“How to Start a Poultry Farm”
Comment Page 10

It is a pleasure to see that so many people want to be in poultry business. I bought 50 ha recently and decided to do some poultry farm on 1 ha. I have sojabeans on 10 ha and maize on 20 ha.I have 3,500 layers which are 4 months old now. It is nice to hear people stating here that they want to start with 10,000 or 100,000 chicks. The only advice I have for anyone is to plan a lot of money for their feeds. For example, it depends on the cost of living in every country. If you are in Benin , Ghana , Burkina Faso,or Nigeria , for 3,500 layers, you need at least 14 tones of food per month which is at least $3,000. This is what I spend every month (just for the food). It is around $1.2 per layer per month. Before going into this business, you need to think about the "feeding factor", If you do not have a lot of money, you can start in a small scale. PS: these chicks eat, they eat, be prepared. I am not here to scare anyone, I am just telling the truth. Thanks and good luck.

@Ghouse, basically there are 2 types of poultry farming, one is layer and other is for meat. You have to decide what you want. No matter what you opt the breed matters a lot so carefully select your breed, see what proves the best for your location. Peterson chickens and Ross are best breed for meat at the same time Leghorns, Rhode Island Reds, Full Grown are good for eggs, they can produce 250–300 eggs per year. Feed cost is the important factor for poultry farming. You need to spend 60% of money in food for raising poultry, if you manage this well you can make more profit.

@nisar ahmed, 1600 sqft is enough for 100 birds. BTW what is your budget? i can suggest you before starting, you need to know about various things like land, civil construction, equipment require, housing, choosing of best breed bird, feeding cost, total startup cost, how to get loan from bank. current cost of fully equipped 20,000sqft house with watering, brooding and feeding cost around 30-35 lakh. yesterday i wrote above about best breed bird for meat and layer farm and average cost, so please refer to previous comment for more info.

@OlaoLu Ayodele, Here is some tips for making the shed.

• For construction Hard rock or murram land is more suitable for poultry shed. You need to make sure you have strong roof and hard flooring.
• plinth of the shed at least one feet above the outside ground level
• To avoid entry of rainwater inside the shed you should make the end walls face East-West direction and the side walls face North-South direction.
• There should be at least 50ft distance between two sheds.
• Construct of the sheds in such a way that predators will not enter the shed.

@OlaoLu Ayodele,
Equipments requirements

• Poultry Feeding and Watering Equipment
• Poultry Processing Machinery
• Egg Collection Equipment if you are going for layer as well
• Poultry Waste Disposal Equipment
• Poultry Disease and Pest Control Equipment
• Incubating Equipment