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
providequality product through the Addis
Ababa city. We will collect chicken and eggs from different producer near to Addis
Ababa city 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 Addis Ababa city. Prolong the sufficient supply to the
customer is one of our most important purpose. We want to supply extend area of
Addis Ababa city with affordable price.
Name of the v
enture
 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. The farm will distribute these products around the
Addis Ababa city. 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 most 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 the
customers. 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
eggs we have a high prospect of success, and for success we need continuous 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
ason the export market. In this sector, market is very competitive. The keycompetito
rs are distributing chicken and eggs are regional competitors. Thecompany has
to compete with them. The demand of chicken and eggs is verycomprehensive. 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.
Wewill consider this factor securely. Our farm will provide chicken and eggs withaffo
rdable price.

Market planMarketing strategy:

➢
We use new processing options which can differentiate our product from
theproducts of others.
➢
We ensure quality product with affordable price.
➢
We always search for new quality factors related to our products thatcustomers wish
to see in the product.
➢
Provide hygienic and nutritious feeding that may help to attaindistinguishable 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
companiesspend a large proportion of their budget for promotion. We also have som
epromotional strategy- advertising, banner, billboard, leaflet, poster etc. we will give
advertising in different newspaper and magazine in our country. We give billboard
in some important hub of Dhaka city. We will also provide leaflet, poster, and 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
our customers and
collect the order. As per their order we will directly supplychickens and eggs to the
customers by our own transportation.
Manufacturing and operations:

Facilities and location:

We always try to give high facility to our customers. For quickly serve thecustomers
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
airportroad, Banani, Dhaka-1213 for quick access with the customers. For makingcus
tomers order easy we also have a email address, so that customers can order
useasily. We are going to introduce own website for customers convenience. Wemor
eover 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
alsopassed his HSC from BCIC College. He is now studying his BBA at southeastuniver
sity (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
hisHSC from Ullapara Science College. He is now studying his BBA at southeastuniver
sity (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
knowledgeand skill of that sector. As Mofakkharul Islam and Rokeya Khatun have a
goodknowledge on finance, so they will look after on financial factors. Nazmul
Hossainand Ahsan Habib has a good commend on marketing, they will take care of m
arketing. 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. Ourcontrib
utions 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 Hosss
ainTK. 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,transportation, salary, different types of bill etc. We will keep the book of allexp
enses 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 recom-
mendations 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.