Diary of a poultry farmer: Overcoming fear to start poultry venture

Where do you start when you have everything one needs to begin a poultry farm? That is the question I received from Peter Mbulo, who has land, water and capital and wants to venture into poultry farming. This week, I answer his question and all others that you sent.

I’m interested in rearing chicken but I’m unsure where to start despite poring over your articles every Saturday. I’d settled on contract farming with a commercial hatchery who’d guaranteed market but they closed business.

They were to supply a minimum of 3,000 chicks, feeds and all the vaccines. I’d bought a piece of land, drilled a borehole and fenced it off but have no idea how to proceed short of a ready market. I also don’t want to start small.

What advice can you give me at this point?
Peter Mbulo

First, make sure that rearing chicken is something you love doing, otherwise you’ll burn out faster than a match stick.

Passion is important because starting a business isn’t another job or a way to make money quickly, rather, it’s a way of life.

However, to quote Martin Zwilling, “Although passion is necessary, it’s insufficient to turn an idea into a successful business.” There are other personal attributes like self-confidence, commitment, determination, hard work and life-long learning to acquire requisite knowledge and skills.

Third, besides capital and basic knowledge in poultry husbandry, to succeed in any agribusiness venture, you also need a business mindset and entrepreneurial knowledge and skills (see my articles titled Ten habits to grow a poultry venture and 11 things starters in poultry ought to know both available online).

Fourth, whether you begin small or on a larger scale, when entrepreneurs start out, they often learn by trial-and-error and often make mistakes from which they draw valuable lessons, meaning that experience is an expensive but valuable asset in any business.

In fact, having more capital to begin with may at times simply translate into more mistakes made at a bigger scale and more money lost. Fifth, the only way you’ll know if there’s market, is when your products (chicken meat and eggs) are out there.

Lastly, it’s good to seek advice, but ultimately, you’re the only one who can solve your problems. Jack Canfield said this, “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” Go for it!

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I’ve developed a mobile prototype application —Pamoja Farmers — to bring growers together. It works this way: First, a farmer opens an account before logging in to view other farming communities (similar to Facebook groups) dealing in similar products and services within a given locale.

After joining, they can ask questions, share new ideas, information or transact business. The app also allows farmers to join a Sacco of choice. I would kindly request your feedback on how this app could benefit farmers.

Beatrice Kinya,
Strathmore University,
Nairobi County

Congratulations on taking the first step to develop the prototype even before completing your studies. The app business is not different from any other enterprise and it should be measured against this simple parameter: meeting the needs of end-users.

You stand a better chance if your app is providing a simple, seamless and intuitive solution to a problem farmers really care about and are willing to pay for.

Second, to monetise the app, you’ll need a business model to underpin it, because the internet landscape is very competitive and audiences are often spoilt for choice.

For example, your app could focus on a narrowly defined topic to attract a highly defined niche audience that could then be offered products or services with a higher probability of success than the mass market.

Third, remember that innovation is a journey and sometimes the first prototype may need re-working.

Finally, don’t listen to naysayers who’ll tell you that your app won’t work or that it’s be done before.

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I’m a novice in poultry farming although I’d love to do it as a business. Please share some of your previous articles.

Sijah Mwajuma

I’ve been writing this Diary for the last three years and my articles run into hundreds. I understand readers have a challenge accessing previous articles and some even write to ask for online links or hard copies.

If you’re a seasoned reader, shuffling through a stack of old newspapers to find information can be akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. To solve this problem, I intend to publish an illustrated guide to the Diary soon.

It’ll contain all previous articles organised by related topics and subjects. Keep reading and get inspired.