When you think about poultry, you should think about meat and eggs. Poultry farming has proven to be a very lucrative business. It involves raising various types of domestic birds commercially for the purpose of meats and egg production. Poultry in Africa includes chicken, turkey, guinea fowl, geese, ducks, quail and pigeons farming.
Poultry farming is lucrative and creates employment opportunities and high return of investments. In Namibia, the broiler industry contributed 0.71% to its overall Gross Domestic Product in 2017 according to an economic impact assessment commissioned by the local poultry association. The Namibian boiler poultry industry has great potential in creating jobs, food security, and industrialization.
The Nigerian poultry industry is estimated at $800 million and is comprised of approximately 145 million birds. Nigeria presently produces above 550,000 metric tonnes of poultry meat and 700,000 metric tonnes of eggs per annum. It is the largest producer of eggs in Africa.
Also, the poultry industry is the largest segment of the South African agricultural sector, contributing more than 16% of the GDP. It provides employment, directly and indirectly throughout its value chain. Uganda also offers opportunities for poultry farmers. It offers great opportunities for poultry farmers around the world to invest.
Before you start a poultry farm, take out time to learn about the business. A successful poultry farm is as a result of commitment and time invested in rearing the birds.
Before you Start a Poultry Farm
Feasibility Study
This will help you know if the business is viable on all fronts including the business viability, technical viability, operational viability, etc. the feasibility study includes the introduction, product, technology, market environment, industry, financial projections, risks factors, and regulations.
Business Plan
Determine the location. The size of land depends on the number of birds you want to raise. It is not advisable to acquire land in major cities, it’s better to purchase land in a rural area. Get land in non-residential areas because of the foul odor from bird excreta. Also, keep in mind the availability of water supply, nearest to market and logistics cost.
Determine the kind of breed you wish to farm for commercial poultry. Broilers grow very fast and are used for commercial meat production. Layers produce more eggs for commercial purposes. Cockerels are another type of meat productive poultry breeds. They grow slower than other breeds and can adapt to almost all types of environment.
Make plans pertaining to the production type (determine whether the farm is for egg or meat)
Decide whether to produce for commercial or personal purpose. Commercial farming requires the hiring of labor.
Housing facilities (free-range, furnished cage, battery cage, yarding). You also need to determine what is needed for the setup.
Customers logistics system to use, to determine whether you will need an extra hand to transport your feeds, produce or not
Decide the people you produce for and make contacts with traders/consumers.
Feeding Plan
Choose the right feeding plan for the birds to be healthy and highly productive. Always provide an adequate amount of food according to the number and age of poultry bird. Supply sufficient amount of water and vitamins too.
Health Management
Make adequate plans for constant cleaning of the housing facilities. Birds are very sensitive and may suffer from viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic diseases. Proper vaccination is required to keep birds’ disease free, healthy and productive. A vet doctor should vaccinate the birds frequently.
Test run
After conducting a feasibility study and writing down your business plan, start by farming a small number of birds).
With 45% of the world’s unused agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa, there is great potential for the poultry industry to grow. South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Uganda, Senegal, Angola, Malawi, Rwanda, Kenya, and Ethiopia are currently growing markets on the continent, all with expected year-on-year
The Poultry Business Like Most Business Involves Great Risk. . .
You Could Just Wake Up One Morning And Find Out That 50% Of Your Birds Are Dead Or Have Been Infected By An Influenza. . .
The Ability To Take Calculated Risk Is Also A Quality Of A Good Entrepreneur. . . If It Works Good, If Not Fine. . .
Nice. But don’t start poultry in an unfenced place and near male students’ hostel.
A modest poultry of about 500 layer birds from point of lay age can set you back by almost 1.5 to 2 million before profit kicks in
Factor in feeding, location, housing, medication and miscellaneous costs Its quite financial intensive. Also you should mention the breeds that have a high laying rate like Issa Brown/White
a sample all-inclusive cost analysis for setting up small take-off poultry for say about 200 birds would be really helpful for someone looking to start small and scale up production as profit rolls in.
As lucrative as poultry farming is You must know the basis which include feeding, drugs and vaccines. If you are a beginner, it’s advisable to start small I.e one carton of any bird of your choice (broiler, cockerels and noilers) preferably broiler cos they grow quick and you can get your Return Of investment if properly done 100% Starr with one carton of broiler 200per chick as at Monday (50 in a carton).
Day 1= you give only glucose
Day 2-5- antibiotics and vitamins
Day 11-gumboro
3rd week — lasota
This first dose vaccines are very important
Watch your birds for coccidiosis and viral diseases
You can also decide to go organic by using ginger, garlic, aloe Vera and fruits
At day 11, you administer gum
How much can one use to set-up this business?
pen construction for 100 birds =10,000(including workmanship) it shouldn’t be up to that
Purchase of Poultry equipment (drinker, feeding bowl, light, charcoal for heat) –3000 it shouldn’t be up to that
Purchase of birds (100) at 200 per bird =20,000
Feed -breed well starter in my area is 3800(2 1/2 -3 bags will be enough for 10 weeks) 3800*3=11400
Vaccines lasota and gumboro(1-2nd dose) -3000
Antibiotics and vitamins -1500
Other emergency drugs -2500
Note: these are not the exact prices, it might be different in your area. It’s our responsibility to engage in agribusiness for economic development and wealth creation
Using 2- 3bags of feed will definitely not be enough for 10weeks. Even if you’re rearing cockerels let alone broilers. You should be talking of 10-15bags for that period of time. I guess you want to venture into broiler production alone.
Have you heard about alpha-funaab?
Its a new type of chicken that has the ability to withstand harsh condition in Africa, just like the local chicken. But has the ability to produce eggs and meat like the foreign chicken.
It was recently developed in funaab and were given their patent around last year. I believe this information will be good for any person looking for more efficient and low cost maintenance chicken.