Profitability of poultry farming in Nigeria

How profitable is poultry farming in Nigeria?

You have probably heard a lot of things about poultry farming and its profitability in Nigeria. However, not everyone knows where to start, and how to profit from poultry farming. Potentially, it can make you earn a huge amount of money, and make you wealthy, if you put enough effort into it and know how to execute this business in the right way. Poultry farming is considered to be one of the most common farming businesses, and it has a lot of potential for earning the profit. People say that young children and teenagers that are growing need to eat at least one egg per day to stay healthy. And as for adults, they need at least ten eggs per weak. Another thing that is provided by poultry business is chicken meat, which is loved and consumed by many people. That is why the products made at the poultry farms are very popular and in demand. First of all, we will find out what does a person need to start their own farm. We will also analyze the cost of starting a poultry farm in Nigeria, along with all the expenses that can go on different aspects of farming. Finally, you will get to know about the poultry farming profit and make your decision about starting the farm. Are you ready? Well, we should not wait anymore.

Poultry farming in Nigeria and its profitability: all that you need to know

To start with your farming, you should know that usually in the poultry business there are three breeds of birds, which are Layers, Cockerels, and Broilers. There are some differences between them. Broilers grow very fast – in about twelve weeks after the hatch, they are ready for selling. The advantage of Layers is that they are very lucrative – they lay eggs and can be sold for the meat at a very good price. Cockerels, however, are more reliable, when it comes to survival and enduring the bad weather. This breed is more resilient to the shocking situations, in comparison to the Broilers and Layers. You probably already know that poultry farming is capital intensive and requires plenty of effort, but the money that you will earn will make up for it in the end. It is especially expensive if you want to start your business on a higher scale. Before you start your business ventures in poultry farming, the first thing you need to do is to properly calculate all the costs. There is a very high chance that if you invest in farming, you will gain profit soon. Mostly this is because Nigeria still has to import poultry from abroad countries since there are not enough local farms to produce enough chicken for more than 190 million Nigerians. But if you plan everything in a smart and thoughtful way, there is a possibility of gaining from it. Here is what you need to do first:

Acquire the land in a comfortable location.

You will not have to get a lot of the land – the 120x60 lot will be just enough for the medium-scale farm, at least for those people who are just starting their poultry venture. You should know that the most expensive land is near the big cities, like Abuja, Lagos, or other state capitals. In the developing areas, the piece of land of the same size can be acquired for a much cheaper price, compared to big cities. Besides, it is not perfect to start a farm within the city, because of its smelly nature and the possibility of infecting your birds with exhaust fumes. According to some sources, getting a piece of land in the remote areas of Lagos like Odogunnya, Imota, and Ijebu can cost about N500,000. You will have to plan this according to your financial capabilities. But it is highly recommended to acquire your own piece of land instead of leasing. From what many poultry farmers know, the owner of leased property might ask you to quit any time, and when you are already making progress in business, it will cost you a lot to relocate.

Building a chicken house for the birds.

Poultry house, or chicken coop, is the place where you will keep your birds. This is an extremely important part of the farm set-up. The size of your chicken house, as well as construction, will depend on your needs, but you will have to make sure that it contains enough space so that your birds would be able to move around. There also has to be ventilation for the air to move. You should hire an engineer for building the house and designing it for you if you are planning to do large-scale farming. The engineer’s prices will vary depending on qualification. If you feel like you can do it on your own, you should just visit the successful poultry farms and have a look at the construction of their houses. You should always keep in mind the importance of the space. Otherwise, there is a risk to lose the birds frequently because of contamination and suffocation.

Purchase the healthy chicks that are one day old.

Obviously, now you will have to get your birds for the farm. Remember to buy them from good hands and make sure that they are healthy because the productivity of your farm depends on healthy chicks. They need to be one day old normally, and you are supposed to take care of them during the first 7-9 weeks of their life. Usually, the farmers buy their chickens from the hatchery which is dealing with the chicken supplies and selling the various species of chickens. Purchasing from the hatchery is good because there are mostly good quantities of chicks which are grown in the incubators. As the website wealthresult.com states, the usual price in Nigeria for the one-day-old chicken is from N100 to N250. However, you can always negotiate the prices in case you want to buy more chickens. One more moment: until you see the chickens with your own eyes and make sure that you want to buy them, do not pay anyone money. There are always advance-fee scammers that want to take advantage of people. Even the photos of chickens are not always convincing since they can be easily found on the Internet these days. It is best to meet up with the supplier in person instead of ordering your goods online.

Get the water troughs, feeds, and feeders.

Feeding your chickens with the good feed is extremely important if you want the profit. The feeds can be bought in the speciality stores, and you should also make certain that you are buying exactly the feed for the kinds of chickens that you are in charge of. There are different types of feed – broiler starter, layer feeds, chick starter, and others. You will have to avoid the feeds which have a low level of nutritional value. Sure, they are cheap, but usually, it will not influence your bird’s health in a positive way. The good feed is high quality, and it will contain the high amount of nutritional value. The young chickens require a lot of protein foods, and they will not eat the grain until they are at least 6-8 weeks old. The birds need to be fed 2-3 times a day, and you also need to give them water of good quality so they would always stay hydrated.

Vaccinate your chickens.

The vaccination of your chickens is simply vital for their well-being and productivity. From time to time, the veterinarian doctor needs to visit the chickens and vaccinate them in order to preserve their health. If you fail to give them proper vaccines regularly, they will be exposed to the number of flu and various diseases. The bird flu outbreaks are happening quite often in the rural areas, and it is possible that the birds who were not properly vaccinated will massively die because of this.

Remember about the light.

Your poultry farm should be kept in a good light, as this is important for the well-being of the birds. You also will have to regulate the temperature to keep the birds in warmth and comfort. You should especially pay attention to this during the season of raining when there is low humidity. The hen house needs to be supplied with light and heat, and you will have to find reliable power sources.

These are probably the most important things you need to remember about poultry farming. Speaking of profitability, you should know that it usually increases during the peak seasons, by which we mean the period of festivities. These are major holidays like Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter, and other festive days. During these, the demand for poultry naturally increases. The broilers are usually demanded for meat, and the demand on eggs also enhances because many people use them for making snacks. You will have to remember that during these festivities, there is the highest chance to earn some profit, so you should pay special attention to the health and well-being of your birds.

How much will it cost to start a poultry farm in Nigeria?

Now, how much will it cost to start a poultry farm in Nigeria? We have consulted the website profitableventure.com, and found out some prices on the most essential parts of your farm. Of course, these prices are estimated, but we will list some of them for you now, for you to have some understanding of how much it will cost you.

Land – as we have already mentioned, the land price varies depending on the state and proximity to the big cities. But it is quite possible to get a nice piece of farmland in Nigeria, which costs approximately $3,500-$5,000 and even cheaper. All you need is to search and negotiate.
Construction – by this we mean building the cage for the birds. It usually depends on the size of your poultry farm, but in Nigeria, the average price for a good poultry house would probably be $2,000. Also, you should consider some additional building, like the storage where you will keep all the equipment and the farmhouse for those who work at your farm.
Chicks – we already talked about how to choose the chicks that would potentially bring you financial profit. Usually, the chicks that are one day old are very cheap, and it is possible to get 24 chicks for about $1,5-$2. Basically, if you need 200 birds, you can get them for approximately $16. However, you will need to be very careful with taking care of these chicks, because they are still very small and could die.
Poultry equipment – this also depends on which size you want your poultry farm to be, and what would be the nature of your business. Hatchery equipment would be good if you want to hatch chicks and sell them. And in case you want to process meat and sell it, you will need special equipment. Either way, you need to have at least $2,000 in your budget for this aspect.
Vaccination – since we have already mentioned earlier how essential is to vaccinate your birds to watch them grow healthy and give you profit, you will also need to have some money in your budget for this procedure. The cost will include the price of medical supplies and the assistant that will give the attention to your birds. The estimated price for vaccinating 200 birds would be around $500.
Feeding – this is probably the most significant expense because the amount and the quality of feeds that you give to your birds will later influence their health and productivity. The poultry feeds will vary depending on the stage in bird’s life. For little chicks, there are growing feeds to stimulate their strength, and then there are the finishers to maintain their health when they are closer to the stage of selling. For 200 chicks, the optimal budget would probably be $700. Remember about giving them high-quality feeds, because saving too much is not acceptable here. If you want to cut down on the expenses of feeds, you can try producing poultry feeds of your own. It might not seem so at first, but in the long run, it will save you quite a lot of finances.
Labor cost – if your poultry farm is commercial, sooner or later you will find out that it is difficult for you to perform all the tasks on your own. You might consider employing more people who would assist you. Their salary will depend on the labor rates in Nigeria, so you should research them and then make a budget for paying your employees.
Other expenses – there will always be some other expenses, for instance, advertising, insurance, electricity, security, and transportation, as well as distribution and selling. So make sure to cover those things in your budget.

What profit and in what period you will get

So, according to our calculations, the average budget of starting a poultry farm will be $10,000, more or less. The most expensive parts of it are land and construction, and they are one-time expenses. The reason why this business is so profitable is that it pays off very well, and covers the original costs. We have found out after consulting the wealthresult.com feasibility study, that the sales of eggs and meat can bring impressive amounts of money. The majority of layers will lay off eggs at the age of 18 weeks. If you have layers who produce 10 thousand crates of eggs, and the wholesale price is N500-N650, but you sell them for a higher price (for instance, N700), you will be able to make N7 million on eggs, which equals 19,200$. And this would be only from eggs alone. You can make much better money from meat. Usually, chickens grow to the market size in 48 days. If your chicken is fully grown, the wholesale price for it is N1,500-N2,000, but you can sell it for N2,000-N2,500. If you sell 10 thousand chickens, they will bring you N20 million, which is 54,800$! Of course, these numbers are approximate and depend on individual factors. It may take some time for your business to cover all the expenses. However, you can see with your own eyes how profitable poultry farming can be if you make high-quality products and put effort into it.

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