After five-year job hunt, I found my success in chicks

Like many farmers, Faith Jeptoo has had several false starts before she found her footing.

The 29-year-old is redefining poultry farming and business in Mosoriot, Nandi County. But it has not been an easy walk.

In 2012 when she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Nairobi, Jeptoo had high hopes of landing a job and earning a good salary.

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But five years on, no formal job opportunity was forthcoming. She gave up on the search and ventured into poultry keeping. She is now the proud proprietor of Imani Poultry and Equipment located near Mosoriot Primary School.

Jeptoo heard about opportunities for women and youth in government contracts and registered a company with the help of her husband, an IT expert based in Australia.

Thereafter, she landed two contracts – one to supply grains to Uasin Gishu County and another to construct a road in Taita Taveta County.

Never give up

But delays in payment for the supply and works dispirited Jeptoo, prompting her to shift to dairy farming. But she dropped this late last year after the costs of producing milk went up. She was in dairy farming between 2018 and 2019.

Relentless, Jeptoo took another risk in January this year and dived into poultry business.

“In January, I met a friend who was successful in poultry farming and I chose to buy into her idea and make it better,” Jeptoo explains.

She walked into Kuku Chick, Eldoret branch, and bought 100 improved kienyeji chicks (layers) for a start.

Initially, Jeptoo had a plan to nurture the chicks, get more layers and become a supplier of eggs.

“After buying my first 100 chicks, the thought of hatching eggs and selling chicks instead of eggs crossed my mind. With a soft loan from my family, I acquired two incubators and started a hatchery after my layers started producing eggs,” Jeptoo says.

Her two incubators could hatch 2,464 eggs.

Now, on average she sells 400 day-old chicks in a week, something she has done since April – and she can’t meet rising demand.

“I get orders for at least 700 day-old chicks every week but I can only deliver 400.”

She sells day-old chicks at Sh100 each, making Sh40,000 per week.

Blessing in disguise

Jeptoo attributes her success in incubation and sale of chicks to the current Covid-19 pandemic.

“For us poultry farmers, we are grateful to God business is booming because people are at home and are eating,” she says.

Her clients are spread across Nandi to Uasin Gishu and with online traffic, she is getting new orders from as far as Kericho.

To meet the increasing demand, Jeptoo bought 300 fertilised eggs at Sh15 each from selected farmers.

The 100 eggs she produces per day is just 50 per cent of the 600 eggs she incubates every week.

“Fertilised eggs bought from farmers, however, came with their problems. Their incubation rate was lower than the ones I produce,” she says.

“My incubation rate is between 70 per cent and 80 per cent. Even with this rate, the returns are still good.”

Another setback is adulterated chicken feeds in the market.

She once fell victim to chicken feed that didn’t have the required nutrients, but now she has learnt to deal with licensed sellers.

To cushion her business from losses ocassioned by blackouts, she has installed a standby generator to minimise damages to eggs during power cuts.

On marketing, Jeptoo says her background in commerce turned out to be useful.

“I always wanted to be a manager because I studied commerce in university. So, when I started my poultry farm, my knowledge in business management became useful,” she explains.

She says local veterinary officers have also been helpful in vaccinating her chicks before she sells them.

Online marketing

She has established a website and a Facebook page where she interacts with her customers.

“Initially, I did not believe that online platforms would be the best marketing tools. I was impressed by the results,” she says.

Ever innovative, Jeptoo also has two poultry units and a brooder where she nurtures chicks that may not have been bought during day one of hatching.

But the brooder has been empty for nearly a month because day-old chick orders have been overwhelming.

And her future plans are big. 

“To meet market demand, I plan to acquire two more incubators and increase the number of layers to complement what I get from other farmers,” the farmer says.

She ultimately wants to own a modern hatchery and join the big leagues.

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