Poultry farming is one of the most lucrative forms of farming in Nigeria today. There is a very huge market for poultry products such as meat, eggs, and dung. The cost of starting a poultry farming business in Nigeria depends on the aspect of poultry farming that you want to engage in.

In this post, we will discuss the cost to start the different types of poultry farming. However, we will focus more on chickens (broilers and layers). We will also tell you how to start a profitable poultry farming business in Nigeria. Let’s dive straight in without further ado.

Cost of Starting a Poultry Business in Nigeria

According to research, many Nigerians are becoming millionaires simply by becoming poultry farmers. The first step to starting a profitable poultry business is first finding out how much capital you need. How much does it cost to start a profitable poultry farm? Several ingredients go into running a poultry farm. It doesn’t matter whether you deal in broilers or layers, there are certain costs that you cannot do without. Here is a list below:

Land

Land is one of the primary needs you must meet when starting a poultry farm. You can either purchase land or lease one for the business. The cost of land is relative as it depends on the scale at which you want to run the farm and your location. In some parts of Nigeria, you can get farmlands for between N300,000 and N1 million per plot.

Housing construction

After getting the land, the next thing that you must invest in is the housing for the birds. There are different types of housing depending on the rearing system that you will employ. The cheapest method is the free-range system where there isn’t an exact building. You just allow the birds to roam around in the compound.

For best results, it is best to employ floor or cage systems. The floor system just requires you to build a poultry house and allow the birds to roam around in the building. Alternatively, you can make use of bird cages. This method is regarded as the best for layers. The cost depends on the size of the farm but cages could cost from N300,000 for 500 birds.

Poultry equipment

There is a whole array of poultry equipment that you need to run a profitable poultry farming business. Your choice will depend on the system that you choose. The common pieces of poultry equipment that you will need include:

• Chick box
• Coops
• Crates
• Drinkers
• Egg scale
• Egg tray
• Egg washer
• Feeders
• Fly tray
• Heaters or brooders
• Incubators
• Laying nests
• Perches
• Ventilation fan

If you are running a commercial poultry farm, you should budget between N600,000 and N800,000 for poultry equipment. Smaller farms can budget between N60,000 and N210,000.

Vaccination and other medication costs

Vaccination is very important to ensure that your birds remain healthy. It also ensures that you reduce the mortality rate on your farm to the barest minimum. Just so you know, birds are highly prone to diseases and a single disease outbreak can wipe out the whole farm.

If you have a farm of 500 chicks, you should budget between N200,000 and N260,000 for vaccination and medication. The price may be negotiable depending on the veterinarian that you consult.

Feeding

This is one of the most important and non-negotiable costs to deal with in poultry farming. You can either formulate your feed or purchase readymade feed from established vendors. The former option is more affordable, however, many of the feed ingredients on the market are adulterated. As such, we suggest that you stick to purchasing from established companies.

The feeding cost for 500 birds is between N270,000 and N300,000 for a month. If you are raising layers, you need to feed them for about 18 months. This means that you could spend between N4.9 million and N5.2 million on feeding alone.

Purchase of chicks

The main raw material for poultry farming is chicks. Without them, everything else is a waste of investment. Currently, day-old chicks cost between N260 and N400. If you want to purchase point-of-lay birds, they cost between N1,500 and N2,000.

How to Start the Poultry Farming Business in Nigeria

Wondering how to start the poultry business in Nigeria? Check out the tips below:

Study the market

The first thing that you should do is to study your market. A detailed feasibility study helps you to know what the market holds, how much capital you need, and who your prospective customers are. It also helps you to know who your competitors are and how to surpass them.

Write a business plan

After you have carried out a detailed study of the market, the next step is to write a business plan. A business plan gives a clear indication of what your business sets out to achieve. It acts as the map of your business and also helps you to attract investment when the need arises. If you cannot write a detailed business plan, you can draw up a Business Module Canvas (BMC) instead.

Seek out reputable suppliers

Two very important aspects of this business are getting healthy stock and purchasing healthy feed. You need reputable suppliers for both. Ensure that you find suppliers that have a healthy stock of birds. Doing this saves you from having excess mortality on your farm. It also assures you of high productivity. You should also seek out suppliers that have the best quality feed on the market. Don’t settle for cheap prices as they could mean substandard products.

Raise capital

Capital here means the funds you need for the business as well as the land and the equipment that you need. You can either raise capital from your savings or taking a loan. Other ways of raising capital include grants and funding from friends and family members.

Gather knowledge

In rounding up this post, we suggest that you gather as much knowledge about this business as possible. Poultry farming requires a hands-on approach so you must be knowledgeable about raising birds. You can reach out to existing farmers to find out their failures and successes. This knowledge will help run your business.