Starting Poultry Egg Farming Business

Poultry egg farming is a very profitable business, and many people are making money all over the world by starting layers egg production business. However, to build a successful, sustainable poultry egg farming business, you require sufficient knowledge of how to efficiently keep the layers, good management skills, and a good poultry egg production business plan. This article will outline how to start the business, and the poultry egg farming business plan – PDF, Word and Excel.

Poultry egg farming is a lucrative business, providing income for millions of people from all parts of the world. However, there are some essential things you need to do before you venture into the poultry egg production business. You have to decide on the size of your chicken egg production project i.e. the number of layers chickens you want to keep per cycle; location of the business e.g. a layers chicken farm , and your target market. These choices will be affected by the amount of capital you have, and the size of your target  market.

If you do not have a lot of capital, you can always start small and grow your poultry egg farming business overtime, remember, Rome was not built in a day. You also need to carry out market research (Who are you going to sell the eggs to? At what price?) and write a poultry egg farming business plan before you venture into the chicken egg production business.

What you need

Land, Housing and Equipment for Poultry Egg Farming Business

The kind of housing you need and the size of the land will depend on the size of your poultry egg farming project. When choosing the location for your poultry egg production business, you have to balance the need for proximity to the market, with the cost of land, labor costs, security, and a good water supply. It is advisable not to locate the poultry egg farming project close to rivers or streams as this may result in the pollution of water by chicken drops during rainfall periods.

When you are planning to construct a layers egg chicken house, you have to select a site which is well-drained with plenty of natural air movement. Layers chickens cannot adjust well to temperature extremes, so it is very essential that the hens be housed, cared and provided with an environment that will enable them to perform egg production efficiently.

The design and size of the layers chicken house is determined by the number of layers chickens being kept, the cost and the climatic condition of the area. It is essential to house layers chickens of the same age together. This is to prevent potential problems like high risk of continuous infection. It also allows the farmer to administer the right feeds and follow the right method of lighting for the layers chickens.

Your housing for the layers chickens can be barns, layer cages, chicken runs or hutches. The kind of equipment you need depends on whether you are using the deep litter system or the cage system in your poultry egg production business. You should have equipment including feeders, drinkers, lighting system and waste disposal system. You will also need chicken layer nests where the layers lay eggs in. If you are doing the cage system, then you will have to purchase the cages for your layers chickens. If you purchase layer cages as housing for your layers chickens, the layer cages will already have the laying nests, feeders, drinkers etc.

Point of lay chickens/Layer chicks

Poultry Layers start to lay eggs at about 19 weeks of age. When starting a poultry egg production business, you will have to make a decision of whether you start with day old chicks or point of lay birds. You can buy layer chicks and feed them till they are 19 weeks. However, its usually easier to buy point of lay chickens (Layers chickens which are ready to start laying eggs).

You should purchase your day old chicks/point of lay birds from a reliable accredited hatchery or company where the parent stocks are well managed. Layers chicks from different hatcheries vary greatly in terms of quality, and thus will be a determining factor in the success of your poultry egg farming business venture.If you purchase point of lay chickens which are not well vaccinated then the layers chickens will have a low rate of egg production and a high mortality rate.

Layers feeds

To lay well, the layer chickens must get the best possible feed. Hens need plenty of calcium in their diets to lay eggs with hard, strong shells. The feed for layers chickens is called Layers Mash. The mash is specially formulated to provide all the nutrients they need in the correct quantities. Feed must be available in the trough at all times, as well as cool, fresh water in the bottles. On average, each laying hen requires 110g-120g of feed every day. The aim of the egg producer is to convert a given amount of feed into as many eggs as possible. It is very important to give the layers the right feeds, and the right quantities, so that they grow well and have a high egg production rate.

Management and Labour

The number of farm workers you need will depend on the size of your poultry egg production project. If you are operating a small poultry egg farming business e.g. 100 birds, you and your family may be enough to take care of the birds. However if you are keeping 2000 chickens for egg production, then you will need full time employees to manage the poultry farm.  There is need for good technical knowledge of poultry egg production techniques for success in the business, and good management skills.

Capital

The amount of capital required for the poultry egg production business depends on the scale of the project. You can get a loan from the bank, or funding from investors, to use as capital to start your poultry egg farming business. If you plan to raise capital from investors and a loan from the bank, you need a good poultry egg farming business plan. If you don’t have access to investors and bank loan, you can use your personal savings and start small, and grow your business overtime. Egg production business is very profitable. If you reinvest the profits you get, you can quickly grow.

Market for Poultry Eggs

The demand for eggs is very high. Over 65 million tonnes of eggs is consumed globally annually. That’s a lot! Eggs are considered an alternative cheap source of proteins. Almost every household consumes boiled/fried eggs. Increasing protein consumption and rising incomes drive consumption of eggs.  Around the world, consumption of eggs is on the increase. This increase is particularly notable in developing countries where changing diets have people consuming a greater number of calories from protein sources like poultry meat and eggs. You can supply your eggs to individual households, supermarkets / grocery shops, wholesalers, schools, restaurants, companies, organizations, events etc.