Do you want to start a poultry farming business? If yes, find here a detailed guide on starting your own poultry farm covering aspects like farming process, equipment, cost, licenses, permits, etc.
The demand for eggs and chicken meat is rising by the day. Poultry farming is an age-old business. More and more entrepreneurs are showing a lot of interest in starting livestock businesses such as poultry farms. The reason is mainly because of increased demand, ease of doing, and the cost of starting is not much. If you are a beginner and want to start a poultry farm with low investment, check out the following steps to be followed.
Here are the 10 Steps to Start a Poultry Farming Business
#1. Understand the Local Market
It is extremely important to gather information regarding the demand and competition in the local market. Talk to local customers, existing poultry farmers, and retailers and try to understand the scope and gaps. It will help you in planning your poultry business and explore the opportunities available.
#2. Decide on the Poultry Farming Sector
Poultry farming can be classified broadly into two categories. One is the broiler and the other is the Layers. Broiler poultry farming is carried out for meat production whereas layer poultry farming is done for raising eggs.
Based on your expertise and local demand choose the one which is potentially more profitable.
There are other options too like chicken meat production, chicken breeding popularly called chicken hatchery, poultry feed production, etc that you can run at your poultry farming unit.
#3. Learn the Poultry Farming Production Process
It is essential to know the basic processes involved in poultry farming before you start on a commercial scale. For example, if you are into chicken-producing poultry farming, generally you need to follow the below-mentioned seven steps.
- Breeder flock
- Pullet farm
- Breeder house
- Hatchery
- Broiler farm
- Processing
- Distribution
#4. Choose the Type of Bird
If you are looking to start on a small scale, it is advised to start with a few types of birds. You can scale up when profits start to come in.
Choosing birds will depend on what kind of poultry unit you are planning to set up. Some highly egg productive breeds are Leghorn, Minorca, Ancona, Fayoumi, etc.
And Starbro, Cornish, Plymouth rock, Brahma, etc. are some of the most popular breeds of broiler poultry.
#5. Name Your Farming Business
One most important part of the poultry farming business, which most beginners do not give due importance is naming it. All successful poultry farming companies have a relatable catchy name with a nicely designed logo into it. Also, check whether a relevant website domain name is available or not. Your business name must be similar to your website address.
#6. Create a Business Plan
For a profitable and sustainable poultry farming business, it is extremely critical to create a wee- researched business plan. If you are looking for funding, it is advised to take help from professional plan writers. The business plan document is the tool to convince investors that your business venture has the potential to make profits.
#7. Choose the Right Location
For poultry farming, choose a location that is far from the residential area. Also see, the location is not far from the nearest market. The place must have all the facilities to keep the birds safe and healthy.
#8. Form a Company
Based on the resources and scale of the business, choose a proper structure under which you are going to run your poultry farming business. You can register your poultry farming company as a proprietorship, partnership, or private limited company. Check this guide on how to register a company in India.
#9. Get Required Licenses & Permits
In India, you are required to set your poultry farming unit at least 500 m. away from a drinking water body like a river, pond, lake, reservoir, well, etc. If you are starting a small poultry farm, you don’t need any permission as such other than notifying the local panchayat body or municipal authority.
However, permission from the pollution control board will be required for poultry farms breeding more than 1 lac birds.
#10. Market Poultry Products
Talk to the nearest wholesalers and retailers and promote your poultry produce. Create a distribution network by hiring sales personnel. Nicely designed brochures and visiting cards are some of the marketing tools you must develop and distribute to potential buyers. If you want to develop your poultry farming business unit as a brand, creating a website is essential.
Poultry farming is a profitable business if planned properly. If you are a beginner and want to start a poultry farming business, it is better to learn about the trade from people who is in the business for some time. Gathering knowledge about breeding and other technical knowledge will be of great help in planning your poultry unit better.
Editorial Staff at NextWhatBusiness is a team of Business Consultants having years of experience in small and medium scale businesses.