I wrote last month how I wanted to start a poultry farm. I planned on it being the selling of chickens like we do in Nigeria, but then with the input of someone else, we decided to make it about egg farming for one major reason: eggs are used almost daily.
Now, I decided to go for poultry farming because you know, I’ve done it before and it was less expensive. However, in this case, this venture begins as the foundation to a much bigger vision.
It began by setting an appointment with a poultry specialist. I knew that I had to do my research going forward since this was unfamiliar waters. The best I knew of egg farming were the kind of chickens needed. The consultation explained more to me though.
In my head, N300,000 ($196) was enough to begin. This was unrealistic, said the consultant, if I wanted this as a business. It’s safe to say that egg farming was capital intensive. For the scale at which I was advised to start, I was looking at about N4,000,000 ($2,615) in capital. For which there will be returns after six months there.
Here’s a breakdown:
- I would need a starting capital of five hundred Layer birds = 800,000.
- At least fifty bags of chick crumble (their feed for the next 8 weeks). 17,800 x 50 = 990,000.
- Then at least seventy bags of Grower feed which would be from 9 weeks. 17,700 x 70 = 1,239,000.
- I would consider the housing system which would cost me at least 1, 000,000.
- Vaccinations and health measures in place were an additional 200,000 (least figure). Consult said it could be more.
- Estimated cost here is N3,229,000 ($2,155)
Now that was for the capital. Next would come the turn over which I won’t expect for the first five months of beginning. This means that every thing I set in place from the perishable (which is feeding and medicine) is estimated to last those five months and then they begin to lay and I am expected to begin to make money that would provide after that.
Estimated performance of the chickens are at 75% (1 egg every 26 hours) making estimated profit a good 70%. This is heavily dependent on housing. If the chickens would perform well, then they would have to be raised well.
Here’s a breakdown:
- 500 birds x 0.75 = 375 eggs.
- 375 eggs divided by 30 (that’s a crate) is 12 and a half crates.
- 12 and half crates of egg daily x 5000 (which is the price for a crate of egg) = 62,500.
- 500 Chickens would likely consume 2 bags of feed daily = 35,500.
- Their manure is also a great source of revenue selling for a bag at 14,000. From 500 birds, you’d most likely get 4 bags of it.
Now, while this was very lucrative, it was capital intensive. Hence, my partner and I decided to take an alternative. Buying colonies. Here is a break down on the sheet we put together:
- Colonies of chickens (four females and one male) = 6000 per unit (150,000). Though I was told the prices for these have gone up significantly. So these may be adjusted to less than the 25 we planned on.
- Equipment which includes feeders, drinkers and heating is estimated at 30,000.
- Rent and fencing an approximate of 210,000
- Food for eight weeks (2 months) 64,000 (we would be feeding grower feeds off the bat as these are matured birds).
- Total is N454,000 ($297)
Right there in the sheet, my partner broke it down to weekly costs and by the side you can see the manure projections. He’s quite brilliant. Moving forward, we did a rough calculation for profit should we begin to sell the eggs although we think we may grow the farm first, which is hatching the eggs, before selling them. However, there needs to be a balance. We need proceeds as we grow, so we would make a division.
On the income table, we ran a small check and balance of what we expect from the chickens and then the profit. This is not concrete but it is the beginning. It is better than raising four whole million. Besides, none of us has done this before. It is best we start small and grow from there.
We expect to kick off operations in September. Before that though, I am still carrying out my part of speaking with egg farmers and getting their two cents. They did say that the scale with which we are starting won’t bring much returns if at all. They said it would be best that I had something at the side to compliment this business since I was taking the longer route. Of course, I have supporting income. The point right now is starting something that would yield steeper income in the future. This is us laying the foundation and you know what they say about foundation. It is the most important stage of any business.
Lead Image manipulated in Canva