How to Start a Chicken Egg Farm?

A chicken egg farm can be a profitable venture given that you have enough industry know-how, perform due diligence, and conduct in-depth research. You should consider various risks given that you are dealing with live animals. If you don't correctly mitigate risks, the breeders and layer hens can be wiped out by a disease. Carefully plan your project before starting the operation.

We will discuss in this article what to consider when starting a chicken egg farm.

1. What Chicken Breed to Raise

There are various breeds of layer hens that you can choose from, such as the Hybrid, Rhode Island Red, Hamburgs, Plymouth Rock Chicken, Rustic Rambler, and Egg Easter. You must know every characteristic of these breeds and utilize their potentials to be more productive.

A breed such as Hamburgs may not do well inside a chicken pen and produce lesser eggs. Others produce smaller eggs while another breed produces extra-large to jumbo. The chicken's appetite may vary; larger chicken breeds require more feeds to produce enough eggs. All these factors can significantly affect the profitability of your chicken egg farm.

2. Decide What Type of Poultry House to Build

Commercial broiler and egg layering production use intensive system housing, the most economical, efficient, and convenient. There are three types of poultry housing commonly used by businesses: deep litter system, slatted or wire floor poultry system, and slat floor cum litter production.

• Deep-litter system – is famous both for small and large poultry farms. Litter materials used are sawdust, straw, or leaves. It requires lesser labor for cleaning the chicken manure but is also prone to diseases since bacteria can multiply on the litter as it stays longer.

• Slatted or Wire Floor Poultry System – the poultry house can be built on treated wood piers. This type of housing requires lesser space than a solid floor system. It has better sanitation than the deep-litter system but is more expensive to build.

• Slat Floor Cum Litter Production - combines both features and advantages of deep-litter and slatted or wire floor poultry systems. It uses slats on both sides while leaving the center part for the littered floor.

3. The Area per Hen Allotted

There should be enough space allotted per hen to be comfortable and produce more eggs. At least 1.5 sq ft is provided indoor space and 20 sq ft for outdoor roaming per hen. Minimal space can affect the well-being of the layer hens and the number of eggs they produce.

Compute the number of layer hens and breeders you want to raise to know the needed area for the poultry houses. Also include the alleyways and spaces for troughs.

4. Hiring a Technical Expert to Oversee the Daily Operation

It is riskier to start the farm operation without enough industry know-how. If you are not that knowledgeable, you can hire a technical expert to oversee the operation and ensure everything is done right. Same with other ventures, you can't make anything rushed and based on guesses while running this business.

5. Compute How Much is the Initial Investment Needed

You need to compute how much is needed to start the operation. The funds needed are for constructing the poultry houses and the working capital for one cropping cycle before you start earning. You should have enough working capital to run the day-to-day operation. You need to always provide the correct quantity of feeds and other nutrients for the layer hens to produce the desired eggs during their lifetime.

Starting a chicken egg farm will need enough industry know-how and due diligence to ensure that everything is considered. Using a financial model template is the best option you have. This financial model for chicken egg farms is equipped with vital metrics with charts and graphs to understand the project economics better.