If you are planning to building a housing structure for your poultry farming venture in Nigeria, one of the most important factors will be the location where you are planning to build the house. Although it is possible for you to squeeze a large number of chickens in a fairly small space under intensive production systems such as the layer battery cages, it is generally best if you can do your poultry farming over a large piece of land which allow for better stocking densities and better health for your birds.
The place that you choose should suitably have hard soil as well as good drainage. If you are looking for the best location where you can set up your poultry farm, here are some important factors that you need to factor in:-
- Rural areas as always best: This is not to say that you cannot do poultry farming in an urban environment such as Lagos but there are various advantages that come with setting your poultry farm where there is ample land. You can build more spacious structures and it makes for ease of management such as disposal of poultry waste plus you don’t have to worry about the foul smell that can cause issues with your neighbors. However, you can still set up really efficient urban poultry farms, too, especially with the layer battery cage systems.
- Choose location that is quiet and free of noise, chaos and lots of commotion. These are stressors that will generally affect the production in your poultry farm.
- Buy land. Unless you are leasing land for a long term, it is not prudent to set up a poultry farm on land that you have rented on a short lease. You will be putting up some semi-permanent structures on your poultry farm and if you are forced to abandon it soon, you are going to incur losses. You will be on safer ground if own the land on which you plan to set up your poultry farming operation.
- Make sure that the location that you have chosen has access to clean and regular fresh water. Water is one of the most important factors of production in a poultry farming venture and if it is polluted, it will not only decimate your poultry flock, the poultry produce from your farm will also pose a health risk to Nigerian consumers.
- Invest in good quality poultry structures that are strong and well-built in order to get rid of predators. Apart from the main poultry house, you can also provide external fencing on your farm that is firm and difficult to cross over.
- Have a means of transportation: It is good to have a small car to transport your produce safely to the market. If you don’t, you could still hire one.
- Support services: Don’t venture into poultry farming without adequate support services such as advice on breed selection, vaccination advice, advice on brooding, advice on efficient feeding amongst others.
- Market: You won’t miss a market for your poultry products in Nigeria but it is still advisable to do your homework and establish some regular supply lines especially amongst hotels, local companies, government offices etc.
For additional poultry houseing tips for Nigeria, check out our poultry farming manuals which contain detailed housing plans.