STARTING SMALL AND MAKING IT BIG IN POULTRY FARMING.

The demand for eggs and poultry meat has been overwhelming and still rising.

In This article, I will take you through all you need to know about the production of table eggs from poultry birds.  Poultry farming for egg production, though laborious is a very profitable business.  It is a business you could start at a small scale even in your backyard with as little as 250 birds and begin to expand as you start to make profit.

The birds begin to lay egg daily from twenty weeks old and continue to do so for the next fifteen weeks, at the end of which the exhausted birds are sold off as meat for profit.  There are  lots of benefits in raising poultry birds, even their wastes, which is cleared off twice a week, can be sold off as manure to plantation owners for additional profits.

Eggs are sold in paper or plastic crates and need little or no packaging

 You can Start your poultry farm business with day -old chicks and feed then growers marsh till they  are twenty weeks old , at which time you would  transfer them to layers cage and begin to feed them layers marsh. But if you  are inexperienced  and wish  to reduce the risk of possible loss, or perhaps  you wish to start making  profit at once, you may decide to purchase  18 weeks  old birds ( point of lay) at about 900 or 950 naira per bird and they will start producing egg within the next two weeks.

For the benefit of complete beginners, below is a detailed breakdown of what the daily routine of running a poultry farm business looks like.

30 minutes farm inspection and 3 hours for:

a. Pumping, Testing the water delivery system and nipple

b. Calculating and evenly distributing one-third of daily feed ration

 

c. Egg collection

 This routine is repeated twice: (12:30 pm and 5:30 pm) daily.

Eggs are sold daily

Feed bought weekly and manure cleared twice a week.

Layers become exhausted after about 15 months and are sold off as old layers for consumption.

New set of chicks and purchased and the same process is repeated.

Success factors to have in mind when starting up a poultry farm business.

There are vital factors to consider and put in place when starting up a profitable poultry business, and here is where many beginners make a lot of misstates, incurring heavy losses as a result.

Setting up of the poultry pen:  The poultry pen should be constructed in such a way as to ensure that it is airy, spacious and comfortable for the birds. The block work for the four corners of the pen should not be more than two couches. The rest of the wall should be covered with wire gauze for security.  The roof should be done with asbestos sheet instead of Zinc so as to minimise heat during the hot weather.  The things to bear in mind when erecting a poultry pen are; comfort, ventilation, temperature, light, the size of the gutters in relation to the size of the cages you wish to purchase. Getting the poultry house right is so vital to running a profitable and viable poultry business that I recommend contracting the service of an experienced technician for the purpose if you are not familiar with it.

Battery cages:  Poultry cages are indispensable in running a large scale poultry business for profit. The cages come in varied sizes, quality, capacity and price to suit your budget and need and they are equipped with drinking nipples and feeder. It is more hygienic and less laborious.  And in addition, it reduces the rate of egg breakage.

Feed:  Adequate feeding is very important in running a poultry business and the birds lay eggs according to how well they are fed. As your business begins to grow, you may need to start up your own feed mill, in order to maximise cost.

Water: water is vital for the survival of the birds, as well as for good sanitation. It is necessary to check the nipples from time to time to ascertain if they are all dispensing water and to ensure there is no leakage also.  Leaking nipples will get the birds wet and this constitutes another problem.

Veterinary care: you would also need to contract the service of a competent vet doctor for routine and periodic preventive vaccination for the birds.          

Birds: this can be day old or Point of lay birds. When purchasing birds, care must be taking to buy good strains. In Nigeria, there are over 20 different laying strains or trade names of laying chickens.

Poultry attendants, experienced managers and veterinary services are expertise needed.

 Land: It goes without overstressing the need for adequate agricultural land to support expansion, preferable in a non- residential area as wastes may constitute hazard for close neighbours.

Delivery van: As your business grows, you may need to acquire a delivery vehicle for the ease of egg distribution.

Poultry farming for table egg production is a highly profitable venture which you could start up even in your backyard with as little as five hundred thousand naira make a turnover that is over 200% of your start-up capital within one year on the sales of eggs alone.

I do hope that the information here has been of help to someone out there. Please feel free to contact us for more details, Questions or for help in writing a business plan for your poultry farming business.

By Onyinye Orabuike

 

5 Benefits of Exercise.

As described by Wikipedia, Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. As we know health is wealth, for one to be having a balance in that area the physical wellbeing of the individual must be in sync with the health of the individual.

People exercise for various reasons, including strengthening their muscle and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, and merely enjoyment. Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system and helps prevent the "diseases of affluence" such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, and obesity. It may also help prevent depression, help to promote or maintain positive self-esteem, improve mental health generally, and can augment an individual's sex appeal or body image, which has been found to be linked with higher levels of self-esteem.

The following are the benefits:

1. Weight Control:

Exercise helps to control excess weight gain or help achieve weight loss. This is possible because exercise involves physical activity which burn calories. The calories you burn depend on the intensity of the exercise. You don't need to set aside large chunks of time for exercise to reap weight-loss benefits. If you can't do an actual workout, get more active throughout the day in simple ways — by taking the stairs instead of the elevator or revving up your household chores.

2.Sex and exercise

Do you need a boost in you sex life? Exercise would help to promote a better and a healthy sexual experience. Exercise helps the body to be in form,  improves flexibility and stimulates hormones that would boost your sex life. It has been proven that after physical activities like exercise, due to the hormonal stimulation, there is an increase in your sex drive.

3. An Energy booster:

Do you find yourself knocked out by daily household chores? Regular exercise can come to your rescue. Done regularly; it can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance. Exercise and physical activity deliver oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and help your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. Your energy drastically peaks when your heart and lungs work more efficiently.

4.  Fight disease:

Exercise combats health conditions and diseases. No matter what your current health condition is, as long as it is not critical or you are bedridden, exercise can alleviate the situation.  This physical activity would keep your blood flowing smoothly, which decreases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. In fact, regular physical activity can help you prevent or manage a wide range of health problems and concerns, including stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, depression, and certain types of cancer.

5. Exercise and your Mood:

Need a lift to your mood? Or need to blow off some steam after a stressful day? A workout at the gym would help. Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed.  You would also feel better about your appearance and yourself when you exercise regularly, this will in turn boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem.

The role of exercise cannot be overemphasized. It plays a vital role in our life, health care providers often call exercise the "miracle" or "wonder" drug—alluding to the wide variety of proven benefits that it boasts of.

The  thought of starting an exercise program could be daunting, however start small and keep on working at it.

Investment Opportunity In Palm Production and Palm Oil/ Kernel Processing.

 Palm oil production is a money spinning business that an aspiring entrepreneur can start with reasonable amount of money plus a lot of hard work.  But like I said, the reward is quiet huge and lasts for a lifetime.  

 The palm tree starts producing ripe palm fruits within three years of plantation and keeps producing round the year, even for decades, except for a slight drop in yield during the rainy seasons.

 Palm kernel oil business can be done on a small, medium or large scale, depending on the financial capacity or experience and specialty of the person that is going into the business.

To state that there is huge potential in palm production and palm oil processing business is an understatement. The palm product can be processed and sold as red palm oil, vegetable oil or as cake. The by- products can also be sold off as animal feeds.

The market for palm product is very huge and the demand is all year round and consistently on the increase. Red palm oil is commonly used in most homes in Africa for cooking /direct consumption. It is also sold as raw materials for cosmetics manufacturers, diesel producing and soap making factories.

Investment in palm production is a very lucrative one, as the demand for palm products all over the world and in West Africa in particular is grossly unmet.

For those planning to start up a palm plantation business, it is also recommended to consider adding palm oil extraction and vegetable or palm kernel oil processing to it.

Production of palm oil and palm kernel oil from palm fruits.

 The production of palm oil from palm fruits is done in these simple steps

1          Sterilization: this softens the fruit for the digestion and release of oil. It also helps to condition the nuts to minimize kernel breakage.

2          Stripping: Stripping or threshing involves separating the sterilized fruits from the bunch stalks.

3          Digestion and Pressing: After stripping, the fruits are moved into a digester where they are reheated to loosen the pericarp. Improvements in press designs have allowed fruits to undergo single or multiple pressing. Second stage pressing on the press cake fibers enables more oil to be extracted.

4          Clarification:  this is the process of separating oil from bunch of fiber, water and other solids.

 Kernel Production

Production of refined palm kernel oil from the palm kernel is more technical than the red palm oil extraction process and require highly efficient mechanised machines.

The press cake from the digester is fed to a vertical column in order to separate the fibre from the nuts. The nuts are passed to a polishing drum where pieces of stalks are removed. A nutcracker cracks the nuts after the conditioning and drying process.  The mixture of cracked nuts and shells are separated manually or with a machine, followed by a hydrocyclone or a clay bath. A hydrocyclone uses centrifugal force to separate the kernel from the shell using water. The clay bath principle works on the specific gravity of kernel of 1.07 and the shell of 1.17. The kernels will float while the shells sink in a clay bath mixture of SG 1.12. The kernels are then dried in hot air silos to moisture content of less than 7%.

With Good mentorship and a comprehensive business plan, tapping into the palm oil production/ processing business could take you where you wish to be within the next five years. 

Considering the large space of virgin land available for cash crop farming in West Africa, I can authoritatively state that it doesn't take much to start it and the reward and potential is unlimited.

There are lots of funding opportunities for people that wish to start up an agro based business as governments are becoming increasingly interested in agriculture.  With laid  down policies in favour of agricultural related business, governments and organizations are ready to lend helping hand to everyone willing to go into partnership, provided the person could come up with sound and impressive business plan.

Palm production business is a highly profitable venture and you can start in a low scale, medium or large scale.

 By Onyinye Orabuike

Do Away With Stretch Marks: 5 Ways.

Stretch marks are visible streaks or lines on the skin caused by distension of the skin from obesity or during pregnancy. Stretch marks are usually evident around the abdomen, buttocks, thighs and shoulders sometimes stretching down the legs and arms.
While stretch marks may not really be classified as a skin disease, some are disgusting to even look at. When the body expands or shrinks in size quickly, fine lines may appear on the body and these lines are what we refer to as “Stretch Marks” throughout this article.
While this article may not concentrate much on the causes, sign and symptoms, and prevention of stretch marks, we will be discussing the natural ways to treat or remove stretch marks from the body.
There are few amazing ways that have worked for several years, which you can use to remove stretch marks from your skin. I hope you find these methods useful in removing or reducing the stretch marks on your skin.

1. Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is quite an important and effective method of removing stretch marks from the skin. There are several important nutrients and active compounds in Aloe Vera that can be quite useful in removing stretch marks.

The method simply involves rubbing Aloe Vera on the affected parts of your skin for few minutes, and then rinse it off with warm water.
You can as well mix ¼ cup of Aloe Vera gel with oil from 10 Vitamin E capsules and oil from 5 Vitamin A capsules. Apply this mixture on the affected part of your skin until it is fully absorbed. Repeat this process every day and after some time you will notice that the stretch marks on your skin has started to disappear. Keep apply this method till you get a satisfying result.

2. Water

You will be marveled at the healing powers of water. Keeping your body well hydrated can help keep if off from skin problems. When your skin is well hydrated, this results in regular detoxification of your skin pores which restores elasticity of your skin and help you get rid of stretch marks.
Practice drinking 10 glasses of water daily to keep your skin well hydrated. This will help soften your skin and help maintain its elasticity. Avoid coffee, tea or soda as these things can cause dehydration of the skin which in turn can cause stretch marks to appear on your skin.

3. Sugar

Are you surprised to see sugar on the list of methods to remove stretch marks from your skin? Natural white sugar is one of the best methods to remove stretch marks from the skin. Sugar exfoliates the skin.
Sugar can be used to remove stretch marks from the skin and the method is an easy one. Simply mix a teaspoon of raw sugar with some almond oil and a few drops of lemon juice. Mix it well and apply it on the areas of your body with stretch marks, rub it gently for at least 10 minutes every day before taking a bath.
You will be amazed at the results you will get within a month. Keep practicing this until you obtain a satisfying result.

4. Olive Oil

There are important nutrients and antioxidants that can help improve various skin problems such as stretch marks in Olive Oil.
Massage the affected part of your skin with warm Olive oil to improve the blood circulation and reduce the stretch marks on this part of your skin. Leave it for an hour, so the Vitamin A, D and E present in it can be absorbed by the skin.
Keep your skin moisturized especially at nights with a mixture of Olive oil with vinegar and water. Apply is to your skin before going to bed at night. This will help keep your skin moisturized and also exfoliate your skin.

5. Potato Juice

There are vitamins and minerals present in Potato juice that can foster growth and restoration of the skin cells. Slice a medium-sized potato into thick slices and use the slices to rub on the stretch marks on your skin gently for few minutes.  Ensure the liquid from the potato covers the affected areas of your skin, leave it to dry off for some time before washing it off with warm water.
You can practice any combination of these methods to get that stretch marks off your skin in no time. Remember that gaining and losing of weight over a short period of time is what causes these marks at first, so try and maintain a good body size to prevent the marks reappearing afterwards.