Livestock farming or production in Nigeria started booming not long ago, before people rely mostly on bush meat and cow meat but now we see Nigerian venturing into different kind of livestock farming such as Goat, Poultry, Sheep and others, this is due to the gap in the supply and demand of meat.
To further handle this demand livestock farming courses that will train animal producer have been introduce into university curriculum and it is proven to be effective as we have many Vet and Animal producer putting the knowledge acquire and their effort into use, therefore putting meat on your table.
Perhaps due to its profitability people of deferent field has also tap into it, with five female and one male animal you are good to go, you can become a millionaire from there and expand your farm later on.
With the bundle of course and resource about animal production on the internet it is hard for people to choose a particular niche to focus on I’m sure that is one of the reason you click this article; well, we have writing the is piece with that in mind and other question you might have.
Talking about focusing on one niche of production it is important if you are starting as a newbie who does not have theoretical or practical knowledge, start from one and as you grow you can expand your farm.
What is livestock farming?
Livestock farming is the rearing or keeping of animal with the purpose of selling them or selling their by product. In short it is husbandry; you will produce all the needs of your animal ranges from food to their health care and in turns they will provide you with cash.
Feed formulation
Feed or feeding covers over 70% of the cost of production in animal farming, you will want to know the best feed for your animal and how to prepare it to reduce cost.
I don’t advice you to start feed formulation as a newbie it will get to a stage when you will know that it is time to start formulating your own feed. Either buying feed or formulating feed makes sure it is quality; livestock farming is garbage in garbage out.
As stated above animal production does not only end with meat though that is want many think in Nigeria, you can get a lot from them apart from meat such as leather, fur, bone, blood that can be use to produce many things.
Each animal reared in Nigeria has their own way of rearing them, you need to know the rearing side and business side of the niche you are going into this will give you fast business growth all of this will be dealt with in this article stay tune.
Types of livestock farming in Nigeria
You can also call it niche of livestock farming in Nigeria; anyway it is the same thing. Below are the types of livestock farming you can engage in Nigeria and a little info about them.
Poultry farming
Poultry such as Chicken, Duck, Turkey and other flight capable animal is the most lucrative of all the livestock farming in Nigeria, you can have 50% profit margin in six weeks or more, and you know what it is always in demand, you will always have buyer to buy your birds either processed or live.
It look good, right? Let me say the bitter side, as poultry is very lucrative so it is also risky, of course where there is more money there is bound to be risk; all your birds can be wipe out suddenly by diseases like Newcastle and you know what most of the time you have little say prevention because it can come from hatchery.
The only solution to this is to buy your day old from reputable hatchery and create biosecurity measure.
Types of animal under poultry in Nigeria
Chicken, Duck, geese, Turkey, Quail and others
System of rearing birds in Nigeria
There are three system you can use to rear you birds and they are
Free range/ Extensive
In free range you will leave your birds to roam about freely, you don’t provide any thing just buy and leave them and wait for mature date to crop them. I’m sure you will not like that therefore it is not good for commercial production.
Semi intensive
Here farmer try to provide some basic necessities for their birds they can provide morning food and some covered area where the animal can graze and at least feel safe from harm.
This is still not good in fact you cant rear Broiler which carries over 80% of demand with this system.
Intensive system
Here you provide all the basic necessities, feed them regularly, water them and in turn they will provide whatever you need which is cash, this is the best system for commercial production.
Product from poultry
Major product you can get from poultry is meat; it covers over 90% in poultry farming. Other product you can sell are manure (droppings from birds), intestine/oval (feed for fish),
Goat and sheep farming
Goat and sheep farming is another popular farming in Nigeria, it is very lucrative and easy to start.
It is predominant in the north because Tsetse flies otherwise called sleeping sickness affect them in the south but not withstanding there is goat and sheep that adapt well to southern region which is called African dwarf goat and African dwarf sheep but they have a small body and not really good for business but you can cross breed it with better performing breed in the north such as kano brown, Sokoto red, Uda (sheep) and others.
Like in poultry they also have three system of rearing, which are extensive, intensive and semi intensive
Since we have dealt with that in the poultry section replace poultry with sheep or goat and you will understand the system.
Product form goat and sheep farming in Nigeria
You can get the following product
Meat, milk, manure, bone, blood and others
Cattle farming
Cattle farming is a big man business, it is capital intensive well that is if you want to engage in ranching, if you want to do it like Fulani nomadic farmer you need less capital but I’m sure you will not want to enter into trouble lol.
Cattle farming is very profitable one of the reason we did not list it as first is because it takes time to yield result at least it will take you 1 year before you can sell your cow or see offspring form it, but if done right you are in money because it is high in demand, in fact it is the most demand meat in Nigeria.
If you are in the South please provide a well secure place with good drainage system and chemical that will chase tsetse fly away failure to do so you are knocking on huge loss.
Product you can get from cattle
Meat
Milk
Bone
Manure, viscera, hides, horn
Pig farming
Pig farming is also lucrative and can be easily started if you go to places like Oke Aro you can easily rent a pen and start your farm also you will see people that will help you with any problem, it is the best place for newbie once you acquired knowledge
I will advise you to move to a new place to prevent loss due to disease which clustering can cause.
Its meat is not so demanded like other animal in Nigeria due to religious believe but it acceptability is rising and you even have option to export your pig if local market is frustrating you, it can fetch you a lot of money if done right.
Product from pig farming
Pork, blood, bone
Snail farming
Snail farming is one of the less costly to start farming in Nigeria and it is very profitable such that you can get your capital back in no time. The only problem now is that it acceptability is going down people don’t eat it as much as before.
I will advise you to take it gently with this farming and watch the industry trend. If your plan is to rear, process, cook and sell, you will have some hedge because one of the main problem why people don’t eat snail anymore is because it is hard to process and turn into food.
Products from snail farming
Snail is a new domesticated animal in fact most of the Universities in Nigeria do not have it in their curriculum, research is still ongoing on different product you can get from it, right now you can only get the meat and sometimes the shell if you are leaving close to demand.
Rabbit farming
Rabbit like snail is also new in Nigeria, we don’t know what the industry will turn into though there is little surge in demand for rabbit meat but it just a one day craving until it become normal meat like cow meat then it can be consider a good business.
With all been said there are business that buy rabbit meat in bulk in Nigeria, business such as restaurant, beer pallour, club and joint etc. it is now a task for you as a snail farmer to locate and sell to them.
Product from rabbit
Major products you can get are meat and urine (act as fertilizer)
Challenges of livestock farming in Nigeria
Like any other venture livestock farming also have is own problem and they are
Disease
Diseases in livestock cannot be over emphasize it can cripple your business if measures are not put in place measures like
Buying stock animal form reputable farm
Putting biosecurity measure in place like disinfecting your surroundings, providing footbath, blocking all rat hole, preventing visitor from entering your farm.
Hiring people with knowledge of animal handling
Medicating and vaccinating at the proper time
Staff
Another problem is employee, it is hard to get farm attendant no body want to stay in the farm where they will lack basic necessities of life and when you get them, there still a fear of them stealing your animal, yes it is possible farm attendant can steal your animal right in front of you.
The solution is to hire ethnic group like Egede, Idoma and the likes, they are used to farm work as long as you give them salary and food they will work and on the issue of stealing, put proper mechanism in place that will prevent that; you should know the number of animal in your farm and the rate of mortality to be expected.
Market
There are some livestock in Nigeria tgatvus hard to market, animka like rabbit, sanil grass cutter, is hard to sell in some part of Nigeria that is why you need to do your fwasibikty study before you embark on livestock farming, no which animka is selling in your location.
Farm location
If is getting hard to secure farm land that is closer to your target market or processor you have to go far into the bush and if development meet you there you will still have to leave that place for people, so bad.
The solution is to locate your farm in a farm settlement no one will chase you out and it will be forever use as farm.
Security
Since most farms are situated in the bush security cannot be adequate, bad egg can come with gun to cart your animal away and thats if they did not kidnap or kill you.
The solution is still the farm settlement, there will be a lot of people like you there and you will have a one voice concerning security.
Which livestock is the most profitable in Nigeria?
The most profitable livestock farming in Nigeria is poultry it is high in demand and can be started small, you can get more than 60% profit margin if everything is done right and it does not take long from 6 weeks onward you can crop your birds.
But the more money the more the risk, it is very risky but if manage well, you will always smile to bank.
How can I start livestock farming in Nigeria?
Do feasibility study and write business plan
Acquire knowledge
Buy or rent farmland
Buy stock animal
Check them for any diesel and treat if there is any
Rear and breed them
Market it to you target customer you found during feasibility study
Make your money and re invest it
Tips to succeed in livestock farming in Nigeria
Treat your staff well it will prevent stealing
Medicate and vaccinate on time
Do feasibility study before stocking nay kind od animal
Formulate your feed
