This one I will show you here is not just sheep rearing but strategic ram rearing or ram fattening, to be more precise.
Many people rear sheep and rams, but few do it strategically, that is for a purpose and for a particular time.
The best time to sell your ram is during the Eldil- Kabir (Ileya festival). Until last year, I never knew a ram could go for as much as N150, 000.
I knew it because a friend bought. I was even told it could cost more.
The strategy is simple. Immediately after the next Eldil-Kabir ( Ileya), go get the kid lambs.
Now wait, not the female but the male. Do not mix fattening with breeding.
You want to feed them for the next festival and sell. Period. The mistake many of our livestock farmers make is to mix breeding and fattening. This is not the best practice, it is always good to specialize.
Now get about 20, hopefully in your father’s compound, if not go do it in your village, and bring them to the city to sell.
From my research, you cannot spend more than N12000 on each and that includes the seed cost to get them to the market.
There is a young man doing this job in an enclosed place with about 50 rams.
He has been doing this job for 5 years with no other job, and he is doing fine. He cannot but do fine.
Twenty-five thousand naira profit on a ram in 50 places is more than N1m.
To me, that is a clever way of making money.
Now do not talk of no money. Discuss this with your parents and tell them you will payback.
If you have been a wonderful chap, they will play along.
You can get their feed cheap from remnants and the bush. Since this is a job, to move around for free food should not be difficult.
MARKETING. No big deal. Ferry them to the market during the festival and you go home with your cash.
You can also make radio announcement on a station with high listeners.
Simple.
CAVEAT. You must talk to a vet. There are some drugs they give them to increase their conversion rate. Talk to the Fulani Man. Rearing these things is in their blood.
