clipping to reduce injuries to each other and their mother during nursing.”

The male pigs meant for meat are also castrated and dewormed. 

Like most farmers, he has been affected by the high cost of feeds. To get around that, Maina set up a mini-milling and mixing plant called Jenga Feeds Ltd in Sabatia market.

“I started processing the feeds to minimise production costs. We import raw materials like soy bean, omena and cotton and sunflower cake from Uganda and Tanzania,” says Dr Wasuna Manase, the factory’s manager.

Like all farmers, they have faced serious challenges. Most memorable is a nasty experience with brokers.

Winning strategies

“There was a time we were looking for market to sell our pigs and we were approached by a broker who paid us three times less what our pigs were worth. It was a tough learning experience.”

They have also suffered serious losses. Some time back, they bought 1,500 chicks which all died after a short while.

“It was a big blow because we had already bought cages, feeds, hired workers and invested heavily in the infrastructure. That was the turning point for us,” Maina says.

Some of the winning strategies at the farm

Walter Rono, the livestock expert at the farm says biosecurity remains a priority. 

“People are not allowed in unless it is extremely necessary and all safety precautions have to be observed,” says Rono.

Fencing is also key. A good fence shields the animals from many external factors. 

The farm has set up quarantine area for the sick animals and a designated area where they dispose of animals which have died from different diseases. 

“As a rule, when we bring in a new animal, we keep it in the quarantine area for a few days before it is released. That way we control disease spread.”