Marketing of your day old chicks:

The most important aspect to running a successful poultry business is to market your day old chicks effectively. Most entrepreneurs fail in business because of a lack of marketing. It is therefore highly important to get the word out there that you are selling day old chicks. A good starting point will be to start marketing within your local community and surrounding farms. You can print flyers promoting your day old chicks and distribute them amongst potential buyers. If you are planning on selling a large amount of day old chicks you can place an advert in a local newspaper or even in a national farming magazine. Remember you are looking to find customers who will be buying on a continuous basis from you. Ideally you would want 5 to 10 contract customers who will sign agreements with you that they will be buying a fixed quantity of chicks on a weekly basis from you. In this way you are guaranteed that your chicks will be sold before you even produce them!

Who will I sell to?

Your main customers will be entrepreneurs who will grow the day old chicks into fully grown birds. It is important to sell day old chicks at a fair price to your customers. Day old chicks can be sold for between R5.00 and R8.00 per chick – depending on your market and location.

Cash flow:

In the beginning stage most of your clients will be cash clients. It is wise not to extend credit to first time customers but rather have them pay cash. Put as much money back into the business by spending profits on further marketing and equipment in order to expand and grow your business. If you took out a loan to buy equipment or land it will be wise to repay the loan as quickly as possible as this will save you money in the long run.

Packaging and transportation of chicks

Ideally you do not want to make use of a third party to transport your live chicks as they will be more susceptible to dying in the transportation process. Your best option will be to make use of your own transport and to personally deliver them to your customer. Alternatively you can get the customers to collect the day old chicks directly from you. Day old chicks must be placed in a carton box with ventilation holes all round. Make sure not to overcrowd the box as they might suffocate each other. Make sure they have enough space to move around freely.

Surehatch can provide you with all the information on how to start your own successful poultry business. Please contact us on 072 231 5498 or email sales@surehatch.co.za if you wish to start making money from poultry.