Add high-grade chicken breeds to my poultry farm

Lucas

Gesonso, Kisii, Kenya

100% repaid

Entrepreneur

Name

Lucas

Member since

December 2015

On-time repayments

222 installments  •  77%

About Me

I was born in one of the poorest and violent "hoods" of Thika. Second born in a family of Six brothers and sisters, it was not easy growing up. Many days we went without food, but mama was determined to send us all to school. Her belief was that at least with a high school education, we could get by, and be ready for the job market. I got good grades in high school, and I could see myself in Uni. However, this was not to be.

Mama had to make a tough choice. My elder brother had wanted to go to college or trade school, but that did not happen because I had to be put through high school. So when it was my time, I had hoped that a miracle would happen and that all would be better. The truth is nothing got better. I too had to make room for my siblings to be educated. The entire amount I would need for one semester of University was enough to put my siblings through two years of schooling.

In desperation and a desire to help out, I started taking odd jobs here and there, ending up at the factory gates of the Industrial section of the district. In between providing a supplementary income to the family and trying to push myself ahead, I was inwardly suffering and languishing. Here I was, with good high school grades, jostling for position to carry heavy boxes around and other menial jobs with people who would transform to robbers at night, and muggers.

I wanted more, and so one day while at the gates begging to be taken in for a days casual job, I felt hopeless and lost. On my way home, having failed to secure a job for the day, I decided I had had enough. I never went back to the factories again. Instead, I sought solace in the only place that had meaning to me; a district library about four kilometers form where we lived.

This led to conflicts at home, and several months later, with my younger brother through with high school, I was technically ostracized from the family. I was not providing, and had no business eating or sleeping in that house.

I moved out and started applying some skills I had taught myself repairing electronics. It was the dawn of the mobile phone revolution, and I became a repairer for hire. This was also the time that I converted to Christianity.

Shortly thereafter I married and settled, but still felt I needed more. Over time, I managed to put myself through Uni, graduating in Dec. 2015. I am on course to completing a Masters degree sometimes in late 2016, or mid 2017.

UPDATE:
(I completed my MA in late 2018, and graduated in 2019!)

My Business

Every venture has its learning and growing curve. Raising poultry got me out of a comfort zone that I was living in ignorantly. I have had to go through the whole cycle of raising chickens from hatchery to market. It is tedious, but done right it is rewarding. But so is the mining of the most precious metal on earth, platinum.

Through the loans, I have managed to do the chicken business differently. I have bought chicks, have had my chicken hatch chicks, have burnt my fingers in lost stock due to diseases, and have enjoyed profits that have gone a long way to achieve my goal; education for my family.

As before, I am opting to leave my previous write-ups so you can have a background of my business.

Please do read, and let my story and previous writing on "My Business" add to what I have briefly written.

________________________________

I am presently engaged in raising chicken. Not much has changed from the below writeups in terms of what I do. I did use the third loan to manage feeding and some more modifications in the chicken coop. I can report that I have reached that point where I can now shift focus to hatching eggs and selling month old chicks to farmers and other growers.

˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜

I used the second loan to increase my current stock levels and to make improvements in the chicken coop. Of the 100 more chicks I procured, I lost some to an unknown cause. They just kept dying. I suspect that my supplier might have got me "tired" chicks. A neighbor's dog also took advantage over the period I was making improvements and I lost six birds in one night.

I also was able to find ways of bringing down the feed costs, by mixing several ingredients and milling them together. The chicken seemed to like it! The birds have started laying too, which is good because with time I can start selling eggs and the live chicken.

Currently I have about two hundred birds, all in different stages of growth. nine birds, and the parent stock has started laying fertilized eggs. I am applying for this third loan to be able to increase my stock levels and to make even more improvements in the chicken coop to be able to house the birds. Below, again, is my earliest write up of the business.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early 2015, I started making plans for going into agri business. I saw potential in the chicken business, and made investment towards it. I built a standard chicken coop that can house between three hundred and five hundred birds.

The reason for going into chicken is because I realized that the farmers in Kisii cannot satisfy the existing demand for chicken and eggs. Eggs are being imported from Uganda. Also, the retail prices of the eggs and chicken are higher than in other areas.

I currently have twenty two birds, with an additional fifty on the way. It is a hardy breed that will require less input with a higher return on investment. I am seeking a loan to increase the number of birds to a number that can sustain itself, with my aim being my own hatchery. This will reduce my costs of production per bird by almost thirty percent (30%). With increased profits, I can manage to increase the stock of the birds and construct another coop.

I am aiming to be the person people come to when they want affordable chicken in Kisii. To achieve this, I am seeking someone, or people who will see beyond the cry for self preservation and into the desire to break free of the poverty cycle, not just for myself, but others too, by providing them with affordable food sources; someone or people to lend me a hand and see this vision come true.

Loan Proposal

With this current loan, I want to get a few extra birds, White Leghorns to be specific. I will also get more ingredients from the local market at cheaper rates. I am almost at that level where I the suppliers of the ingredients come to me as opposed to me going to them. This will work in my favor because it means that I can have more bargaining power.

I will also make a raised floor on one side of the coop and separate the growing birds from the mature ones. I will also buy more vaccines and medicines.

I will set aside a few of the birds and experiment with local herbs and methods to manage diseases.

Do consider funding me and help me work through the title of my application.

Feedback

4

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Loan Info

Project Type

Classic Loan

Disbursed amount

$303.00

Date disbursed

Jul 20, 2016

Repayment status

On Time

Projected term

5 months

Lenders

MakeSense

-, St. Kitts and Nevis

L

leniwiec

Poznan, Poland

L

Leonora

TÄBY, Sweden

H

howard

Vence, France

Matching Fund

Sterling, United States

Paul Buchheit

Mountain View, United States

Flipmore

Vancouver, Canada

utdream

United States

Paul

Crandon, United States

moursund

Beaver Nation, United States

MR

Michiel Rauws

San Francisco, Netherlands

PG

Paul Graham

United States

jo

Los Angeles, United States

Diego

Monza, Italy

G

godwintang

Costa Rica

Rory McLaughlin

Dallas, United States

Nick

Manchester, United Kingdom

AL

Aaron Larkin

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Bart Vogelzang

Ladysmith BC, Canada

James

London, United Kingdom

Craig Newmark

United States

The Zinc Team

San Francisco, United States

Humble Bundle Community

San Francisco, United States

A

Anonymous

United States

D

David

United States

Ask Lucas a question about this project, share news and photos of your own, or send a simple note of thanks or inspiration.

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  • Lucas    Nov 1, 2023

    Thank you lenders for your contributions. Once the funds are disbursed, I will immediate go ahead and place an order for the auto parts that are needed to get the car on the road (the engine runs fine but the vehicle can’t be on the road).

    Once I finish fixing it, I will post it on online market spaces at a price slightly more affordable than other people.

    It sure will fetch me some extra money that I can use to get another project car.

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  • Ruth    Nov 1, 2023

    Good luck Lucas

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  • Mary    Nov 1, 2023

    I Wish You The Best Lucas

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  • Lucas    Jun 28, 2022

    I consider myself a veteran with Zidisha, and my record is clean. I know what Zidisha has done in my life, and I have personally grown financially, and my kids educated courtesy fo Zidisha.

    My wife is now running the project that was seeded out of Zidisha, and so does my son who is soon completing college. I am taking this loan to partially invest with my wife and start a partnership with my son.

    He knows Zidisha works, and when he is responsible enough, I will recommend him to apply for his own loans.

    Thank you.

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  • Janice    Nov 27, 2020

    Lucas is planning to settle his payments from next week,Friday.

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  • Lilian    Oct 3, 2020

    Halo lenders,, I have spoken to Lucas who has promised to continue repaying his loan for he had travel but now back..
    Thanks for your patience

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  • Lucas    Jun 22, 2020

    Hallo, Just to let you know that I received the loan. I have made arrangements to restock and waiting for the supplies to come through.

    I will keep you posted whenever there are new developments and also to keep you apprised of the project.

    Thank you.

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  • Lucas    Jun 16, 2020

    I got the full amount disbursed and I must say it's impressive that the process was fast unlike in the past when we would have to wait for a couple of days. Thank you once again. I will keep you updated on the progress.

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  • Lucas    Jun 16, 2020

    Thank you to all my lenders. I will definitely be restocking and procuring what I need to be on track for end of year increased demand.

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  • Mary    Jun 16, 2020

    Do you compost your chicken bedding Lucas? It can be sold to farmers once it is composted to be used for building soil.

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    • Lucas    Jun 16, 2020

      At the moment I am not composting. But every time I replace the beddings I use it on our small kitchen garden.

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  • Lucas    Jun 12, 2020

    Well, at one point I encountered some hiccups with the last loan, and I ended up paying a little late than I would have wanted to. However, I was able to use the loan to improve on what is now our growing family project of poultry and poultry feed production.

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  • Lucas    Mar 26, 2020

    The current conditions make it hard to conduct business.

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  • Lucas    Jan 29, 2020

    Apologies for the late payment. I traveled and had no way of repaying the loan.

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  • Lucas    Sep 20, 2019

    Thank you everyone for lending me your money. I will give it my best shot to stay on track with my repayments.

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  • Christine E Graham    Sep 19, 2019

    Hello, Lucas, God bless you in your endeavors!

    Numbers 6:24-26 - The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

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  • Lucas    Aug 19, 2019

    So I have been trying to confirm and accept the loan but the button will not work, I posted in the forum but havent heard from anyone. This is to let you know that there is a technical error on the side of Zidisha.

    It's also not possible to raise a support ticket from within my profile, all queries terminate at the forum. If anyone reading this has an idea on how to proceed, any help will be appreciated.

    Thank you.

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  • Tim    Aug 18, 2019

    Best of luck with your poultry business, Lucas. I enjoyed reading your story, you're a good writer!

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  • Lucas    Jul 26, 2019

    After all these years and months, why am I subject to a credit risk fee of 16% above the normal processing fee? For first time borrowers, yes, it makes sense, but I have been here without defaulting!

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  • Lucas    Jul 24, 2019

    The previous loan helped me especially in making my own feeds. I was able to cut down costs of production significantly. I had also got a chicken feed making machine, but I had to return it since the workmanship and quality were poor. It would have held me back. But I do intend to get one soon.

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  • Lucas    Jun 9, 2019

    Hallo everyone.

    It has been a while since my last update. A lot has happened since. I was able to complete and graduate my Master's class! Unfortunately I was not able to attend the commencement ceremony in person, but all in all my name featured!

    My elder son is also doing his final year of high school and will soon have to take over the chicken venture and perhaps grow it beyond what I started.

    You will note that although I am on time with my repayment, there was a little fluctuation arising from the many things I had to deal with.

    I am looking forward to borrowing again when I clear the loan, and I hope you will still lend me your money.

    Thank you.

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