Are you interested in setting up a poultry farm in Nigeria? Do you have zeal & passion on how to start a poultry business? if YES, Then this article will give you information on all you need to know about poultry farming.
Poultry business is one of the profitable businesses in Nigeria as a result of the high demand it gets from consumers.
Poultry products such as chicken ensures that the body derives proteins after consuming eggs and chicken meat.
So many people intend on starting a poultry farming in Nigeria but they don’t know how to start neither do they have the right knowledge that will help them in starting their own poultry farm business.
In this article, you will get to know about how to start, the basic requirements and cost in starting your own poultry farm business in Nigeria And the challenges.
First of all, you must know that poultry farming is a broad business. There are different categories of birds in poultry such as Duck, Cockerels, Turkey, Broilers, Layers etc. Before starting a poultry business, you must know what you intend to get and derive from it. They are poultry birds for producing eggs, meats etc.
Requirements And Cost of Starting A Poultry Farm Business In Nigeria
1) A Piece of Land:
If you intend on starting this business, you must acquire a land for it. It is not compulsory that the land must be sited in an urban area; you can also acquire a land for your poultry business at cheap prices in rural areas. You can get a plot of land for 150,000 and an acre for N500,000 and above.
2) Make a Poultry House:
The next step is to construct a poultry house that would house and keep your birds. The construction can be easily done by a carpenter. The materials needed for the poultry house construction include; Wire net bundles, bundles of zinc, nails of different sizes, planks and wood.
Note that the land must be cleared before the construction can take place. Also, a gutter is to be constructed by a bricklayer to ensure that the droppings and defecation of the birds are channels to a sock away.
3) Battery Cage:
Your battery cage depends solely on the number of birds which you want to start with. If you can start your poultry business with 1,500 birds, a unit of cage with an automatic drinker would be able to serve 90 birds. This is to say that you should be targeting up to 17 units of cages which has automatic drinkers. A single unit costs N70,000 which means that 17 units roughly costs N1,190,000.
4) Buy The Birds: After the poultry house has been set you can go on to buy your birds. Any color is preferable for you to buy.
5) Bird Feed: Birds do consume a lot of feed; 200 birds can consume 25kg of feed in a single say. If you can feed 1,500 birds with N70,000 in a day, then a week would be N490,000.
Additional Tips:
You can also buy medications like dewormer, antibiotics and vitamins to help the birds stay healthy.
Challenges Of The Poultry Industry In Nigeria
Poultry farming is a very lucrative business in Nigeria yet it does not come without its own challenges.
Of course, all businesses have their own challenges, given the environment, the challenges can differ and some can be more pronounced than others.
Poultry farmers in Nigeria face a lot of challenges in running successful poultry farms. Because of these challenges some have failed, however, some acquired the right knowledge and continue growing despite these challenges.
If you are planning to start a poultry farm, then this is going to help you plan and prepare for some of the challenges that may come.
1) Lack of capital:
The size of the poultry farm will determine the capital. In any case, the smallest poultry farm still requires a sizeable capital. Some persons have had to give up when looking at the capital required to start this business.
2) Disease:
Recently, there has been news of birds dying in large numbers.
This is one of the major challenges facing the poultry industry. Sometimes the death of birds leave the farmers with great losses.
3) Lack of knowledge:
Some of these challenges could have been avoided by acquiring the right knowledge. Like the problem of capital. Capitals could be gotten through loans from banks. All that is needed is a business plan and a worthy collateral in some cases.
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Also, the problem of birds dying could also be avoided by getting the right knowledge to protect and take proper care the birds.
4) Poor market:
The economy of the country is nothing to write about.
Sometimes poultry produce is kind of costly and for the masses and most Nigerians are not willing to buy.
5) Feeds are expensive:
Feeding the birds can be very challenging given the high price of feeds. The poor market in some locations can make it difficult to make profits after sales. This is also another major challenge facing the poultry industry in Nigeria.
How To Establish A Poultry Farming Business
Are you interested in setting up a poultry farm in Nigeria? Here is a simple guide on how to start a poultry farming business and all you need to know about it.
(1) Business Plan: Your business plan for poultry farming in Nigeria should give a detailed view on how you want to run this business. Poultry farming is profitable but as well as risky. Your business plan should focus on capital, challenges, expenses,Identifying your purpose (whether to produce meat, egg or Do Both) and marketing strategies.
(2) Good Location Of Poultry Site: The location should be environmental friendly and should allow space for housing & good management practice. If you don’t have money to purchase Land, you can start a Backyard poultry farming (also known as small scale poultry farming), though it depends.
Is not always advisable to set up a poultry farm at urban areas for health purposes, because chickens get some smells which is probably an air pollution (Please ensure proper management and proper cleaning to prevent this!), So secure an area at any rural side or any place it won’t disturb people.
(3) Your Choice of poultry Birds (Chicken Farming): You have to select the breed you want to rear. There are broilers, layers, hatchery etc, You have to be very selective. Ensure that the choosen breeds must be healthy to avoid stories that touch the heart.
(4) Know Their Feeding Requirement: The next step is to purchase their feeds and take good care of the chicken for growth and high production.
(5) Always Seek Advice From Poultry Personnel And Plan Proper Medication When Needed.
Management Practices In Poultry
There are three management system in poultry production, They are:
The Extensive System (Free Range System)
The Semi-Intensive System (Restricted Range)
And The Intensive System
(1) The Extensive System: On this system of poultry production, the birds are allowed to move freely and also feed themselves. This is one of the cheapest way of poultry rearing.
The cost of feed and care of the poultry is very low. There are problems in this system of production, which include; Low productivity, low profit and disappearance of some birds.
(2) Semi-Intensive System: You will need a piece of land and a galvanized wire netting for fence and small poultry house on it. The galvanized wire serve as protection on the birds.
The difference between The extensive system and the semi-intensive system is that on the semi-intensive system have some boundaries (restricted range) which serves as protection on the birds while On the Extensive system the birds can move anyhow they like without any restricted range.
(3) Intensive System: This system of poultry production is the most expensive method of rearing birds, It requires a large poultry house to keep all the chickens indoor at all time, It requires huge capital. The intensive system have two method that are commonly used. They are:
(i) Battery cage system
(ii) Deep litter system
Battery Cage System
The battery cage system is mainly for egg production, they are made of wire and there are many cages in it and one cage will be on top of the other. The cage is very large to allow movement of birds. The cage allows easy collection of eggs whenever the lay.
The Deep Litter System
The deep litter cage is mainly for meat production. The layers can as well be kept in this system. On this system, the birds are kept in a house within the floor filled with liters. On the deep liter house, the foods and water are provided. This is the best and appropriate way of poultry production, It ensures proper growth and productivity.
Great Tips For Poultry Farmers In Nigeria:
1) Ensure to provide additional feeding in accurate rations.
2) Proper management practices.
3) Always take control measures to pest and disease.
4) Always ensure to plan your business, Do more research and plan out strategies that will really work for you.
5) Take the poultry farming as a business not as an ordinary farming.
Cost Of poultry Feed In Nigeria:
These are the cost of each poultry feed:
i) Broiler super starter mash (Hybrid brand)- 25kg bag >> N3600
ii) Growers mash (Hybrid Brand)-25kg bag >> N3000
iii) Layer concentrate (Hybrid Brand)-25kg bag>> N4000
iv) Layers Mash (Hybrid Brand)-25kg Bag >> N2950 or N3000
v) Broiler finisher mash (Hybrid Brand)-25kg bag >> N3800.
Biggest Poultry Farm In Nigeria
People have been wondering and searching to know the biggest poultry farm in Nigeria even without accurate answer. According to Tipstago Inc, the biggest and largest poultry farm in Nigeria is “Obasanjo Farms” also known as Ota farm, this farm has up to 8,000 workers and we believe you have know the largest farm In Nigeria.
SUMMARY
5 important factors to consider when establishing any poultry project are: Capital, Good location/land, Choice of bird, Feeding requirements/equipments & effective management.
Poultry farming can be done either under Extensive system, Semi-intensive system, or The intensive system. The extensive system is the cheapest way of raising poultry, but the productivity is low. The semi-intensive system is the mid way between the extensive and the intensive, And the intensive system is the most expensive practices in poultry production, The productivity is very high.
The profitability of poultry farming in Nigeria lies on the management of the animals by the farmer. In order to have adequate productivity, growth and profit, Take proper care of your birds.