How A Starter Can Make Profit Estimates (1)

Many starter farmers in Nigeria usually have a big problem regarding how to make realistic income and profit projections before entering into the business. Many have been misled by false projections and have badly burned their fingers in the business.

I want to teach how to make a realistic income and profit projection for decision making either to invest in the business or to stay away from it.

Lets say that you have 500 Layers Chickens and want to know the Income Potential

First you must realize that only healthy chickens lay eggs and the income comes from the eggs. Therefore, you should know what it takes to rear a layers chicken in top health status. This is talking about the hygienic measures, the vaccination and many other factors that go into rearing layers chickens. You must be conversant with them all and apply them diligently.

Secondly, know the production capacity of a healthy layers chicken. A layers chicken lays an egg in 24 to 36 hours which translates to 5 to 7 eggs per 7 day week. Assume that you are using 5 eggs per week as the base, you have 2500 eggs per week for the 500 layers chicken.

Thirdly, know that the whole 500 eggs will not be laying eggs at the same pace. A few chickens may not lay any eggs or may start producing much later. Make a 5% provision.

Fourth, know that some chickens may die. The acceptable loss rate is 8% of the stock per year. Make provision for 8% of the chicken stock for possible deaths.

Fifth, know that there is a period for consistent production by the chicken and another is the period for diminishing production. You have to take note of this factors in the estimates to arrive at a realistic income and profit projection.