Betty is a woman who says she is “at the prime of life!” She has two daughters who are both grown up now. One has already completed her university studies and the other is completing university soon. She is very proud of them both for their schooling and commented that education “is the best gift you can give your child.”

Betty describes herself as a very hard-working woman. She says that you have to be hard working if you are in the business of poultry farming because it is such an involved business. Betty raises layers (chickens that are raised for consumption) behind her home. Currently she thinks she has between 200-400 chickens. She buys them when they are one day old and then she raises them till they are fat enough to sell.

There are some real challenges in this business because there is a lot of competition for a small market. In the areas where Betty sells there are lots of hotels and restaurants that want to buy her chickens, but many people know this in her neighborhood – so people are competing to be able to sell.

It is too bad when there is too much competition because it forces poultry farmers to keep their chicken until they are too large. In order to keep the chickens growing and healthy, it is a must that you keep feeding them well, but the more you spend on feed per chicken the lower your profit margin.

Betty is taking a loan today for 40,000 KSH. She hopes to be able to buy a few hundred more chicks with this amount, as well as the feed to make them grow! In the future, she hopes to be able to buy a plot of land, both where she can build a good home and also so that she can build some other homes where people can rent from her.