₦airaland Forum

pharmmylovey:
Sir I saw your post and I am indeed excited. This is the line of business I am dreaming about. I want to raise broilers, process and have outlets to sell them. Can I visit your farm please? I will be very grateful. I need a personal discussion with you so as to know everything I will be requiring. I am convinced you won't let me down.
Thanks a bunch.

No wahala, but I am not around now, should be back in the next couple weeks. Remember, my farm is in Lagos some in the Lekki Epe express way area.

Tmex:
ok boss, I ll be patiently waiting, am in ikorodu.

Ok, buzz me here anytime after the 15th of August.

icemania:
Hi everyone,

I need your advice and guidiance, I am looking to start a poultry, the thing is I know practically nothing about poultry farming but am hoping my mind can be nurtured by the Gurus in the house.

I have about 2.5 Million that am hoping to invest in the business, so please guys share your knowledge and wisdom.


Thanks.

Have you read this thread from page one to this point? I will strongly advise you. That is what I did, and it was pretty helpful.

kevin96:
Hmmmm..lovely......were is your farm? Can someone pay u a visit?

Sure you can, I am not around now though.

just4just:
How do u process because that's what I want to do. Farm Process and sell

The truth in business or production is that the more things go through process, the more valuable it becomes. In my farm I have a processing house, there we have a de-feathering machine that can de-feather up to 15 birds per minute, we have a long granite table with 3 big stainless sinks, we have a big gas burner to boil the water. So, the guys kill the birds in batches, soak them in the hot water for about 1 minute, then put them in the de-feathering machine, within 1 minute all the feather comes off, they pick them up, put them in the sink and remove any stubborn feather, clean the chicken, remove the guts cut off the head, neck and legs. rinse them off and put them in a cooled clean water, from there they are placed in the packaging bags, we have couple packaging machines, one is mostly used for cut chicken and the other for whole chicken. Most of our chickens though are packed in whole. They are labeled, weighed and priced. In my precessing house, we have 3 freezers to hold newly processed chicken, from where we send them out to our outlets and or the our customers.
Depending on the orders, we can process about 400 birds in 2 hours.

Remember, this is a mom and pop operation, but it can keep body and soul together as a business.

yemmit90:
He meant 370/kg, so 2kg of a life bird give you 740.

The dressed weight of the same bird give you between 1.4/1.5kg. let assume he sell it at #680 to the eateries, 2kg of the same bird at 1.5kg dressed weight will give you #1020. So 1020-740= 280. It is from that 280 the guy would substract all his running expenses(transport, workers, fuel, etc) to get his net profit.

I'm not try to defend him, his prize is indeed small and that was why i asked him to add something. But anything from 380 upward is still ok.

Like 'fnk' it would be better for anyone to raise and process by his/herself but you can't have enough birds to process, that is the fact.

Gotya!

kelvin96:
i think this is too low. most times it takes about #550 to get a 2kg live weight in 6weeks and this is when doc are between #100 -#150. Now that DOC are above that, #550 wont be able to give me 2kg.... Your price is low. If you can raise up your price, then we can work together.

I don't know how you guys do it, I process my birds and sell to entries at N680/kg and to supermarkets at about N1000/kg. I don't know how anyone can sell at N370, it must have been chickens raised with hormone booster, because I cannot understand how anyone can raise bird to 2kg with obviously less than N370. If you are not using hormone booster or super medicating them to get them to 2kg under N370, please share your raising process. As some of you already know, I do not use any medication on my birds apart from the lasota and gomboro that is given to them within their 10 days old. This way we raise premium birds, So even at N680, is a give away.

Tmex:
nice pace boss, pls where is your farm ll like to learn somethings from u.

There is nothing much in my farm, just taking it one step at a time. I will be back around by second week next month maybe by then we can connect, my farm is around Lekki express way, in Lagos

Chicken, turkey scarcity hits market, prices soar by 29%

JULY 21, 2015 : COMFORT OSEGHALE 2 COMMENTS
print

Processed Chicken
A week after the Nigeria Customs Service launched the ‘Operation Hawk Descend’, a special operation against the smuggling of frozen poultry into the country, the prices of foreign poultry have risen by 28.5 per cent, while those of locally reared birds have increased by about 25 per cent.

The implementation of the ban on imported poultry has led to the scarcity of frozen chicken and turkey in the market, according to findings by our correspondent.

The Operation Hawk Descend, which was launched on July 7, 2015 at the Seme border, was expected to be conducted in Nigeria’s border with neighbouring countries, especially in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states, and last for an initial period of three months, ending in September.

A trader in frozen chicken at the Berger Market in Lagos State, Mrs. Joy Obong, told our correspondent that the rise in the price of imported poultry began shortly after the launch of Operation Hawk Descend.

She said, “Even though the Federal Government had long banned the importation of poultry, people were still bringing the items in through the Seme border. The Customs officials were aware of it.

“But since they did that very public launch a week ago and made announcements all over the news channels, the Customs officials have become very strict about the enforcement of the import ban. Now, they do not let any frozen poultry get past the borders.”

Obong added that though she still had some old stock left, the scarcity of poultry had forced the price of a kilogramme of frozen chicken to rise to N900 from N700 previously, which is a 28.5 per cent rise.

“Although the Customs are very strict now, some people use the waterways and the creeks to smuggle the products from Benin Republic. This time, they bring them in through Sango in Ogun State. Even at that, it is just a few people that are willing to take this risk,” she added.

Another trader, Mrs. Sola Oyenuga, lamented the corresponding increase in the prices of locally breed poultry, adding that a kilo of frozen locally bred poultry, which sold for N800 two weeks ago, now costs N1,000, a 25 per cent rise.

She accused poultry farmers in the country of taking advantage of the situation to make obscene profits.

Oyenuga said, “Many poultry farms also package and freeze their products but because of the difference of about N200 per kilo between the locally bred birds and the imported ones, most people chose to buy the imported birds.

“Since the enforcement of the ban was started by the Customs, indigenous poultry farmers have been rejoicing. I expect them to use this opportunity to get customers for their products, but instead, they are trying to take advantage to fleece Nigerians.

“You can see how high the price has gone in a week. They cannot justify this increase because their cost of production has not gone up. If this situation continues, Nigerians may no longer be able to afford to buy poultry.”

At the Egbeda area of Lagos, several traders in frozen poultry complained of having to shut down their shops for days because they were unable to get the products to sell.

Presently, a kilo of imported poultry at Egbeda sells for N1,000 instead of the previous N700.

A trader, Amaka Obiora, told our correspondent that she had been unable to get the products from her usual suppliers, who used to import them from the Republic of Benin.

She said, “No one is currently importing frozen chicken or turkey through the Seme border. The situation is not good for business. I have nothing against government policies but they should ensure that before they start enforcement, local production can meet supply.

“The local production should not only meet supply, but it should be affordable. The major reason Nigerians prefer the imported poultry is because they are cheaper than those bred here.

“Even though the difference in price is about N200 to N300, it means a lot to most people, especially when they want to buy in bulk for parties. The relevant authorities should do something to alleviate the current scarcity.”

Although the Director-General of the Poultry Association of Nigeria, Mr. Onallo Akpan, could not be reached as his phones were said to be switched off as of the time of filing this report, he had during the launch of Operation Hawk Descend lamented the destruction of the local poultry industry by the continued patronage of imported products.

He had described the local poultry industry as one of the critical drivers of the Nigerian economy and pleaded for public cooperation with the Consumers Protection Council and others stakeholders to rid Nigerian markets of imported poultry.

Akpan had said, “Nigerians are worse off by the continued patronage of unwholesome smuggled poultry, mostly from the Republic of Benin.

“If this trend is not checked and brought under control, the huge investment in the poultry industry may be rendered unproductive and the economy brought into a total collapse.”

Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

Contact: editor@punchng.com

http://www.punchng.com/business/business-economy/chicken-turkey-scarcity-hits-market-prices-soar-by-29/

b2020:
@jamp,fnk,eggcellent, all experienced farmers in the house,please I need advice my 33 weeks old birds were due for lasota last week, I administered the vaccine, only for the production to nose dive from 23 crates to 14.i suspected crd,started using tylamox with vitamins I'm yet to see any improvements, a friend told me it's likely the lasota failed,please what do I do,how soon can I repeat the vaccine.

Sorry ooo, I am not into layer and have no idea on what to do. I am sure @jamp and others will help out with info. Pele!

9jaStartUpSerie:
@farmtech would you like to talk more about your poultry farming on 9jaStartuPSeries.com. Kindly send me an email admin@9jaStartUpSeries.com to confirm your interest

There is so much info here for everyone https://www.nairaland.com/640716/starting-poultry-farm-blog/148

Tmex:
they make profit even at N80 and tend to maximize the profit once there's an increase in demand,

Not a bad business for them, I just want to be able to control my cost so that I can compete in the broiler market. I will like to be able to hatch for myself, to own a small parent stock, and hatch enough to complement what I buy out there and eventually hatch all my DOC. I am already burning fuel lighting my farm for my DOCs for 3 weeks during the brooding time whiten which time I can be hatching a few hundred eggs for myself.

Just thinking.

grownaira:
Cost of production of doc is less than N50.

Makes much sense.

Tmex:
. The higher the demand, the higher the price and the lower the demand too, the lower the price too.

Dude! the price different in most cases is too much, look at from N180, to N100, I have seen somethings from N170 to N80. And it also goes the other way round. The difference is just too much. It is either they are loosing a lot of money when they make those changes and or making one heck of money all the time.

pathology:
good morning house, how can I control mosquitoes invasion in my broilers' pen

How is the surrounding area? Mosquitoes has never been an issue in my broiler pen.

tosindguy:
Ping, I studies agric but d plant aspect. Now I want to start a very small farm for cockrel only, can I get a details article on how to go abt it. Tho, I av very little idea sha.

Personal, I am not a fan of cockerel, they take time to grow, and even though they look big, when dressed. They look skinny and just Bonny.

Though DOC is pretty cheap, zatech to to us at N10 when I was doing my experiment.

omotititi:
Sorry Davidzfarm18,what happened to your birds? these hactheries must be made to bear some of these losses they cause farmers. How do we enforce this? Our Governemnts do not have legal framework for such enforcement. God will help us.

I think at some point as much as we can, we will have to invest in our own hatching. For me eventually, I want to be able to mill my own feeds, and hatch my own day olds. I am not talking about large scale, but enough to feed my market, even if I can hatch 1000 DOC every 3 weeks, that will help, I will know the well being of my birds, from eggs to processing. Pricing some of this incubators they are not that expensive, So, one can invest in Parent stock, say 200 birds and raise them to lay eggs for hatching. I am still trying to understand how the hatcheries out there fix their prices, you pay today at N120, and by the time you go there to pick up your birds they can tell you that the price in now N180, and you have to pay the difference and of course some time you get there to pick up and they tell you that the price has dropped to N100, so you use your change to buy more. No one has been able to explain to me the price changes.
So, for me, I think we should be looking at that route of hatching no matter how small to add to what you buy from the commercial hatcheries.

Just my two cents.

davidzfarm18:
had to let my girls go yesterday. A very painful decision indeed. I pray that God will rebuke the devourer from all the farms here.

We should start instituting legal action against these Hatcheries for shunning out diseased and low quality birds.

I was going to say something about DOC from these hatcheries, in a you buy the DOC for N180, and two weeks or less later the sell DOC for N100. so our observation, is that something must be wrong for them to sell them that cheap, So, we bought 3000 DOC at N100 and two weeks before then we had bought from the hatchery at N180. what happened was the ones we bought at N180, mortality was low. and the ones we bought at N100, within the first week, we lost over 300 birds. My suspicion is that something must be wrong from the hatching process for them to sell them that cheap.For us now, out of 3160 DOC, we are left with less than 2700 within the first week. So, it might not be a good thing to buy DOC when they are selling it cheap.

AkayTopsy:
I use the Koudjis Concentrate to mill my feed. Below is the the formular as given by the company.

I copied this from the original post by Kelvin96 on page130

kelvin96:As regard how to mix the KBC 10, Starter 0 - 17 days; kbc10 125 kg, maize 600 kg, soya meal 275 kg.Grower 17 - 37 days; kbc10 100 kg, maize 650 kg, soya meal 250 kgFinisher after 37 days; kbc10 80 kg, maize 695 kg, soya meal 225 kg.There is another one called kbc30 Starter Maize: 650kbc30: 350Finisher: 650Kbc30: 300Wheat Offal: 50And for Galdus , it is a prestarter feed directly from holland, made by koudijs.It helps the birds builds their digestive trait.You can read more about it herehttp://www.koudijs.deheus.com/feed-solutions/poultry/day-old-chicks@grownaira, the 2kg i talked about is live weight.

I am only dealing with broilers, will this also work for it.

davidzfarm18:
The poultry feed industry is facing serious challenge due to increase in exchange rate. increasing cost of local raw materials and the competition(largely on prices
some.
In my area for example. Farmers have complain seriously about drop in production using top feed and vital feed. late last yr , it was animal care when they tried to substitute for soyer due to it's unavailability.
That why we need to come together in this forum and fashion out the most effective means of solving the Fred challenge which constitute more than 70% of our cost of production.
It's time to look inward and tap into the most important potential we have on our inside as a forum.
Remain ever blessed.

I agree with you, I have been reading and looking everywhere on the internet to learn more about feeds, like you said, the idea will be to be able to get everything locally. My main business is based on imports, going into poultry for me was to be able to do something that is locally produced and locally consumed.

philchudi:
Hello!
I really appreciate what's going on in this tread. please I really need ur help. I wannt to venture into this business immediately I am done with my final year exams. I have even started building my farm but the rate of mortality I have seen in this tread is getting me scared.
My first experience with the bus before skul was not a better one. though I have learnt that it was the accommodation. Please I need where I can get practical training on this probably near Enugu. Also, using loan(though without interest) will it be too risky?. I planned to go into players.

Mortality in this industry is inevitable, so don't be scared, but learn from here what people didn't to mitigate it and go for it. You know that it is a good opportunity, you cannot make it by standing on the sideline and fearing what might happen without trying, you might come up with something different that we all will end up learning from you.

my two cents.

pharmmylovey:
Thanks a lot for this contribution. What about the livability of Obasanjo birds? The feeds issue how many weeks of starter and finisher. Did you need to add indomie? and pls how many bags of top feeds did they consume to reach that weight. Thanks.

Talking about mortality, that is why I as specific about OBJ OTA farm, from Ibadan, the mortality for me was very high and that was why I switched to Zatech. But trying Obj OTA farm DOC and using top feed the result has been great. as at my 5 weeks they weigh 1.4kg. and the feed consumption is about 4-5kg to reach 2-2.5kg live bird. We do started for the first 3 weeks and finisher the last 3 weeks to get 2 kg live in 6 weeks. We used to use grower for 2 weeks after the 3 weeks starter, but we stopped that.

I don't know about indomie ooo!!! please house help with this one.

AkayTopsy:
If you are really planning to mill, I would suggest you try Koudjis Concentrates. My broilers batches have been on Koudjis for almost a year and Yes! Zartech birds. And the result has been wonderful. That is not to say we never had challenges, but that would only be due to other factors not the feed.

Most of my broiler batches are out 6wks (+/- 3days), meaning sometimes I dispose them even b4 6weeks.

If you check the earlier posts sometimes this year we spoke about it and someone even posted the combination formular.

So which feed do you use do you compound it yourself? what formula do you use?

yemmit90:
Sorry about your lost, it is part of experience one need to become an expert in this field. Besides, some lessons has been learned from your post.

Thank you, we are here to learn from each other.

AkayTopsy:
If you are really planning to mill, I would suggest you try Koudjis Concentrates. My broilers batches have been on Koudjis for almost a year and Yes! Zartech birds. And the result has been wonderful. That is not to say we never had challenges, but that would only be due to other factors not the feed.

Most of my broiler batches are out 6wks (+/- 3days), meaning sometimes I dispose them even b4 6weeks.

If you check the earlier posts sometimes this year we spoke about it and someone even posted the combination formular.

any idea where I might find the formula, I just want to play with it.

kengeorge:
I am the friend who helped @FNK mill the feed. @FNK this is Ken, I would rather have read this post and not respond but for the nature of the thread and the fact that we are all learning here I will say a little bit of my experience. First off all sorry for the loss, I know what it feels like to loose that number of birds. Though you didn't particularly blame me for the incident, but I feel like I did something wrong introducing you to something like that. while there maybe a possibility as to the reason given by your vet (In Theory). I am somehow not convinced about the cause given by your vet. As at the time I introduced you to this feed, I was feeding my 4000 DOC with the feed and I was not raising those birds in my Main Farm where my feed mill is located. I was brooding in the small pen at the back of my house. and I was getting excellent result with them because it was my first time trying out Animal Care Broiler Concentrate. The growth and the livability was encouraging hence I called you and told you about it. If you would recall in time past you asked me if I can mill broiler feed for you but I said no because I don't do broiler and don't want to take any risk on a formula I have not tried out myself. I keep only layers and that is the formula I have and have tried. after the first batch of 4000 DOC, I took another 4000 DOC which I also brooded in my house and at 13 weeks my mortality is less than 5%. With my little experience in this industry, farmers don't have a support system, 90% of the so called vet you have around don't know what they are doing, they solve most of your problems by asking you questions and finding loopholes in your operation and tell you that is the reason. I have had my own bitter experiences with them and at this point I just rely more on my past experiences and that of fellow farmers. The first DOC of 4000 was from zartech, they delivered 4000 to me and 4000 to my friend same day from the same hatchery, but when brooding started we got completely different result. while he recorded high early mortality, my mortality rate was near zero. So my point here is there are so many factor that can affect a flock at different times. The fact that you mill your own feed is always a flag when anything is happening with your flock, I have seen that time and time again. Farmer lets be wise.

Hay Ken, You didn't do anything wrong, I really appreciate your help and corcern, you have always said that to be profitable in this venture, one need to be able to mill his or her own feeds. Which is so true. Feed alone constitutes between 70%-80% of the cost of raising the birds, so, if one can cut down on that percentage it will go a long way to help big time.
I don go back home ooo, over a week already, I have to hang out with the family for the summer now that they are out of school, I will be coming back by the 3rd week in August. So, hope all is well out there.

Has anyone tried to decode the formula that top feed uses for their broiler feed. They are dang good. I want to set up my own mill so that I can mill for my farm, it has to be a top feed quality or better, if not I will counting buy from top feed. Please help.

grownaira:
2Kg live weight or dressed weight?

Buy the day old birds from obasanjo Ota farm, and feed them with Top Feed. Zatech birds from Ibadan gives me 2kg in 8weeks. I am raising about 4500 now in my farm, broilers from OBJ Ota farm, the first was 1,500 and at 4 weeks they are already 1kg in the next two weeks, they are on track to be over 2kg.

obstead200:
are u for real?
U wanna travel halfway around d world just to do a one week course in poultry?
What practical knowledge do u hope to acquire in one week when even broiler take a minimum of six weeks to grow to size? Even incubators take 3 weeks to hatch eggs!!!!

Pls just tell us u are looking for a backyard door to migrate to US.
Dia are better and cheaper venues to gain comprehensive practical training here in Nigeria

Easy on him cowboy, you don't know if the guy live in the U.S already. The truth of the matter is what you just said , no one week training will give you the experience you need to get into this industry, you will learn more by ready every page on this thread and taking note than by traveling to NC for even a one month course.

But guys, I know that in Atlanta, they do have a yearly conference on poultry, I think we can form an association and attend those conferences to learn a thing or two from the global stage. Just thinking.

yemmit90:
Nice one 'fnk', i believe your post would served as a motivation for those that have been discouraged in one way or the other.

But seriously, aside the cases of Avvian flu etc, losing 6000 birds in a single farm is extremely strange and really pathetic. Perhaps you need to review or change your vaccination program. please can you share some of your experiences during this period(expecially the causes of the high rate mortality)for others to learn?

All the birds didn't die at once, we called in different vets, their conclusion was where we got the feed from, in good fath a friend offered to help cut my cost on feed my compounding feed for me. He has a mill in his farm where mill for his layers. The proximity of his mill to the layers pen is very close, so buying those feed and taking them to my farm was like introducing the bacteria from his farm to my, while his birds are muted to those bio security, my farm and birds weren't , so, everyday, we were recording high number of mutuality, and trying to treat the birds with different kind of drugs, and their suffering from the attack, stalled their growth, so, a 12 weeks bird was weighing 700g so we have to destroy over 1000 birds ourself, because at that point, the cost of raising the birds were already above N1,500/bird. So, it didn't make sense to continue trying to feed them or treat them. So, I have learned from that experience, I was trying to save money and didn't think through the descsion. But everything was done with good intention, my friend wanted to help me. So, don't buy feed from a farm where the mill is right next to the pen of their own birds, you will be bridging the bio security in your farm with the virus and bacteria from the other farm.

yemmit90:
Are you talking about sorting birds or entire flock?

Well, i will agree with you that by holding a bird, you can predict it weight(though might not be exactly)but seriously you cant tell precisely the average weight or weight of others by sampling just 10/15.

That is what I mean, as a farmer, you can pretty much tell.

Gidigidi3:
Thanks to all who hv kept this thread alive, it has been two yrs since I posted this but am still in prep stage. That is vicissitudes of life for me. For my brothers in the east, always cross check and investigate properly before paying for land. Below is my would be poultry farm experience at Mgbakwu near Awka, last year.

My two cents, don't wait until it is all well to get started, because it is never all well. Start little, show yourself that it can be done. I ran what I called a research with 25 broilers and 10 layers at the back of my house, running this project recording everyday what I did, changing the water, replenishing the feed, changing the litter, and my kids naming some of the birds and watching the birds grow from 150g to eventually 3.5kg and more gave me the motivation. Of course I didn't have the money to go full scale them, I wrote business plan and went to some financing houses, they asked me where my farm was, and when I told them what I have done and that I just want to now get started, they told me to go get started and that if I then need money for expansion, then they can help. That was in 2011, I didn't let that stop me, I knew the potential of the industry and wanted to get in and be part of it.
So, don't procrastinate, start small and build from them. And when you start, know this that it is not going to be easy, and no matter what you have learned here, you will still have your owning learning by experience to do. Some things you have read here, it has been explained by someone here, and you will still do it wrong and your birds will die like fly. But don't worry, it means that you are becoming a farmer. I am speaking from experience, about 2 to 3 months ago, I lost about 6000 birds from my farm, and later I found out what I did wrong, and it is something that I have read here, something you shouldn't do.

So, don't wait, start now, and keep moving forward, there is so much room in this industry for everyone.