How I Plan to Start a Chicken Farm in Uganda With Less Than 100,000 UGX

 I am not a farmer yet. But I will be.

In twelve months, I leave the UAE and return to Uganda. My goal is simple: build Unified Farm BLM into a business that feeds my family and sends Basuuta and Muyingo to school without worry.

I have spent months researching, calling farmers back home, and calculating every shilling. Here is the honest budget I have put together for my first 50 broiler chickens.

The Real Costs (Everything Included)

 

Day-old chicks (50): 25,000 UGX

 

Chicken feed (starter, 4 weeks): 35,000 UGX

 

Wood shavings / bedding: 5,000 UGX

 

Drinkers and feeders: 10,000 UGX

 

Brooder heat (charcoal lamp): 5,000 UGX

 

Medicines / vaccines: 8,000 UGX

 

TOTAL: 88,000 UGX

What I Learned the Hard Way

Mistake #1: I almost bought 100 chicks because it "sounded better." A farmer in Mukono told me: "Start small, learn the death rate first."

Mistake #2: I thought feed was feed. It is not. Starter feed has 22-24% protein. Mix them up and your chickens grow slow or die.

Mistake #3: I ignored vaccines. In Uganda, Newcastle disease can kill your entire flock in 48 hours. The vaccine costs almost nothing. The loss costs everything.

The Profit Math

If 40 chickens survive out of 50, and I sell each at 15,000 UGX, that's 600,000 UGX. Minus costs, profit is roughly 500,000 UGX in 6-7 weeks.

What I Still Do Not Know

 Where exactly to sell in bulk near my village

 Whether to target Kampala restaurants or local markets

 How to store feed so rats do not steal it

If you know these answers, tell me in the comments. I am learning out loud.

This is Unified Farm BLM. Three names. One dream. Zero shortcuts.

— Lutwama, Basuuta, and Muyingo

chicken farming, Uganda, broiler chickens, beginner farming, budget farming