How To Start Poultry Farming In Kenya For Beginners

Looking for how to start poultry farming in Kenya, then you are in the right place. Get the expert advice you need here now.

Poultry farming is one of the best businesses to consider when choosing a farming business. Poultry farming in Kenya can be done by engaging different kinds of birds. However, Chicken farming is the most embraced as it tends to have a high consumption rate with faster maturity and is less affordable to many consumers.

The farmer needs to have an informed idea of what poultry farming is, its advantages over other farming systems, challenges facing poultry production, how to overcome the current techniques used, and the Kenyan market demand from the point of production. The farmers can pay visits to other poultry farming businesses and gain more knowledge.

Starting Poultry Farming At Home

Farmers who rare poultry from their homes spend even less than those operating in a different setting. Some of the benefits they enjoy include;

Exemption from rental
Free from purchasing land for farming
Free or cheap labor.

Those who choose Kienyeji poultry farming enjoy fewer expenses in feeding since food refuse is not wasted.

9 Starting Requirements For Poultry Farming

Before the farmer gets started with the business, there is an essential requirement that nee to be fixed in advance. Some of the requirements to be considered include;

1. Availability Of Capital To Start And Run The Project

Farmers should ensure that they have enough savings to start poultry farming and maintain the flow of business to enhance productivity.

2. Type Of Poultry Production

There needs to specify a type of poultry the farmer may choose to rare and the kind of production methods. The farmer can select from other birds but consider chicken as they are in high demand. The farmers can decide to keep broilers for meat purposes, layers for egg production. Some farmers would want to invest in chick production too.

3. Location And Farm Set Up

The setting for the business should be on suitable ground, safe for the poultry. The compound should be well-fenced to keep off the predators. The house should be free from floods and raised to keep off rodents and other harmful crawling animals.

4. Select Equipment For Use

The farmer has to choose wisely on the type of equipment, whether glass, plastic or wooden. The farmer should locate where to purchase them, the cost of buying them, and how they can be transported to the point of production.

5. Identify A Trusted Chick Supplier.

The farmer is to lies with a trusted supplier for healthy chicks in line with the targeted production to realize the business’s goal. It should be known the wrong supply of chicks can alter the entire idea of production according to purpose. Failure of business means massive losses. The farmer should consult al large from successful dealers.

6. Feeding Plan, Vaccination, And Other Medication

The farmer should have a prepared feeding timetable for the birds. The timetable should indicate when to feed the birds, when to change the drinking water and when to transition feeds

7. Where To Buy Poultry Feeds

There should be a reliable and trusted supplier of animal feed from whom the farmer can easily acquire the feeds from. The farmer should ensure the availability of all kinds of feeds at the time of transition. Delays in changing the feeds may lead to delayed maturity or a low production rate.

8. Labor Force

Whether the farmer is using free labor or hiring laborers, they should be committed to delegated duties and trust between the farmer and the worker for tangible output. The workers should be trained to handle the birds in business, be cautioned on the dos and don’ts in the farm, be provided with the necessary clothing, and use disinfectants and other vital information.

9. Targeted Market

The farmer is to consider the demand of the poultry product they invest in and identify the target of consumers. The farmer is to develop a plan to advertise the products with their kind of uniqueness to penetrate the market.

Cost Of Starting A Poultry Farm

The business is quite demanding to set it but gets cheaper after the first harvest. The cost is higher for beginners since requirements such as land, construction of the houses, and other equipment are purchased at once.

Probably you may be wondering, how much does it cost to start a poultry farm? Some of the basic requirements for commercial poultry farming is as shown in the table below.

Required equipment	Cost
Chicks -aged one day to 3 days old	The cost varies from Ksh. 100- Ksh.120
House construction medium size structure Safety upheld	Approximately Ksh.70,000
Equipment Feeders, drinkers, lighting system, egg trays, brooders, nests, ground insulators (sawdust, straw, wood), transport among others excluding incubators	Approximately Ksh. 100,000
Poultry feeds Chick mash, grower’s mash, and layers mash/ finisher’s mash. The expenditure varies with the number of chickens reared.	Approximately Ksh. 2000- Ksh. 4,000 per bag
Vaccinations and medication	As agreed between the farmer and vet.
Labor	As greed between the famer and the laborer.

Cost Of Starting A Poultry Farm For Commercial Farming

However, small scale poultry farming costs much less that the illustrated commercial poultry farming. Poultry farming for beginners is widely preferred to start from a small scale and expand to greater heights. For good returns, patience and commitment in poultry farming are key.

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