Are you tired of living from hand to mouth because you are always in the throes of debt?  Are you sick and tired of begging for money from your family and friends even though you are a graduate? Are you about to retire and you are worried about life after retirement? Or you just got a job but the salary will not be adequate to meet your needs? Do you want to live a comfortable and debt free life? Then you have come to the right place to get the information you need to transform your life for the better. I just heard you say “This is hard to bear”. Yeah, truth can be quite harsh to the ear and it often hurts when one is faced with it but it must be said and upheld. I believe you want to know what to do to get out of the rat race of life and come to that place of REST and COMFORT. You may have read up to this point and you are saying within you “Please go straight to the point”. Well, please my esteemed reader, be patient as I unveil to you “How you can make money doing poultry farming”. But before I continue, I will like to ask you again are you really tired of your present financial state? I can hear you say “YES”. If you just said, yes, how convinced/sure are you of your answer to my question? Think about it!

WHY YOU SHOULD GO INTO POULTRY FARMING

Now let me show you the opportunities in poultry production. Protein is an essential component of food which is required for growth, body tissue regeneration and immunity against diseases amongst other functions in the body.

. Protein is even more important for the children and adolescent population because they are in the phase of life when growth is most rapid.

You may begin to discern the enormous business opportunity when you realize that over 60% of Nigeria’s estimated 170 million people are below the age of 25 years. This invariably means that the protein need of Nigeria’s large youthful population is huge and largely unmet.

A major source of protein is poultry products such as chicken and eggs.

According to Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), most Nigerians consume less than 10% of protein requirement of their dietary needs and this deficit may increase in the future if an adequate measure is not taken to avert it Now, here comes the opportunity for you to make cool money in poultry business.The demand for poultry product such as eggs and chicken meat is on the increase, and this demand by consumers is not going to wane.

The fastest and most assured way of making money is to identify a need and provide a product or service that meets that need.

It is clear from what has been revealed by the FAO that there is a huge gap in the protein need of  Nigerians. It is also obvious that this need will increase over the next few years or decades if the current trend continues.

Since poultry products are well positioned to meet this need especially over a short period of time.

PROFITTING FROM POULTRY FARMING

Poultry Farming gives yields within weeks. This makes it a very attractive business you can quickly turn over your investments. Poultry farming can be done on small or large scale.  This article will focus on introducing poultry farming. If you want to engage in small or large scale Poultry business you may wish to order for our comprehensive report titled: Teach Yourself Poultry Production – A step By Step Manual. by sending a mail to info@cash4naija.com

CAPITAL INVESTMENT IN POULTRY FARMING

 An initial capital as low as N50, 000 and N90, 000 can run a small poultry farm of  25 to 50 birds respectively for a period of 3-4 months breeding  in your backyard.

If you do not have up to the amount stated for the 3 -4 months breeding plan, you can raise 4 weeks birds instead of the 3-4months breeding period.The 4 weeks birds cost much less to run and you can turn over your invests in just over a month! This is a starting point for those with less than N30, 000 to start with. It is even more important for those who obtained a loan which they have to pay back over a short period of time.

HOW TO RAISE CAPITAL TO START YOUR POULTRY BUSINESS.

A common excuse given by would be business people is that they lack the capital to start the business. The curious thing however, is that many use expensive phones that cost as much as N20, 000, N30, 000 N40, 000 and even above these amount.  Furthermore, many use more than one smart phone.I will show you how much you are going to make when you embark on this business but before that let me show you one  way you can raise the money for this business.Now look at it carefully, if for instance each of the phones cost N25, 000 and N30, 000 you already have N55, 000 to breed an average of 30birds for 3-4months which can easily yield a profit of N20, 000 as you will see below. I want you to know that you do not really need to have the full amount before you start this business. So, meet your uncles, aunties and even your friends and ask them to lend you money for this business.

You may be shaking your head in disagreement with the suggestion, but consider this; most people will not lend you money if they feel it will lead to a vicious circle of asking and giving.

They are more likely to give you the funds if they believe it’s going to lead to your empowerment to such an extent that you will become independent and no longer a drain on their resources.Probably, the last time you requested for money you had no clear and profitable venture to embark on.  The trick is that you MUST have a clearly thought out business plan with your projected investment, turnover and profit clearly worked out in a convincing manner.

Another trick in getting family and friends to raise capital for you is to make it a reasonable request and be sensitive to their disposable income capabilities. What I mean by this is that you should not ask for what is too far above what they can absorb as a bad debt! What you must understand is that most of your potential benefactors are going to assume that you would not succeed, so they are going to give you an amount they believe they can “throw away” to get you “off their backs”. One way to get around this problem is to approach several people and tell each one you already have a percentage of the capital required and that you just want them to help you out with the balance. For example, if you require N50,000 for the Poultry production business, you can approach four people and tell them that you have been able to raise N50,000 from your savings and now requires N50,000 to start the business. You may also quickly add that you shall be quite happy with any amount they can offer you even if not up to N50, 000.

This technique is extremely effective as I have personally used it with good effect so many times over the years. The last time I used the method, I required N5, 000,000 for a turnkey business but I was able to rise close to N8, 000,000! The good news is that I have since paid back the funds.

THE PROFIT PROFILE OF POULTRY FARMING

I promised to show you how much you are going to make when you embark on this business. Here it is. Assume you have bred 30 birds for 4months and it cost you N55, 000. If you sold 25 chickens out of the 30 at the cost of N3000 each, you will make a profit N20, 000. i.e. 25 x N3000 = N75, 000

Now N55, 000 was what you put into the business, therefore N75, 000 – N55, 000 = N20, 000.

This represents a 36% profit margin which is quite impressive for any business. The importance of this is better appreciated when you look at the larger picture. Consider investing N100, 000, you make a profit of N36, 000.

Investing N200, 000 will yield N64, 000

N500, 000 will yield N180, 000

N1, 000,000 will yield N360, 000!

The truth is that larger investments yield better profit margins because economies of scale come into play. For example, larger purchases of poultry feeds lead to volume discounts which make your expenditure less in relative terms.

CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED IN POULTRY FARMING

A major challenge is mortality (death) rate of the birds. The mortality rate of your birds will affect your profit margin greatly. A low rate will guarantee much greater profits while high rates will reduce your profits because you will have fewer numbers of birds to sell at the end of the breeding period. You will also have fewer eggs to sell.

Mortality of your birds will depend on several factors which include; housing, feeds, and the specie of the birds.

A comprehensive report on the housing, feeds production and breeding, including specie selection and use of hybrids is contained in the Cash4naija Project manual titled: Teach Yourself Poultry Production – A step By Step Manual.

Other Challenges include environmental issues like foul smell leading to objections from neigbours especially if you have implemented the business in your residential quarters.

However, a good poultry housing design can easily take care of this problem to a large extent.  The Teach Yourself Poultry Production – A step By Step Manual also addresses this housing issue.

In our next article, I will show you how you can raise healthy birds with very low mortality (i.e. low death rates).  

Wishing you good luck in your journey to POULTRY BUSINESS SUCCESS!

This article was conceived by Idugboe Osasumwen Elvis. He is a graduate of Agricultural Science and is actively involved in Poultry farming as well as other business ventures.

The article was however reviewed, re-written, updated and optimized for the Cash4naija site by the cash4naija Project Chief small business editor.