Day-old chicks in Nkawkaw: layers, sasso and cockerels for the Kwahu foothills

What a Nkawkaw buyer should know first

Nkawkaw is a trading town at the foot of the Kwahu hills in the Eastern Region. It is a place where people buy and sell, where roads from the coast and from the north meet, and where a poultry keeper can find feed, cement, wire and transport without a long search. For us that makes Nkawkaw one of the easier towns in the Eastern Region to serve. Chicks reach you about three hours after they leave the hatchery, and the choices on the farm depend more on land and market than on distance.

Most Nkawkaw orders are for a mix of birds rather than a single breed. A household keeper may want twenty layers and fifty sasso for the compound, while a larger farmer on the edge of town may want a broiler house plus a few cockerels for the festive trade. Tell us the purpose first and we will suggest the breed. You can read about our delivery arrangements before you plan the trip.

The 160 km road, and the climb into the hills

The road from Kasoa to Nkawkaw covers about 160 km and usually takes around three hours. The last stretch is the part drivers remember, because the road rises toward the plateau and the van works harder on the gradients. We load the boxes low and stacked so the weight stays steady on the climb, and the driver is asked to keep the speed smooth, since a sudden stop with a loaded box is a bad start for any chick.

A day-old chick can go a long time on the yolk it carries from the hatch, so the distance alone does not decide whether it arrives well. Temperature, crowding and the wait at the end matter more. We dispatch on the day the chicks hatch, pack no more than 50 to a box, and ask the receiving farmer to meet the van at the agreed station so the boxes are opened in a cool, shaded place.

We use ventilated boxes and nothing else for this run. Bags, tins and cardboard boxes without air holes are not safe for chicks on a three hour road, and we will not send chicks that way.

Mixed flocks, traders and the free-range habit

Nkawkaw has a lot of people who keep birds on the move. Traders who buy eggs in bulk, cooks who sell chicken at the weekly markets and families who keep a few birds in the compound all show up in our orders. Their birds are rarely kept in a single closed house. Many are let out in the morning to scratch, then shut up at dusk, and that habit suits some breeds far better than others.

Sasso and noiler birds were bred for hardiness and foraging. They handle the heat better than a heavy broiler and turn kitchen scraps and insects into meat and eggs. A Ross 308 or Cobb 500 kept on free range grows slowly and costs more in feed than the chick price suggests, so we are direct with Nkawkaw buyers about where a fast broiler belongs. It belongs in a closed house with a feed plan, not in a compound where birds scavenge all day.

Cooler mornings in the hills, and what they mean for the brooder

Nkawkaw sits higher than the coastal plain, so nights and early mornings are often cooler, especially in the rainy months. By mid-afternoon the sun is as strong as anywhere in southern Ghana, and the gap between dawn and midday can be wide. A brooder set up for the coast can be too cold for the first night in a hill town, so we ask Nkawkaw customers to plan the heat source before the chicks are dispatched. Our brooder set-up guide walks through the basics.

For the first week, hold the brooder floor at a comfortable warm temperature and check it at chick level. Watch the birds as well as the thermometer. If the chicks crowd under the heat and cheep loudly, they are cold. If they spread to the edges and pant, they are too hot. Evenly spread chicks that eat and drink are the picture you want. In the dry harmattan months from December to February, dust is the bigger enemy, so keep the litter dry and cover the feed.

The rains on this side of the Eastern Region usually come in two spells, with the heavy rains between April and June and a lighter run around September to November. Wet litter causes problems quickly, so change it early and keep drinkers off the bare ground.

Hy-Line Brown on one side, sasso and noiler on the other

The layer question is the one we hear most in Nkawkaw. A Hy-Line Brown started now will come into lay in a few months and then hold a steady egg output for a long period, which makes it the natural choice for a farmer who wants a weekly egg income. Egg traders in the town and in the villages around it buy in crates of 30, and a well-managed layer flock gives a predictable income in a way a broiler cycle cannot.

Sasso is the bridge between the two. It grows more slowly than a broiler, but it is a good meat bird, and a flock of sasso hens lays a respectable number of eggs too. For a family that wants both eggs and meat from the same birds, sasso can be the simplest answer. Noilers suit the same kind of keeper and are cheaper to start. Our layer chicks guide covers flock management in more depth.

White cockerels as a cheap entry, with a warning

White cockerels are the lowest-cost birds on our list, at a starting price of GH₵ 3 a chick, or GH₵ 150 for a box of 50. They are popular with families who want a little meat for the table and with keepers who want to try poultry before committing to a larger flock. A cockerel raised for meat is a legitimate project, but it is not a layer, and it will not give you eggs.

The warning is about expectation. Cheap birds are tempting to buy in large numbers, and a farmer who buys 300 cockerels with a plan for 300 layers will be disappointed. Decide the purpose first, buy the number your house and feed budget can carry, and keep a simple record of costs so you can see whether the project pays.

Worked numbers: a 200-bird mixed plan

Here is a plan we have seen many times on the Nkawkaw road. A keeper with a fenced compound and a small shed buys 100 Hy-Line Brown layers and 100 sasso chicks. The layers are the income, and the sasso birds supply meat and some eggs for the home. At our starting prices the chicks alone cost 100 × GH₵ 23 plus 100 × GH₵ 13, which is GH₵ 3,600 before delivery.

Delivery is quoted separately and confirmed in writing before payment. Feed for 200 growing birds, housing, drinkers and litter make up the bigger part of the budget over the first six months, so do the feed sum before you order. If the feed bill worries you, start with a smaller number of layers and add a second batch once the first is laying.

An arrival plan for the three-hour road

Before the chicks leave the hatchery, get the brooder ready the day before. Put the lamp or heater in place, check the temperature at chick level, lay down clean dry litter and set the drinkers and feeders at the height the chicks can reach. Chicks should never arrive at a brooder that is still being built.

When the van arrives, count the boxes and the birds, look for dead or weak chicks, and send the count and a photo on WhatsApp the same day. Move the boxes into shade, open them one at a time and place the chicks gently into the warm area. Give water first and light feed afterwards. If you are unsure about any additive for the water, follow your vet's advice.

• Clear the brooder and test the heat the evening before.
• Meet the van at the agreed station, on time.
• Count, photograph and message us the same day.

The calendar: Easter, harvest and the egg trade

Easter is one of the strongest selling periods in the Eastern Region, and families who raise broilers often aim for birds ready in the weeks before it. Christmas is the other peak. The egg trade has its own rhythm. Demand for eggs rises before the festive periods, and a flock that starts laying in a good month makes the most of it. Plan backwards from the date you want to sell, and allow for the six to eight weeks a broiler needs and the months a layer needs to come into lay.

Harvest brings cash to many farming households, and some farmers prefer to buy chicks just after harvest, when money is in hand. That is a sensible plan for a small flock, but a late purchase means the birds reach their peak in a different season, so the sale timing shifts. Message us with your target date and we will suggest a hatch that fits. Our Christmas broiler note shows how far back those dates run.

Health records and a vet within reach

Every chick leaves our hatchery vaccinated against Marek's disease, Newcastle disease, Gumboro, infectious bronchitis and coccidiosis. The batch record goes into the box with the chicks and lists what was given and when. Nkawkaw farmers who have a local vet should show that record at the first visit, so boosters can be timed against it.

Keep the flock apart from other birds where you can, and do not move birds between compounds without a reason. Disease travels on people, equipment and visiting birds as much as on the chicks themselves. Follow your vet's schedule, record every death with its date, and call the vet early when birds stop eating or drinking, rather than waiting to see whether things improve. Our questions and answers set out what to ask us and what to ask your vet.

Imported chicks, and why the lead time matters

Most Nkawkaw orders are local. When a keeper asks for a line we do not hatch in Kasoa, we look at imports from hatcheries in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The clearance stage sets the timeline, because the permit and the port paperwork have to line up before the birds can move, so give yourself three to four weeks. Ask us on WhatsApp what is open when you want to order.

For most Nkawkaw customers the local hatch is quicker and simpler. You also get a closer working relationship with the people who hatched your birds, which makes it easier to ask questions when something looks wrong. Our imported chicks page sets out what to expect at the port and on the road.

Mistakes we see on the Nkawkaw route

1. Buying broilers for a compound that cannot keep them closed and fed.
2. Choosing a layer breed without planning the feed for the first laying months.
3. Leaving boxes in the sun at the station while the receiving farmer goes looking for a bag of feed.
4. Ignoring the cooler mornings and forgetting to warm the brooder properly on the first night.

Placing your Nkawkaw order

Message +233 24 915 1503 on WhatsApp with your breed choice, the number of boxes and your preferred station in Nkawkaw. You can also use the order form on our site. We reply with the chick price and the delivery cost in writing before any payment is made. Payment can be by mobile money, bank transfer or cash.

To compare costs before you decide, our price list has the current starting prices. Farmers who want to visit the hatchery are welcome by appointment. For the wider picture of what we deliver across the country, see our town-by-town guide and the guide to choosing a seller.

Questions farmers ask