Broiler poultry farm

Raising day-old chicks to live birds in about a month. Farm-gate prices swung from Tk 110 to Tk 198 a kg during 2026 against a production cost of roughly Tk 140.

Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
Version 1

Starting capital: ৳1,50,000 – ৳6,00,000
Manpower: 1 – 3 people
First sale: 32 – 60 days
Break-even: 6.5 – 13.5 months
Kind of work: Farm · Hard

About the business

Take day-old chicks, feed them for a little over a month, and sell live birds. What the farmer controls is labour and cleanliness; the two numbers that decide the result - the chick price and the feed price - he does not control, and both move several times a year. A day-old broiler chick was Tk 22-25 in December 2025, Tk 30-40 in January and Tk 80-85 by mid-February 2026, even though the government maximum was Tk 69; by June the same chick was Tk 15. Feed only goes one way: on 7 September 2026 a 50 kg sack of broiler starter and grower went from Tk 3,300 to Tk 3,450, and feed is about 80 percent of a farm's total cost. The selling side is just as unstable. Live broiler at the farm was Tk 180-198 a kg in March 2026 and Tk 110-120 in June after Qurbani Eid, against a production cost of about Tk 140. One farmer in Mirsarai lost Tk 70,000 on a single batch of 1,000 birds. Dhaka retail on 15 September 2026 was Tk 180-200, up 7 percent in a year, but the farmer does not get that price - he gets the farm gate. Only someone who can absorb two losing batches in a row has a real chance of staying in this.

Unit economics

Item	Range	Evidence
Monthly working capital	৳15,000 – ৳85,000	Market quote
Selling price	৳110 – ৳198 / kg	Market quote
Variable cost	৳140 / kg	Market quote
Gross margin	-27% – 29%	Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue	32 – 60 days	Editorial estimate
Break-even time	6.5 – 13.5 months	Editorial estimate
Cash cycle	0 – 1 days	Editorial estimate
Waste / loss	3% – 8%	Editorial estimate
Daily capacity	35 – 150	Editorial estimate

What you need to start

A brooder with gas or electric heating, feeders, drinkers, fans, husk or sawdust litter, and a weighing scale.Equipment
Day-old chicks and broiler feed. From 7 September 2026 a 50 kg sack of broiler starter and grower is Tk 3,450, with some specialised feeds up to Tk 3,675.Starting stock
Farm registration at the Upazila Livestock Officer's office. In Mirsarai only about 400 of some 2,000 farms are registered, so registration exists but most farmers skip it. Ask your own upazila office for the fee and validity.Licence
Trade licence from the union parishad, municipality or city corporation: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type.Licence
Brooding, vaccination, heat management and spotting disease. The first week's care and hot-weather management decide the mortality.Skill
A hatchery or chick dealer, a feed dealer, and the live-bird traders who come to the gate. Chick prices are set by a handful of companies.Supplier
A shed on dry raised ground away from housing, with water and electricity. Without cross-ventilation birds die at midday in the heat.Workspace

How the work is done

1Put the shed on dry raised ground a little away from housing, with water and electricity nearby and proper cross-ventilation.
2Register the farm with the Upazila Livestock Officer and take a trade licence. Many farms stay unregistered, and that puts them outside government advice, vaccination support and any relief.
3Fix a feed dealer before you take chicks, and get it in writing: how much extra a sack costs on credit and by when it must be cleared.
4Decide the day you take chicks by the price, not by impatience. Chicks at Tk 80-85 do not pay unless the bird sells at Tk 180.
5Disinfect the shed and warm the brooder before the chicks arrive. Most of the deaths happen in the first seven days.
6Get the vaccination schedule from the upazila livestock office and follow it by date, and write down the day's deaths in a register.
7In hot weather cool the shed at midday with fans, wet sacking and water, and arrange beforehand that air does not stop when the power goes.
8Record the sacks of feed used and the weight gained every day. The ratio between those two numbers tells you early whether the batch is going to pay.
9Take quotes from at least three traders before selling, and consider selling in parts rather than emptying the shed in one day.
10After each batch empty the shed completely, wash it, disinfect it and leave it idle for some days. Disease carried from the last batch into the new chicks finishes the whole lot.

Seasons

JanNormal
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JunLow
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DecLow

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Where it works well

Strong fitChattogram · Mirsarai upazila alone has around 2,000 farms, a working farm association, and heavy trader movement along the Dhaka-Chattogram highway.
Strong fitGazipur · Next to Dhaka, so traders and arat buyers come daily and chick and feed dealers are close at hand.
Strong fitMymensingh · A dense belt of farms and feed mills along the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, with easy delivery into Dhaka.
Strong fitNarsingdi · Farmers in Shibpur sold at Tk 180-198 a kg before Ramadan; being close to the Dhaka market keeps prices comparatively good.
PossibleBogura · The northern trading hub, where arats and transport are easy to find, though local prices run below Dhaka.
PossibleCumilla · On the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, so birds can go to either the Dhaka or the Chattogram market.
PossibleDinajpur · A maize-growing area so feed raw material is nearby, but sending live birds to distant markets is costly.
PossibleRangpur · Farm-gate prices in the north fell to Tk 110-120 a kg in June 2026; being far from the big consumer markets, a price crash hits harder here.
PossibleTangail · Sits where the Dhaka-Mymensingh and northern highways meet, and birds reach Dhaka in a few hours.

Risks and cautions

HighDemand: Selling below cost is routine here. The farm-gate price was Tk 180-198 a kg in March 2026 and Tk 110-120 in June after Qurbani Eid, against a production cost of about Tk 140. For weeks after Qurbani households still have stored meat and chicken demand falls away. One Mirsarai farmer lost Tk 70,000 on a single batch of 1,000 birds.
HighDependency: The chick price is out of the farmer's hands and can triple in two months: Tk 22-25 in December 2025, Tk 30-40 in January and Tk 80-85 by mid-February, sold above the government maximum of Tk 69. The president of the Mirsarai poultry farm association says four or five companies control it. By June the same chick was Tk 15.
HighWorking capital: Feed is about 80 percent of the cost and its price only rises. On 7 September 2026 a 50 kg sack of broiler starter and grower went from Tk 3,300 to Tk 3,450, Tk 2-3 a kg, with maize up from Tk 29-30 to Tk 49 a kg. Most farmers take feed on credit, so two losing batches leave a large debt to the dealer - one farmer's had reached Tk 600,000.
MediumCompliance: The government set a maximum day-old chick price of Tk 69, yet chicks sold at Tk 80-85 in February 2026, and the upazila livestock officer said the decision is taken centrally and is out of his hands. On the other side, an unregistered farm does not appear on any government support list - only 400 of some 2,000 farms in Mirsarai are registered.

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