Business concept: Purpose of the venture: 2015 G.C.

To meet the demand of customer and

built strong customer relationship, to create the employment opportunity for others and to
contribute the economy of the country.

Description of the firm: This is a partnership business

Purpose of the venture:

•To meet the demand of customer and built strong customer relationship.
• To create the employment opportunity for others.
• To contribute the economy of the country.

Objective of the founders: The major objective of the founders is reducing poverty,
malnutrition and unemployment problem of our country. Besides, we want to provide quality
product to customer and maintain the supply sufficiently.

Description of the firm:

This is a partnership business where the main activity of the firm is to provide
quality product through the Bukoba municipal . We will collect chicken and eggs from different
producer near Bukoba especially from Bishoftu is a town (Debre Zeyit). Chicken and eggs will be
distributed to restaurant, super shop, hotel, community center, and bakery and catering houses
around Bukoba town. Prolong the sufficient supply to the customer is one of our most
important purpose. We want to supply extend area of Kagera Region with affordable price.
Name of the venture
Address Shop no-17, Road no- 6 old airport road, Addis
Ababa

Founders

Vision Providing quality product with reasonable price.

Product or service:
The product is chickens and eggs, vegetables and fruits. The farm will distribute these products
around Bukoba town. Quality assurance is the main motto of our business. We are not
compromise in the question of quality. To ensure the quality we always take high care of our
hens and eggs. Now days, from chickens and eggs harmful diseases are spread out. But we are
supply our chickens and eggs with ensuring that it is free from all kind of jorum, which can
create harmful diseases. Cost of poultry business is not so high. One can easily start a business
with a minimum amount of money. But our cost of business is high, because our business is
highly future oriented. The primary cost of our business is given below:

Particulars Cost (Birr) Total cost (Birr)

Farm 30,000.00

Warehouse 50,000.00
Transportation 2,00,000.00

Chicken 1,00,000.00

Egg 50,000.00

Food 50,000.00

Utility 20,000.00 5,000,000.00

We also provide some additional facility to ours customers and consumers that are not
provided by other suppliers:

 We reached our product (chickens & eggs) to the customers by our own transportation
with a low transportation cost.

 If any dreadful products are identified by the customers we always make it change.
 Processed meat are also supply if customer feel need.
 We also supply product by credit to a limited amount.

Poultry business is full with competitors. But there have a great prospect of succeed, because m
ost of the suppliers are not able to adequately supply the product.

Market research and analysis:

As we know, Bangladesh is an over populated country. So, there is no
equilibriumbetween demand and supply and more or less suppliers fail to satisfy thecustomers.
Most of all, in food business if it is daily product there is no loss. So there is a great prospect
being succeeded

Each and every people need chickens and eggs. Eggs are the ingredients of cake, bread, omelet
etc. So restaurant, bakery, hotel, community centers needs eggs and chickens every day. As the
different customers has high demand of chickens and e g g s w e h a v e a h i g h p r o s p e c t o f
s u c c e s s , a n d f o r s u c c e s s w e n e e d c o n t i n u o u s market research by following way:

Customer scenario:
As we all know that, chicken and egg are very nutritious food items. Doctors alwaysprescribe
it as nutritious food. From statistical data, each and everyday a familyneeds at
least four eggs in this country. Most of all children are fond of egg. Sothere is a
great prospect to being succeeded as being act as distributor. We willdistribute our
product to household customers, restaurant, hotel, bakery, cookeryetc.
Market:
The farming company focus, first of all, operates on the regional market as well
aso n t h e e x p o r t m a r k e t . I n t h i s s e c t o r , m a r k e t i s v e r y c o m p e
t i t i v e . T h e k e y competitors are distributing chicken and eggs are regio
nal competitors. Thecompany has to compete with them. The demand of
c h i c k e n a n d e g g s i s v e r y comprehensive. As the demand is very high but the
sufficient suppliers are notpresent there. As a result, the price of chicken and eggs are
increasing day by day.So there is grate opportunity of earning high profit with less effort.

Analyze competitors:
It is essential for every business organization to identify its existing
competitorstheir skill, strength and as well as weakness. We have huge number of
existingcompetitors but most of them have not high skill and future orientation. The
futurecompetitors can easily entre the business because of its low cost and its
industrystructure is very easy.
Price system:
Pricing is most important factor in any kind of business. But in food business,
itbecomes more crucial factor. Most of our businesses fail to set proper pricing.
Wew i l l c o n s i d e r t h i s f a c t o r s e c u r e l y . O u r f a r m w i l l p r o v i d e c h i c k e n a n d e g
g s w i t h affordable price.

Market planMarketing strategy:

➢We use new processing options which can differentiate our product from the products of
others.
➢We ensure quality product with affordable price.

➢W e a l w a y s s e a r c h f o r n e w q u a l i t y f a c t o r s r e l a t e d t o o u r p r o d u c t s
t h a t customers wish to see in the product.
➢P r o v i d e h y g i e n i c a n d n u t r i t i o u s f e e d i n g t h a t m a y h e l
p t o a t t a i n distinguishable quality factors like color and test of meat.
Pricing:
Pricing is the most important factor for this business to compete with competitors to susta in
in the market. Our pricing method is simple. We only sale product with a limited
profit that means our sales price is our cost plus limited profit. We also provide
price discount on a bulk amount of product. We also offer different types of price and product
discount in different types of festival.
Promotion:
To know the people about business every company need promotion. Big
companiess p e n d a l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e i r b u d g e t f o r p r o m o t i o n . W
e a l s o h a v e s o m e promotional strategy- advertising, banner, billboard, leaflet, poster etc.
we will give advertising in different newspaper and magazine in our country. We give billboard
in some importan t hub
o f D h a k a c i t y . W e w i l l a l s o p r o v i d e l e a f l e t , p o s t e r , a n d banner so that people
can easily know about our business.
Distribution channel:
We are not going to use any distribution channel at first. We will use personal sales
representative for selling our product. Our sales representatives will directly go to o u r
cu stome rs and
c o l l e c t t h e o r d e r . A s p e r t h e i r o r d e r w e w i l l d i r e c t l y s u p p l y chickens and eggs
to the customers by our own transportation.

Customers
Manufacturer

Manufacturing and operations:

Facilities and location:

We always try to give high facility to
o u r c u s t o m e r s . F o r q u i c k l y s e r v e t h e customers we have a farm and
warehouse in Gazipur that is near Dhaka city. Wealso have an office in Banani which
address is- Shop no-17, Road no- 6, New airportr o a d , B a n a n i , D h a k a -
1 2 1 3 f o r q u i c k a c c e s s w i t h t h e c u s t o m e r s . F o r m a k i n g customers order
easy we also have a email address, so that customers can order
use a s i l y . W e a r e g o i n g t o i n t r o d u c e o w n w e b s i t e f o r c u s t o m e r s c o n v e n i e n
c e . W e moreover supply our product (chicken and Egg) to the customers by own transport
system with full responsibility.
Inventory management:
Our main inventory is chicken and eggs. First of all we will buy chicken and eggs
from different area around Dhaka city especially from Gazipur and put it into our
farm and warehouse. Then we will clean the dust from eggs and test the chicken’s health that
means we ensure that chickens are not affected by any harmful disease. Then we supply the
chickens and eggs to different restaurant, super shop, hotel, community center, and
bakery house as per their order.
Human resource:
In business human resources is one of the most important factors and have a big
role in a business organization. For collect inventory, maintaining inventory, and
reached the product to the desired customers we will have to need some
people. They will very skillful on their own field. If additional skill and efficiency needed we will
provide them training. We also supervise their work.

Entrepreneurial team:

Profile of founders:
Md. Nazmul Hossain

Nazmul Hossain passed his SSC from Monipur high school, Mirpur and also passedhis HSC
from Dhaka Commerce College. He is now studying his BBA at southeastuniversity
(SEU) in 3
rd
year last semester.Md. Mofakkharul IslamMofakkharul Islam passed his SSC from Mirpur bangla
high school, Mirpur and
alsop a s s e d h i s H S C f r o m B C I C C o l l e g e . H e i s n o w s t u d y i n g h i s B B A a
t s o u t h e a s t university (SEU) in 3
rd
year last semester.Rokeya KhatunRokeya Khatun passed his SSC from Monipur high
school, Mirpur and also passedhis HSC from Dhaka Commerce College. He is now
studying his BBA at southeastuniversity (SEU) in 3
rd
year last semester.Md. Ahsan HabibAhsan Habib passed his SSC from Merchants’ pilot high
school, (Ullapara) Sirajgonjand also passed his HSC from Ullapara Science College. He is now
studying his BBAat southeast university (SEU) in 3
rd
year last semester.Md. Nazmul HosssainNazmul Hossain passed his SSC from Potazia high school, Pabna and
also passed
hisH S C f r o m U l l a p a r a S c i e n c e C o l l e g e . H e i s n o w s t u d y i n g h i s B B A a t s o u t h
e a s t university (SEU) in 3
rd
year last semester.
Key personal:
We will supervise different sectors of this business like- buying inventory (Chickenand eggs),
marketing, and finance etc. We will do this on the basis of our knowledgea n d s k i l l o f t h a t
s e c t o r . A s M o f a k k h a r u l I s l a m a n d R o k e y a K h a t u n h a v e a g o o d knowledge on
finance, so they will look after on financial factors. Nazmul
Hossaina n d A h s a n H a b i b h a s a g o o d c o m m e n d o n m a r k e t i n g , t h e y w i
l l t a k e c a r e o f marketing. And Nazmul Hossain is a specialist on inventory management,
so thathe will care for buying and managing inventory.
Investors:
Investors are we all five members. We will equally contribute in business. Ourcontr
ibutions are showing
below:NameInvestmentMd. Nazmul Hosssain TK. 1,00,000Md. Mofakkharul IslamTK
. 1,00,000Rokeya KhatunTK. 1,00,000Md. Ahsan HabibTK. 1,00,000Md. Nazmul Hos
ssainTK. 1,00,000
Management role:
Mofakkharul Islam and Rokeya Khatun will keep the books of all our expenses andincome.
Expense here means how much our cost of buying chickens and eggs,
food,t r a n s p o r t a t i o n , s a l a r y , d i f f e r e n t t y p e s o f b i l l e t c . W e w i l l k e e p t h e b o
o k o f a l l expenses day by day with exact date. Nazmul Hossain and Ahsan Habib will
look after on all marketing and distribution system. We will know the customers
about our product and additional service we will provide. How we will reach the product
to our customers etc. Nazmul Hossain will give emphasize on buying and managing
chickens and eggs. From where he will buy chickens and eggs, where it will keep,
food and health of chicken will manage by him.
Conclusion
Now poultry business is a very popular business in Bangladesh. Because it is very easy and
very small amount is need to start the business. Although there have many existing
competitors in the market, but there have a high chance to succeed because existing
competitors are fail to fulfill the customers demand. They are also failing to meet
the customers need in the perspective of service. So we think that choosing this business
is our right decision.

Chicken and egg marketing: Insights from traders in Meki, Oromia

Chickens are the most popular poultry species used for meat and egg production in Ethiopia.
Dugda district, a LIVES intervention area in Oromia region, is known nationwide for its large
chicken population (more than 100, 000). When asked why Dugda is important in poultry
production, locals respond that it’s because the district is large, has favourable climatic
conditions for chicken production, and there are many maize and wheat growers whose
products can serve as chicken feed.

Chicken rearing is part of the lifestyle of the communities of Dugda, for poor and rich alike.
Eleven Peasant Associations (PAs) neighbouring lake Zeway are famous for their high chicken
production; the soil is fertile and there is a lot of fish by-products available which provide
excellent chicken feed. Chickens from the associations (for instance Welda Qelina) of Dugda are
claimed to grow faster, maintain their body condition longer during transportation, resist
diseases and have bigger and more attractive eggs that those elsewhere.

Meki, the district town of Dugda, is a centre for chicken and egg marketing in the surrounding
areas; it gets its products from the Ela rural market of Dugda district and Dugda Qella of a
neighbouring district of SNNPR.

Abishu is a 28 year old chicken trader in Meki town. He started his business about nine years
ago after being motivated by the profit his father gets from selling chickens in Meki markets.
The small initial capital cost needed to start this business, which was only 200 ETB (20 USD) was
an additional motivator. Abishu buys chickens from rural villages at a reasonable price and sells
them at Meki markets. In times of high demand, he gets additional supplies from the Meki
market itself and supply them to his customers. Abishu also has a permanent market linkage
with rural chicken traders who directly sell to him. In addition, he supplies chickens for
wholesalers coming from Addis Ababa, Mojo, Bishoftu, Akaki and other nearby towns.

Abishu’s marketing strategy includes: buying chickens from three markets in a week (Thursday
and Monday markets at Meki and Saturday market at Alem Tena town), supplying wholesalers
coming from Addis Ababa, supplying hotels and restaurants, and selling to individuals and
occasional customers. His major customers are wholesalers from Addis Ababa.

Wholesalers generally order the numbers of chickens they require and then buy in bulk. To
meet these demands, he goes to rural markets. In a regular week, he buys 15- 20 chickens each
market day. He says he carries 3000 to 6000 ETB to buy chickens. The amount increases during
holiday seasons when wholesalers from big cities place their orders. During holiday seasons, the
numbers he buys may increase to between 40 and 50 per market day. Since wholesalers buy in
bulk, Abishu calculates the average price of the chickens and then determines his selling price.
During dry seasons, Abishu buys and sells hens for production and reproduction as this is a god
time for hatching eggs and raising day-old chicks and pullets.
Chicken handling and transpiration has undergone its own transformation since Abishu started
his business. He explains that about five years ago, to transport chickens, 5 to 7 chickens would
be tied together, put upside down, and loaded on the top of a vehicle. Later, people would put
12-15 chickens in a jute sack with small airholes and then load the sacks on top of a vehicle.
Nowadays, traders use plastic sacks (Madaberia). They sew two of these together and put 25 to
30 chickens into each. The plastic sacks are readily available in the market, are stronger and
hold larger number of chickens than the jute sacks.

Dessie is another trader in Meki town. He is an egg trader who entered into the business 6
years ago after he completed his 10th grade education. A hotel owner in Meki gave Dessie an
opportunity to supply eggs to his hotel as a business. Immediately, Dessie started his business
with a starting capital of 300 ETB. Dessie’s main egg suppliers were rural farmers along the
roads of Dugda. He sells his eggs twice a week at the Meki market, on Monday and Thursday.
Sometimes he has bought eggs on credit from farmers, paying them back after selling the eggs.

When Dessie started his business, he purchased 7 eggs for 2 ETB. Now, depending on market
condition, he buys an egg for 2.10 ETB and sells it for 2.25 ETB. His customers are tea shops,
cafeterias and hotels and individuals during holidays. Currently, he supplies some 70 to 80% of
the eggs needed by hotels in Meki town. On market days he buys 800 to 1,500 eggs.

Dessie explains that traders from other places like Addis Ababa, Bishoftu, Mojo and Adama
used to come to buy eggs from Meki. They come less these days ans prices are similar across
locations. They only come occasionally during holidays.

Both Abishu and Dessie say that their chicken and egg businesses have improved their
livelihoods over the years. They were able to support their families and invest in their homes.
They believe that chicken and egg businesses, if undertaken properly, are profitable ventures.
They both have plans to expand their business and establish poultry farms, for which they need
additional skills and knowledge and linkages along the value chain (hence their contacts with
the LIVES project).

The availability of chicken feed in Dugda makes chicken production and marketing an ideal
venture in the area. The supply of day-old chicks from Bishoftu and the introduction of exotic
types through the extension service also contribute to the suitability of the area for the sector.
Furthermore, farmers in the area seem to know about chicken production and marketing. The
increased number of entrepreneurs in the sector, as compared to other areas, is a good
indicator.

Women are also active participants in chicken and egg trading in Meki. When Abishu and Dessie
started the business, there were no women involved in chicken and egg marketing. Nowadays,
there are even women wholesalers coming from other places. Today, Abishu and Dessie
estimate that 40 to 50% of chicken traders in Meki are women.

Though the chicken and egg value chain in Dugda is well developed, there is still a lot be done,
especially with regard to planning production and marketing at different seasons. The common
trend is for farmers to bring chickens and eggs on market days before holidays when supply
tends to be high and demand is low. In such cases, it is only the wholesalers that benefit as they
have plenty to choose from and they can set the prices. This results in losses for farmers as well
as for local traders like Abishu and Dessie.

The LIVES project can contribute here by developing capacities and knowledge of farmers and
traders on production and marketing strategies as well as by creating linkages with potential
customers and market information sources.
Profile on Poultry Farming
This profile envisages the establishment of a farm for the rearing of poultry with raising
capacity of 200,000 heads of poultry per annum. Poultry meat and eggs have become the most
important sources of protein in the human diet by using it directly or after passing through food
processing industries.

The major inputs and auxiliary raw materials required are day old chickens, commercial formula
feed, and high quality vaccines which have to be imported.

The present unsatisfied demand for poultry meat and eggs in Addis Ababa is estimated at 7,750
tons and 5,410 tons respectively. The demand is expected to reach at 7,845 tons and 11,238
tons for eggs and poultry meat respectively by the year 2020.

The total investment requirement is estimated at Birr 12.84 million, out of which Birr 3.67
million is required for plant and machinery. The plant will create employment opportunities for
27 persons.

The project is financially viable with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 17.63% and a net present
value (NPV) of Birr 5.59 million, discounted at 8.5 %.
The poultry farm has a backward linkage effect on animal feed processing industries and a
forward linkage effect on food processing industries. There is also a substantial export
potential.

Improvements on farm in Ethiopia

Improvements of practices on a poultry parent stock farm annex hatchery have been made in
Ethiopia. The requesting party wanted to have further advice on good poultry keeping in such a
way that it could improve its practices and to arrive at a well-managed and well operating
company. The expert has, in two visits, left recommendations on the management structure of
the company, on the construction of new facilities, on the daily activities in the parent stock
units and in the hatchery. Special attention has been given to lighting-schemes and feeding of
the cocks and hens in the parent stock.

Poultry farming is usually the business i recommend for retirees and individuals who are
passionate about livestock farming. In the past, people were non-challant about breeding birds
or cultivating crops for profits. But with the recent global burst in population and a worldwide
demand for food, people are now beginning to realize the potential of providing the most
important basic need of man.

Poultry farming is a viable business anytime any day; and to be sincere with you, it’s a business I
have been considering for some time now. Below are reasons why I consider poultry farming a
profitable business?
 Factors that makes Poultry Farming a Profitable Business

There are a lot of factors that make poultry farming business a profitable one but I will be
highlighting only three major factors:

 Food is one of the basic needs of man. Regardless of the economic situation, human beings
must feed and since domestic birds are consumable; that makes poultry farming feasible.

 My country Nigeria for instance has a population of over 150million and growing; bear it in
mind that a huge population means a huge demand for food (egg and meat).

 With the increased awareness on the health implications of red meat; there’s an increased
demand for white meat and birds are a source of white meat.

But before I go into the details of starting a poultry farming business, I want to emphatically
state that the information provided in this article does not in any way replace the need for you
to conduct a feasibility study, write a business plan for your poultry farm and do your own due
diligence.

Select your Poultry Niche

The poultry industry is a broad niche. There are many sub-sectors in the poultry industry which
you can tap into. When poultry farming is mentioned, a lot of people take that to mean chicken
rearing or turkey rearing alone but poultry farming is a very wide business with different
aspects. Below are niches in the poultry business:

 Egg production (Layers breeding)

 Meat production (Broilers breeding)

 Chicken breeding (Hatchery)

 Poultry feed production

 Poultry equipment manufacturing

 Egg and meat processing, packaging and marketing

 Poultry marketing and consultancy

 So, you see that poultry farming is very wide. Therefore, you have to choose your area of
specialization. Of course, if you have enough capital and the technical know-how nothing stops
you from doing all the businesses under poultry farming but it is always better to go back to the
drawing board, find out which aspects of poultry farming are more profitable in your area in
terms of demand and income and then select the most attractive aspects to concentrate on.

2. What type of bird will you be focusing on?

Another important factor to consider is the type of birds you wish to rear. There are several
types of birds that you can rear. Poultry farming can further be classified into the types of birds:

 Domestic fowl or Chicken (Broilers and layers)

 Turkey

 Guinea fowl

 Pigeon

 Duck

 Goose

 Peacock

 Quail

You also have to decide on whether you want to rear layers or broilers. Layers are usually raised
mainly for laying eggs so if egg production is your area of specialization, you would need to
stock your farm with layers but if you prefer to opt for meat production instead, then you
would need broilers instead because broilers have the ability to grow very fat and gives more
return on investment because they weigh a lot more than other breeds. But for this article, I
will be focusing on poultry breeding for egg and meat purposes with respect to the domestic
fowl.

3. Start-up Capital Investment

The poultry farming business is capital intensive; depending on the scale, location of your farm
and the type of management technology used. A small scale poultry farm being run behind your
 house may require a capital of between $500 – $1,500. A medium scale poultry farm may
require $2,000 – $5,000 and a large scale poultry farm may require a start-up capital of $10,000
and above. Like I stated earlier, scale is directly proportional to capital.

4. Poultry Location

A good location is vital to the success and profitability of your poultry farm. An ideal poultry
farm should be sited where there’s a large availability of cheap land and at the same time;
should be close to areas with high population density. It’s not advisable to site your poultry
farm within a residential area because of the offensive odour it produces.

While it is smart to start your poultry farm in a place where the odor and noise would not
disturb other people, you should also consider the security factor. Lands in sparsely populated
settlements are cheap and you would have fewer issues with community disturbance and
zoning but it may be far from your market and buyers. You need to find a balance, look for a
place that is favorable to you and would also be favorable to your customers at the same time.

5. Housing your birds

Another important factor to consider is the poultry housing system. Poultry housing system
determines up to 40% of the rater of success you would achieve in poultry farming. A good
housing system is very important for your poultry farm. The housing system commonly used in
poultry farming are-:

 Extensive system: Range and fold unit

 Semi Intensive system: Standard semi intensive unit and straw yard

 Intensive system: i. Deep litter, ii. Wire and slated floor, iii. Straw yard, iv. Battery cage

a. Free Range System-: Under free range poultry farming system, chickens are allowed to roam
around on their own in search for food. This system cannot be used for commercial poultry
farming because of the high level of risks involved.

b.Deep Litter System-: This system involves spreading wood shavings or saw dust on a concrete
ground with the chickens placed on the floor and the dust serving as a ‘cushion’ for them. The
 dust is changed regularly, either by removing and replacing or by layering. Deep litter system is
used by a lot of poultry farmers because it increases efficiency and makes it easier to manage
large flocks of birds but it allows for a faster spread of diseases when there is an outbreak and
also makes it difficult to fish out unproductive birds.

c. Battery Cage System-: As for the battery cage system, metal cages are constructed inside a
building to house the birds. The cages are usually split into different compartments to house
small groups of birds. The cages also contain feeding and water troughs as well as laying nests.
Bird droppings fall on the floor and are cleaned mechanically by a scraper. This method is
considered to be the most effective for egg production but the major downside of this method
is that it is more expensive to construct and maintain compared to other forms of poultry
housing systems.

If you are running a poultry farm for commercial purposes and you intend getting the best out
of the business; with respect to high birds’ productivity and efficiency. Then you should
consider housing your birds using the intensive system. Note that each of the three housing
system has its own advantages and disadvantages. Lastly, your poultry housing structure should
be built at a particular angle; taking sunlight and wind into consideration.

6. Poultry equipment and appliances

There is a very long list of equipment and facilities to put in place in order to fully manage a
poultry farm. You would need to construct a house for the birds, provide feeders and drinkers,
a good waste disposal system, source of water, lightening and heat, egg crates and storage
space for keeping feed and eggs.

Therefore, you should make a list of all the items you would need, find out the prices and
compare different prices to further give you an idea of the costs of setting up the poultry
farm.The following equipment may be needed for your poultry farm and their uses:

 Feeders

 Drinkers
 Perches

 Nests

 Crates

 Lighting system

 Waste disposal system

 Incubator

 Heaters or brooders

 Egg tray

 Cages and coops

7. Feeding your birds-: Feeding is a major aspect of poultry farming. In fact, about 70% of your
expenses would go towards poultry feeding. Therefore, it is imperative to figure out the feeding
aspects of business before you go into it. There are two ways to go about feeding in poultry
farming:

 Producing your feeds by yourself

 Buying already-made poultry feeds

I recommend the former for large commercial poultry farms because it helps you to save a lot
of money on feeding costs. You can easily learn how to make poultry feeds, purchase
equipment and start producing feeds for your farm. You can even make some extra income for
yourself by selling to others but it is important that you get the right feed formula and
ingredients that would enhance the growth of your birds.

8. Poultry Farm staffing and manpower

Operating a poultry farm is not labor intensive if the use of technology is employed. With
respect to staffing, the number of manpower needed is also dependent on the size of your
farm. But some must haves should be admin officer or manager; who will oversee the day to
day running of your business. Your manager can also double as your accountant to cut down
cost.
It is also advisable you have personnel who will reside permanently in the farm to monitor and
see to the well being of your birds. You will also need security personnel that will monitor the
inflow and outflow of people around your farm; and most importantly, guard against theft.
Aside these few mentioned, you can add more personnel to suit your business needs.

9. Accounting-: I mentioned in one of my previous articles how a lot of poultry farmers take the
accounting and record keeping aspects of their business for granted. Poultry farming is just like
any other commercial business out there and for you to track your performance and
productivity, adequate records must be kept. You don’t need to have an accounting background
or spend hours on record keeping or accounting for your farm; just purchase a farm
management software, install it on your computer and there you are, you would be able to
know how your business is doing and whether you are growing or not.

10. Health-: Just like you need regular health check-up to stay in good shape, the birds in your
farm also need regular check-up. They need proper vaccines and medications to prevent
diseases and promote growth. You should have a consultant, a veterinary doctor who would be
in charge of giving vaccinations and providing proper health care for the birds.

11. Marketing-: Another factor to give consideration to is the marketing aspect of your poultry
business. You have to find a way to reach your customers and this would be done by employing
the right marketing techniques. Therefore, before you start a poultry business, you should
really consider the marketing strategies which you would use to break into the market.

12. Projected return on investment

The incubation period of the domestic fowl is 21 days. You can start selling off your birds as
early as 8 – 12 weeks but full maturity is reached between 20 – 24 weeks. The payback period
of a poultry farming business is between 3 – 5 years.

Five Challenges of Starting a Poultry Farming Business

Poultry farming business is one of the most important and profitable aspect of livestock
farming business especially in Nigeria. But like every other business, there are risks and
 challenges involved. Do you intend venturing into poultry farming but you would like to know
the risks and challenges that you will be facing? Then i advice you read on.

Challenges of Starting a Poultry Farming Business

 Poultry farming has a longer pay back period

 It is Labor intensive

 Pests and predators can cause massive loss

Lack of support from the government

Taking a close look at Nigeria today, you will attest to the fact that the government shows little
or no interest in livestock farming; let alone poultry farming. The government is more
interested in the oil sector thereby not showing concern to poultry farming and this brings
discouragement to the poultry farmers.

Even the assumed agricultural loan the government provided cannot be accessed because of
the stringent conditions attached. The only visible effort of the government is the recent ban on
the importation of live or frozen poultry birds. So if you are interested in starting a poultry
farming business, then you must be prepared to go it alone without looking to the government
for help.

High start-up capital

The very first factor you have to give serious consideration to is capital. Just like every other
business, poultry farming needs sufficient and proper funding. This is because the amount of
capital you have to invest has a lot to do with the level of success you would achieve in poultry
farming. If you have enough capital, you would be able to put facilities that would increase your
productivity in place.

You cannot do well as a livestock farmer, especially poultry farming when you don’t have
enough fund. You need money to purchase a land for the farm, to construct and equip the
farm, to hire and pay staff/laborers and also to feed and provide healthcare for your birds.
Without proper funding, you will struggle to keep your business afloat but with enough capital;
business is made easier. So it is advisable that you do your financial analysis very well and
ensure you have access to cash because nothing kills a business faster than lack of money.

Outbreak of diseases

When the environment is dirty, disease and infection is inevitable. Birds like chicken are very
sensitive to environmental changes. If the poultry environment is not properly taken care of,
the chickens will be exposed to diseases like bacteria infection. So as a poultry farmer , you
must ensure that the poultry environment is kept clean and disinfected. You must avoid
bringing in contaminated equipment, vehicle,and foot wears. Also, visitors should not be
allowed into the poultry environment and ensure that you sterilize your hands before touching
the birds.

Non availability and affordability of vaccines

In the agro-allied industry, especially poultry farming; this particular challenge affects the small
scale poultry farmers more because; unlike the industrial or commercial poultry farmers who
can afford the vaccines, the small scale poultry farmers can’t afford the vaccines.

Adulteration and high cost of poultry food

The price of poultry food is quite costly and birds consume a lot. So most poultry farmers
economize or ration the food given to the birds and this affects the output. Also, adulterated
poultry food flooding the market is another challenge for poultry entrepreneurs. This is because
the adulteration utters the necessary nutrients the birds need in order to grow well, thus
making them unhealthy and reduces their immunity to diseases.

As a final note, i believe you have gotten a clue on the challenges you should expect as a
poultry farmer and the best solutions to them. So start now by creating a counter-strategy to
tackle these challenges and success will be yours.

How to Be a Poultry Farmer

If you want to be a poultry farmer, you must decide what type. Another consideration is where
you live, as most poultry farms are in the eastern portion of the U.S. and California. Poultry
farmers typically raise a single type of poultry, such as chickens, turkeys, geese or ducks. More
than half of the poultry farming industry raises chickens for broilers. The two other main types
of poultry farming produce chicken eggs and turkeys. Some poultry farmers raise chicks into
egg-laying hens or breeders. Once you have determined that type of poultry farmer you want
to be, you need to get a job working on that type of farm. Here's a description of the job duties
of each type of poultry farmer.

Impact Summary

Poultry play a vital role in the livelihood of poor rural households in developing countries and are particularly
important to those (often landless) people who do not other livestock and to women, who often own and manage
the chickens and control cash from sales. Income from poultry production is often used to support education of
children. However, low genetic potential and poor levels of husbandry mean that most indigenous breeds grow
slowly and are poor producers of small eggs. Furthermore, infectious diseases prevent even this limited genetic
potential from being realised, with villagers citing disease as the major limitation to production. In addition to
endemic disease, outbreaks occur annually and may kill entire flocks. Ethiopian farmers often sell their flocks in
anticipation of, or in the face of, such epidemics, only to later buy them back at a loss. Hence, poorly defined
endemic and epidemic diseases are major impediments to productivity and impact markedly on livelihoods.
This project will address these issues on several fronts in order to enable distribution of improved local poultry
ecotypes with enhanced productivity and production traits as well as improved genetic resistance to important
infectious diseases. Newcastle Disease has a worldwide distribution and is of enormous economic impact; Fowl
Typhoid and Fowl Cholera remain important diseases of developing poultry systems, whilst coccidiosis, Marek’s
Disease and IBDV also remain important in developed poultry industries. Further, many ecto- and haemoparasites
exploit their hosts without provoking overt disease, yet co-infection with these agents may increase susceptibility
to other diseases. Improvements in the control of these infectious diseases and of productivity of village poultry
will improve the livelihoods of farmers and increase food security in Ethiopia and throughout Sub-Saharan Africa
and Southern Asia. Genetic resistance to major pathogens may also have direct application to developed countries;
e.g. parasitic and bacterial infections in free-range and organic poultry production are an increasing challenge and
resistant breeds of poultry may provide the key to disease control.
The availability of genetic information from Ethiopian poultry has considerable academic impact as a resource for
study of animal genetics and evolutionary biology in particular and will be a resource available to other scientists
through the Domestic Animal Genetic Resources Information System at ILRI and the Frozen Ark project at
University of Nottingham.

To our knowledge this is the first survey simultaneously assessing the frequency of exposure to many major
pathogens and investigating the cause of major outbreaks. This will enable targeting of genetic improvement and
development of strategies for disease control that utilise improved birds but also incorporate other control
strategies (including technology-based strategies, such as vaccination). The role of co-infection on disease
susceptibility and prevalence has been little studied in a low input production setting. This multi-pathogen
approach has the potential for substantial impact in terms of knowledge and in application to disease control
strategies.

The socio-economic surveys enable a targeted approach to genetic improvement (based on factors important to
the local communities) and to development of strategies for disease control that utilise improved birds but also
recognise other (indigenous) control strategies. Crucially, this ensures that developed strategies are socially
acceptable. The human and material capacity built into the proposal will have considerable impact. Two doctorate-
trained researchers (plus technicians) and a laboratory equipped and skilled in diagnosis of infectious disease will
play a key role in underpinning studies and disease surveillance. Through the international collaboration already
built by this proposal, UK and local scientists can forge networks in Africa, the UK and the wider community that
will lead to future research in genetics and infectious disease control, and in wider areas influencing animal and
public health policy and strategy.