Starting A Poultry Business, What You Should Know

A whole lot of people have requested the know-how on going into poultry business and if you happened to be part of them, then you just land yourself on the right spot. This article would give you an insight on howto start Poultry business and how you can grow it successfully.

Poultry is a very viable and lucrative business especially in Nigeria, with her numerous population of over 180 million people. The market is always here waiting to be tapped. The demand for poultry products, e.g.: eggs, is so high that people go about everyday looking for where to buy. Poultry business can also be a risky business suddenly, if you are not concerned about poultry feed management. Poultry birds require energy. In order to obtain the desired growth rate of your chickens, you must have to purchase and provide highly nutritious poultry feed.

What you should know before venturing into Poultry Business

1. Select your Niche

The Poultry industry has a very broad niche, you just have to pick one and concentrate on becoming the best at it and be known for on it. Below are the various niches in the poultry business;

• • Egg productions (Layers breeding)

• • Meat production (Broilers breeding)

• • Chicken breeding (Hatchery)

• • Poultry feed production

• • Poultry equipment and manufacturing

• • Egg and meat processing, packaging and marketing
  • Poultry farming and consultancy

As you can see, poultry farming has a very broad branch, you just have to choose your area of specialization. Of course, if you have the money and the technical know how of the business you can do all, but it is better to find out which aspect is more profitable in your area or location in terms of demand and income.

2. Farm Location

Another important thing to consider before starting a poultry farm business is a suitable piece of land and its location. Generally, a plot of 120*60 square meters is suitable for a medium sized poultry farm, starting in small scale but nevertheless, the size of the required land is dependent on the number of birds you want to raise and the kind of farming system. It is imperative to know that you should acquire land(s) far away towns and big cities.It’s advisable to buy a land in the rural area because lands and labor are highly available at cheaper rate in these places. Select a fresh environment and pollution free area.

Establishing a poultry farm in a rented land is absolutely a bad idea, especially if the rate is kind of exorbitant. There are lands you can rent for as low as 10,000 – 20,000 naira per year in some rural areas. However, while selecting land, keep in mind some important facilities like great source of water, free from all types of animals and predators, a market near the farm, proper transportation facilities, e.t.c.

3. Poultry Breeds

There are three types of breed which are very suitable for commercial poultry farming in Nigeria. You can select any of them for your farm. Modern poultry breeds are highly productive and commercial raising is also very profitable. Modern layers produce more eggs than traditional breeds and broilers grow faster than ever. Selecting proper breeds for commercial production depends on you. Before starting, determine what type of product you want to produce. Three types of common and commercial poultry breeds are described below;

• Layers: Layer poultry breeds are used for commercial egg production. If you want to produce eggs commercially, select highly productive layer breeds.
• Broilers: Broilers are very fast growing poultry breeds. Generally, they gain slaughter weight within a very short time by consuming certain amount of food and they are used for commercial meat production.
• Cockerels: Cockerels are another type of meat productive poultry breeds. Cockerel has a special demand for some people. Generally, they grow slower than other breeds. But very hardy and can survive and adopt themselves in almost all types of environment and weather.

According to your desired production, select your breed. Each type of poultry breed need special type of care and management. So, select proper breed and take good care of your birds as it ought to be.

4. Housing

Housing system depends on your poultry breeds andfarming method. Below are few tips to use while building suitable houses foryour poultry birds.

• • The poultry house has to be well ventilated. Well ventilation keeps the bird healthy and productive.

• • Make a suitable ventilated system for sufficient amount of fresh air and light inside the house.

• • Try and make the house north to south faced.

• • In the case of making numerous houses, the distance between one house to another house should be about 40 feet.

• • Before bringing the chick into the farm, clean the house and the entire farm area properly.

• • Make deep liter clean regularly.

• • You can use some cheap materials like wooden material or rice ban for making liter.

• • Keep the feeding and watering equipment in proper distance from each other according to the number of birds and farming system and always clean all the equipment everyday.
  • The house must have all required facilities for poultry birds.

The housing system commonly used in poultry farming are;

• • Extensive System: range and fold unit

• • Semi intensive system: Standard semi intensive unit and straw yard

• • Intensive System: 1. Deep liter, 2. wire and slated floor, 3. battery cage 4. straw yard

4. Feeding

Good and high quality feeds keep the birds healthy and highly productive. Good quality fresh and nutritious feed is the key success in poultry farming business. It’s advisable to provide adequate amount of feed according to the age and number of poultry birds. Aside quality feeds, always ensure the supply of sufficient amount of clean water according to the daily demands of the birds.

Poultry feeds includes

• • Wheat: Wheat is one of the best grains to be used as poultry feed ingredients. For this reason you should include a certain amount of wheat in the poultry feed ratio. During the wheat harvesting season, you can feed the poultry birds as mash or as scratch feed. You can also use wheat as poultry feed throughout the year.

• • Barley: Generally barley is not as delicious like wheat and oats. But it contains fiber and a great source of fat.

• • Corn: Corn can be very effective grain for your poultry birds. You can feed whole, cracked or grinded. You can feed ripe corns to your hens.

• • Millet: It has good advantages as poultry feed. You can use millet in growing, laying and fattening ratio. Millet is easily digestible and help to increase body temperature.

• • Flax: It is suitable for high amount of protein in your poultry feed. You can use small amount of flax in the feed mixture.

• • Skim Milk and Butter Milk: They are very useful for all kinds of poultry birds. Especially for the young chicks and laying hens. Skim and butter milk play a vital role to get high quality eggs for hatching. And its also reliable source of protein.

• • By-Products Of Grain: By-products of grains have a great health value and suitable for feeding the poultry birds. Buy various types of by-products if grains are available in the shop where poultry feed are prepared or sold. It’s price is comparably higher than any other poultry feed ingredients.

• • Fish Oil: Fish oil is a dependable source of vitamin A and D.

Poultry birds are very sensitive and may be infected by diseases easily. Generally, they suffer various types of viral, bacterial, fungal, nutritional and parasitic diseases. Proper vaccination is a must for keeping your your birds diseases free, healthy and productive. So, vaccinate the birds timely. If somehow, disease occurs in the farm, meet a vet doctor as soon as possible and listen to his advice.

5. Staffing

Staffing And Man power is not labor intensive if the use of technology is employed. Being a small scale poultry you don’t need so many staff, what you need is a manager and accountant. Either way, your manager can also assume the duty of the accountant too in order to save cost. This individual oversees the day to day running of the business.

6. Marketing

The easy marketing of poultry products is the main benefits of poultry farming in Nigeria. There are already existing markets for poultry eggs and meat with huge demand, so you don’t have to stress much about marketing your products. You can sell your products in both local markets and the big cities.

According to the discussion above, poultry farming in Nigeria is really lucrative and great business idea, as it is an already established business. All types of necessary facilities are available. You just need some capital and practical knowledge for starting your poultry farming business.

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