How to start a profitable poultry business

Start up capital 200,000 - 500,000

 As a business, raising chickens involve much more than when it’s for personal consumption. Chickens have peculiar needs which must be met. Failure to meet these needs might lead to serious losses.
When researching this topic, one important thing I learnt was: this business IS NOT a get rich scheme. You will need the right knowledge to succeed in it.

 In this post, I’ll be sharing how to raise chickens for meat. Especially against festive seasons. I tried as much as possible to cover the basics that can get you on your way.

 There are three broad classification of chickens: Broiler Layer Egg and meat. Broilers are mainly raised for meat while layers are for eggs. Of course, layers can also be sold for meat.

However, under these broad categories are numerous breeds of chickens. Cockerels are also raised for meat. Since we are dealing with meat production, our focus is broilers and cockerels. On average, broilers take 8-9 weeks to reach market size. Cockerels, on the other hand, take much longer. Sometimes up to 6 months.

There are arguments on which of the two is more profitable and easier to train. Some believe broilers have a higher mortality rate. Others say broilers have a higher turnover since they take lesser time to mature. For our yield calculation (down below), we worked with broilers.

 What you need to start raising chickens You’ll sure need some money to raise chickens. There’s no denying that. You buy the chickens, house, treat and feed them with money.

 Here’s a quick breakdown of what you’ll need to raise chickens: Chicken house Lighting system Feeds Vaccines/drugs/other treatment Feeders, waterer

This is excluding the chickens, land and labour. For starters, I’d recommend saving cost on land and labour. If you’re lucky to have land (especially in rural areas), use it. Some residential areas might be against poultry farming so confirm before setting out. Building a chicken coop

 There are three main classifications of poultry management systems. They are: extensive, semi-intensive, and intensive. Deep litter is a popular intensive system in Nigeria. The chickens are kept in a pen whose concrete floor is covered with sawdust or wood shavings. The sawdust is changed frequently to keep the place clean and curtail disease breakout. An important factor to note is that the chicken house must be well ventilated and spacious. It should be made in a way ventilation and air movement is easily controlled. On space, this articlerecommends each chicken to at least 2 square feet of space. Other important guidelines to consider are: Adequate lighting Clean surrounding Sunlight Wind Safety from thieves, pets, predators.

It is important to note that good hygiene and a well-ventilated pen go a long way in keeping the chickens safe. Do not sacrifice these to save cost as it will come back to bite.