i am a poultry farmer and feedmiller operating in ibeju-lekki l.g.a of lagos state. lagos is a very nice place to invest into poultry. the market is here. i can also get you land if you wish to establish in lagos. 08137775986

Please i want to start a feed mill, how much will it cost, any idea

I would like to learn about feedmilling too and the cost to build a small scale type to cater for my poult.

These are my chickens at 2days.

I will also continue to update you as my farm chicken develop.

Like I mentioned in my earlier post that we are working on 2000layers they will however come in 4 batches of 500 each. The 1st batch are already 3weeks 2days ago. I will be posting pictures of their early stages and also of their current sizes.

Of the 1st batch of 500 we lost 30 the first 3days due to poor handling, so we have 470 left and they have been doing good since then. The brooding process was quite herculean but we made it through. we used combine heating systems including, bulbs, charcoal and lanterns.

i have been running my generator for weeks now to ensure they get enough heat. Let me post some of their old pictures and then get to the farm and take their current state.

More photos at less than a week old.

More photos at 1week old.

Now for the current look of my chickens: Like I mentioned earlier there are currently 470 of them making mortality at 6%, which is okay.

At the moment they are 3weeks and 2 days old. by next Thursday when they clock 1month, we will move them to a new facility to better accommodate them.

They have received all the medications they require as given by my vet.

Here we go:

More photos of the chicken girls!

more,

Nice work Basking4me, seems they dont die if they survive the first few days

Indeed dis Guy, thanks for your post. If one is able to give good care to them at the early stage, their chances are high.

Ensure there are loads of water, enough heat and provide them food and the vaccinations should come very early.

We have so far given them, IO vaccine, Lasota, liva cox and gumboro,

Others will come with time, as they are growing nw, we are already planning on debeaking, so they don't get used to biting themselves too early, you know the way they say it, old habits die hard and prevention is better than cure.

Keep it up!! I'm following your progress.

basking what are you doing with those schinap bottle on the water trough

@basking4me,
grt work, keep it up and keep us posted.

Basking you need to expand that pen as they are getting crowded

Oba Goriola,

Thanks for the observation. The shinapp bottles was used to prevent the bird from flying up the troughs.

The birds are able to fly about now and most times we noticed they fly up and perch on the water trough and shit in it.

So to prevent them from that, we put the bottles.

We are currently expecting the next set of day old 500birds for brooding. When they come I will again post the photos.

Yes as regards the spacing, this will be done this Thursday when they clock 1 month. We are moving them to a bigger facility.

Do you have ready buyers for the eggs or you sell on pay as you go basis?

At what age do they start laying eggs?

I'm guessing you will clear out the whole place and prepare it for the new one day old layers-lets hope they'll be fewer casaulties with your experience from this batch

Thank you Dis guy,

I already have a strategy for selling the eggs, eggs are wanted all year round, bakeries, hotels, even market women. The one I want to run is just to get 3-4 major buyers,  thats all.

Laying of eggs will start anything from 5months up. A new nursery has been built just beside the existing brooding point to further ensure the heats dont get out so that the chicks receives better heating than was provide earlier.

Definitely, we are working strongly to ensure mortality reduces this time around. Infact I am hoping non will die. I hate seeing them die at such tender ages.

More updates will be coming soon.

Basking4me,well done.

Your posts and the ones before yours are really helping to strenthen my resolve to go into poultry full time.I love the progress you have made and i pray that the rest of us will put the inspiration to use very soon.

Kindly help me to answer these questions:

1.how can one get a land that is not too expensive to start the farm?and what is the average cost of land where you operate
2. is it possible for someone who intends to retire into full time farming to start a poultry farm with people working for him and he will only visit weekends.
3.if no to ? 2,how can someone start anyhow while still working in say a banking environemnt.

Please advise needed house.

That loss was huge, if I may ask what caused it?

Hello omotititi,

Thank you for your post. poultry business is good and you can invest in it. You can start small and grow big with time.

To your questions:

1. Depending on your budget, you can decide to buy a plot of land for the project or lease a piece of land through friends and family. Where I currently use is a personal and cost is in excess of 4m per plot there now. If you are want to do full scale, I will suggest you move to the hinder-lands i.e outside of Lagos like Ogun or Oyo etc,

2. Yes you can employ very experienced staff, build yourself up in the skill-sets needed to run the poultry business ( through study and live learning at the farm on whenever you are a available) and then ensure proper management through proper monitoring even if its only on weekends; A proper system must be on ground to ensure accountability and good farm magt processes.

3. Since no2 is a YES , then no answer for question 3.

Blink,

The losses occurred due to improper handling on delivery to us, the chicks were already very tired when they came and we didn't take them to the brooder house immediately. The delay must have tired them. They died mostly within the 1st 1Week,  but since that time there hasn't been any mortality.

The next set of 500birds should be landing tomorrow, I will keep you guys posted on updates.

Thank you Basking4me.

I am highly motivated by your reply.I am already putting my plans together to start anyhow before the end of this year.I have a free 50 by 100 land where i built a small house,have a borehole and I intend to start from there while I start the buildn of the main farm in the hinterland gradually.

as soon as I start the process,I shall need your support and wise counsel.

Thank you, may God bless you richly.

Thank you very much for your reply. Looking forward to learning more.

@basking and hindsight.
well i commend you on your efforts.
please i would like to know how much it will cost to brood 200 broilers by xmas.
a freind gave me a budget of about 250k and i wanted to know if it is in the high side. iam just an investor in the venture(i work and school). so i dont want to pay his profits upfront.
thanks.
ps. the floor is open to all.

@ basking4me, am a young graduate and tends to go into full time poultry farm, since you re in the biz already, i would want you to be my mentor. I intend investing about N500000 into it (land and housing not inclusive). I intend kicking off by September so I will need your help in these areas

1. Where can I get the best breed of chicks in the country?
2. How many chicks do you advice i start with regarding the amount in question?

Thanks.

Hi, Bask how much did you buy the day old layer? Thanks

Hello everyone,

Sorry for responding late to your questions. So straight to your questions now:

@ ify4King, it is very good for young and vibrant guys to enter in the industry early because over time you become the industry leaders. A very important part of this project will be to determine 1st, what type of poultry business you want to run, layers, broilers, cockerel or turkey, even ducks.

Also research your market and be sure of who you will be selling your end products to (very vital), because overtime it has been discovered that just selling your poultry products is not really Herculean compared to selling them at a good profit.

People will always come forward to buy your products but getting the right market that will give you your profit is also very important.

There are many good hatcheries around where you can pick you day olds from, the ones i know are: Zartech in Ibadan, Chi farms and Obasanjo hatcheries. There are loads of other hatcheries not very popular that give very good stock of chicks too.

2. Day old chicks prices vary on the type of chicks you need and the period of ordering them. Broilers prices will peak towards festive periods mainly because a lot of orders are requested. Today's price of Broiler will defer from an October price.

Non the less, you can start with 100-150 if u are doing layers chicks on a budget of 500k


@Londonchic, I bought the day old layers at N210 per one!

The next 500 birds are on their way, hopefully we will get them this Thursday, it is already delayed.

@basking4me, thanks a lot for your concern and posts, I will keep you posted on developments as it unfolds.
Regards

basking4me

I am bit confused here,are u suggesting that with a budget of 500k (land and housing exclusive) one should stock 100-150 layers or what ? That makes it a bit scary cos I intend starting with a minimum of 500-700 layers exclusive of land , as I need to build the house myself, what budget will be enuf for my proposed investment.

thank u for all d openness and support

@ basking. thanks for the word of advice and the price tip.
ps please can you give me a rough estimate of how much it will cost to brood 200 broilers to maturity. my freinds and i already have the land and building to be used, we just need to get our budget for production for xmas ready. we want to start by mid september.