What is Chicken Farming?

Chicken eggs is the popular source of protein and become a more healthier and delicious to eat than the red meat which contains high in cholesterol. Due to having its high value, it is mostly used during the festive periods and also in the special occasions. The process of production of chicken is known as poultry farming.

How to be Successful in Poultry Farming for Beginners?

Due to the increasing demand of chickens and eggs and also quest for self employment, many people are interested in turning their career to the poultry farming with mixed results. Some have succeeded while due to the poor planning, others become failed. They become failed due to their failure to the plan. If you have this planning or you are already into a project of poultry farming and you wish to make it large, then there are following factors you need to consider:

Three Factors can make Poultry Farming a Profitable Business

There remains a lot of factors that makes your poultry farming business a profitable project but I will be highlighting only three major factors:

  • Food is one of the most basic needs of human being. Regardless of the economic situation, human beings must feed and also since domestic birds are consumable and that makes poultry farming project feasible.
  • The country Nigeria for instance has a population more than 150 million and it also increasing. It should be bear in mind that a large population means a huge demand of foods such as eggs and meats.
  • With the increasing of awareness on the health implications of red meat, there also increasing the demand of white meat and birds are also a source of white meat.

But before I describe to the details of starting a poultry farm business, I want to emphatically told that the information provided here does not any chance of replacing the need for you to conduct a study make this business plan and do your more diligence.

Three Secrets to Make A Successful Poultry Business

Ensure Proper and Healthy Housing of The Birds

The most important factor to consider is that the poultry housing system and fencing options. Poultry housing system determines up to the 40% of the success rate you able to achieve in poultry farming. A good housing system is most important purpose for your business. The housing system is commonly used in poultry farming are:

  • Extensive system: Fold and range unit;
  • Semi Intensive system: Standard semi-intensive unit and straw yard;
  • Intensive system:
    • 1) Deep litter;
    • 2) Wire and slated floor;
    • 3) Straw yard;
    • 4) Battery cage
  • Free Range System: Under the free range of poultry farming system, chickens are allowed to visit roam around on their own in search for food. Most of this case this system cannot be used as commercially in poultry farming because it has high level of risks involved.
  • Deep Litter System: This system may have spreading wood shavings and saw dust on a concrete on the ground with the all chickens placed on the floor and the dust may serving as a ‘cushion’ for them. The dust may be changed regularly, either by removing and replacing it or by layering. Deeply the litter system is used by a lot of poultry farmers because it has increased the efficiency rate and makes it easier to manage the large flocks of birds than the other process but it allows for the faster spread of diseases when there has an outbreak and also makes it more difficult to fish out of unproductive birds.
  • Battery Cage System: As for the battery cage system, metal cages are constructed inside the building of a house of birds. The cages are usually split into different compartments to the house of a small groups of birds. The cage also contains feeding and water troughs are as well as laying nests. If bird are droppings their fall on the floor and are cleaned mechanically by a scraper. This process is considered as the most effectiveness for more eggs production but the major downside of this method is that it is more expensive to process of construction and maintaining of compared to the other forms of poultry housing systems.

If you are the owner of a running poultry farm for commercial purposes and your intend is only getting the best outcome of your business, with respect to high birds’ productivity and efficiency. Then you should be able to consider the housing your birds using and the intensive system. Remember that per three housing system has its own advantages and also have disadvantages. Lastly, your poultry farm housing structure should be built at a particular angle that taking sunlight and wind into a consideration.
For getting a best deal with the other purchase of chicken cages, I would suggest to check out these battery cages.

Get an Effective Marketing Strategy in Chicken Farming Business Plan

For broiler

The birds which have can be the marketable weight should be sold. They should be harvested as scheduled always. When the harvest schedule approaches, the farm representatives should be able to reminded they should be ensure that the delivery trucks will come in time.

This has to be ensured that the birds will not consume extra feeds due to the longer stay of the farm without the beneficial effect to the birds.

For independent growers

Alternative market place should be surveyed even before time of harvest to ensure the ready market for broilers. Marketing arrangements with the local hotels, restaurants, cafeterias, institutional buyers, stores all of these with freezers should also be able to make. With the negotiation of different associations and also the market cooperatives should also be made to have a closer on a common prize. The organized producers have also some bargaining power when it is comes to their selling price. Producers are advised to calculate which is more profitable to sell. And the dressed or live chicken and whether may sell at the farm or bring them to the market. The broilers might be sold at optimum number of weight. More profits can be gained, if broilers can be sold between the weights of 1.3 to 1.5 kg live weight which depend on consumers’ preferences.

For table eggs

You have to survey the market, before investing in egg production. Marketing arrangements can be made in, local departmental store,local hotels, restaurants, local bakeries, cafeterias, groceries, and also other regular users. This may ensure the regular orders for the eggs. Sell graded or classified eggs. Properly grading or classification may be attract all the types of consumers. This would be able to the consumers make purchasing decision on egg size at hand. It is better to sell only clean eggs. Dry or wet cleaning of eggs should be a good practice on the farm. Reducing breakage and spoilage of eggs to the minimum case.

Poultry farming business is highly profitable if it is properly run under the acceptable methods and also conditions to the conducive for the bird. Each type of livestock farming, poultry included, follows specific operational principles if they must run profitably, but when such principles are ignored by the farm authority, it causes in serious losses.

The over motivation for starting any business is to gain profit. It become unfortunate. However, many poultry farmers don’t take the time to want to learn why some poultry farmers become failed. It is widely known that most poultry farmers have been forced out of business when they could not be able to operate business profitably. To gain success in the project of poultry farming, a lots of works are involved. According to the expert, “it is not for a lazy man’s business”. If you become a small starter, it is much better to start with day-old chicks than with the older chicks. It is advisable for a beginner to start the project with about 300 day-old chicks if you are interested in the production of eggs and selling off the layer when they become older. It may be taken about 18-20 weeks or 5 months to feed and nurture the birds before they start laying eggs.

Averagely, 100 birds will produce at least of 80 eggs daily. So if an entrepreneur can start this project with 300 birds and 280 survive, he will be able to get at least of 240 eggs daily, which is much better output. Once the birds started laying, they will do so for almost 74 weeks, after which they become due for this disposal. However, the birds could still lay after almost 74 weeks, if properly fed.

Poultry Equipment and Appliances

There may be a very long list of equipment and other facilities to put it in place in order to fully manage a poultry farm. And you may able to construct a house for the birds which provided feeders and drinkers and a good system of waste of disposal system, source of water, lightening and heating, egg creates and storage space for keeping feed and eggs.

Therefore, you should able to make a list of all the items you may need, find out the prices of these and compare them in different prices to further give you an idea of the costs of setting up poultry farm. The following equipment can be needed for a poultry farm and for their uses:

  1. Feeders
  2. Drinkers
  3. Perches
  4. Nests
  5. Crates
  6. Lighting system
  7. Waste disposal system
  8. Incubator
  9. Heaters or brooders
  10. Egg tray
  11. Cages and coops

Finally, I believe that you have gotten a clue on taking the challenges you should be expect as a poultry farmer and give the best solutions to them. So you should start from now by creating the counter-strategy to tackle the challenges and you will gained.