William Lang’at did not let his failure to clinch Silibwet Township Ward seat hold his ambitions back. In fact, the loss turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it gave him an opportunity to venture into something he had been thinking of for a long time. “In the past I have tried dairy farming but I gave up due to low returns and the demanding nature of the venture unlike poultry,” Langat says at his home in Kelonget village Bomet Central.

For many, the mention of establishing a poultry farm evokes thoughts of a concrete wall house with corrugated iron sheets, a notion Langat disputes saying one can succeed in poultry with a simple structure. “I spent less than Sh50,000 in setting up and stocking my poultry house with chicken and two years down the line, the profit which have come out of it is unimaginable,” Langat says.

He adds: “As you can see, my poultry house is made of iron sheet and a few timber which do not cost much but it brings in a lot of money a day.”

Langat remembers with a nervous laugh how he started the poultry venture: “My last born sister who works in Nairobi asked me to set up a poultry house for her which I did and somewhere on the way she changed her mind and I took it upon myself to stock it and I have never looked back.” Langat who is the main supplier of eggs to major hotels and joints in Bomet town says he started off with 400 chicks two years ago.

He says through the chicks sourced from KenChic in Nairobi through a local supplier he has been able to make at least Sh30,000 in profit every month through the sale of eggs. He sells eggs to local hotels at Sh10 each. “After deducting the cost of feeds, I am always left with Sh30,000 as profit every month and it has given me hope to keep pushing on with the venture since it involves less work,” adds Lang’at. The former finance chairman at the defunct Bomet Municipal Council, says to achieve the profits he has had to maintain high standards of feeding and taking care of his poultry.

“Always learn from mistakes, at first I used to get 80 to 90 per cent of eggs production from my poultry and it was due to poor feeding and maintenance which I later learnt through colleagues who have been in poultry farming and to my surprise I started getting 100 per cent egg production,” adds Lang’at.

He says poultry farming has not been without challenges saying securing the right feed to ensure maximum production of eggs has been an headache. “Earlier when I started keeping my poultry, I kept changing the feeds due to inconsistency in supply and it affected my production which almost threw me off the balance,” he says He, however, says to beat the challenge he has been forced to stock appropriate feeds that serve his chicks for an entire month.

He says through poultry farming he has seen two of his children finish secondary school and university education.
Besides educating his children, Lang’at says he bought two pieces of land in the area and is looking forward to developing them through poultry farming.

“The venture has been a turning point and given me a different perception of life as a whole from my time in politics to now when am out of politics,” he says. “With dwindling farm space, it is a precise venture for anyone who has passion and is eyeing success through farming since it requires little space while it gives back high returns,” Langat adds.

The father of two says high demand for quality and consistent supply of eggs in Bomet and outside is another drive that has kept him motivated and even planning to expand the venture to beat demand. “There is a high demand for eggs from the people I supply eggs to and at times I am forced to buy from other farmers to beat the demand,” Lang’at reveals. Besides expanding the poultry venture, Langat says he has set his eyes on setting up a hatchery for supply of chicks to local farmers.

“I have come to realise that sourcing for chicks is a big headache to many farmers in Bomet and I want to tap from that challenge by setting up a hatchery and a brooder so that I can supply chicks to farmers,” Lang’at reveals. He says his plans are at an advance stage saying the site for the hatchery is ready and hoping to be up and running by February next year.

At the same time, Lang’at says he plans to set up a brooder to help farmers who are not able to take care of one day old chicks for a fee. “Many farmers also find it hard to manage one day old chicks when they buy and some have been driven out of poultry farming after losing chicks soon after arriving from the hatcheries due to lack of knowledge on how to manage them,” Lang’at says adding he is keen to tap from such farmers.