Investing in Poultry Keeping

It’s one thing to start a chicken farm, and it is another thing to start an actual business out of it. You will not only become a chicken farmer, but a businessperson as well, depending on what markets you want to target and what part of the chicken industry you venture into.

In the chicken industry there are two main sectors: Layers, which are chickens bred and raised to produce eggs, or broilers, that are bred for meat purposes. Whatever sector you choose, you have to make responsible managerial and financial decisions to make your chicken farm business a profitable one.

Formulate a business Plan

This is one of the most important things to draw up as part of your operation. It tells of what goals you wish to achieve and how you intend to get there. It’s also a plan of how you want to operate your business from not just a producer’s standpoint, but the banker’s, lawyer’s, accountant’s and even possibly the hired hand’s standpoint.

Have land, capital and equipment

One cannot start up nor maintain a chicken farm or a chicken farming business without these dire necessities. You will need buildings to raise your chickens in, whether they be barns or hutches depending on how you are wanting to raise your chickens: conventional or free-range? Land is to have the buildings on and to grow crops on to feed your chickens. Equipment and machinery are also needed.

Read: Investing in Hay Farming in Kenya

Establish ways of keeping your chicken

 There are two main ways to raise them. Conventional systems have chickens confined to barns that are temperature and photo-period controlled areas. Free-range systems allow your chickens to just about have the run of the farm to behave as naturally as possible.

Decide what sectors of the poultry industry you wish to pursue

There are two types to choose from: broilers or layers. However, there are also the other sectors of the industry that you can pursue. Eggs which are not to be put on the market for human consumption (these can be from both broilers and layers) are incubated and the chicks hatched and raised until they are at the right age to be sold to farms to be raised as layers or broilers. Often the business of incubating eggs and raising chicks is separate from that of raising the chickens themselves. There is also the part of slaughtering chickens for meat that is a separate sector in itself you may wish to pursue.

Market Research

The main aim here is poultry business; therefore it is very important to carry out thorough market research so that you be in a position to know your target market. Market research is key to any business person.

Make yourself known to potential customers and consumers

 Advertise yourself by simply letting other people know you have eggs or meat you want to sell. Often selling by word-of-mouth is a lot cheaper and still the most popular means of advertising than paying for an advertisement in the local newspaper that may get read by only a few people. However, there is no harm in doing that either, nor is there any harm in setting up a website promoting your product.

Keep up with records and accounting of your business and operation

This is so that you can always tell if you are making money or not.

Article by Vera Shawiza.