Cost of raising 500 layers in Nigeria and profitability analysis

In this post, you will see the cost of raising 500 layers in Nigeria. Here, we do an in-depth cost analysis for breeding 500 layers from day old until they start laying eggs.

The demand for poultry products is crystal clear for anyone looking to see, leaving us with the only problem of how to go about producing and supplying what’s needed. Layer poultry farming is regarded as the most profitable compared to broiler farming. Here, we will also analyse the profitability of a layer poultry business in Nigeria.

In this article, we’ve picked rearing of layers, we take a reasonable amount of 500 layers.

But before we delve right into the cost and profitability analysis of raising 500 layers, we need to know the basics. This is to make this article newbie-friendly and also brush up on those of you who are not so newbie after all.

In food production, the poultry industry is generally distinguished by two major enterprises; egg production and meat production. In egg production( which is our major focus) the most common shell eggs in  Nigeria are from chickens (most especially) and quails. In meat production, the most common birds are frying and stewing chickens and turkeys. This article, however, zeros in on layers that are for egg production.

See Also: How Much Does it Cost to Start a Poultry Farm in Nigeria?

As we progress, I would like to categorically state that the use of the term “poultry farming” in this article refers to egg production, except when otherwise noted.

Now, poultry farming can be an exciting and profitable enterprise in Nigeria and the world in general. As a business venture, the success and profitability of poultry farming depend on several major factors including proper cultural practices, a dependable source of healthy stocks, a balanced nutrition program, dependable infrastructure, sound financial management practice, and a good marketing strategy.

As the article gradually unveils its goodies, we would touch on all these factors and more.

What is Layer Poultry or Layers?

Simply put, layers are commercially viable egg producing birds. This means that they are egg-producing birds used for commercial purposes. Layers typically start laying eggs from at most, 20 – 21 weeks since birth.

Eggs, which are in great demand because of their nutritive value, easy and quick preparation time, and as co-ingredient in a wide variety of preparation(house-hold and commercial) have made a lot of Nigerians millionaires today because of their high demand and subsequent profitability.

In 2018, the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) stated that Nigeria would generate annual revenue of N620 billion and N1.7 billion daily if 50% of the populace ( you and I ) consumes an egg per day. N1.7 billion made daily!! If I were you, I don’t need anymore time-wasting, I’m so getting myself a Poultry farm so I can smile to the bank as well.

With the above information,  layer farming has gained importance as the fastest growing industry in the livestock sector.

See Also: Poultry Farming In Nigeria; 10 Tips To Make Money from It

What is the cost of layers in Nigeria?

With the way, prices skyrocket in Nigeria these days due to the inflation caused by the imminent if the not visible recession, prices of day-old layers are not stable. They are here today and tomorrow they are there so there’s no telling if the price I’m about to quote would be the same everywhere in the country (Nigeria) but if it isn’t the same in your state or city, I’m pretty sure it would be a small difference ( or it could be a big one lol).

From my research, to purchase day-old chicks (DOC) in Nigeria would cost about N400 at most. Some places could sell to you at cheaper rates so it all boils down to how many you would like to purchase and make subsequent profits thereof.

Types of poultry housing in Nigeria.

We all know that before one can venture into anything agricultural, you would need some space. Either small or big depending on the level of poultry farming you’d like to embark on. This means that you’re going to be needing a piece of land.

If you do have one, in a location (we know location matters a lot) that is motorable and accessible as well as one that has a proximity to the market, then you’re lucky as you don’t have to work in that area anymore.

Now if you don’t, well you’ll need to get yourself one. It is highly advisable to get land, maybe a plot of land in an area that is not quite developed to reduce the cost of buying a piece of land in Nigeria (as we all know, land appreciates every day, never depreciates).

Having gotten your piece of land ready, I’m talking about clearing the bushes and fencing the land for security, the next thing to consider would be the kind of poultry housing you would like to build. There are three major types of housing and they are:

• Battery cage system (very safe and facilitates ease of access to eggs, but it’s quite expensive).
• Deep litter system: Covering of floor with litter materials like saw-dust, rice-husk, chopped wheat straw (Depending upon the availability. This is cheaper than the aforementioned, a bit safe but could post as stressful when searching for eggs).
• Free-range/ non-intensive system: (this can also be called the backyard system as the layers are allowed to roam. However, safety is not guaranteed as predators such as snakes, Hawks, humans,  could have easy access to them.

See Also: 10 Steps to start layers poultry in Nigeria

Factors to consider when citing your farm

Some of the major factors that you’ve got to consider when citing your farm are as follows:

• Capital.
• Good road.
• Proximity to the market.
• Operations and maintenance.
• Market and profitability.

Profitability analysis of layer Farming in Nigeria

To do a fair and thorough analysis, I’ll be analyzing the profitability of raising 500 layers in Nigeria from the standpoint of someone who wishes to go into poultry farming in Nigeria. I’ll also be using the most expensive system for this analysis. The reason why I’m doing this is to make sure that you don’t budget less than you planned. ( Stay prepared for the worst but still praying for the best).

So let’s begin with a quick disclaimer: I’m not an agricultural specialist or an economist. This article was only written to give our prospective poultry farmers an insight and also help them to test the waters before diving in.

Now, let’s say you want to start with 500 birds that would be 500×N400 = N200,000.

5 cages, (96 birds per cage) to house 450 birds( let’s say you had a 10% mortality rate) = N250,000.

Cage house or pen construction= N450,000

18 Months of feeding (using both feeding mash and grower feeds ) = N544,000.

Vaccination and treatment could go for N50,000

Total capital= N1,494,000. The amount could be drastically reduced if you already have a house or cages for the hens.

See Also: 6 Steps To Start Layer Poultry Farming In Nigeria

Profitability Analysis of Layer farming in Nigeria

500 birds have the potential to produce 8,670 egg crates for you over 18 months if well raised and handled, i.e. 17 crates a day from the 2nd month to the 18th month. For N900 – N1000, you can conveniently sell one crate of the egg.

So, eggs alone will produce N7, 803,000 (8,670 X N900, while 8,670 X N1000= N8, 670, 000) for you for 18 months.

If you have a death rate or mortality rate of 10 percent (this means that 10 percent of your 500 birds, 50 birds, die during their production cycle) at the end of their production cycle, you should have 450 birds to sell and profit off of that too.

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