Villa Celestial, Mansalay
Gutierrez Family

We have now been working on our chicken project for approximately four months: from caring for the young chicks from the moment they arrive with us until the chickens are ready for sale.

Initially, we chose a system that would allow us to sell chickens every week. To make this possible, we made sure that we had enough coops for the different stages: from young chicks to chickens that are ready for sale.

We have learned that raising broiler chickens really is a skill in itself. You need to know what you are doing and take many different factors into account: the weather, the environment, hygiene, nutrition and, of course, daily care.

Especially during the first few days, the chicks are very vulnerable. Unfortunately, sometimes chicks do not survive. But even when the chickens are already bigger and weigh almost 2 kilos, things can still go wrong for many different reasons.

Four batches sold

So far, we have successfully sold four batches of chickens.

Financially, the profit is not yet where we would like it to be, but during these first few months we have gained something that is at least equally valuable: knowledge and experience.

Our original system was simple: as soon as one batch was sold, new chicks would immediately take their place. In this way, our goal was eventually to generate weekly sales.

Recently, a buyer visited our farm and took the time to look at the way we work and how we care for our chickens. He was positive about what we had managed to build in a relatively short period of time, but he also gave us some important advice about our chicken coops.

After each batch, it is better to leave the coop empty for a certain period of time and thoroughly clean and disinfect it before bringing in new chicks. This helps reduce the risk of disease and gives the next batch of chicks a healthier start.

This meant that we had to adjust our original system.

But by listening to people with more experience and continuing to learn, we are confident that we can keep improving this project. We have therefore adjusted our system and will now put this advice into practice.

From our own farm to your table 🍗

Meanwhile, we have also started working on something that was actually part of our bigger plan from the very beginning.

We marinated and roasted one of our own chickens.

Our first attempt was not quite the way we wanted it to be. So we looked at what we could improve, adjusted the recipe and tried again.

The second time, we got it right!

The flavour, marinade and preparation were exactly what we had hoped for. And that means we are now ready for the next step.

Instead of selling our chickens only live at the market and directly to individuals, we also want to start offering dressed chicken – cleaned and ready-to-cook chicken.

And now we want to take it one step further by marinating and roasting our own chickens and selling them as a ready-to-eat product.

This allows us to create more value from each chicken and hopefully achieve a better profit margin.

And how wonderful is this:

From our own farm directly to our customers’ tables.

And that is how “Kip Eat Lekker!” was born 🐔🏠

For this new concept, we naturally wanted to create our own name and logo.

We wanted something fun and recognisable, combining Dutch and English words while also telling a little bit of our story.

And that is how we came up with:

KIP EAT LEKKER!

The name has several meanings:

Kip – the Dutch word for chicken. But Kip also sounds a little like the English word Keep.

Eat – the English word for eating.

Lekker – a typically Dutch word used to describe something delicious or tasty.

And when we play a little with the sounds of the words, Kip Eat Lekker! takes on another fun meaning:

Keep it Lekker!

That fits perfectly with what we want our chicken concept to represent: simple, tasty, homemade food that people can enjoy together.

Our logo also tells part of our story:

The K stands for Kip.
The roof represents the chicken coop and our farm.
The chicken’s head naturally completes the logo.

And with that…

KIP EAT LEKKER! was born.

A freezer and a new opportunity

We are now ready to actually take this next step.

And we have even more wonderful news. Thanks to a generous donation from a kind sponsor, our foundation is receiving a freezer.

This freezer is an important addition to our Livestock project. It will allow us to properly store our own chickens and give us more opportunities to sell them as dressed chicken instead of only selling them live.

Together with our new roasted chicken concept, this gives us the opportunity to create more value from each chicken and hopefully generate a better profit.

Profit with a purpose ❤️

And that profit has a very important purpose.

The profit from our Livestock project goes back into the projects of Stichting Ama Namin and ultimately benefits the children.

With this income, we can contribute to construction projects, renovations and other important needs of the children and their schools.

That is the bigger goal behind our Livestock project: to gradually create our own sustainable source of income so that we do not have to depend entirely on donations for every project.

Every chicken we raise, every ready-to-cook chicken we sell and every roasted Kip Eat Lekker! that eventually reaches someone’s table can therefore contribute to something much bigger.

So this is not just about selling chickens.

It is about learning.
It is about creating opportunities.
It is about becoming increasingly self-sufficient.
And above all, it is about continuing to support the children and the projects that are important to them.

From chick to chicken.
From our farm to your table.
And from the proceeds back to our projects and the children. ❤️

Kip Eat Lekker!
Keep it Lekker! 🐔🍗

An initiative of Stichting Ama Namin.