If you had never heard about the chicken farming success story of Muguku Farm, and someone suggested that you could become a multi-billionaire from poultry, would you believe? When I first heard about this story, my first reaction was “A billionaire poultry farmer?” Making a few hundreds of thousands, and in a very lucky situation a few million shillings is fathomable, but billions!
But someone has done it
One Nelson Muguku, a former college teacher, made not one but over 3 Billion shillings worth of wealth from poultry farming in Kenya. Talk of inspiration; his is one truly inspirational story for all those looking to take up chicken rearing as a business. He has proved that you do not need to go the technocrat way to make a fortune; poultry farming could just be the thing you need, to enter into the billionaires’ league. Here is the success story of Muguku Farm:
How did Muguku Farm start? Like most successful people, Nelson Muguku did not start right off as a poultry farmer. He was a carpentry teacher in one of Kenya’s colleges. However, even as a teacher, his hobby reflected a strong inner passion that thrived in him; keeping chicken. At the teachers’ quarters in the college, Muguku kept two chickens and a cock and the only profit he made from that was selling eggs, mostly to his colleagues.
At one time, something happened that would put Nelson Muguku on the path that led him to start what grew into the best poultry farm in Kenya. The principal of the college requested him to take his 13 eggs and give them to his hens to sit on. The deal was that they divide the chicks on a 50-50 basis once they are hatched and mature.
The deal that inspired the Muguku farm idea
Luckily, all the eggs were hatched and the principal took the bigger share but was later transferred leaving his chicken behind. His successor was not interested in keeping chicken so he sold them off to Muguku on condition that he pays by supplying him with eggs. Originally, Muguku thought that it would take him a year to pay off the 6 hens and one cock. Surprisingly, it only took him 2 months and that sparked something in him; poultry farming could be a worth business, not just a hobby.
The journey to success
In his possession was a rickety bicycle and some old furniture, but a burning desire to start poultry farming overwhelmed him. He announced to the principal that he was resigning. Everyone including his farther, of course, thought that he was mad but none of that could stop him. He took his possessions and headed to his Rukubi home in Kikuyu.
Nelson Muguku had a personal saving of Ksh.2500 only. This was too small to buy the chickens, structures and feeds required to start a successful poultry farm. However, this too did not stop his dreams. He used the money to take care of the urgent business needs and soon, he was selling eggs in Nairobi. He ploughed back the returns and the business slowly took off and started earning him good profit.
Expanding into a multi-billion poultry farmer
He had sold eggs in Nairobi for about 10 years when he decided to take his business to the next level. He realised that running a hatchery could be more profitable than selling eggs. Following this, Muguku borrowed a loan from Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) and bought a 22-acre land at Limuru for Ksh.100,000. He also acquired a 9,000-egg incubator with which he started a hatchery. Luckily, the land he bought had good infrastructure including access to electricity and water.
A short time later, demand for chicks went up and Muguku had to increase his production. He was forced to buy other incubators with a capacity of hatching 42,000 eggs in a week. Currently, Muguku Farm is not only the best poultry farm in Kenya but also the largest with a capacity to hatch more than 200,000 chicks per day. About ¾ of the 22 acres he bought in Limuru are occupied by poultry farming. Muguku also opened a subsidiary poultry farm in Ngong.
Nelson Muguku’s success in poultry farming has proved to Kenyans that chicken rearing can be a truly profitable business and you do not need to start with a million; only one hen and one cock are enough.
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