Broilers vs Layers Farming: Which is More Profitable?

Introduction

So you want to start a chicken farm but are confused about which you should venture into amidst several types, but you have decided to choose between just two, Broilers or Layers? Which should it be?

Broilers vs Layers seems like a battle of two of the most popular and lucrative types of chicken birds.

Poultry farming is one business that is so lucrative that anyone regardless of age, religion, gender can venture into it. As that is the case, poultry farming has a wide range of birds that you can invest in or even start as a beginner. There are different types of poultry birds you can start on your farm but the most common ones are chicken, turkey, and duck.

Chicken farming also has various types you can start with over 50 breeds you can choose from.

In this article, I will be taking you through two of the most common chicken types that you can start which are broilers and layers.

For anyone thinking of going into chicken farming, then this piece of information will help you determine which of these businesses will be good for you as a beginner.

Definition

Layer chicken birds are the type of birds that are raised mainly for egg production and at the end of their production period (typically 72 weeks) they are sold for meat consumption. Layer birds begin to start laying at 18 weeks and continually do that to 72 weeks when they become old layers. Layer birds come in brown and black colors.

Broilers (also known as Gallus Gallus Domesticus) are a type of chicken farming raised purposely for meat consumption. They are usually raised for a short period. Broilers come mostly in white colors.

Broilers Vs Layers Chicken Farming: Factors To Consider

When you decide to start a chicken farming business, there are factors that you need to consider before sealing your decisions about either raising broilers or layer birds. These factors include but are not limited to:

Start-Up Cost

The first thing before starting any business is to determine how much it will cost you to put things together. The cost of starting either layer bird farming or broilers chicken farming will defer because of the time frame for raising either of the two types of chicken.

For example, the initial cost of raising 500-layer chicken birds will be way higher than that of broilers because of the equipment that will be bought. Equipment like the cage is essential at the beginning except if you want to practice the free-range or deep-liter type of chicken farming.

The equipment that will be needed to raise 500 layer chicken birds will probably include but not be limited to:

1. Drinkers
2. Feeders
3. Cages (At least 5)
4. Feeds
5. Water tank

This will cost a lot, especially the cages that will be purchased. But if you are to be raising broilers, you don’t need to buy cages to keep them because it is not necessary.

One better thing about raising broiler chicken is the fact that you can recoup your money in a space of 6 to 8 weeks of buying.

If you are to make your decisions based on the cost of investment, then I will advise going into raising broilers rather than raising layers.

To know the types of poultry equipment you need, read this article.

Management

Another factor to consider when trying to decide on raising either broilers or layer chicken birds is the management of the birds. One key reason why most people fail in the chicken farming business is the lack of good management on the farm.

For layer chicken birds, the management needs special and close attention. The amount you are to spend on managing layer birds for at least 18 weeks before they start producing is enough to feed and manage broilers for two production cycles.

Another management skill needed for layer chicken birds is how well you are going to take care of the birds. The cost of medication, vaccination, and personnel management is high. This is one reason why people prefer to go into broiler raising than layer chicken.

Profits

The next factor in the process of determining the type of chicken farming you want to go into is the profitability of the business. Both types of chicken farming are profitable depending on how you look at it.

For broilers chicken, you can make a profit from it every six weeks which means that you can raise broilers as much as 8 times every year and make money.

If you’re a beginner that wants to make money easily and maybe ready to spill out some money every few weeks without being concerned about the duration, you can decide to start with broilers.

If you’re someone that is patient about taking out profit, then going into layers chicken farming is what you should consider going into.

As a beginner in chicken farming, most people go into starting a layers farm, just because it brings daily income. One thing people don’t know is that before the 18 – 24 weeks when they start laying fully (at least 80%), you would have spent some money feeding and vaccinating the chicks if they bought point of lay birds (14 – 16 weeks birds).

If you are someone skeptical about buying ready-to-lay birds for factories and you want to raise your birds yourself, you will be extra patient for a period of 18 weeks before you will tangible results.

Personally, if I’m going to advise anyone, I will say both types of chicken farming are profitable depending on how you want to look at it.

Risks

The next factor to consider when comparing broilers and layers is the risks involved in both businesses.

There is no business that brings money that doesn’t have its own risk. As they the saying “the lower the risk, the lower the profit and the higher the risk, the higher the money that will be made”, so it is in poultry farming.

People usually say it is riskier to invest in layer birds than it is in broiler farming. Why is it so? Their argument is that you’re only going to spend 6 weeks raising broilers chicken, so your risks are minimal compared to layer birds that you are going to spend months (probably 24 months) to raise even though it’s bringing you daily income.

A simple outbreak of diseases can make all the money spent on raising your birds to go down the drain and imagine they have started laying eggs. It might be difficult to recover from the loss if this happens to anyone.

Unlike broilers chicken, even if something happens to you, you can easily bounce back and do another batch of breeding in a space of 4 weeks and make your money.

For example, if you have customers that buy chicken from you and something happens to you, you can easily tell them to give you a period of 4 weeks and you can quickly run some things to make your birds big within that period. But for layer birds, you can’t do that, once there is an outbreak, they won’t produce eggs for you, and also you might not be able to sell the birds to anyone.

So as a beginner that wants to invest in any of the business, if risks involved is one of the requirements for investing, my advice is to put your money into broilers chicken.

Market

The next factor to consider when deciding which type of chicken bird to start is the market for both.

Are broiler birds more marketable than layer birds? Well, I will leave you to decide because there are factors that contribute to this point.

Location: Before even setting out to start your business, I believe you would have done some market research about the types of birds that sell most in the area and also which birds customers want but find difficult to get. All these will help in your decision-making when you want to start either a broiler farm or a layers farm.

There are various places where you can market your birds depending on which one you are raising. There will always be a market for both layers and broilers chicken.

Some of the places where you can sell your broilers to are:

• Open market
• Restaurants
• Hotels and so on.

On the second look, places, where you can sell your layers bird products (egg), are:

• Open market
• Schools
• Eatery and restaurants

The list is endless, so you can just look around you, do your own research, and decide where and how you want to sell your products.

Conclusion

When making a decision, I always advise that you do your research because raising chickens and investing in this type of business goes beyond the four points mentioned above.

DO YOUR RESEARCH, ask questions, and pay for consultation before making your final decision to avoid stories that touch

If you want to diversify your risk, then you can venture into investing your money into both broilers and layer chicken farming.

With this, you can have a taste of both sides (the good and bad of it), don’t forget you will not always have a smooth run when raising your chickens.

Enjoy and cheers to your success.