When you talk a walk in Trans Nzoia County, you will meet Gladys a graduate in medical science field and currently an enhanced Kienyeji chicken farmer. Her approach in agri-business entails smart farming, where she uses a small space to generate a hundreds of thousands of shillings, inspired, she says, by President William Ruto, whose rose from a roadside chicken seller to the most powerful person in Kenya.
Gladys completed medical course in 2015, then she went for an internship and afterwards she secured a job in a private hospital earning Ksh15,000 as a nurse. After one year, she landed another nursing job still in a private hospital but this time she would take home Ksh20,000 monthly.
“Since my salary as nurse was insufficient to fulfil my needs and I occasionally had to work night shifts, chicken farming was the first side business idea that sprang to mind,” she says.
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Gladys was skeptical of her action, but she overcame her anxiety thanks to the motivation provided by the William Ruto chicken tale, and billionaire Nelson Muguku, who rose from only two chickens.
Gladys started her chicken business with a modest structure where she raises chicks from one day old to one month old and then sells them. Five months after breeding, her upgraded Kienyeji breed may produce eggs and be ready for the meat market in four months.
Her monthly sales of one-month-old chicks currently exceed 1,000. According to Gladys, her monthly earnings ranges from Ksh80,000 to Ksh100,000, turning her from salaried nurse to a millionaire.
“I can make what most employed people in Kenya are making from my chickens business that has blossomed into something more,” Gladys said. “Therefore, I do not see myself flying abroad to pursue a white collar job or finding another employment.”
She says her poultry company has enabled her to construct a house for her parents, purchase a vehicle and a motorcycle, and hire a rider. She also bought a piece of property. She wants to start building rental houses by 2024. “Being in poultry has transformed my life. I have never regretted being in it,” she declares.
