Poultry egg farming is a very profitable business, and many people are

making money all over the world by starting layers egg production
business provided it is done with planning and systematic way.
However, to build a successful, sustainable poultry egg farming
business, you require sufficient knowledge of how to efficiently keep
the layers, good management skills, and a good poultry egg production
business plan. Since Amaqamu Traditional Authority claimed its land
where Rainbow Chickens use to be we have manage to get back 4 of
its farms that was mainly for egg laying chickens whilst we still have
one Rainbow operational in our land where our community members
are still employed so to get experienced people wont be a problem.
Many families suffered when this Rainbow farms closed down hence we
are reviving them now to assist our people and serve the market.

LAND, HOUSING AND EQUIPMENT FOR POULTRY EGG FARMING

BUSINESS

The kind of housing you need and the size of the land will depend on
the size of your poultry egg farming project. When choosing the
location for your poultry egg production business, you have to balance
the need for proximity to the market, with the cost of land, labor costs,
security, and a good water supply. It is advisable not to locate the
poultry egg farming project close to rivers or streams as this may
result in the pollution of water by chicken drops during rainfall periods.
When you are planning to construct a layers egg chicken house, you
have to select a site which is well-drained with plenty of natural air
movement. Layers chickens cannot adjust well to temperature
extremes, so it is very essential that the hens be housed, cared and
provided with an environment that will enable them to perform egg
production efficiently.
The design and size of the layers chicken house is determined by the
number of layers chickens being kept, the cost and the climatic
condition of the area. It is essential to house layers chickens of the
same age together. This is to prevent potential problems like high risk
of continuous infection. It also allows the farmer to administer the
right feeds and follow the right method of lighting for the layers
chickens.
Your housing for the layers chickens can be barns, layer cages, chicken
runs or hutches. The kind of equipment you need depends on whether
you are using the deep litter system or the cage system in your poultry
egg production business. You should have equipment including
feeders, drinkers, lighting system and waste disposal system. You will
also need chicken layer nests where the layers lay eggs in. If you are
doing the cage system, then you have to install cages for your layers
chickens. If you purchase layer cages as housing for your layers
chickens, the layer cages will already have the laying nests, feeders,
drinkers etc but should be as per AWBI mandate.
POINT OF LAY CHICKENS/LAYER CHICKS
Poultry Layers start to lay eggs at about 19 weeks of age. When
starting a poultry egg production business, you will have to make a
decision of whether you start with day old chicks or point of lay birds.
You can buy layer chicks and feed them till they are 19 weeks.
However, in case of low input technology laying bird as semi intensive
layer house ,its usually easier to buy point of lay chickens (Layers
chickens which are ready to start laying eggs).
You should purchase your day old chicks/point of lay birds from a
reliable accredited hatchery or company where the parent stocks are
well managed like Venkys, IB etc. Layers chicks from different
hatcheries vary greatly in terms of quality, and thus will be a
determining factor in the success of your poultry egg farming business
venture.If you purchase point of lay chickens which are not well
vaccinated then the layers chickens will have a low rate of egg
production and a high mortality rate.
LAYERS FEEDS
To lay well, the layer chickens must get the best possible feed. Hens
need plenty of calcium in their diets to lay eggs with hard, strong
shells. The feed for layers chickens is called Layers Mash. The mash is
specially formulated to provide all the nutrients they need in the
correct quantities. Feed must be available in the trough at all times, as
well as cool, fresh water in the water channel. On average, each laying
hen requires 110g-120g of feed every day. The aim of the egg
producer is to convert a given amount of feed into as many eggs as
possible. It is very important to give the layers the right feeds, and the
right quantities, so that they grow well and have a high egg production
rate.
MANAGEMENT AND LABOUR
The number of farm workers you need will depend on the size of your
poultry egg production project. If you are operating a small poultry
egg farming business e.g. 5000 birds, you and one labour may be
enough to take care of the birds. However if you are keeping 10000 or
more chickens for egg production, then you will need some full time
employees to manage the poultry farm. There is need for good
technical knowledge of poultry egg production techniques for success
in the business, and good management skills.
CAPITAL
The amount of capital required for the poultry egg production business
depends on the scale of the project. You can get a loan from the bank,
or funding from investors, to use as capital to start your poultry egg
farming business. If you plan to raise capital from investors and a loan
from the bank, you need a good poultry egg farming business plan.
Although Govt of Bihar is giving very good subsidy via bank to the
commercial layer poultry entrepreneurs .If you don’t have access to
investors and bank loan, you can use your personal savings and start
small, and grow your business overtime. Egg production business is
very profitable. If you reinvest the profits you get, you can quickly
grow.
MARKET FOR POULTRY EGGS
The demand for eggs is very high. Eggs are considered an alternative
cheap source of proteins. Almost every household consumes
boiled/fried eggs. Increasing protein consumption and rising incomes
drive consumption of eggs. Around the world, consumption of eggs is
on the increase. This increase is particularly notable in developing
countries where changing diets have people consuming a greater
number of calories from protein sources like poultry meat and eggs.
You can supply your eggs to individual households, supermarkets /
grocery shops, wholesalers, schools, restaurants, companies,
organizations, events etc.
It has seen from years that poultry farming business be it broiler or
layers has to face the problems of fluctuating prices of poultry produce
like egg, meat and poultry feeds / raw material like soya , maize etc.
Most of the time the cost of selling price becomes below the cost of
production there by giving huge loss to the poultry entrepreneurs. So if
our poultry entrepreneurs adopt cooperative model of poultry farming
like AMUL or SUDHA milk federation , our farmers will never bear loss.
I call upon the layer farmers particularly who are doing at the capacity
of 500 to 15000, must adopt this model n keep oneself free from
market fluctuations.