Subsequent to yesterday’s discussion on making income from egg hatchery business, it is essential to understand the rudiments of the venture.
To this end, a man who is into chicken farming and has a large customer base in the hospitality business, Mr Ahmed Sanusi, advises investors in hatchery, to consider what species (chicken breeds) to hatch.
He notes that it is important for the farmer to know that there are different breeds of chickens and they have different abilities to adapt to the local climate. “If it is a breed that has not been bred locally before, and this is the first time it is introduced, you may face a risk of poor adaptation to the local climate.
“The farmer/investor should have hatchery location that has good ventilation, because poor ventilation can cause bacteria to grow, disease and epidemics that affect hatch ability and future performance of hatched chicks.”
Likewise, Sanusi says, hatchery should not be sited within villages, settlements, and other poultry farms in order to avoid the mutual transmission of diseases and at the same time, the waste from the hatchery will also produce a bad smell, which may cause complaints from neighbours.
He notes that the issue of electrical facilities, water sources and drainages, should be considered because hatchery points need regular electricity and there should be good weather conditions when going into hatchery.
Furthermore, Sanusi advises investor/farmer to have a well prepared place like buildings as issue of fencing is very important because the fence can save the chickens from thieves, animals, reptiles, that can stray into the place. He added that, small ants should not be allowed around the place and that there must be water drainage to help flush out the waste.
“You will need various equipment in the hatchery: incubators, hatchers, air conditioners, chillers, generators, washing machines, and various other supporting equipment among others. According to the hatching capacity requirement, investors should consider capacity per hatch, the interval between each hatch and other requirements to choose the type of incubation equipment.
“How big is each incubator and hatcher, how many sets, whether to single-stage incubators, or multi-stage incubators, must be considered. When selecting equipment suppliers, try to choose those with rich experience, long-lived in the market, better quality, and more reliable reputation, and then comprehensively consider the price, service, delivery period and other factors,” he says.
According to him, “It can take 21 days for breeding eggs to hatch and have chicks to sell and get returns from the investment.”
