Over the years, a considerable number of Poultry farmers have either veered away completely from producing broilers (chicken reared for their meat) and moved towards layer production (chicken grown for their eggs) or relegated broiler production to the religious holidays in Ghana where demand is significantly higher. This is primarily caused by the low prices of imported frozen chicken into the country serving as competition for the locally produced broilers.
The Nigerian National Association of Poultry Farmers has estimated that over 300,000 metric tonnes of frozen chicken were imported from the European Zone to Nigeria in 2015, a figure that represented 76% increase over 2014 imports.
There’s a need to tap into the potential in the poultry sector of Nigeria and diffuse the concentration of imported chicken in the country.
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has been reported to publish a policy for the reduction of imports to support poultry production in the country.
On the other hand, layer production is comfortably a
relatively secure source of income for farmers in Nigeria considering the demand for eggs in the country, making it the main focus of a large percentage of farmers in poultry production.
The potential in the poultry sector of Nigeria has been reiterated by recent news of other countries exploring the possibility of investing in the country’s poultry sector. One of the examples of the countries is “Morocco”, Morocco is considering pumping capital and expertise into the sector in an attempt to help drastically reduce the amount of chicken
imported into Nigeria.
The story of Ms. Edith Wheatland who scaled her poultry farm, Rockland Farms, from 8000 birds in 2013 to 60,000 birds now and emerging the winner of the Accelerated Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) prize for Sub-Saharan Africa, earning further technical assistance and grant opportunities on the international market attests to the fact that there is a huge market that has to be tapped into.
This must be the best time to venture into the poultry sector; but it will be unwise to venture in without adequate knowledge on the subject.
READ ALSO: How To Start Chicken Farming In Nigeria
Here we have put together a poultry workshop to give practical knowledge on the subject of poultry production to anyone starting or scaling a poultry farm. Some mistakes can be avoided when you get others to share their expertise with you, validate your research and demystify the myths.
Factors To Consider Before Starting A Poultry Farm In Nigeria
Poultry farming is quite large as it involves a lot of things like layers and broilers. This involves different sectors and these sectors are the ones that help you decide which factors to follow when setting up your desired poultry business sector and these factors are listed below:
1. Location Of The Farm:
This is the first step into setting up a poultry farm. You need to look for a place that is very conducive and market wise reliable. The location of the farm should be easily accessed in terms of labor and transportation. Select a farm area that has a good location and is security wise safe.
2. The Budget:
You should also consider the amount of money that you have before setting up a poultry farm. The budget that you have will determine how big or small your poultry farm will be and whether you will be able to set it up easily or not. But just in case the money budgeted for is minimal, you can outsource funds from friends or get a loan from the bank to cater for the construction of the chicken houses.
3. Select The Poultry Sector:
The poultry sector is quote wide and before you start thinking about joining the poultry business, you need to find the sector that you desire to work in. these sectors include meat and egg processing, egg production, meat and poultry feed production. All sectors are profitable but you have to get one that you are well versed with.
4. Select The Type Of Breed:
There are very many birds that can be breed for commercial purposes and the only way you can gain from poultry is by choosing the right breed for the sector that you have chosen.
Advantages Of Rearing Poultry In Nigeria
a. It provides high yields for the farmer from the eggs and meat thus improving on the standards of living for the people.
b. Poultry droppings can be used as manure for the gardens hence saving on the charge of purchasing manure.
c. Poultry farming provides food to the farmers improving on the diet of the people.
d. Poultry farming is a continuous source of income for the farmer.
e. It acts as an employment venture for the jobless by providing them with jobs in form of labor.
Disadvantages Of Poultry Farming
a. It is expensive to set up from constructing the chicken house to vaccination to ensure that they are not infected.
b. Chickens need a lot of time to care for in order to look good, which is time consuming.
c. Poultry is easily attacked diseases and this leads to a loss for the farmer.
d. There is stiff competition on the market for poultry products and this reduces the prices of the chicken causing farmers to make loses.
But in all things, The poultry sector is one the profitable industry in Nigeria. Today is the best time to venture into Nigeria’s poultry sector.

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