Starting a poultry farm involves simple but a lot of efforts and care. For you to be successful, you have to be diligent in the business just like any other business and be ready to take care of these chickens the way you normally take care of small a child, because they are not like adult humans that they can talk to you when they need help.
The Housing: Depending on the size of the farm, you will need to build or construct a comfortable house for them. It should have enough ventilation while still providing warmth and protection from rodents like rats and snakes. Make sure the environment is cleared of bushes or anything that might cause harm. I would prefer a small constructed house that you can carry when you decide to relocate to another area or if you have a permanent place to start it, always try out something small before moving on to making a large poultry farm because you need to gain experience in the small one before handling a big farm. I have written on the cost of constructing a small poultry house and the nature of the house with pictures, you may care to check the link for details.
The Chickens: be sure to get the correct chickens, if you have never done poultry farming before, it is good if you always start out with something small so that you will not end up doing the wrong thing. Sometimes, the people selling the chickens will sell the bad breeds. You could be sold cockerels instead of broilers, hence you have to be careful and look out for people that are trustworthy.
The Vaccines and Feeding: Chickens are being vaccinated from time to time against diseases that may kill them or make them unproductive. It is good you make room for this and always know the vaccines that should be given to them at the right time. Also, you need to feed them very well because these chickens eat more than termites. If you starve them, it will affect them especially layers. Layers egg production will be affected and the size of broilers depends on their feeding. The more continuous their feeding, the greater they become in size. It is always good that you estimate the number of bags it will take them for a specific time and then make available the money for such feeding so that you will not starve them.
Marketing: No one starts out anything without expecting profit, so try to start the marketing immediately you start the growing of the chickens. This could be by word of mouth, try to let people know about it. It could also be by printing of adverts on paper and sticking them, or if it is large enough, you could go on air such as online web adverts, Bill boards, newspapers, television channels and radio stations.
Diligence and Manners: To be successful, you have to know how to deal with different people and how to talk gracefully to them. Do not look down on anyone especially those people you think are not buying enough or plenty. Someone must not buy plenty before you respect them. Whether they buy it or not, do not mock them or get angry, because they could help grow your business by telling others even unknowingly or by them keeping quiet, they have help you by not tarnishing your business or your image. So always relate well with people.
You have to be diligent also in the sense that, when you start the business, after the first set have been sold out, do not waste time in starting the next set, if you waste time, people will see you as being unreliable and would prefer to go to places that have regular supply. So whenever you sell them, make sure to add more chickens from the profit you make so that the farm could keep growing. Try to be available always when people come to the farm and not that costumers would have to look for you; it is a bad to start something that you not give it your time, it will only lead to failure.