start-poultry-farming-in-nigeria/

Are you thinking of starting a farming business in Nigeria?

I will not blame you if the first idea that comes to your mind is starting a poultry farm, farming domesticated birds for meat or eggs production.

You see, poultry farming is by far the most established and lucrative animal farming business idea in Nigeria. I use the word established deliberately, in the sense that poultry products’ interest and consumption continue to increase, making it the most common source of protein/ meat production besides fish, pork, and beef.

This growth has been unhindered by culture and religion as virtually all cultural and religious groups do not forbid poultry (Chicken meat) consumption. This increasing demand resulted in a significant increase in the number of birds reared for meat and eggs.

Contents

Table of contents

In 2003, USDA reported poultry production volumes at that commercial poultry production in Nigeria stood at a value of $800 million. Significantly, this represents just 30% of local annual consumption levels, with a deficit of 70% being provided for by illegal imports of frozen chicken into the country.

Step by step guide on how to start your poultry farm in Nigeria

How can anyone interested in starting a poultry farm business in Nigeria go about it with certainty that it would come out profitable? This article will explore that based on my personal experience in the industry.

Total Time Needed :

30

Minutes

Total Cost:

from 65

USD

Required Tools:

– Day-old chicks
– A commercial poultry housing system – depending on the type of poultry
– Poultry Feeds
– A good breed (Broiler, Noila or Layers)

Things Needed?

– A WordPress Website.

Steps to configure the How-to Schema:

Step 1 – Learn as much as you can about the business

You have decided you want to venture into poultry farming. What is the first thing you do? Go to Mama Ijesa’s shop to buy day-old chicks? For many would-be poultry farmers, that was how they started. Little wonder that they get burnt and stay away from the poultry industry ever after.

You are smart and would not make that kind of rookie mistake.
The best place to start is by doing what brought you to this article in the first place, research about how to start and manage a sustainable poultry business in Nigeria. It is essential that you keep in mind that this article is just a starting point and in no way makes you an expert.

Learn as much as you can online by reading blogs and watching YouTube videos published by poultry farmers, keeping an eye out for the systems that they have in place and how they handle issues that come up. But do not let that stop you from reaching out to local farmers to get firsthand information on their experiences.

Step 2 – Decide on the vertical that you will focus on

While the poultry industry is relatively large and you could have several options including chickens, ducks, turkeys, and other fowl, this post assumes that you are interested in chicken production either raised for meat (cockerels and broilers) or eggs (layers).

The scale of your operation depends on your experience level and the amount of capital that you are willing to stake in the business. While some decide to focus on poultry farming for meat and others for eggs, there are several poultry farms, even in your city, where both outcomes combined.
Here is a little background on the different breeds you could produce:

Broilers: Fast-growing chicken grown for its meat. Broilers attain slaughter weight in two months or less, making it the fastest
Cockerels: This is also a meat producing breed of poultry. While much slower growing, they are generally sturdier and can survive even harsh environments.
Layers: Layers’ poultry breeds are used for commercial egg production. If you want to produce eggs, this is the breed to stock.
Incubation: It is also possible that you want to run a hatchery, where you produce day-old chicks for other poultry farmers to uptake.

  1. Housing system and poultry farm equipment

Poultry housing systems are grouped into three categories namely: intensive, semi-intensive and free-range or extensive systems. Deciding on which system you will employ is a very important decision that you have to take as it may have a significant impact on your outcomes.

The free-range or extensive and semi-intensive farming methods are typically employed by hobby farmers growing for their home consumption, and commercial farmers that have access to large tracts of secure farmland. 

In the methods, birds are either completely bred in the open and given a free run (as in extensive or free-range) or partially bred in a confined environment and allowed to range freely and forage as circumstances allow.

The major disadvantage with this method is that of poaching and largescale farmers would shoot themselves in the foot if they were to take this approach. An additional drawback is that this method is very impractical if one is farming layers.

In the intensive method, birds are confined in well-ventilated and illuminated deep-litter houses and likely only get out when they are ready for slaughter.

Depending on the poultry rearing methods employed, availability of funds, you will likely need equipment like feeders, drinkers, heaters, brooders crates, and cages.

  1. Write out a thoughtful business plan

Starting a new business without having a business plan written out is a recipe for disaster.

Can you imagine a pilot taking off from an airport without a flight plan? Why then, would want to start a new business without carefully counting the cost and potential?

A business plan forces you to think critically about a new venture, the market, the cost, the competition and most importantly, your strategy to win. If you do not have the discipline required to think this deep about the business, then you are simply not ready.

What you would be going into would be a gamble, not an investment.

Besides, if you plan to access any bank loans or government grants (there are plenty for agro businesses right now in Nigeria), you would often be required to submit a business plan.

So, why not be prepared ahead of time convince yourself about the viability of your poultry business?

  1. Select a farm location

In selecting a location for your poultry farm, it is important that you weigh important considerations like nearness to markets where you intend to sell your products. Keep in mind that it is not legal to site a poultry in residential areas, largely owing to unsavory smells and the risk for contagious disease outbreak.

Additionally, you would want to situate your farm at a location where water and power are accessible, and you can have relative security for your produce.

If you can find a rural community not far from the cities that can guarantee you these considerations, go for it. For one, your accommodation will be cheaper. Secondly, you will not have too many interferences from government agencies.

  1. When is the right time to hire?

If you are starting at a small scale (between 150 and 400 chicks), you can easily manage your farm on your own. If you are new to poultry farming, I would advice that you start at a small scale and learn the ropes with lower stakes before making a bigger investment.

This applies even if you have more than enough money to start big. A pilot phase never hurt anyone.

For larger operations, you will not be able to avoid employing workers to help in running the farm. Go for workers who are experienced. However, if there are no experienced poultry workers, you can easily hire workers and have an experienced hand provide training for your team.

  1. Stock your day-old chicks

Carefully research to identify a good hatchery where you can buy day old chicks from. The costs usually range between N140 – N200 per chick. A word of caution here, while it is always delightful to buy something at a bargain, be careful not to buy unhealthy chicks in the name of getting a great deal.

If possible, by chicks from trusted hatcheries close to your farm, to reduce the stress on the chicks that may come from long distance transportation.

  1. Feeding and watering 

This is where you will spend more than 80% of your time and resources. Make sure that your birds have access to well rationed, nutritious meals that match their age and production levels. If you do economy here, the birds will get back at you in stunted growth and poor eggs production.

One area where some poultry farmers get it wrong is trying out a new feed formulation on a whole batch of their stock, just to save an extra buck. That is risky behavior and puts you at risk of losing the whole stock.

If you need to try out new products, segment a few birds and feed them on that product exclusively. How do they perform? If the outcome is positive, you can now scale the new feed out for use in the whole farm.

Of course, this means that you must keep good records. We will talk about this in more details shortly.

It is also important that your birds have access to clean drinking water daily. This is especially true for layers. If you repeatedly starve your layers of drinking water, it may affect their egg production, which will have an immediate impact on the profitability of your poultry farm.

  1. Medications, vaccinations and biosafety 

Growing up, I will never forget the devastation we experienced when we woke up to find more than 500 birds in our poultry farm dead, and another 1000 sickly. An investment of five years was very nearly completely wiped off. Within one day we had lost almost 2000 birds to a flu outbreak we did not see coming.

Keep in mind that poultry birds are very susceptible to disease and one bird can quickly infect the whole batch if care is not taken.

Ensure that you house your birds in well ventilated buildings and provide them with regular vet doctor checkups as proper vaccinations is compulsory if they are not to get wiped off by viral, fungal, bacterial, parasitic or even nutritional diseases. 

Brood over your stock like a mother hen, and at the first sign of trouble, make sure the vet knows.

Your vet should be on a retainership. I still see small scale poultry farmers who add penicillin to the water of their birds and conclude that they have taken care of any disease risk. That is so laughable and at the same time, sad.

  1. Keep accurate records

If you want your farm to succeed, you need to keep daily records. ‘Guesstimations’ are of no use in farming. Records to keep include feed and water consumption, vaccinations and medications administered, daily egg-laying and egg production, average weight at different age milestones, egg sizes and mortality. 

These records will prove to be very useful in planning future poultry stocks, disease control and in making feed consumption estimations and production forecasts.

It is important that you keep these records whether your farm is a hobby, a small-scale poultry farm, or a large-scale commercial operation. Records will help you learn on the job and become more confident as you take decisions on the day to day running of your farm.

Interestingly, there are freely available mobile apps to help you keep records in your poultry farm. Just search with the keywords’ poultry farm records’ and select one that best suits your methods.

  1. Sell off your poultry products and smile to the bank

We have finally come to part that makes it all worth it. One mistake some farmers make is that they wait until their births are ready for the market or, in the case of layers, start producing eggs, before they begin to think about where they will sell their products.

They end up feeding their birds sometimes weeks after they ought to have been sold off because they did not plan their endgame appropriately.

Do you see why I said you are smarter for writing your business plan? You know who your customers are, and you have likely negotiated trade deals with them ahead of time.

This is time to make sales and smile all the way to the bank.

Keep in mind that you are not to eat up all the proceeds. Not if you still plan to stock your farm with another batch of birds.

In closing, you can be very successful as a poultry farmer if you give attention to details, keep records, and stay patient. All that you need to start this business is available locally, so all that is left is for you to raise the capital, acquire the skills and, importantly, show up.

Recommended Articles

Poultry farming, starting a poultry farm in Nigeria, poultry farming, poultry farm, poultry farming in nigeria Share on Facebook
Poultry farming, starting a poultry farm in Nigeria, poultry farming, poultry farm, poultry farming in nigeria Post on X
Poultry farming, starting a poultry farm in Nigeria, poultry farming, poultry farm, poultry farming in nigeria Follow us

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

72 COMMENTS

  2. You can certainly see your skills in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to mention how they believe. At all times go after your heart. “Until you walk a mile in another man’s moccasins you can’t imagine the smell.” by Robert Byrne.

  5. Together with the whole thing that seems to be developing inside this subject material, your perspectives tend to be very refreshing. However, I am sorry, but I can not subscribe to your entire theory, all be it radical none the less. It appears to everyone that your remarks are actually not totally validated and in reality you are generally your self not completely confident of your assertion. In any case I did appreciate reading it.

  6. I loved as much as you will receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an impatience over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come more formerly again as exactly the same nearly a lot often inside case you shield this hike.

  7. Definitely believe that which you stated. Your favorite justification seemed to be on the internet the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly get annoyed while people think about worries that they just do not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , people could take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks

  9. Just wish to say your article is as surprising. The clearness in your post is simply spectacular and i could assume you are an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please carry on the rewarding work.

  11. Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is an extremely well written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I’ll definitely comeback.

  12. hello there and thank you to your information – I’ve certainly picked up anything new from proper here. I did then again experience several technical points using this site, since I experienced to reload the site many occasions prior to I may just get it to load correctly. I had been wondering in case your web host is OK? No longer that I am complaining, but slow loading instances instances will very frequently affect your placement in google and can harm your high quality score if ads and ***********|advertising|advertising|advertising and *********** with Adwords. Anyway I am adding this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for much more of your respective exciting content. Make sure you update this once more soon..

  16. Nice read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch as I found it for him smile Thus let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch! “Do you want my one-word secret of happiness–it’s growth–mental, financial, you name it.” by Harold S. Geneen.

  23. I have been browsing on-line greater than three hours lately, but I never found any fascinating article like yours. It’s lovely worth enough for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made excellent content material as you probably did, the internet will probably be a lot more useful than ever before.

  29. Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest writing a blog article or vice-versa? My website discusses a lot of the same topics as yours and I feel we could greatly benefit from each other. If you are interested feel free to send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you! Awesome blog by the way!

  31. Hmm it looks like your website ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any recommendations for beginner blog writers? I’d definitely appreciate it.

  33. The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, but I actually thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could fix if you werent too busy looking for attention.

  38. I’ve been exploring for a bit for any high-quality articles or blog posts on this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this web site. Reading this info So i am happy to convey that I have a very good uncanny feeling I discovered exactly what I needed. I most certainly will make sure to do not forget this website and give it a look regularly.

  42. I would like to thnkx for the efforts you’ve put in writing this site. I’m hoping the same high-grade website post from you in the upcoming as well. Actually your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings fast. Your write up is a great example of it.

  45. I do not even know the way I finished up here, however I assumed this publish was once great. I do not understand who you might be however certainly you’re going to a famous blogger in the event you are not already πŸ˜‰ Cheers!

  47. I’m extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Either way keep up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to see a great blog like this one today..

  58. Good website! I really love how it is easy on my eyes and the data are well written. I’m wondering how I might be notified when a new post has been made. I have subscribed to your RSS feed which must do the trick! Have a great day!

  60. Excellent post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed! Very helpful info specially the final section πŸ™‚ I care for such information much. I used to be seeking this particular info for a very lengthy time. Thank you and best of luck.

  61. Merely wanna input on few general things, The website pattern is perfect, the subject matter is very fantastic. “The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others.” by Sonya Friedman.

  62. Hey very cool website!! Man .. Excellent .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your web site and take the feeds also…I’m happy to find numerous useful info here in the post, we need work out more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .

  65. I discovered your weblog site on google and check a few of your early posts. Proceed to keep up the very good operate. I just extra up your RSS feed to my MSN Information Reader. Seeking ahead to reading extra from you in a while!…

  68. Hi there, You’ve performed an incredible job. I will certainly digg it and individually recommend to my friends. I’m confident they’ll be benefited from this site.

  69. Hello my family member! I wish to say that this post is amazing, great written and include approximately all important infos. I would like to look more posts like this.

  71. F*ckin’ remarkable issues here. I am very satisfied to see your article. Thanks so much and i’m having a look ahead to contact you. Will you please drop me a mail?

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.