How to Start and Become a Successful Poultry Farmer

Poultry farming in Africa is becoming increasingly on-demand. It is because chicken products have less cholesterol and doctors recommend people to avoid red meat. As such, if you are planning to start poultry farmers, with hard work and determination, it is an excellent business idea. You can either be a small scale or large scale poultry farmer.

How to Succeed in Poultry Farming

To start poultry farming, you need to start by planning. You must have an objective and set targets. You also need to plan for the resources you need to get started. Here is what you need to know before you get started:

Decide Your Poultry Farming Area

Poultry farming is a broad sector and as such, you need to select which area you will be venturing into. The following are some sectors in poultry farming:

• Broilers for meat production
• Layers for egg production
• Chicken breeding
• Egg and meat processing

To operate a successful poultry business, you must evaluate which of these can do best in your area and if you have the necessary resources.

You also need to decide on the type of bird you will be rearing. There are many birds that one can rear from chicken, ducks, turkey, peacock, quail, pigeon, guinea fowl and doves. With that, you can plan on how you can build a coop for those birds.

Get a Market First

The first thing you need is to identify where you will be selling the chicken products. If you are rearing chicken for meat, you need to know where you will be selling it. You can liaise with hotels and ask them if they can be buying from you.

If you are rearing chicken for eggs, you need to get a place to supply your eggs. If you don’t have customers, then you are not in business. That is why it is important to get a market first. If you fail to secure a market, then it is not worth starting your agribusiness.

Determine the Startup Costs and Resources Required

The next thing is to assess and find out what you need to get started. This is in terms of resources like land, chicken feed, equipment and employees. Based on your finances and the size of the business you want to start, you can calculate the needed resources’ price.

If you are starting large scale poultry farming, you need a large piece of land, unlike small scale farming. Having your own land would do much better compared to renting one. When you have your own land, you can build permanent coops for your birds. Ensure there is adequate ventilation and lighting.

The other consideration to make is to hire professionals. Employ people with experience in layering birds. It is because they need due care and diligence. From time to time, you will need to vaccinate them and if you do not have a person with the right knowledge, your business can collapse before it can start.

Set Up a Farm Location

You need to set up a poultry farm where you will be rearing your chicken. Poultry farming does better slightly away from towns so that you have adequate land and reduce the costs. However, the location should not be too far from town centres so that you are near the marketplace. This way, you will cut on transportation costs.

Start Small

The secret of any business is to start small and grow over time. Starting small helps you make better use of the available startup capital. When your poultry farming business starts to generate significant startup capital, you can begin to expand.

Advertise Your Poultry Farming Business

Once you start your business, you need to let people know that your business exists. There are many ways you can advertise your business ranging from telling friends and neighbors through word of mouth. You can even put posters and give out pamphlets for your business.
Social media is an excellent platform to reach more people. Create a page on social media platforms for your business and tell people about your poultry farming. Soon you will start getting online orders.

Conclusion

Poultry farming in Africa is a lucrative business idea.  With the resources, interest and knowledge to venture into it, it can generate significant revenues. With a few birds, you can grow your agribusiness to over 1000 birds. It requires patience and starting small. You also need to manage the available resources well.