Being self-reliant pays better, says graduate of mass comm, turned farmer
Kindly introduce yourself?My name is Mrs Chika Odoemena. I hail from Imo. I studied Mass Communication/Marketing from Federal Polytechnic Oko in Anambra state and graduated in 2001. What are you doing currently for a living?For the past 13 years, I have not really been into something serious because of my children, but after I delivered […]
Kindly introduce yourself?
My name is Mrs Chika Odoemena. I hail from Imo. I studied Mass Communication/Marketing from Federal Polytechnic Oko in Anambra state and graduated in 2001.
What are you doing currently for a living?
For the past 13 years, I have not really been into something serious because of my children, but after I delivered my last baby about three years ago, I decided to start up a poultry business. So, presently I am managing a chicken poultry. Although, I was doing the business on and off before until I went into it full time three years ago.
Why did you decide not to work with your certificate?
It is basically because of my children. I just didn’t want to go far from them. My husband is a civil servant and I feel it will not be too good for both of us to be out of home at all times. Most importantly, it is better for a woman to be self-reliant so that she can have time for her family.
If you get a white collar job now, will you quit your poultry business?
No, I am ok with what I am doing now because it pays better to be self-employed and I am applying the knowledge I acquired from school to my business and it is paying off.
How has the business been so far?
I thank God for everything, it is actually really challenging but patience and perseverance is needed to succeed in the business.
How many birds do you keep at any given time?
The number of birds I keep per time range from 150 to 200 birds.
Would you describe the business as lucrative?
Of course, it is lucrative if you are lucky and patient to take care of the birds well.
How much is needed to start this type of business and what are the equipment needed?
A starter needs to have a land or space to build the poultry, make provision for light or electricity and then you need access to good water; most people don’t really give tap water to the chicks but well water because it does not contain any chemical. Then, you get your chicks and their feeds. In my own case, I started in my compound with 50 birds, later I expanded the poultry when the number of birds increased to 200. I also make feeds for my chickens myself.
How do you prepare the chicken feeds and where did you acquire the knowledge?
The feed is made from food stuff including corn, maize brown, groundnut cake popularly known as ‘kulikuli’, toasted soya beans, palm oil and salt to taste as well as some chemicals among others; then take to grinding machine for milling. My husband taught me how to mill the feed as he also got the formula from the internet.
So, how has the feed been helping your chick especially in terms of growth?
I will say it’s perfect because I make sure the ingredients are rich; I don’t sell the feed, I only prepare them for my chicks’ consumption.
What are the challenges associated with this kind of business?
The major challenge has to do with getting quality birds because the people hatching the eggs may put smaller eggs and sometimes may not even treat the birds before selling them out. So, as they are growing they may develop one problem or the other like cough. Cough is one of the major challenges especially during harmattan season.
Is it right to say your kind of endeavour is a seasonal business?
Not really because people eat chicken everyday not necessarily during festive periods. We also have many eateries that demand chicken regularly while individuals buy for their home consumption. So it is not seasonal at all though there is usually higher demand and more sales during festive periods. I have not started supplying to eatery operators but I supply to people who sell frozen food.
How much does it cost to keep 100 birds to maturity and how long does it take to reach the market?
For me, eight bags of my milled feeds can comfortably feed 50 chicks for eight weeks. So if I am putting 100 birds, they will eat up to 16 or 17 bags of feed while we start selling from eight weeks depending on the farm the chicks are gotten from. If you get your chicks from a good farm, you can even start selling from seven weeks.
Apart from the feeds, what do you give the chicks as they grow?
We give drugs for immunisation. From nine to 12 days, we give them either Gomboro or Lasota, then after the immunisation, you treat them of coccidiosis because that is their main sickness and a major challenge faced by poultry farmers. So after treating them, you will continue to give them vitamins except in situations where they have cold.
What have you been able to achieve through the business?
Just as I said earlier, the business is lucrative. From its proceeds, I am trying to expand my poultry. Make it bigger than what it is now and also enter into other businesses like food storage, which I have started. I am storing food stuff like millet, corn, palm oil and guinea corn among others for sale later.
What is your dream for the poultry farm?
My dream is to own one of the biggest farms in the country and I also want to be known as a successful poultry farmer world over. Very soon, I intend to start keeping 4000 birds and above.
What is your call to unemployed graduates who have refused to be self-employed and are waiting for scarce government jobs?
My advice to them is to start something however little. In fact they can start poultry farming with as little as N5, 000 or N10, 000. They can even start with a small cage with 10 chicks, with commitment and dedication, God will bless the business. In my own case I started with N10,000 with which I bought 50 chicks.