Me and my few friends want to start a new business, a small chicken hatchery in our country (Bangladesh). We have some basic idea to start a chicken hatchery. We also have technical know how to operate a chicken hatchery. A hatchery manager of one of the largest hatchery company in our country will help us to manage hatchery operation. We are also able to provide technical support to our customer in farm level as one of our friend is a veterinarian and have few years experience in the field of technical support for chicks (broiler and layer) in farm level. We have no problem in marketing of chicks. Our another friend has few years experience in day old chicks marketing.

But our main problem is we are not expert in other sides, like how to import hatchery machineries, parent stock management, financial etc. and many other problems that we even do not know yet. So, we need some suggestions before starting a hatchery. We also need some tips to make our business more profitable.

Please remember, we have all basic technical ideas of hatchery operation like selection of site, hatchery building design, selection of hatchery machines (hatcher, setter, chiller, air condition, compressor etc), medication, disinfection, worker management etc. Mainly we need financial suggestion, how to import hatchery equipments/machineries, how can we get hatching eggs (according to our country law, we can not import hatching eggs), and other hidden problems that still we do not know. We also need suggestions to make our hatchery profitable. If we feel any more problems, I will post later. Please help us to give your suggestion to start our chicken hatchary.

is there no government agency in bangladesh which can provide this kind of support? they may be more knowledgeable of this kind of information you are trying to seek here in the forums for a very country-specific requirement such as yours. look for some government agency dealing with livestocks. that will require some research on your part though since i'm not familiar with bangladesh government institutions... perhaps it could be a Department of Livestocks, or some other name. they can better advise you on matters of equipment acquisition, and related issues relevant to your business of choice.

on the business side, isn't it a bit risky to be undertaking this chicken hatchery business with the existing concerns on bird flu which are featured in the news lately? is there no particular risk in your area, or nearby communities on this matter? it could dampen your business if you started it and then realize this was overlooked. that's one way of losing money, after initial investment in buying machineries is done. it may not be viable then if your business is hit with an outbreak. you don't want to go bankrupt at the very beginning, although i will agree any business is a risk. just cover your bases so you can avoid the pitfalls of failure.

as it is, your government can better advise you on such concerns. just find the right agency, and the right people to advise you. tell us how it goes, and good luck!

If you can't import eggs, first off you will need to find a local sourse for them. I'm not sure fertile eggs would respond well to importation anyway, as they would have specific handling requirnments which may be difficult in transportation. And since most commercial egg producers raise eggs for consumption, they do not want fertile eggs to sell for eating. And adding a rooster to the flocks would increase costs of egg production, as it would be feeding an extra non egg producing mouth. It may be difficult to find even a local sourse, unless you used small back yar producers, in which case your supplys would be unstable and possibly not of good quality. (hatching eggs take special care in their handling)

Would it be possible to have your own flock, or find a partner who would be willing to take on that part of the opperation?

Maybe you can consult about the potential problems with some departments or agencies in your country. Since there might be not so many Bangladeshi on this website and there might be enormous differences in laws or policies in various countries, so it is not likely for the members of TRAP17 to provide appropriate suggestions which can apply to your situation in Bangladesh.

Or you can visit to some mature companies in this field, or be hired be such a company for a time that you can obtain a mature comprehension on every aspect of the operation of such a company. It is always believed that if you wanna succeed in operating your own business, you'd better work for others' business for a time. From this angle, you can also contact some people who are on the manage board in a certain company and hire him/her as your consultant.

Best wishes for your new business.