Country chicken farming: how to start (complete guide)

Country chickens can give a family eggs, meat and chicks to sell, from a yard and a simple night shelter, for little money. They still need care every day: a safe shelter at night, vaccination on time, and buyers when the birds are ready. This guide takes you from deciding whether country chicken farming suits you all the way to your first sale.

What this guide covers

• Country chicken farming for beginners: where to start — whether country chickens suit your space and time, backyard or small farm, how many birds to start with, registering your farm and where to learn.
• Country chicken breeds: choosing birds for eggs or meat — eggs, meat or both: country types and native breeds against improved varieties, and why broilers are a different business.
• Buying country chicks safely: hatcheries, health and fraud — day-old or brooded chicks, government hatcheries, health checks, paying safely and moving birds legally.
• Country chicken housing: shelter, space and litter — a night shelter or a deep-litter shed, space per bird, perches and nests, and keeping predators out.
• Brooding country chicks: heat, feed, first 6 weeks — the first 6 weeks: heat, the chick guard, first feed and water, and when chicks can go out.
• Country chicken feed: evening grain, home mix, water — foraging plus evening grain, feed by age, a home mix, greens and azolla, shell grit and clean water.
• Country chicken health: vaccination schedule and deworming — daily checks, warning signs, the vaccination calendar, free vaccination days, worms, lice and bird flu.
• Hatching country chicken eggs: broody hen, incubator — the breeding flock, hatching eggs, the broody hen, the 21 days to hatching, candling and small incubators.
• How to sell country chickens: age, price and safe payment — live birds, eggs and chicks: age and weight at sale, where to sell, a good ad and safe payment.
• Country chicken farming costs and income: a worked example — a worked example of costs and income for a backyard flock and a 250-bird unit.
• Country chicken subsidy, loans and insurance in 2026 — Tamil Nadu's 50% subsidy, the National Livestock Mission, the Kisan Credit Card, bank loans and insurance.

The short version

1. Check that it fits you. You need space for the birds to forage, someone at home every morning and evening, and buyers nearby. Start with 10–20 birds, the household flock ICAR-DPR suggests (ICAR-DPR). See is it right for you?
2. Choose birds for what you will sell. Country hens lay only 60–70 eggs a year but hatch their own chicks (TANUVAS); improved varieties lay more, but their hens rarely sit on eggs (TANUVAS). See Country chicken breeds: choosing birds for eggs or meat.
3. Build a safe night shelter first. Allow about 1 sq ft per meat bird and 2 sq ft per laying hen, behind mesh that snakes, mongooses and cats cannot get through (TANUVAS). See Country chicken housing: shelter, space and litter.
4. Buy healthy birds and keep them apart. Buy from a known hatchery or a seller you have met, never pay an advance for birds you have not seen, and keep new birds away from your flock for 30 days (Bird flu plan). See Buying country chicks safely: hatcheries, health and fraud and paying safely.
5. Brood young chicks. Day-old chicks need warmth, feed and protection; ICAR-DPR lets them out to forage at about 6 weeks, when improved birds weigh 650–750 g (ICAR-DPR). See Brooding country chicks: heat, feed, first 6 weeks.
6. Feed and water every day. Foraging birds need about 20–30 g of grain each evening and clean water every morning (ICAR-DPR). See Country chicken feed: evening grain, home mix, water.
7. Vaccinate and keep disease out. The calendar starts with Marek's disease on day 1 and Ranikhet at 5–7 days (ICAR-DPR); report sudden deaths within 24 hours. See the vaccination calendar.
8. Hatch your own chicks, and sell. Eggs hatch in 21 days, and birds raised for meat are sold at 3–4 months of age, at 1.1–1.3 kg (TANUVAS). See Hatching country chicken eggs: broody hen, incubator and How to sell country chickens: age, price and safe payment.

Before you start

Answer these five questions honestly. If any answer is "no", sort that out first.

• Space. Is there a yard, garden or coconut grove where birds can forage, or room for a shed? Indoors, allow about 1 sq ft per meat bird and 2 sq ft per laying hen (TANUVAS). Tamil Nadu's 250-bird scheme asks for at least 625 sq ft of your own land (Tenkasi district).
• Time. Who will let the birds out every morning, shut them in every night and check each bird, on festival days and rainy days too? A flock cannot be left alone for a single night.
• Money. Can you pay for chicks, a shelter, feeders and drinkers and feed, and still manage until the first sale? Feed is the biggest cost: TANUVAS puts it at 60–75% of the total (TANUVAS, TANUVAS).
• Buyers. Who will buy from you: the weekly santhai, shops, neighbours, or buyers who find your ad? In a TANUVAS study in Namakkal, larger desi farms sold mostly at the farm gate, and backyard keepers mostly at village markets (TANUVAS study).
• Rules. In April 2025, the central Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying directed all poultry farms to register with their state animal husbandry department (PIB). Grown birds need a vet's certificate to travel (AWBI), and bird-flu rules can stop all movement near an outbreak: see the rules for poultry keepers.

Frequently asked questions

How many chickens should a beginner start with?

About 10–20. ICAR-DPR suggests 10–20 birds per household, as your space and the food the birds find allow. Start with brooded birds, learn for a season, then grow from your own chicks: see how many birds to start with.

Which country chicken is best?

No single bird suits every farm. Peruvidai (Aseel) and other country types suit meat and chicks; an improved variety such as Gramapriya lays far more eggs; Vanaraja and Srinidhi give both. Compare them in Country chicken breeds: choosing birds for eggs or meat.

How long before country chickens bring in money?

Birds raised for meat are sold from about 3–4 months, and country hens start laying at about 22 weeks (TANUVAS). Plan for several months of feed before your first sale; Country chicken farming costs and income: a worked example works through an example.

Is there a government subsidy for country chicken farming?

In Tamil Nadu, the Animal Husbandry Department's 2026-27 scheme gives a 50% subsidy for small country chicken units of 250 birds, as district press releases state (Tenkasi district), but only 100 units are planned for the whole state (TN Animal Husbandry). The National Livestock Mission's poultry subsidy is for hatchery businesses with at least 1,000 parent birds (NLM guidelines), and on 24 September 2026 the central department stopped approving new projects while the scheme is revised (DAHD). No one can promise you a subsidy: Country chicken subsidy, loans and insurance in 2026 has the details. Rules change — confirm with your nearest veterinary hospital or animal husbandry office.

Next

Start with Country chicken farming for beginners: where to start. When you are ready to buy, browse chickens for sale near you, and check every bird yourself before you pay. Already have birds to sell? Post a free ad.