How to start a poultry farming business
Chicken is the meat South Africans eat most, and eggs are on almost every table. That makes poultry one of the most popular farming businesses to start, on a backyard or a smallholding. It is also a business where small daily habits decide whether a batch makes money or loses it.
Why it is worth starting
Demand never stops: families, taverns, street food sellers, funerals, weddings and churches all buy chicken every week. Broilers grow fast, so you see your money back within weeks, not years. You can start with one small house and a few hundred birds, learn, and grow batch by batch.
Broilers or layers: two different businesses
- Broilers are raised for meat. Day-old chicks reach selling weight in roughly five to six weeks. Short cycles, quick cash, but you buy chicks and feed every cycle and must sell the whole batch on time.
- Layers are raised for eggs. Hens only start laying at around four to five months, then lay for many months. Slower to start and more money tied up before the first egg, but a steady daily product once they are laying.
Most new farmers start with broilers to learn the basics and build cash flow.
What the work really looks like
Chickens need you every day, including weekends and holidays. Morning and evening you check water, feed, temperature and ventilation, look for sick or dead birds, and record what you see. The first two weeks matter most: chicks need steady warmth, and a cold night can kill a batch. Between batches, the house is emptied, cleaned, disinfected and left to rest before new chicks arrive.
The numbers that decide your profit
- Feed is the biggest cost by far. Small wastage (spilled feed, rats, feeders set too low) quietly eats your margin.
- Feed conversion ratio (FCR): how many kilograms of feed it takes to grow one kilogram of chicken. The lower, the better. Weigh feed in and birds out every batch and you will know if you are improving.
- Mortality: the percentage of birds that die. Every dead bird is a chick and feed you paid for and cannot sell. Record deaths daily and look for patterns.
- Price per kilogram, not per bird: know your cost to produce a kilogram, then price above it.
The rules
- Selling slaughtered chicken to shops or the public needs the birds slaughtered at a registered abattoir under the Meat Safety Act. Many small farmers sell live birds instead, or use a local abattoir.
- Bird disease such as avian influenza is a controlled disease: suspected outbreaks must be reported to a state vet, and outbreaks can bring movement restrictions.
- Check your municipal zoning: keeping commercial numbers of poultry in a residential area is often not allowed.
Grey areas: know these before they find you
- Slaughtering at home. The Meat Safety Act allows slaughter for your own use or for cultural and religious purposes, but none of that meat may be sold. Slaughtering a few birds for a customer and selling the meat is where many small farmers cross the line without knowing it.
- Bird flu vaccination is only allowed under a government permit with strict biosecurity and monitoring conditions, and the first permits in 2025 went to large commercial producers. Small farmers should not assume they can vaccinate.
- Compensation for culled birds. If bird flu is confirmed and birds are culled, government compensation has not been guaranteed. Biosecurity is cheaper than losing a flock you will not be paid for.
What nobody tells you
- Sell before you buy chicks. The batch is ready on a fixed day. A bird kept past its selling age keeps eating, and your profit disappears week by week. Line up buyers before the chicks arrive.
- Biosecurity is your insurance. Limit visitors, use a footbath at the door, keep wild birds and rodents out, and never bring in birds of unknown origin. One infection can wipe out a batch.
- Electricity and heat are a risk. Have a backup plan for load shedding and cold nights during brooding: gas heaters or a generator.
- Buy chicks from a reputable hatchery with vaccinated, healthy stock. Cheap chicks with high mortality cost more than good ones.
- Records are not admin, they are the business. Without daily numbers you cannot tell a bad batch from a bad habit.
Your first 90 days
- Weeks 1 to 2: find your buyers (taverns, street vendors, neighbours, churches) and agree on prices and dates. Visit an established farmer and ask to see their routine.
- Weeks 3 to 4: prepare a small house: insulation, ventilation, heating, feeders, drinkers, a footbath. Book chicks from a reputable hatchery.
- Weeks 5 to 10: raise your first small batch, recording feed, deaths and weights daily.
- Weeks 11 to 13: sell, calculate your real cost per kilogram and FCR, clean the house, and decide what to change before batch two.
Your provincial Department of Agriculture's extension officers give free advice to new farmers. See also business funding and free business support, and list free on BizBoost so buyers can find you.
Common questions
How long does it take to raise broiler chickens?
Broilers usually reach selling weight in about five to six weeks from day-old chicks, depending on the breed, feed and the weight your buyers want.
Is poultry farming profitable in South Africa?
It can be, if you control feed wastage and mortality, know your cost per kilogram, and have buyers lined up before each batch is ready. Most losses come from birds kept too long, disease and poor records.
Can I sell slaughtered chickens from home?
Selling slaughtered chicken to shops or the public requires slaughter at a registered abattoir under the Meat Safety Act. Many small farmers sell live birds instead.