To know whether a poultry business is worthy undertaking, you need information on six key areas namely;
-The prices of all things you will require to rear the chicken up to the point of delivering the final product to the customer. These are called inputs. These include the chicks, supportive equipment like drinkers, feeders, vaccination drugs and feeds.
-That rate of input application/usage in quantities for each input. This will help you gauge your ability to provide the inputs. You can research about the feeding rations of chicken per day for example.
-The market prices of products you are offering to the consumers. This enables you realise if there is a profit or not. Go to markets and look at the price trends for the past six months. That can help you gauge how they will be in the next six months.
-Understand the enterprise lifecycle in months as this helps you know when you will be selling to the market. For example, broilers take six to eight weeks, while layers take 5 months to start laying eggs for the market.
-The genetic potential of the various poultry varieties around. Visit chicken breeders and ask as many questions as possible about the genetic production of each variety. Talk to farmers who are keeping the too. This helps you make the right choice of the variety that suits your conditions
Answered by Robert Sserwanga, a poultry consultant and farmer
