Poultry farming is one of the most popular and profitable agric
business one can do in Nigeria as it involves the raising of chickens
for their meat and eggs. It is something that is encouraged by the
government and highly patronized by people. In Nigeria, food business is
always good business and it is almost impossible for people to go
without eating eggs or chicken meat.
Things you will need
What does this business really require? Well, you'd definitely need things like the following:
- Running Capital(About N200,000)
- Space/Location and caging
- Chicks
- Heating
- Feeding and water troughs
- Chicken feed and medicine
- Market Target
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Running Capital
You would need some sort of capital for running the business in the
short term before income starts rolling in. About N200,000 can be a good
capital to help in getting started besides the other assets required.
Space and caging
Chickens tend to need a lot of space in order to grow healthy and
productively. You should consider providing sufficient vertical and
horizontal space for your chicks once they start growing. It would be
better setting up your poultry in a non residential area that is also
close to farms. Local laws may not allow setting up a commercial poultry
in mostly residential areas and the good thing also is that land in
such less developed areas also tends to be cheaper and you can get land
from about N200,000 to N1m in Lagos depending on location. You may also
get land on lease if you don't want to buy land yet.
Setting up a
cage for your growing chickens is also necessary and this can be one
made of wood or blocks and then roofed while the sides would be covered
with metal cages or nets to prevent get birds from getting out. The cage
should also be able to protect the chickens from predators like bush
rats and snakes.
The floor of the cage should also be covered
with soft material like sawdust so as to allow for easy cleaning of
manure and also make it conducive for the birds.
How much space
do your chickens really need? It depends on how many chickens you are
planning to house in the long term. The more space you have, the more
healthy chickens you can raise. You can use one hectare of land if you
want.
Chicks
Chicks are your main assets here and you
need to source for them from the right farmers. There are are lot of
sellers in the market from where you can get day old chicks. The chicks
would cost about N100 to N200 depending on their maturity and quality.
You can start with 100 or more and then place them in a conducive and
cold free environment with sufficient food supply.
Types of Chicken
=================
There are two main types of chicken birds used in commercial poultry farming and they are:
- Broilers
- Layers
Broilers: These are chickens primarily raised for their meat alone.
They grow very fast and not fertile to lay eggs but rather add weight.
They are mostly fed with broiler's mash and tend to mature within about
12 weeks
Layers: These are chickens that are grown primarily for
their eggs. They are more fertile than broilers but have less weight
gain. They may also be sold for their meat but they are much better at
laying eggs and some do so everyday after they reach maturity. They tend
to mature after about 22 weeks and are mostly fed with layer's mash.
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Waste products of chickens
==========================
Chickens tend to produce waster products when they excrete and these can also be sold as manure so it's a win win situation
Heating
Your poultry cage would also need sufficient heating supply especially
during cold temperatures like harmattan and rainy season. The heating
supply normally comes as vertically installed electric bulbs that
produce heat. The cage should also have a mechanism for covering it
externally during such times apart from just the heating.- - You can
make use of a blanket like cover like a curtain.
The heating is
not turned on during the day or during the hot season but only during
cold temperatures to protect the birds from flu and other illnesses.
Feeding and water troughs
These are channels through which your chicks would be feed with food
and water.. They are called troughs and can be locally made with wood or
metal. They can be rectangular or circular shaped and they come in
various designs. You cage should allow for the installation of such
feeding channels. You should have two of such channels as one would be
used for water while the other would be used for food.
Chicken feed and medicine
Chickens bred in the poultry tend to have their own special kind of
food and medicine which is a bit different from that of local fowls. The
kind of food that are fed to chickens are called mash and these are
balanced foods grounded by processing firms and packaged in bags.
Broilers are to be fed with broilers mash while layers are to be fed
with layer's mash.
Chickens tend to eat a lot and you may have to
feed them about 3 times a day. Poultry feed is one of the major
expenses you would be having to deal with on a periodic basis.
They also need medicine and this is to be supplied through the water
channels in their cage. Poultry medicine is commercially available from
the antibacterial ones to the fertility ones and they come in powdery
form. Some medicine help in keeping them healthy while some are designed
to serve as multivitamins. They should be purchased and supplied
through the water troughs after mixing with water.
Market Targeting
What is your target market? You need to identify your potential
customers and know how to market to them when your products are ready
for them. Will your be reselling to wholesale buyers or end users? Would
you have to move your produce to stores or would you rather have buyers
come to your farm? Pricing and knowing your market would be required.
How to get started in poultry business
- Register your business if necessary
- Construct your cages on your choice location
- Install heating and feeding troughs
- Spray sawdust on the floor
- Get day old chicks from poultry sellers or hatch your own eggs in an incubator within 21 days
- Purchase feed bags and medicine from your suppliers
- Raise your chicks to maturity.
Hygiene and waste products
It can be a dirty business so you may need to get employees to help you
in running in and cleaning the cage from time to time. Most of the
waste that are removed are droppings and these normally get mixed with
the saw dust when removed. You can sell the waste as manure after drying
them in the sun and bagging them. You can also use them in your farm
assuming you also run a farm. Dead birds that die after an illness are
also to be removed and the ones that fall ill may have to be isolated
from the healthy ones to prevent disease spread.
It's a profitable business and you can make good money running it. The only thing is that it can be stressful managing one
Related Topic:
How to Start a Lucrative Poultry farming business in Nigeria
