With the energy and agribusiness potential in Nigeria, it is a shame that the country is a net importer of poultry products from other countries yet it doesn’t take much expertise to successfully venture into poultry farming in the country. Once you have mastered the right animal husbandry techniques that will yield you a good result and know what to and what breed to choose, it is fairly easy for you to run a successful and profitable poultry farming enterprise in the country that will serve the local market and make you lots of money.
Here is a simple guide to setting up your poultry farming enterprise in Nigeria and beginning your journey to agribusiness wealth:-
Decide what you plan to venture on
What area are you planning to venture in as far as poultry farming is concerned? In Nigeria, you could choose to venture into layer farming, broiler farming or even organic or free poultry farming which is still a new market but one that is gaining currency with many wealthy and health-conscious Nigerians who care about the origin of their produce.
There are other opportunities in the Nigerian poultry production value chain that you could also consider such as the following:-
- Poultry Feed Formulation for Nigerian farmers
- Poultry breeding business
- Hatchery business
- Supplying poultry equipment and other products etc
Prepare capital
For most aspiring Nigerian farmers, capital is a major issue when planning to venture out into poultry farming. However, you don’t have to start big in your poultry farming venture with millions of Naira. Even N60,000 is sufficient for you to begin a small and fairly successful backyard poultry farm. You could always scale up your farm as you get more profits.
Build the Structure
The next step is building the right housing structure with the right stocking density based on the number of chickens that you want to rear. Again depending on the materials that you choose, building a poultry house in Nigeria is not going to cost you a lot of money. There are area various kinds of poultry structures that you can construct including the deep litter system, the raised system or slatted system, and battery cage system inside a housing structure.
Buy poultry equipment
If you are planning to introduce chicks, there are various preparations that you need to make for the chick placement. Buy or setup the brooder, buy feeders and drinkers for young chicks, have a lighting system and set up the house in readiness for the arrival of the day old chicks.
Buy feeds
You will start with the chick mash and transition the growers mash then finisher or layers complete mash depending on the types of chicks you are rearing, i.e. whether layers or broilers. The feeding requirements will increase with time so if you can learn how to formulate poultry feeds on your own to the highest quality standards, you will be able to make significant savings in the process.
Buy the day old chicks
These cost as low as N140. Choose a good hatchery with a reputation of best practices. The chicks must have been duly vaccinated before delivery and they must also be transported in the best condition in order to reduce stress and mortality.
Proper brooding
Ensure proper brooding and poultry husbandry that will ensure the survival of your chicks in the first 8 weeks and help you make a profit from poultry farming. In the first 8 weeks, a mortality rate of less than 4% would be ideal to enable you break even. If you a first timer, it is good to start small and gain some firsthand experience without incurring significant losses.
For more comprehensive guide on starting a poultry business in Nigeria, check out our poultry farming manuals below:-
