Poultry farming is a juicy and sweet venture amongst many agricultural businesses. However, many end up on rather the bitter side of it. Not that the successful ones did not also taste this bitter side. It was a lesson well learnt that did the magic.
This post is not going to bore you with how to make your birds lay more eggs, prevent disease or even how to construct the best housing for the birds. No. These can be read anywhere and applied.
However, without the human part, i.e. you and/or whoever you employ to work on your farm, all those information cannot be converted to profits from production. This post concentrates on how you, as a human, will be equipped mentally to grow your own farm from small to big, avoiding the mistakes that can jeopardize your investment.
1. Do not Start big unless you know more
Before you start, get enough information about poultry farming. Let us assume you want to manage it directly by yourself. Talk to experienced farmers in the area of poultry. Trust me, they may be sharing from experience and these experience may vary. Like information of the type poultry breed to buy. Some will tell you brown birds are more productive. Others, black is stronger. Don’t worry, just take all the info and make your conclusions. They may not be able to tell you everything, but definitely, they will give you ideas. After doing all these, don’t be in a haste to start big. Big is relative though but start with a size that will not be difficult to manage so you can learn a lot from, at least, the first batch of birds.
If you choose to be an absentee farmer, learn how to do that effectively. Get an experienced person to manage it and do the right thing as an absentee farmer.
2. Do not rely on a salary; get ready financially
Poultry farming involves money no matter how small. That, however, should not scare you. All we are trying to say is that, be financially prepared. Know how much you need for the poultry housing, the equipment, feed, labour, medication and all that is required within a specific period. Every activity or solution in poultry production should be timely. Monthly salaries may delay just when you need the money. There can also situations you do not anticipate that requires money. This is very critical because a little delay in administering a medication can cost you your investment. Take note.
3. Do not compromise management
By this we mean, you should not in any case compromise on the biosecurity of the farm. A very strict adherence to all biosecurity measures will make sure your birds do not contract diseases, they produce well and you get your money. Else, an introduction of poultry diseases by visitors, workers and even yourself can destroy everything. Records keeping is also another key activity in management. It is the tool you can use to check progress and plan more realistically towards the future. These are a few of the good management practices. Learn to effectively manage your farm in all aspects.
4. Strict Monitoring and Supervision should not be avoided
If you do not have the time to be on your farm, don’t start yet. Unless you have someone you can trust to do the job like or better than you would. A substantial amount of money goes into establishing a poultry farm and so that investment must be protected. Monitoring makes it possible for the inexperienced farmer who is on his/her farm to succeed whiles the expert who has no time to visit his/her farm fails. This point to me is the single most important duty if you want to make it big in poultry production.
5. Do not be overambitious on the expected profits from production
Yes, poultry farming is good. You see the big poultry farmers in their cars and good life and you want to be like them instantly. So you estimate your profits with all the perfect conditions and you are delighted about it. That is good, but there is a lot to learn. The lessons become a very good profit at the early years. We would advice you concentrate more on the learning and less on the profits. Make profit alright but learn. The lessons you learn is the springboard on which you rise and expand. With that mindset, it becomes very difficult to give up under little or even bigger challenges in production or sales.
In conclusion
Anyone who is willing to discipline himself/herself on the above mentioned points is most likely to succeed as a poultry farmer.
There are other “don’ts” and we would love you to join the conversation by commenting.
