How to Start Small Scale Poultry Farming Business in Nigeria-Poultry farming is a vast agric business in the agricultural sector in Nigeria. It is a high-income business requiring a mostly minimal amount of N100,000 to start. The consumption of the end products of birds: chicken and eggs are of high rate in the market.
Also, the demand for eggs in the market today even though costly is off the hook of the statistical table in the agric-economy. Most importantly, chicken and eggs are the best source of animal protein for kids and old adults alike.
Why is Poultry farming a gainful business?
- Poultry farming is profitable because almost everything is of value and can be utilized.
- The high consumption of eggs and chicken overall.
- The droppings of the birds can also be sold as manure or fertilizers for those involved in plant farming.
- Quick returns of the invested amount in less than 8 weeks for broilers and layers.
- The initial capital is low compared to other investments requiring higher amounts.
How to Start Small Scale Poultry Farming Business in Nigeria
To start a poultry farm, there are a lot of things to be considered,
- Breeds of birds to rear
- Land space
- Housing/shelter and lightning
- Purchasing of feeds
- Vaccination and Medications
- The market and sales
BREEDS OF BIRDS TO REAR
When thinking of how to start a poultry farm, the first thing to come to mind is the type of bird species you want to rear. There are different breeds of chicken if you consider chicken as your best option because of the market value and fast sale returns.
The Broilers: These breeds of chicken have assumed the fastest-selling breeds of chicken in Nigeria. They grow from a hatch weight of 40g to about 2kg in less than 8 weeks.
The Layers: Just like the name implies are the egg-laying breeds. They are mostly reared for their eggs. They grow within four months and drop their first eggs within a year and 5 months till about two weeks before they start becoming weak.
The Cockerels: The cockerels have special demand in the agric market. They are reared for there, especially for their meats. They have very slow growth.
LAND SPACE: If you do not have enough capital to acquire a good space you can decide to use the battery cage system. But if you have a good space in your compound or you have a land that you want to start the business with that will be better.
Feeding and Medication OF The Poultry BIRDS
Starting a Small Scale Poultry Farming Business, good quality, highly nutritious food is a must. Quality and neat feeds keep the bird healthy always and very productive.
The feed must be kept clean and dry always, as contaminated feed can infect poultry. Fresh quality and nutritious food is the key to success in the poultry farming business.
Your birds need not lack water. Lack of adequate water supply can impede their growth.
Proper medication and vaccination can prevent many poultry diseases. As a commercial poultry farmer, you need to have a veterinary doctor that can come run a check on your birds when the need arises.
There are various routine medications and vaccinations that help towards the healthiness of your birds to keep them safe from viruses and bacterial infections, peradventure they catch an infectious disease.
Marketing and Sales
If you’re going to be successful with running a Poultry Farming Business in Nigeria then you have to be mindful of the time. When I was running a small-scale Poultry Farming Business in Nigeria, I was basically focused on the production of meat. I was In a rural area and what I usually do is to start rearing my birds in January and I sell off during April which is the Easter celebration.
Christmas is another period that you should always be targeting Poultry Farming Business is usually very lucrative during the Christmas period and you have to always make sure that you have birds available for sale.
If you’re living in an urban area you won’t be needing the tips above as you can create a customer base that will be buying from you all the time. You can take your business online, selling to hotels and restaurants, advertising your products, employing marketers, home delivery, etc.
The Poultry Farming Business is a profitable business and the desire of every poultry farmer is to make good sales after every harvest. So you need to pay attention to the marketing and sales aspect of your business. Do not be caught up in the operational aspect of your business so much that you ignore the sales aspect.
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