Setting up eggs production business

The term poultry in agriculture is generally used to refer to all domesticated birds kept for egg or meat purposes. Poultry species are chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, pea-fowls, guinea fowls, swan, pigeons, pheasants, ostrich and quails. Chicken is the most common of all these species and it is the subject matter of this write-up.

With the recent revitalisation of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme of the Central Bank, individual and corporate bodies can now have access to finance to fund this kind of scheme. In this regard, funding of this project will not constitute any problem.

The profitability of the project is not in doubt; there are living cases of corporate bodies that are currently engaged in this business and they are smiling to their banks every day.

The land requirement for poultry projects is minimal. This means that the project can be established with ease. The project also gives room for flexibility. That is, one can start from a small-scale production and graduate to large-scale production.

With the introduction of poultry vaccines and drugs, mortality rate in poultry has been reduced to the barest minimum. Creation of Agricultural insurance scheme has also reduced risks associated to poultry farming. In this regard, poultry farming is now a secured business. The fear of going into it has been removed entirely.

Technical Information

Eggs production entails the procurement of point of lay birds or day old chicks. These birds are kept in the poultry houses fed with required feeds in order to lay eggs on daily basis. Birds domestication involves feeding with very good feed, supply of clean water and keeping the farm clean always by way of regular disposal of their wastes, disinfecting the pens and restriction of foreign bodies from entering into the pens. The only critical input is the feeds.

Farmers keeping more than 5,000 birds are always advised to have their mini feed mill so that they can compound their own ration on the farm. This will reduce feeding costs and also assist the farmer to monitor what constitutes the feeding ingredients. It is also an additional source of income because one can be compounding feeds for other farmers. Investors must always consult the agricultural experts/consultants in the process of planning such project.

The project cost may be lower or higher depending on the financial strength of the investor. One can start with lower number of birds and then expand later.

The project will also definitely attract finance from the Commercial Agricultural Credit scheme of Central Bank of Nigeria where individual or corporate bodies can be assisted from N10 million to N1 billion. Some commercial banks are also well disposed to this project. Well-packaged feasibility study is a pre-requisite to sourcing of finance from this scheme. This can be provided on request.

Profitability

A daily revenue of N160,000 has been computed with operating costs put at N60,000 on daily basis. Monthly net income of N3 million is therefore achievable. This is no doubt a good source of livelihood for Nigerians. Serious minded Investors can be assisted in the realisation of the project right from inception to completion.