I chickened out and took up dog rearing

For two years, Mr Michael Ngugi drew pride from having more than 200 improved Kienyeji chicken in his compound in Ol Kalou, Nyandarua County.

Neighbours considered him a successful poultry farmer because of the large number of birds he kept. But deep down, he was struggling.

“I was spending so much money feeding the chicken but the returns were depressing,” says Ngugi who is also a trained chef specialising in outside catering.

The poultry business was taking in so much but there was no solid return. Upon reflection, he realised he had to make the painful decision to drop the whole thing altogether.

Soul searching

“I realised it was not easy earning a living from selling eggs because the market was flooded with cheap imports,” he says.

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When he looked at his financial books they shocked him.

“I was spending Sh10,400 per month on feeds alone for the 200 birds I kept, that meant for two years I had spent about Sh280,000. That was unsustainable,” he says.

In addition tot he high production costs, the birds were prone to diseases.

After making that painful reality check, he decided to explore other profitable options.

Family was shocked

After some research online and making inquiries from professionals, he settled on dog rearing.

His wife and daughter were shocked when they learnt that he was doing away with poultry farming for dogs.

“My family thought I was crazy. They could not understand what I was up to. They were so used to white meat and eggs which they would cook anytime. But dogs cannot be eaten,” he jokes.

He blocked his ears from naysayers and actualised his plan.

To get rid of the chicken, he called family, friends and neighbours to come and buy them at throwaway prices.

“At the end of the sale, I made Sh90,000. It was disappointing considering I had spent Sh280,000 rearing those birds,” he recalls.

Mass slaughter

With the poultry project gone, he embarked on building a dog farm slowly by slowly.

Lucky for him, he already had 19 canines –adult and puppies of mixed breed. He used to keep them in a separate corner in his 50X100 plot, but with the chicken gone, he transferred them to where he previously kept the birds.

To avoid spread of diseases, he cleaned them thoroughly before he introduced the dogs.

The dogs are German Shepherds, Chihuahua and several ordinary breeds. The future of the dog project looks bright. He has already sold some German shepherds and Chihuahua to clients from Nairobi and Nakuru.

He sold the Chihuahua breed at Sh30,000. A mature German Shepherd costs between 80,000 to Sh150. One time he got a client from Ol Kalou town who woke up one morning to find all his chicken stolen.

Marketing

“The thieves walked into the compound stole all the chicken in the cages. The owner was told about my dogs and reached out to me,” he says.

Ngugi says since insecurity is on the rise in the area, people are going out of their way to beef up security in their homes and dogs come in handy.

Because he travels a lot for his outside catering work, Ngugi sources the dogs from the places he visits.

“When I come across a good puppy when I am out doing catering in weddings and funerals, I buy it and bring it home,” he says.

On matters feeding, he has not had any challenge because he collects leftovers from eateries in Ol Kalou town and his catering business.

Within the short span, he has reared dogs, he confesses that they are more profitable compared to poultry. 

Unlike chicken which had to be fed twice or three times in a day, Ngugi says a dog can survive with one meal a day.

To expand the business, he plans to start training the dogs to make more cash.