Cost of Starting a Poultry in Nigeria (April 2024)

Poultry farming is one of the very lucrative businesses in the agricultural sector in Nigeria today. The fact that there is always constant demands for the produce of farming, whether eggs or chickens, makes it one of the most looked-into in the farming sector. With more people looking to dive into the poultry business today, it is important to consider how much it costs to start the business.

Cost of Starting a Poultry in Nigeria

In this post, we will take a look at how much it’d cost to start a poultry business in Nigeria today. We will also consider the steps involved in establishing the business, either on a small scale or large scale.

What is the Cost of Starting a Poultry in Nigeria Today?

Poultry business is a very lovely business, especially for people looking to dive into the agricultural sector. While it might require a significant amount of capital to start, especially for those looking to go large scale, it is very lucrative and offers loads of advantages. It is difficult to fix an amount on how much one would need to start a poultry business. This is because there are many factors one needs to consider as they play a pivotal role in how much they’d go for.

Generally, the bulk of the amount largely depends on the size of the farm and how large you want to start the business. To make this simpler, we will take a look at the steps required to start a typical business and how much each step would require. Let’s get started!

Decide on A Poultry Breed You Want to Rear – This is the first step to take and perhaps, one of the most important steps. The good news is, this does not cost a dime. It is very important to know the kind of breed you want to start the business with. There are different types of poultry breeds to rear. You can decide to go for Broilers, which are usually used for the production of the meat. They grow really fast and gain weight in no time. Hence, is regarded as a very good option to rear, especially if you are looking to sell as fast as possible. Another option is the Layer breed. If you are looking to dive more into eggs, the layers are good options for you. They are great for the production of eggs. The Cockerels are just like the broilers, although they do not grow as fast as broilers. Once you decide on which you want to focus on, the other bits become easier. You can also decide to combine these breeds, although you would spend more.

Get a Land – The next step, which is the most expensive step is to get land. There is no fixed price here as the cost of land depends heavily on the location. You wouldn’t want to compare how much a plot of land goes for in Lagos or Abuja to any other city in Nigeria. To be safe, you will need to budget between N200, 000 – N3 million for land, depending on the location and the number of plots. For the sake of this estimation, we can settle for that amount to be the standard range for land. This does not mean though that you wouldn’t get one for less in more rural communities.

Set up the Poultry – Once you get the land, the next thing to do is to set up the poultry. You need to start with the construction of the poultry. The amount you’d spend on this also depends on the area and the size of the farm. You can get a carpenter to help with the construction. Materials like planks, zinc, nails, galvanized wire, and other similar building materials will be required, depending on how you want the poultry to look. On average, you can budget between N300, 000 – N800, 000 for proper construction of the poultry. As stated, this estimated amount is subjective as it depends on the area, the size of the farm, and the design you are looking at.

Poultry Farming Equipment – The next is to look at estimating how much you’d need for farming equipment. You’d need equipment like feeders, heaters or brooders, chick box, fly tray, egg washers, incubators, crates, laying nests, egg scale, and many more. If you are looking at small-scale poultry, you can estimate between N50, 000 – N350, 000 for this equipment. However, you could spend up to N700, 000 if you are looking to start a large-scale poultry business.

Medication and Feeding – Before you even buy the chicks, you need to have estimated how much you’d require for feeding and medication, including vaccination. This is particularly important if you are looking to go large. For 500 chicks, you should budge between N250, 000 and N320, 000 for medication and between N250, 000 – N400, 000 for feeding.

Buy the Chicks – Now that you have estimated all the above, you can then estimate how much it’d cost to buy your chicks. Prices of chicks, depending on the breed you are looking to get. You can estimate between N200, 000 – N250, 000 for 500 chicks.

Based on the above estimation, we can put the cost of starting poultry in Nigeria to anything between N1.5 million – N3 million, depending on how large you want the farm to be and other core factors like the location, and other similar factors.

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