How To Start Poultry Farming in Uganda

How To Start Poultry Farming in Uganda. In addition to beans, Chicken is the most consumed protein in Uganda.

Ugandans consume more chicken than anyone else in East Africa. Ugandans also consume million dozens of eggs per year.

Farming is the backbone of Uganda and so is poultry farming. Poultry farming by definition is another sector of farming that specialises in rearing chicken for commercial purposes. Poultry is reared majorly for two reasons;

• Meat production (Broilers)
• Egg production (Layers)

Today we want to look at how to start poultry farming here in Uganda. We will look at steps you can follow to start a poultry farm and drive yourself out of poverty.

Before we look at the steps involved, let us look at the advantages of poultry farming;

• It doesn’t require much capital to start
• You don’t need a lot of space to start this project
• There are few maintenance costs involved in running this project
• It is lucrative

Now let us look at the steps involved in starting a poultry farm. Actually, each type of farming business follows specific operational principles in order for it to make a good profit.

And when such principles are ignored by the farm management system, it normally results in losses.

So before starting this business, it is wise to learn more about poultry farming. Take some time and learn more about this business before starting it. Let us now look at the steps.

1- Raise Capital

Starting a poultry farm requires capital. You can raise the money on your own or you can apply for a bank loan.

Bank loans are available for business startups. The startup capital required to start a poultry farm can range between 3M UGX to 10M UGX depending on the phase and size of your poultry farm.

By phase, I mean this stage at which your poultry farm is. If you are a beginner (someone who has never started poultry farming) it may cost you more to start your business than someone who is already a poultry farmer.

The person who already has a poultry farm may already have some equipment needed to rear poultry so he may not incur the costs of purchasing equipment.

By size, it is self-explanatory. The bigger the size of the poultry farm, the more the requirements and the more money needed to start this business and the opposite is true.

As a beginner, you should start with a minimum number of birds which will cost you pretty little money to purchase and look after.

For more on ways how to raise startup capital, look at this;

How To Raise Startup Capital for Your Business in Uganda

2- Choose your Chicken Type

The next step in starting a poultry farm is choosing the type of chicken you are to raise. The most common types of chicken raised here in Uganda are;

• Broilers
• Layers

By Broilers, I mean chicken that is reared majorly for meat production whereas Layers are chicken that is reared for both meat production and laying eggs but majorly for egg production.

However, poultry farming is not limited to rearing chicken only, you can use your poultry farm to make poultry feeds and breeding stocks and sell them directly to your local customers.

Determine your production purpose and select the proper type of poultry according to your desire.

3- Choose a poultry farm location

Next in line is choosing a location for your poultry farm. Selecting a good farm location for your business is important. You should select a location that has all of the required facilities for your business.

Your poultry farm can be slightly far from the town, where land and labour are pretty cheap. But don’t set up the farm too far from the town, because most of the towns have a high-density population, and you have to target that market.

While selecting the farm location, consider the transportation systems and medication facilities also.

4- Raise shelter for your Birds

After selecting a farm location, you need to construct a house for your birds. Ensure all required facilities are available in the poultry house. There are three types of poultry housing systems you can use.

• Extensive
• Semi- intesive
• Intensive

On average, broiler poultry needs about 2.5 square feet of space and layer poultry needs about 4 square feet of space. For example, if you want to raise 200 layers then you have to ensure about 800 square feet of space is available.

About 4 square feet of space is required per bird in the cage system. Don’t forget to add proper lighting and ventilation system in the house.

For more on how to build a house for your poultry, see this article.

5- Purchase Equipment

Every poultry farm requires equipment to run well. These equipment are the tools you need for your poultry farm to run efficiently and they include;

• Feeders
• Waterers
• Nests
• Cages
• Coops
• Incubators
• Crates
• Lighting insturmenst
• Waste dispoal sytems
• Many more

Now you don’t need to have all the above-mentioned equipment. You need to purchase equipment that you feel your business requires.

You can purchase feeders from Jumia and also get Drinkers on Jumis still.

Get quality feeders now.

Get quality drinkers now.

6- Hire employees

Depending on the size of your poultry farm, you may need to hire employees for your business. These employees will help you in the day-to-day running of your poultry farm business.

But as a beginner with around 100 to 200 birds, you can manage your poultry farm yourself to avoid the costs of employing workers. However, if you need to rear more birds in your poultry farm, then you need to hire employees.

Look for cheap labour if you are just starting your business. For more on hiring employees, we have a full guide on, How to hire employees for your poultry farm.

7- Purchase Feeds

Feeding is part of the poultry farming business. After constructing houses and purchasing equipment, you will spend a large amount of money feeding your birds.

About 80% of your money will go into buying feeds for your poultry. And the success in this business will depend largely on the quality of your feeds and how much you feed your birds.

You can purchase the already-made feeds for your poultry or purchase feed ingredients from the market and prepare the feed by yourself. I encourage the latter because it allows you to add the right ingredients that are necessary for your poultry to grow well.

Different types of commercial poultry feeds are available in the market for each type of bird. You can buy feeds that are only for broilers as well as feeds that are only for layers.

8- Purchase Chicks

After doing all that is required, it is time to bring in the birds. As a beginner, it is wise to start with day-old chicks instead of older chicks. If you are a complete beginner without any prior experience, keep the number of chicks to a minimum of 200 to 300 birds.

You can purchase quality chicks from Biyinzika Poultry. The best advice I can give you is you need to give your chics glucose to drink after delivering them home. You also need to keep the house of the chicks warm because they need to keep the day-old chicks warm.

9- Provide Quality Health Care

In addition to providing feeds, you have to ensure a proper medication system for your birds. Poultry birds are prone to various types of diseases and you have to be ready to control and treat them.

You need to be very careful with the health of your birds. any sickness left untreated can kill over 30 birds in a day. So vaccinate your birds promptly and on time and always try to provide them with fresh water and food. Also, stock some required vaccines and medicine so that you can use them when needed.

If possible, get yourself a Veterinary doctor to check your birds at least twice each month to endure they are in good health.

10- Market Your Business

There is no business that can thrive without talking about itself, letting people know what they offer and letting people know where to find them. You need to market your poultry farm products to your customers.

Good marketing strategies influence the profit of your business. If you can sell your products in the market easily, then it will encourage you in getting more production.

You can use social media platforms like Facebook, use word of mouth of your customers and also your nearby radio station.

For more on Marketing, we have a full guide on How to Promote Your Poultry Farm Business in Uganda.

Your Turn…

Hope this guide on how to start poultry farming in Uganda has been of help to you. But before starting, try to learn more about the poultry farming business.

If you have any further advice on how to start a poultry farm, please add your advice in the comments section below and we shall add it to this list. Thank You.