Poultry-Farming: Is Poultry Farming Business Profitable?

How Profitable is Poultry Farming Business?

Do you know why poultry farming is profitable? Poultry business can be described as the rearing or grooming of birds for different purposes, ranging from meat, ornamental purposes and so on.

Over 80% of poultry keeping is for the purpose for producing table meat and eggs.

So how profitable is poultry business?

This question will be answered as you read through this article. Food is a common denominator to all human beings.

In spite of the economic situation people must eat. Hence this makes the demand for food inelastic.

Poultry is a rich source of meat protein. The implications of red meat on health and fitness have left much to be desired. But should we avoid meat to remain healthy? No, the good thing is that not all meat is bad for us. The sinister consequences of red meat can be avoided by consuming poultry meat. Poultry meat is white.

Medically, white meat is healthy for consumption, so increasing awareness of this has caused an enormous preference for poultry meat. This is not to mention the immense benefit of table eggs. So to cap it, going into poultry business is a good idea because it is viable. But before you get started it would be imperative for you to consider the following options in the business.

Before starting a poultry business as all other businesses you need to carry out a feasibility study and map out a business plan. The poultry market is very wide. So there are a lot of areas or niches for business to be carried out. To get started however, you will need to:

PROFITABILITY OF POULTRY FARMING

Choose Your Poultry Area of Interest

As mentioned earlier, the poultry industry is a broad area that will require you to select a niche you wish to specialize in, if you want to run a successful business, at least for a start. Among the sub-sectors in the poultry business is the grooming of different kinds of birds such as chicken, turkey, quail, ostrich and so on.

Other sub-sectors are layers breeding, broilers for meat production, chicken or hatchery and poultry feed production.

Focus on a Type of Bird
           
                      

Since you will have to be abreast of all information on the type of bird you are grooming and all associated success factors. It will only be logical to focus on a type of bird you wish to farm. Mr. Albama Gumado, a poultry farmer for over 15 years says a critical success factor you should consider when going into poultry farming is the specific kind of bird you will want to groom.

You also have to decide if your purpose is meat production or egg. In other words you will have to determine if you will be grooming laying birds or broilers for meat purposes. So if your purpose is to produce table eggs then you have to stock your farm with layers. However, if your purpose is for meat production then you will have to stock broilers.

Broilers are modified species of poultry birds that get very fat within a short time for meat purpose.

What is you Startup Budget

The poultry business is considered to be capital intensive, even though that depends on the scale, location and type of technology adapted for your farm. A small scale backyard farm may require a capital of about $250 to $500 while a medium scale farm will require about $1,000 or more.

Farm Location

                  

Your farm location is very important to your success in business. Space and adequate ventilation is vital for the survival and proper functioning of your birds. It would be a good idea to site your farm in an area with a lot of available land for expansion. On the contrary it is a bad idea to site your farm in a densely populated area or within a residential area.

This is because apart from the health implications to man, ventilation will be relatively poor. This has consequences on the health of your birds. More also, your farm is exposed to disease pathogens, vectors and parasites which are common to densely populated areas.

Farm Equipment and Accessories

The equipment you use on your farm depend on the technology you choose to adopt. There is a long list of equipment required to start a small scale poultry farm. This list includes but is not limited to housing for the birds, feeders, drinkers, lighting, heating equipment, efficient waste disposal system, water source, egg crates and storage rooms.

Feeding and Nutrition

                              

A very critical success factor for your poultry business is feeding. Feeding takes up about 70% of your startup capital. So it is only logical to figure out your feeding before your start your poultry farm. There are two ways to go about that.

You could compound your own poultry feed or you could buy commercially ready made poultry feed. If you intend to go for large scale farming, i will recommend you go for compounding as this will greatly lower your production cost.

Conclusion

It can easily be seen from this article that poultry farming is a profitable business but however, not without strict consideration of the above critical success factors. With the current global population explosion, the demand for food will only be on the increase. So the market for poultry products cannot be saturated.