Day-old chicks in Ahafo Region, delivered to Goaso and your town station

Day-old chicks for Goaso and Ahafo: the short version

Halaal Farms sends day-old chicks to Goaso, Kenyasi, Mim, Bechem, Duayaw Nkwanta and the farming villages between them. The smallest order is one box of 50 chicks. Prices start at GH₵ 20 for Ross 308 and Cobb 500 broilers, GH₵ 25.50 for Bovans Brown layers, GH₵ 13 for Sasso and GH₵ 11 for Kuroiler. Every chick is vaccinated at our hatchery against Marek’s disease, Newcastle disease, Gumboro, infectious bronchitis and coccidiosis, and you receive the batch record so your vet can plan boosters.

The chicks leave Kasoa on the day they hatch, packed in ventilated boxes of 50 and handed to a trusted transport company bound for your town. You collect at the station. If a few chicks are dead when you open the box, count them on the spot, send a photo on WhatsApp the same day, and we replace them free in the next hatch.

The full price list is on the day-old chick prices page, and the delivery rules for every region are on the delivery page. This page is about what is particular to Ahafo: the road, the weather, the kind of farmer who buys here and the way we would plan a first batch if you were standing in our brooder house.

Why poultry fits the way Ahafo families earn

Ahafo sits where the forest of the south begins to thin into the savannah of the north. Cocoa is the great cash crop here, and around it you find plantain, cassava, maize and yam on the same family plots. Cocoa pays in lumps, mostly in the main crop season, and the months in between can be thin. A small flock of birds fills that gap: a farmer can sell broilers or eggs every few weeks instead of waiting for the next cocoa cheque.

The region also has mining communities around Kenyasi and Ntotroso, with a steady population of workers, contractors and traders who buy food every day. Where people are paid monthly and eat out or buy cooked food, demand for chicken and eggs is regular, and that is the kind of demand a broiler or layer farmer can plan around. Goaso itself is the regional capital, with a busy town centre, schools, a hospital, and government offices, all of which means customers on your doorstep.

When farmers in Ahafo ask us where to begin, we usually say the same thing: start with the buyer, not the bird. Know who will take your first 50 or 100 birds before you place the order. A farmer who has promised ten chickens to a chop bar and twenty to neighbours already has a market on day one.

Which birds suit which Ahafo buyer

Different buyers in Goaso and the villages want different birds, so the right breed depends on who is buying from you. This table is how we usually talk it through with a new Ahafo farmer. Prices are starting prices and are confirmed in writing when you order.

Read more about each bird on the breeds page. If you cannot decide between broilers, layers and a local-style bird, our article on broiler, layer or Sasso: which chicks to start walks through the money side of each.

A word on Sasso and Kuroiler in forest-edge farms like those around Ahafo: they cope better with the occasional missed feed, with scratch feeding and with the knocks of a mixed farm. They will not grow as fast as a Ross 308, so do not compare their weights week by week, but they cost less to start and many households prefer their taste.

The 350 km road from Kasoa to Goaso

Goaso is about 350 km from our hatchery and the journey takes around 6–7 hours depending on traffic and the roads on the day. For most of that stretch the load travels north through the Ashanti corridor before turning west, so the chicks spend a long day in a vehicle but not a dangerously long one. A day-old chick lives off the yolk it absorbed before hatching and can travel up to about 48 hours without feed or water, so a 6–7 hour trip leaves a very comfortable margin.

That margin is why we do not worry about Ahafo in the way we worry about the far north. What matters instead is how the boxes are handled. At the hatchery we pack 50 chicks to a box with ventilation holes, keep the boxes out of direct sun and away from fumes, and hand them to transport the same day the chicks hatch. Ask us on WhatsApp for the expected arrival window, because it lets you plan your own movements and be at the station before the boxes are.

• Do not let boxes sit on a roof rack or beside the engine.
• Do not stack heavy luggage on the boxes.
• Do not leave the boxes at the station while you run other errands.

Delivery cost depends on the load and the transport used, and we confirm it before you pay. You can see how the process works in general on our delivery page.

Arrival day in Goaso: from the station to the brooder

Be at the station before the vehicle. Check that the brooder is already warm, because chicks that arrive into a cold room lose condition quickly. Bring a clean, covered way to carry the boxes, a torch if the arrival may be after dark, and a phone with credit so you can send the photo of any losses.

1. Count at the station. Open one box at a time in the shade and count the dead. Photograph them with the box number visible.
2. Send the photo. WhatsApp it to +233 24 915 1503 the same day. This is what qualifies the replacement in the next hatch.
3. Go straight home. Take the shortest route, keep the boxes level and out of the sun, and do not stop at the market.
4. Dip beaks. Lift each chick gently and dip its beak in clean water so it learns where the drinker is.
5. Offer feed. Put starter feed on paper or shallow trays, as well as in the feeder, for the first day.

Ahafo is humid for much of the year, so watch for damp litter in the first week. If the straw or shavings feel wet underfoot, change them; wet litter breeds ammonia and coccidia faster than most farmers expect. Our guide on setting up the brooder before chicks arrive lists what to prepare 48 hours ahead.

Two rainy seasons, humidity and housing

Ahafo has two rainy seasons, a long one that builds from around April to July and a shorter one in the later months of the year, with a drier spell between and a harmattan-influenced dry season at the turn of the year. For a poultry house, the two things that go wrong in the wet months are draughts and damp.

Wet season, week 1 to 3

Keep the brooder walls solid on the windward side, hang a curtain or sack that can be raised and lowered, and make sure the roof does not leak over the litter. Chicks that are chilled huddle, pile up and smother. If you see them clustering under the lamp or heater and crying, they are cold; if they are pushed to the edges panting, they are too hot.

Dry season, week 1 to 3

At harmattan the air is dusty and nights can be cool even though the days are warm. Close the brooder at night, open it in the middle of the day and sprinkle the floor lightly if the dust is heavy. Dust irritates young lungs, and infectious bronchitis, which we vaccinate against, is helped along by dusty, stressful conditions.

Whatever the season

Build a house that lets air through at bird height and keeps rain off the litter. Open-sided houses with half walls suit most of Ahafo well. The photo below shows the general idea: lots of airflow, a solid roof and room to move around feeders and drinkers.

A worked cost example for an Ahafo starter flock

Here is a realistic first order for a farmer near Goaso who wants to sell broilers to local buyers and keep a small group of Sasso for the household. We use starting prices; the exact price is confirmed in writing when you order, and feed, drugs, litter and transport are extra.

The chick is only a part of the bill. Most of the money goes into feed over the next six weeks, so before ordering, price the feed in Goaso and work out the whole cost per bird. Ask us for our view on the feed budget; we would rather help you plan a smaller batch you can finish than a big one you cannot feed.

If you want to cost a bigger or different batch, use the cost calculator on this page or read the longer guide on starting a poultry farm in Ghana on a budget. When you are ready, send your numbers on WhatsApp to +233 24 915 1503 and we will reply with the written price.

Timing a batch around cocoa money and the festive peaks

In Ahafo, cash tends to arrive after the cocoa main crop is sold, which is also when the festive season approaches. That is helpful for timing, because the end of the year is when demand for chicken is highest. Christmas is the biggest broiler date, followed by Easter, and Eid brings its own demand in the Muslim communities of the region’s towns.

A Ross 308 or Cobb 500 broiler is ready to sell at about six weeks. To have birds on sale in the week before Christmas, count back six weeks and add a few days of margin, then book the chicks. Because the festive weeks are busy for every farmer in Ghana, early booking is the safe rule. Our article on Christmas broilers: when to buy chicks sets out the calendar week by week.

For layers, think the other way around. A pullet comes into lay at around 18 to 20 weeks, so a farmer who wants eggs in time for school terms or a particular season must plan the better part of five months ahead. Do not wait until the old flock fails before you order the next one.

Imported chicks for serious Ahafo farms

Some Ahafo farmers want the best layer or broiler genetics available, and for them we import day-old chicks from hatcheries in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Imported chicks travel with a veterinary health certificate, and we clear them at Kotoka in Accra under a Ghana import permit from the Veterinary Services Directorate before sending them on.

Imported orders need more lead time than local hatches. Book three to four weeks ahead so that the paperwork, the flight and the clearance fit together. Because the chicks must also make the road journey from Accra or Kasoa to Goaso after clearance, tell us the date your house will be ready, and we will count back from it.

If you are not sure whether imported or local is right for you, read our comparison of imported and local day-old chicks, and the page on imported day-old chicks. For many first-time farmers around Goaso, a local hatch from European parent stock is the better start: it is simpler, quicker to book, and gives you time to learn the work before spending more.

Vaccination records and working with your vet

Each batch leaves us vaccinated against Marek’s disease, Newcastle disease, Gumboro, infectious bronchitis and coccidiosis. Vaccines give the chick a start, but they do not replace good management. The batch record we give you tells your vet exactly what was done and when, so boosters can be scheduled correctly.

In a region where farms are spread out and you may not see a vet every week, build a relationship with an animal health officer or a veterinarian in Goaso or the nearest district town before the chicks arrive, not after something goes wrong. Take the batch record to that first meeting. Follow your vet’s schedule for boosters, deworming and any treatment, rather than copying a friend’s routine.

Keep new birds separate from old ones, wash your hands and boots between houses, and do not let visitors walk through the brooder. These are simple habits, and on a farm with a few hundred birds they make the difference between a quiet season and a bad one.

Mistakes we see Ahafo first-time farmers make

Over the years of sending boxes out to the middle belt, a few errors come up again and again. None of them is about the chicks themselves.

• Ordering before the house is ready. A brooder that is still being built when the chicks arrive means chicks in a cold room. Finish and warm the house a full day before.
• Buying too many for the first batch. Fifty or a hundred chicks teach you everything a thousand would, with far less risk.
• Skipping the feed price check. Feed is the largest cost. Know the cost per bag in Goaso before you pay for chicks.
• No buyer lined up. Birds that reach six weeks and have nobody to buy them keep eating. Speak to buyers first.
• Mixing ages. Putting new chicks with older birds spreads disease. Keep age groups apart.
• Late counting. If you do not count at the station, the replacement cannot be arranged.

If any of these sounds like your plan, send us a message before you order. Free advice before and after delivery is part of what we do, and a short call now is cheaper than a failed batch.

How to order day-old chicks for Ahafo

Ordering is simple, and no money moves until you have the price in writing.

1. Message us. WhatsApp or call +233 24 915 1503, or fill in the order form. Say which breed, how many boxes and which town.
2. Receive the written price. It includes the chick price and the delivery cost to your station.
3. Pay. By mobile money, bank transfer or cash. We do not take online card payments.
4. Collect. Be at the station when the boxes arrive and count on arrival.

You can also collect directly from our farm at Opeikuma by appointment, and visit the hatchery before you decide. Read about us on the about page, and see questions other farmers ask on the FAQ page. If you are comparing buying points across regions, our list of all regions we serve shows where each page applies.

Orders of 1,000 chicks or more are quoted individually. Turkey poults go in boxes of 10, and for guinea fowl keets see our guinea fowl keets page.

Questions farmers ask