How to Start Animal Feed Business in Nigeria

Do you want to become an animal feed distributor in Nigeria? Or do you want to start a poultry feed mill in Nigeria? Read this article to the end. At the end of this article, you will know to start an animal feed business in Nigeria. Whether as a distributor or retailer, the capital needed to start, how to know if the animal feed business is profitable or not, whether you need a business plan, and more.

Is Animal Feed Business Profitable?

There are many reasons why the animal feed business is a profitable business. One of these major reasons is that business caters to animals ensuring they eat good nutritious foods. As animals are next to humans in the other of food needs henceforth, a poultry feed mill is very important to keep all pets and poultry animals alive.

Another reason why the business is lucrative is that there are other existing businesses in the business. So you can either settle for one out of these businesses or go into all as a wholesaler. This choice totally depends on you. Some businesses under the animal feed business are:

A. Dog food business

B. Cat food business 

C. Rabbit food business

D. Chicken feed/poultry feed business 

E. Livestock feed business and more

Poultry feed is the most popular type of animal feed business in Nigeria.

Capital Needed to Start Animal Feed Business

The capital needed to start an animal feed business depends on so many things. It depends on if you want to go into the animal feed business as a manufacturer i.e starting a poultry feed mill or you want to start as a wholesaler (distributor) or a retailer. If you want to start as a manufacturer of animal feed you will need a capital of about ₦5,000,000.

To start as a wholesaler or distributor you will need a capital of ₦2,000,000 and as a retailer, you will need a capital of ₦1,000,000 or less. The capital also depends on the type of animal feed business you want to go into. For example if you want to be a distributor for poultry feeds like top feed, chikun feed, or any other type of poultry feed.

Livestock Feed Production Process

Just case you are wondering how the livestock feed production process goes, This is the step-by-step process below.

1. Cleaning of the raw materials

2. Weighing of the raw materials

3. Grinding of raw materials

4. Batching and mixing

5. Palletizing

6. Cooling

7. Screening

8. Packaging of animal feed

9. Storing

10. Dispatching

Equipment Needed for Animal Feed Production

Below are the equipment needed for animal feed production in Nigeria or anywhere else in the world.

1. Animal feed batching and mixing system

2. Grinding equipment

3. sifting machine

4. Extruder

5. Expander

6. Conditioner

7. Palleting machine

8. Packing and storage machine

9. Cleaning and aspiration machine

10. Animal feed-making machine

11. Fish feed-making machine

12. Warehouse for production

13. Power generator

How to Start Animal Feed Business in Nigeria

Here are steps on how to start an animal feed business in Nigeria.

1. Write a Business Plan

The animal feed business is very broad so it is very important to know clearly which type of animal feed business you want to go into. After deciding this, you need to write an animal feed business plan. A business plan is very important for your animal feed business if you are going into the business on a large scale.

You can write the business plan yourself using online templates or you can get a qualified business plan writer to write it for you. Contact us via [email protected] if you want us to write for you.

2. Get the Necessary Capital

Capital is very important in your feed business. You need capital to rent a shop, buy equipment, and buy your animal feed. I have mentioned the capital you will need for any kind of animal feed business you want to start above. You can get the capital needed for your business using any valuable means as long as you are not borrowing to start.

Your business plan will guide you on what you need for your feed business. It will also let you know how you spend your capital in getting all the things needed.

3. Rent Shop or Land for Business

Depending on whether you want to be a distributor for poultry feed (top feed or chikun) or you want to start poultry feed mill as a manufacturer. You will need either a shop or land. As a distributor, you will need a big shop and as a manufacturer, you will need an available warehouse or land.

There are few things you need to pay attention to when renting a shop for your animal feed business. 

A. You need to make sure your shop is rodent proof. You need to block all holes and access that can allow rats to come into your shop to eat your feed. You can buy a cat and put it in your shop to keep rats at bay. Rodents are not good for the poultry feed business. They will eat your animal feed and make holes in their packaging.

B. You need to make sure your shop is also waterproof so that when rain falls raindrops will not enter your shop to spoil your feed. The solution to this is to carefully check the roofing of the shop and make sure there are no leakages.

C. And lastly, you need to get shipping crates to floor your shop. This is to make sure the dampness of the floor does not spoil your animal feeds till they are bought.

4. Buy the Equipment Needed

There are different equipment needed for an animal feed business. This equipment could vary from large to small equipment or from most important to least important equipment. These are different equipment needed for an animal feed business according to what I saw in my friend’s chicken feed shop.

These are:

A. Shipping crates

B. Scale

C. Shelves

D. Measuring cups

5. Start Buying and Selling Feed

As an animal feed distributor, you will need to order your animal feeds from the producers “Premier Feed Mills”. For example, as a Top feed distributor, you will need to order your feed from the manufacturers of Top feed. It usually takes them about two weeks so you must always place your order beforehand so it can be brought on time – after ordering and the feeds have been delivered. 

The next step for you is to start selling your animal feeds. As an animal feed seller, you can sell your feed online or directly to your customers. To get customers to buy our animal feeds easily, you can write proposals to all the poultry farms around your shop to come to buy poultry feeds from you at better prices.

6. Attracting Customers to Feed Business

There are different ways you can attract customers to your animal feed business. I have mentioned some earlier but I will go into details by mentioning more here. You can advertise and sell your animal feeds on Jiji.ng – Jiji is a free platform where you can sign up with your name and the products you sell.

Once you have signed up, customers will be able to notice you online and place orders for animal feeds. There are other e-commerce websites where you can also market and sell your feeds online. Some of them are free but some are at a commission. 

Conclusion

The animal feed business is very lucrative it is just like the foodstuffs business. What you sell cannot be ignored because it caters to animals. Animal lovers, owners of pets, and those that are into the poultry business on a large scale will always buy from you. However, the business demands time and attention.

Do this and as time goes by you will see the business make good profits.

Image Credit: Chinagoabroad.com

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