Chicken is nowadays, a staple on the tables of most Nigerians, so also is their products. Hence, any business connected to these, are regarded as high-yielding investments that gives quick returns even though it seems capital intensive.
Those in the poultry business patronise egg hatching. They hatch some of the eggs into chicks for poultry farming. It is a flourishing business in the country.
Currently, a number of poultry hatcheries and incubators in the country cannot meet the demand of the poultry farmers, and therein lies the opportunity to fill in this gap.
To be successful in hatchery business, one would need to follow some steps.
Farmers book for day old chicks at the existing hatcheries and wait for weeks or months before they can collect and most times, it is by allocation.
Therefore, you will need to acquire skills in this business to set up and become employers of labour.
Market Opportunity
The market for day old chicks is guaranteed. The present operators operate what we call ‘sellers market’, as they cannot meet the demand of their buyers. The project entails installation of incubators where fertilised eggs are kept for a period of 21 days and they are hatched to day old chicks. The day old chicks are then sold to poultry farmers. The fertilised eggs are earlier procured from already established grand parent stock poultry farm.
In essence, an investor will need to establish a grand parent stock farm where fertilised eggs are produced. The eggs are later transferred to incubators where they will be hatched within 21 days. Serious minded investors can be assisted in the establishment of the project.
Hatching eggs are a great way to easily earn an income from your chickens, if you have the setup for maintaining a purebred flock and quality chickens.
Speaking with me, an expert, Dr Christopher Adeyemi, says, as an insider who has been in the business for several years, he can boast of its quick investment returns.
Business Requirements
According to Adeyemi, whose poultry and hatchery business is based in Ondo State, there is need for adequate preparation for a suitable site, hatchery machines and workers. He states that it is very critical to get committed, trustworthy and reliable workers that have passion and fear of God to do the work without hitches.
“I am giving the warning because, I have seen some investors who failed in this business due to lack of enough preparation, unreliable workers or poor management. Thus, to avoid failure, investors must carefully study the business environment before coming into it. Hatchery business, when well organised, can create a multiple chain of businesses,” he indicated.
Before investing in a hatchery, he says investors should, at least, consider the following questions: what species of (chicken breeds) to hatch? Where do the eggs come from? Where is the hatchery built? What facilities are needed? Are the funds sufficient ? And so on.
