Agriculture is taking on a new dimension which a lot of people seem not to be aware of. Despite of the lapses of President Goodluck's government, good attention was paid to the development of the agricultural sector. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and his team paid very good attention to the development of agriculture as a business. I consider him to be one of the few Nigerians who really have the interest of this country at heart. Those of us in the field witnessed his constant visits especially in states where government was making effort towards developing agriculture. He always wanted to know where there were challenges and what could be done to ease those challenges. I once attended a North Central Farmers' meeting, and to my surprise in less than one year, almost every suggestion that was made at the meeting was already getting due attention. Kudos to him.
Going by the agricultural value chain, one commercial farmer is capable of generating employment for at least 6 people. I am not referring to the laborers that will work with him but to the fact that one value on the chain develops another value until the product gets to the final consumer. that is why I want to encourage us to invest in agricultural business. My intention today is not to discuss the agricultural value chain, but if people are interested in it, subsequently, I can take time to discuss about it so that interested persons can identify areas where they can key into. I also want to bring to our notice that in order to consolidate efforts in the agricultural sector, funds were made available to banks to support farmers. But, the catch is that the government and the banks are careful that the funds should not get into the wrong hands or that they are not used for the wrong purposes, so strict measures are being taken with regards to accessing the funds. For example, there are people who say that they want to go into poultry farming, but they have never invested even in a cage, and they do not have any background knowledge about the business. If you were the financier, would you be willing to just gamble your money with such a person? The first step should be that you start something on your own, however small so that you would have gained some experience and learnt some lessons on how to do it better before you go on to invest bigger funds. Poultry farming is one agricultural business that is yet to be explored even halfway. You can still find imported chicken in the Nigerian market, despite the ban on the importation of frozen foods. Why should this be so when we are so blessed with human and material resources and they are wasting away? It seems that it is not only the government that does not care about the fate of this country but even the youth also. It is high time everyone makes it his business to help Nigeria to succeed. Poultry business is not difficult to engage in and it does not need so much capital requirement. You can start with a little cage behind your house and the success that you achieve with the use of that cage will propel you to move another level ahead, then you will find out that every successful person craves for more success.
If you consider Nigeria's population of almost 180 million people, you will see that the population of those who are in the business and the amount of chicken that is taken to the market on a daily basis is grossly inadequate. It is unfortunate that is the wealthy people who make more investment in poultry farming. General Obasanjo who is a model farmer makes $250,000 on the average everyday from his agricultural business. That is an indication of the returns on investment which poultry farming brings in. There are other big and reputable farmers out there. I know of a millionaire farmer who cannot even say the letters of the alphabet, let alone spell his name, so, what are you still waiting for especially with the benefit of the education that you have received?
I want to encourage as many as possible to come on board. Let us together move Nigeria to the net level economically. All we need from the government is that they should clamp down on corruption and insecurity and make funds available where they are needed.
For intending and existing poultry farmers, you can purchase our HANDBOOK FOR POULTRY FARMERS which is a concise book that makes poultry farming easy. The book guides you in constructing your own poultry house, stocking it and managing it to get very high returns on your investment. It also contains information about problems that can affect a poultry, and therefore helps you to be very watchful. So, it is a very handy book for you. The intention behind making the book available is to get you started in the business. We all have a common task of moving Nigeria to the next level, and it is not an easy task. We have to be able to produce enough poultry products to assist the government in effecting the ban on the importation of the poultry products.
The book costs N3500.00 and the benefits of purchasing the book includes
Membership of our enterprise forum.
Consultation service for your business.
Consultation on how to access available government agricultural funds.
Invitation to enterprise development seminars and leadership trainings.
To get your copy of he book, pay the amount into GT Bank Account 0048030642. Account name Ura Obaje. Afterwards, send the following details: Your name, Email, phone number, Teller number, What the payment is meant for to 08172346102.
We look forward to working with you in the field.

Another aspect of poultry farming that is making waves is the Turkey farming. I have noticed that the variety of turkey that I see around are the local variety. Why go for the local variety when the hybrids are readily available? Many people have actually admitted that they do not know that the hybrid variety exists. My aunt once reared the hybrid variety, and there was one among them that she consistently refused to sell off. That one grew so big that we stopped helping her in her poultry because every one was afraid of going in then, except she and her husband. And when she decided to sell it, she got more than 30k for it. That was actually what got me interested in turkey farming, even though I don't keep them until they as big as hers.

The hybrid type usually grows bigger and faster than the local species. Turkeys lay more eggs than the chicken. A friend of mine had to get a locally constructed incubator, and with that she started another business of supplying middlemen with day old turkeys. Many people have complained that customers are not willing to buy their turkeys at a high price. But that is because the farmers try to make too much profit from it. If a chicken that weighs 2.5kg sells for around N2000.00, why should a turkey that just weighs about 6-7kg sell for between N15,000 and N20,000? Afterall, you don't even spend so much money on them the way you spend on a broiler. And turkeys can even weight up to 10kg.

If for instance, a farmer buys a carton of turkey chicks at N30,000.00, and he spends N70,000.00 to rear them till maturity (it does not cost this much please) and then sell them at N800.00 per kg of body weight, he will get N4,800.00 per one.This amount multiplied by 50 will give N240,000.00. When you subtract the cost of purchasing and rearing them which we have assumed to be N100,000.00, you are left with N140,000.00. If you take out a salary of payment of N60,000.00 for yourself, you will be left with a profit of N90,000.00. For someone just starting out in the business, is that not good enough? As you expand on the business, so your profit grows. Live turkey sells for higher that that.

The fact is that, if we really meanto sustain the market for poultry products, we must not be greedy. If people know that the bird is not as expensive as farmers make it look, they will prefer to patronize the local farmer than to go for the imported turkey which contains chemicals that might not be good for our health. So, we stand to gain more if we can sustain and grow the Nigerian market.

As time goes on I will discuss other types of poultry that you can keep. Please feel free to ask questions, make comments and add your contributions. The HANDBOOK FOR POULTRY FARMERS is still on sale. It is a book you cannot do without. To book your copy, just call 08172346102.

God bless you all.

For comprehensive detailed information on poultry farming for free,visit 1st signature below

Ura:
Another aspect of poultry farming that is making waves is the Turkey farming. I have noticed that the variety of turkey that I see around are the local variety. Why go for the local variety when the hybrids are readily available? Many people have actually admitted that they do not know that the hybrid variety exists. My aunt once reared the hybrid variety, and there was one among them that she consistently refused to sell off. That one grew so big that we stopped helping her in her poultry because every one was afraid of going in then, except she and her husband. And when she decided to sell it, she got more than 30k for it. That was actually what got me interested in turkey farming, even though I don't keep them until they as big as hers.

The hybrid type usually grows bigger and faster than the local species. Turkeys lay more eggs than the chicken. A friend of mine had to get a locally constructed incubator, and with that she started another business of supplying middlemen with day old turkeys. Many people have complained that customers are not willing to buy their turkeys at a high price. But that is because the farmers try to make too much profit from it. If a chicken that weighs 2.5kg sells for around N2000.00, why should a turkey that just weighs about 6-7kg sell for between N15,000 and N20,000? Afterall, you don't even spend so much money on them the way you spend on a broiler. And turkeys can even weight up to 10kg.

If for instance, a farmer buys a carton of turkey chicks at N30,000.00, and he spends N70,000.00 to rear them till maturity (it does not cost this much please) and then sell them at N800.00 per kg of body weight, he will get N4,800.00 per one.This amount multiplied by 50 will give N240,000.00. When you subtract the cost of purchasing and rearing them which we have assumed to be N100,000.00, you are left with N140,000.00. If you take out a salary of payment of N60,000.00 for yourself, you will be left with a profit of N90,000.00. For someone just starting out in the business, is that not good enough? As you expand on the business, so your profit grows. Live turkey sells for higher that that.

The fact is that, if we really meanto sustain the market for poultry products, we must not be greedy. If people know that the bird is not as expensive as farmers make it look, they will prefer to patronize the local farmer than to go for the imported turkey which contains chemicals that might not be good for our health. So, we stand to gain more if we can sustain and grow the Nigerian market.

As time goes on I will discuss other types of poultry that you can keep. Please feel free to ask questions, make comments and add your contributions. The HANDBOOK FOR POULTRY FARMERS is still on sale. It is a book you cannot do without. To book your copy, just call 08172346102.

God bless you all.

Pls hw much can I get 4-6weeks old hybrid turkey. He long will it take dem to reach maturity stage b4 selling. Hw much will it cost me to raise a turkey from dat stage to maturity. Tank you.

omo17:


Pls hw much can I get 4-6weeks old hybrid turkey. He long will it take dem to reach maturity stage b4 selling. Hw much will it cost me to raise a turkey from dat stage to maturity. Tank you.

My apologies please. I just saw your comment. I will find out the current price for turkeys and get back to you with the information you have requested.

Ura, No reply yet? Can I get DOC hybrid turkeys from you? How much do they cost?

pls can some one send me how to rear a turkey to my mail this is my mail eniorunda001@yahoo.com