How to start small scale poultry business

There are so many questions people ask on
how to start a small scale poultry farm
business. If you are wondering how? then you
are not alone. This article would give you an
insight on how to start the business and how
you can grow it successfully.
Poultry is a very viable and lucrative business.
It can be a risky business suddenly, especially
when you are not concerned about poultry feed
management. Poultry birds require energy. In
order to obtain desire growth rate, you must
have to purchase and provide highly nutritious
poultry feed. It is an established business, so
all types of necessary facilities are available.
Steps To Take When Starting A Small Scale


Poultry Farm.
Select Your Poultry Niche
Poultry industry is a very broad niche with
different aspects. Below are niches in the
poultry business;
Egg productions (Layers breeding)
Meat production (Broilers breeding)
Chicken breeding (Hatchery)
Poultry feed production
Poultry equipment and manufacturing
Egg and meat processing, packaging
and marketing
Poultry farming and consultancy
This is to tell you poultry farming has a very
broad branch . Therefore, you have to choose
your area of specialization. Of course, if you
have the money and the technical know how of
the business you can do all, but it is better to
find out which aspect is more profitable in
your area in terms of demand and income.
Capital Requirement
A small scale poultry that is set up on a piece
of land behind your house may require a
capital of
$500-$1,500 to start with.
Farm Location
The major thing to acquire before starting a
poultry farm is a suitable piece of land.
Generally, a plot of 120*60 square meters is
suitable for a medium sized poultry farm. The
size of land depend on the number of birds you
want to raise and the farming system. Acquire
the land from far towns and big cities. It’s
advisable to buy a land in the rural area.
Because lands and labor are highly available in
cheaper rate. Select a fresh environment and
pollution free area.
Establishing a poultry farm in a rented land is
absolutely a bad idea. However, while selecting
land, keep in mind some important facilities like
great source of water, free from all types of
animals and predators, a market near the farm,
proper transportation facilities, e.t.c.
Housing
Housing system depends on your poultry
breeds and farming method. Below are few tips
to use while building suitable houses for your
poultry birds.
The poultry house has to be well
ventilated. Well ventilation keeps the
bird healthy and productive.
Make a suitable system for entrancing
sufficient amount of fresh air and
light inside the house.
Try and make the house north to
south faced.
In the case of making numerous
houses, the distance between one
house to another house should be
about 40 feet.
Before bringing the chick into the
farm, clean the house and the entire
farm area properly.
Make deep liter clean regularly.
You can use some cheap materials
like wooden material or rice ban for
making liter.
Keep the feeding and watering
equipment in proper distance from
each other according to the number of
birds and farming system. And always
clean all types of equipment everyday.
The house must have all required
facilities for poultry birds.
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: 1. Deep liter, 2. wire
and slated floor, 3. battery cage 4.
straw yard
Feeding
Good and high quality of food keeps the birds
healthy and highly productive. Good quality
fresh and nutritious food is the key success in
poultry farming business. It’s advisable to
provide adequate amount of food according to
the age and number of poultry birds. Along
with feeding good food, always supply
sufficient amount of clean water according to
the daily demands of the birds.
Poultry feeds includes
Wheat: Wheat is one of the best
grains to be used as poultry feed
ingredients. For this reason you
should include a certain amount of
wheat in the poultry feed ratio. During
the wheat harvesting season, you can
feed the poultry birds as mash or as
scratch feed. You can also use wheat
as a poultry feed throughout the year.
Barley: Generally barley is not as
delicious like wheat and oats. But it
contains fiber and a great source of
fat.
Corn: Corn can be very effective grain
for your poultry birds. You can feed
whole, cracked or grinded. You can
feed ripe corns to your hens.
Millet: It has good advantages as
poultry feed. You can use millet in
growing, laying and fattening ratio.
Millet is easily digestible and help to
increase body temperature.
Flax: It is suitable for high amount of
protein in your poultry feed. You can
use small amount of flax in the feed
mixture.
Skim Milk and Butter Milk: They are
very useful for all kinds of poultry
birds. Especially for the young chicks
and laying hens. Skim and butter milk
play a vital role to get high quality
eggs for hatching. And it’s also
reliable source of protein.
By Products Of Grain: By products of
grains have a great health value and
suitable for feeding the poultry birds.
Buy various types of by products if
grains are available in the shop where
poultry feed are prepared or sold. It’s
price is comparably higher than any
other poultry feed ingredients.
Fish Oil: Fish oil is a dependable
source of vitamin A and D. Main.
Poultry is very sensitive and may be infected
by diseases easily. Generally, they suffer
various types of viral, bacterial, fungal,
nutritional and parasitic diseases. Proper
vaccination is a must for keeping your your
birds diseases free, healthy and productive. So
vaccinate the birds timely. If somehow, disease
occurs in the farm, meet a vet doctor as soon
as possible and listen to his advice.
Staffing
Staffing And Man power is not labor intensive
if the use of technology is employed. Being a
small scale poultry you don’t need so many
staff, what you need is a manager and
accountant. Either way, your manager can also
assume the duty of the accountant too in order
to save cost. This individual oversees the day
to day running of the business.