When the name of laying hens is mentioned, most of our minds are directed towards industrial chicken farms and large-scale farms, but in today’s KarnoTech article, we are going to examine and investigate the feasibility of setting up a mini farm of laying hens. In this article, we have thoroughly investigated the construction of a mini laying hen hall in terms of estimating its start-up costs and also the approximate income from it. We have also visited an active mini salon of laying hens with a capacity of 500 pieces, which you will see in the rest of the documentary.
Laying chicken mini farm
Setting up a chicken farm, like any other business, will bring its own ups and downs, and even if you plan to build a small chicken farm, you must first check all its aspects. One of the most important issues in this matter is product marketing (does chicken meat or eggs sell better in your area?) One thing that can be pointed out now is that in the current economic conditions, the product basket and purchasing power People are decreasing, and even red meat may have been removed from many baskets of goods, and there is even a possibility of chicken meat being removed, so maybe raising laying hens is a better idea, although you should consider all relevant aspects. In the following article, we have discussed the advantages and disadvantages of raising broiler and laying hens.
Breeding laying or meat chickens? Which one is more profitable?
The cost of setting up a laying hen mini farm:
Cost of Constructing lay-hen mini farm (2023-2024) | |
Cost of Menbari Cage (500 piece) | $1.20 for yeah piece |
Buying Pullets (500 piece) | $2070 total |
Transportation & Vaccination | $90 total |
Cost of Building a Hall (7 * 8 meters) &
Miscellaneous Costs
|
$1035 total |
Total | $3800 |
List of poultry products and equipment
One of the important issues for starting a new business is the amount of investment. As you know, setting up a laying hen farm in high capacity requires large investments. This investment includes the cost of buying land, building a chicken farm, equipping the hall, etc., which may make many people interested in this field to stop at this stage.
However, setting up a laying hen mini farm requires far less costs and can be a good option for interested people and even as a second job. You can start this mini farm in a limited space or even in your own garden and reduce your initial costs. Among the costs of this farm, we can mention the construction costs, the cost of equipping the hall, the purchase of chickens, the purchase of manure, the cost of vaccination and the cost of egg packaging. In the short documentary below, we visited a mini farm. In this context, various parts of the mini farm are displayed. Along with the explanations provided by engineer Sidi about this farm, a short interview was conducted with the owner of this mini farm, which gave interesting tips on management, cultivation, income, etc.
The cost of building a hall
The cost of making mini farms can be different according to the material used. The minimum size for 500 pieces of chicken head is a 7×8 meter hall. You can build this hall using construction materials or use ready-made sheds. Currently, some companies, such as Barron’s kennels and Banyan kennels, produce small and removable kennels suitable for laying or broiler mini farms, which you can check the specifications of these two companies by clicking on their names. Among the advantages of using ready-made sheds, we can mention the possibility of moving, low cost, low cost of maintenance and repairs, but you should pay attention to these points that the sheds of these companies cannot be installed in steep environments.
Buying poultry equipment
At first glance, the equipment related to the mini farm may seem unimportant, but you should note that even for 50 pieces of chicken, you need to set the environmental conditions in an optimal state so that you can have the best possible exploitation. The cost of purchasing ventilation and heating systems in this hall is not very heavy, but if it is not followed, it may result in more losses, and more care should be taken in terms of ventilation and the use of suitable air intakes as well as suitable ventilators. Even in large and industrial farms, where KarnoTech company focuses more on the construction of these types of farms, paying attention to the ventilation system is of much higher importance. We believe that disease control and breeding conditions will be much better in a hall where ventilation is done in a principled and standard way. Therefore, we emphasize this issue in laying hen mini farms as well.
Buying mini farm cages for laying hens
The biggest cost when providing equipment for laying hens includes the cost of cages. Naturally, in small salons, buying fully automatic cages is not feasible and cost-effective. As you know, these cages are placed on top of each other in the form of the Persian number 8, and the maximum number of floors is 4 floors. The dimensions of the cells of this system can be different, but usually it is designed 50 x 50 cm, and the height of each cell is about 40 cm, and the capacity of each pulp cage cell is about 5 chicken heads.
You can buy second-hand chicken cages to reduce costs at the beginning of poultry farming, but you must pay attention to a series of points when buying Manbari cages. Among these things, we can mention the type of cages, note that the type of laying hen cages must be made of stainless wire, so when buying, check all the corners of the cages for rust.
The cost of buying Pullets
As you can see in the video above, the biggest cost of setting up a small laying hen farm includes the purchase of chickens. This amount is about 60% of the costs of a laying mini farm. One of the points that can be mentioned when buying a bull is the age of the herd and its weight. Also, the breed of the laying hen has an effect on its laying rate. Usually, in the commercial species, the best breed for raising laying hens is LSL (Lohmann) and Leghorn but choosing this breed may not be a suitable option in the size of the mini-laying farm.
Introduction of 14 breeds of laying hens
The cost of transportation and vaccination
As mentioned in the film, the cost of transportation and vaccination of a 500-piece mini salon is about 5 million tomans. In each breeding period, there are a series of common diseases according to your age and region, and you must have a suitable vaccination program for these diseases. In general, vaccination periods are divided according to the age of chickens into pullet period – pre-laying period – pre-laying period up to 2% production and 2% period up to peak production, in each of which we see a variety of vaccination programs that We have discussed it in detail in the article on vaccination in laying hens. A very common disease common to all these periods is vaccination against Newcastle.
Summary
In general, building a mini farm and raising laying hens in a small number of around 500 to 1000 pieces can be a suitable option for small investments, which, according to the required capital and in the case of successful breeding, which definitely requires basic breeding training, can be profitable. He had a good ratio in mind for this.
Many friends who consult us about this matter have garden spaces and villas where they can easily start this type of work in such spaces. In addition, due to the packaging and ease of transportation, the final product can put a little effort on the shoulders of the poultry farmer to supply it to the market.
In general, this work can be a suitable option as a second job. Also, for people who intend to make large investments for raising chickens, they can test this type of employment with this work and gain valuable experience with a small cost and low risk factor.