Chicken Business is a form of business that involves rearing chicken for the sole purpose of selling and making profits. Without a doubt, chicken is the most popular bird and also the most consumed, produced or exported in the world.

 

With regards to essential foods and basic meat necessities, chicken is by far the most consumed meat in the world after pork. In terms of numbers, over 50 billion chickens are raised every year for consumption. In addition to that, hundreds of billions of eggs are also sold over the counter in markets. 

 Meat chickens and eggs 

Chicken business involves two different concepts which are Rearing the chicken and selling it. Both concepts involve different processes and techniques that you need to master. 

To successfully own a poultry Farming business, you need to learn and practice good rearing techniques as well as know the various means to sell your Chicken. It is pertinent you avoid mistakes beginners make in the chicken business if you want to succeed in this business.

In order words, the chicken business is all about using your knowledge and skills in rearing chicken to successfully rare your chicken for sale. And then using your unbiased knowledge in selling chicken to successfully sell your own chicken and make a profit. 

Here, you need to be trained and guided by an expert in the business. In selling your birds, you need to master the art of marketing. One of the problems confronting chicken farmers is how to sell their chickens profitably after production. Most of them tend to put production before marketing, which is so wrong.

Now, I know your main aim in starting this business is to make a profit. 

 

Also, read: How To Start a Profitable Layer Poultry Farming In Nigeria

How Profitable Is Chicken Business?

A Lot of People have gone into Chicken Business but have failed because of certain reasons. It could be because of financial factors, lack of skill, knowledge, or other related factors. But the major reason why people fail is that they actually lack complete knowledge in regards to the chicken business. And a failed business equals zero profit.

The profit in the poultry Farming business is much to mention. But amongst the entire profits in chicken Business, some are noticeable and everyone into the chicken including you is entitled to. These profits are 

• You'll gain financial freedom despite the failures and challenges you'll face. 
• You will have chicken for both consumption and for sale
• You will get an established and profitable business. 

There are more profits associated with the chicken Business but the aforementioned profits are always common with anyone in the Chicken business. 

According to the statistics displayed on the taking below, the chicken business is one of the most lucrative and most profitable businesses. 

Rank	Countries	Metric Tons
1	USA	18.29 million
2	Brazil	13.5 million
3	China	12.7 million
4	India	4.2 million
5	Russia	3.75 million
6	Mexico	3.27 million

Data Analysis for the Top 6 chicken producing countries in the world - data Analysis

In the chicken business, the return of investment is between 30% to 50% if done properly. I have written a separate post on the cost and profit for rearing 1000 layers, and cost and profit from 100 broilers.

For the 1000 layers with a total cost of ten million ($21,000 ), about two million nairas  ($5000) were made from eggs alone for the first year.

Have it in mind that the chickens will lay for a maximum of two years and you will still sell the old layers as meat. In the end, the total profit could be close to four million nairas ($10,000), Which is a huge amount of profit.

Also, read: How Do You Know If a Chick is a Male or Female?

Requirements for you to successfully start a chicken business

There are two major concepts that make up the poultry Farming business. They are a poultry farming and poultry business that involves the way to successfully sell your chicken. Knowledge about both concepts is the major requirement to successfully start a poultry farming business. 

To get started learning both concepts, there are various ways to learn both at a reduced or cheaper rate. The first is to learn them online from online diploma sites like Coursera, udemy, and Udacity. 

You can as well opt to learn both concepts offline by attending any seminar or program centered on Poultry Farming and Poultry Business. 

Aside from the paid means, there is a better way of learning both concepts for free. The best part is that you practice as you learn. It only requires you to have the capital and willingness to learn from an experienced poultry farmer.

The question now is "How do you learn Poultry Farming and Poultry Business for free..?"

The Appretenship Method :

This method requires some level of humility and hard work for you to be able to complete it. It is one of the best ways to learn the chicken business. Here, you have to sign an agreement with an experienced farmer for a certain period of time to learn the rudiment of the chicken business ( rearing and selling).

During this time you are required to report to work like every other employee, only that you will not be getting paid. If your agreement expires you can then set up your own farm under the mentorship of an expert chicken farmer. I found this to be the best method to learn the chicken business. 

Also, read 8 Things I wish I’d known About Poultry farming. Don't neglect No 7

Step by step Guide on how to Start Chicken Business

The following step-by-step guide is a comprehensive guide on how to successfully start a chicken business. It contains the most recent techniques and information that is meant to keep you updated with the trends in the chicken business. 

Step 1: Pick a good location to site your chicken farm

A chicken farm is basically a place secluded for chicken rearing. It's similar to a pen for rearing pigs. It's just a place where you'll keep your chicken. 

Find a good location to keep your chicken farm. The location or environment must be one that is accessible. This is because you might have a customer that wants to buy a large number of your chicken. If the location where your chicken site is sited is far and inaccessible, you might have to pay extra cost for transportation or worse lose the customer. 

Another reason why your choice of environment or Location should be accessible is because of the rearing or farming process. If the location is inaccessible to you, there's a 90% chance you'll lose interest in the poultry farming business. 

Another reason you need to find a good location or environment is because of theft. Although they are improved means of securing your chicken farm, you still need a good location or environment that is not accessible to thieves. 

Step 2: Avoid using crude Poultry Farming equipment and buy improved modernized Poultry Farming equipment.

Chickens in modern battery cage

If you can start your poultry farming with equipment like Incubator, Egg handling Equipment, and Brooder Equipments, it will make your farming lots easier. But if you can't afford them ensure you're using a good one. You can improvise some of this equipment like the feeders and drinkers in order to cut down cost.

Again, buy aluminum feeders if you can afford them, they are easy to disinfect. woody and plastic feeders may be cheaper but harbor a lot of germs. You will have to scrape and wash them every day to keep them germ-free. On the other hand, a spoilt metal or aluminum feeder can hazardous to your flock-causing cuts or injuries. 

Although I a modern farm, feeders, and drinkers are automated, so you don't have to worry about manual washing and cleaning.

Step 3: Construct the Poultry family

Once you decide on the location and the type of equipment to use, the next thing to do is to construct the Poultry farm. Some of the things you should consider when constructing the farm include the following. 

1. Ventilation: The poultry farm should have enough ventilation. Lack of ventilation could cause respiratory diseases in your flock. 
2. Space: There should be enough space for movement. The chicks should be able to move about even inside the poultry farm. Inadequate space could trigger bad chicken vices such as cannibalism, suffocation, and disease outbreak.
3. The Poultry farm should be fenced and secured to prevent the chickens from predators like snakes, rats, foxes, ants, raccoons, etc. 

Step 4: Buy good and healthy chicks. 

Day-old Chicks

One mistake beginners in the poultry Business make is buying chicks that are not healthy. The reason might be because of the budget or because it's cheaper.

Also, there are a lot of dishonest vendors out there who are ready to grab your money and give bad chicks. Moreover, some hatcheries have a poor quality control system and their breeder stocks might be contaminated which can be passed on to the chicks.

I always say this, once you buy bad chicks, you are already a candidate for frustration.

The best way to avoid buying chicks that are not healthy is to buy from a trustworthy vendor not minding the cost. 

The next important skill you have to master after securing your chicken is brooding. Learning how to brood is a skill every poultry farmer has to master. This stage determines how well your chicken will perform in terms of meat or egg production. Any mistake made at this stage could be disastrous.  

During brooding, you have to act as the mother hen by providing heat for the chicks for about three weeks. This stage requires extreme care and attention with regards to feeding, medication, vaccination,  water, ventilation, etc. 

Step 5: Buy nutritious feeds for the chicks

Currently, the feeds are in high demand and that explains the reasons why they are expensive. But the cost shouldn't deter you from buying feeds that have less nutritious value. About 60% to 80% of your cost will be on feed, so you have to make sure your investment counts.

Every feed you buy should contain the essential feed ingredients in the right proportion. Such ingredients include Protein, Calcium, carbohydrates, fat and oil, and the necessary feed additives to aid digestion and assimilation. If it doesn't contain the listed nutrients then it's not a good feed. 

However, due to the high cost of feed, I will suggest you learn how to formulate your own feed, and source alternative feed ingredients to corn and soybeans, which are very expensive now. 

Step 6: Keep Good Poultry Farming Hygiene( Biosecurity)

If you want your chicks to survive and grow to the stage where you start selling and Making your profits, you need to ensure that you maintain good hygiene in the Poultry. 

Maintaining good hygiene will help eradicate certain chicken diseases that are associated with chicken. It will help curb the high risk of losing your chicks. 

The following practices must be followed in order to maintain good Hygiene in the poultry. 

• Ensure to sweep the Poultry and pick out the drops. You can use it in your crop farm as manure or better still throw it away. If you're too busy to do it, then try to employ someone that will 
• Isolate the birds sick of any disease. 
• Avoid littering the Poultry with non-biodegradable waste. 
• Ensure to keep the Poultry free from weeds. 
• Visitors must use a foot bath and also change into farm clothe- we can be a potential health threat to our flock 

Step 7: Have a complete Farm Record

A Poultry farm record is documentation of all you did in regards to Rearing the chicken. It contains vital information like the number of chicks you started with, the amount of feed you fed them with, and the cost of every health maintenance given to the chicks. 

You need to keep a clear poultry record because it will influence the price you want to sell the chicken for. 

Your capital comprises all the money spent in starting the poultry business and the poultry farm record will enable you to ascertain the exact amount spent as capital. 

Also, read: How to Stop watery whitish, greenish, brownish-yellow, and bloodstain in your Chickens poops for full Recovery 

Step 8: Market and Sell your Chicken

Once your chick is now grown, you need to sell them off to make your profit. 

It's always a bit difficult to sell the chicken because you might actually have no buyer. Sincerely what's the essence of starting a Poultry Farming business if you can't sell and make your profit? 

My slogan for selling my chicken is "Put marketing before production". People rush into production without making plans on how to sell their chickens after production. And most of the time to find it difficult to break even.

They are a proven and efficient means to properly sell your chicken at any amount suitable to you and make your profit. These means are categorized under two mediums. One is Via the internet and the other is offline. 

• Via the Internet

You can sell your chicken via the Internet. How is that even possible..? 

To achieve selling your chicken via the Internet, you need a website or a social media page. Optimize the website or page to show your chickens, the amount, and your directions. 

If possible, run ads on that page or website. Try targeting buyers who are living close to you. Your target audience is people interested in buying your chickens. You can also include restaurants or any food establishment in your target audience. Be consistent, it will definitely pay off someday.

If you're able to do it properly, make enough sales via the Internet. If you can't and wish to give the Internet a try, then I'll suggest hiring a digital marketer to get the job done for you. 

• Via Offline means

The second means of selling your chickens is through offline means. Using offline as your means, all you need to do is to try contacting food establishments, hotels, schools, eateries, restaurants, etc, making them aware of your chicken. 

You can also tell people about your chicken as well as take it to the market. Selling to middlemen is the fastest means, but you will make less profit.

Conclusion

Starting a chicken business or a Poultry business requires knowledge on how to go about poultry Farming as well as the knowledge on how to successfully sell the chickens. You need to be patient in this business.

You will face some challenges, but not let them deter you from trying again. Every successful chicken farmer had their trial time, but today they are all reaping the fruit of their labor. Diligence and persistence should be your watchword. 

Take good care of your chickens, and you will be happy. 

I am wishing you a successful chicken business.

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