I have been having a debate with myself for quite some time about whether I should choose day old chicks or just buy point of lay birds.
If you’re interested in layer poultry farming but you haven’t started yet, you’re more likely to face the same dilemma.
Should I buy day old chicks and raise them for about five months before I start earning, or should I buy point of lay birds and start making money next week?
This was so real for me that I ended up writing a blog post about the differences between day old chicks and point of lay to help anyone struggling with the same issue.
And if you’ve been a follower of my Facebook and X (which I highly recommend you follow by the way… you’re missing a lot), you already know I prefer day old chicks to point of lay birds.
In this post, I’m going to show you why I chose day old chicks—not to convince you, but to show you my thought process. Hopefully, you’ll learn something from it.
1. Little Capital Required To Start
One day old layer chick costs around Ksh.150 right now(2025), while point of lay birds cost between Ksh.500–Ksh.1500, depending on age and seller.
For me, day old chicks are a better option because they require less money to acquire the birds.
At first, I won’t have that much capital. Day old chicks give me a chance to start with a small budget and grow from there. This doesn’t include the cost of feeding for the 4.5 months, but at least I can start the poultry business with little money and buy more feed as I continue.
Let’s say I want to start with 100 birds.
🔴Day Old Chicks
✅Day Old Chicks cost
100 × 150 = Ksh.15,000
✅Each bird needs about 1.25kg in 8 weeks
100 birds × 2.5 = 250kg
One 50kg bag = Ksh.4,000
Cost of 250kg
250 × 4000/50 = Ksh.20,000
Total = Ksh.35,000
🔴Point Of Lay
✅Point of lay birds cost
100 × Ksh.850 = Ksh.85,000
Total = Ksh.85,000
And that’s just the birds. I haven’t bought even one bag of feeds.
So you see the difference. A huge Ksh.50,000.
And this is before feeds. This is why day old chicks work for me—they let me start small as I continue finding money.
Caution: Make sure you have money to continue feeding your birds. If not, you’ll end up killing your chicks or selling them at a loss.
2.Learning Opportunity
A good number of people hate school, but this type of learning is different.
And remember if you’re not learning, you’re dying.
Humans grow when they learn new things, and that’s exactly what day old chicks offer.
They give you a chance to learn how to:
– Prepare before receiving chicks
– Brood correctly
– Follow a vaccination schedule
– Maintain strong biosecurity
You get to learn these for almost five months. Point of lay birds don’t give you this chance. They have already been brooded, most vaccines done, and all you get is a near-finished product.
Where is the fun in being handed success on a silver platter?
The amount of knowledge I’ve gained from brooding alone is massive. If I had planned to buy point of lay birds, I wouldn’t have bothered learning about brooding or vaccinations.
3. They’re Easier And Safer To Source
Getting 100 point of lay birds is easy.
But what if your farm grows and now you want 5,000 birds?
How easy will it be to source 5,000 point of lay birds from one place?
Let me tell you—it’s as easy as getting rich quick in farming. Yes, I scared you there, but it’s true.
As your egg business grows, sourcing point of lay birds becomes difficult. You’ll need to buy in small batches from different sellers, and I personally don’t want that.
On the other hand, if you wanted 10,000 day old chicks today, you know where you would get them. Big hatcheries supply them all over Kenya, and they are credible compared to most point of lay sellers—mostly farmers like you and me.
Another sourcing problem with point of lay birds is the lack of transparency.
You don’t know:
– If the vaccination records are true
– If the feeding program was followed
– If the birds are uniform
– If the birds are healthy
– Or even their exact age
Many farmers buy “18-week-old” birds expecting eggs in one week, only for them to start laying two months later. Others buy mixed breeds, including dual-purpose chickens instead of hybrid layers.
Worst of all, some farmers buy birds that fall sick or die the next day—even with updated vaccination cards.
Imagine paying Ksh.85,000 for 100 point of lay birds only for them to die. You don’t want that.
This almost never happens with day old chicks if you buy from regulated hatcheries.
4. They Offer Control Over Your Business
Day old chicks give me full control over my business.
I choose when to stock, how to brood, what to feed, which vaccines to use, and how to raise my flock.
You can’t do that with point of lay birds.
What if you want to stock next month, but your supplier’s birds are still three weeks old? You wait.
You also don’t control how they brooded, fed, or handled those birds.
Big layer poultry farms don’t buy point of lay birds. They all buy day old chicks and raise them themselves. Why? Because control is everything. Even cost control.
Plus remember, the seller wants profit. If their feed prices were high, they’ll pass that cost to you.
Control your business if you want to scale your poultry farm.
5. Profitability
Day old chicks are simply more profitable than point of lay birds.
The only advantage point of lay have is quick cash, which doesn’t last.
With day old chicks, you control your production cost from the beginning.
With time, your brooding becomes effective, mortality stays low, your cost stays down, and you get maximum production from your layers.
This results in:
– More eggs
– Better profits
– Predictable performance
Something that is hard to achieve with point of lay birds because the foundation is out of your hands.
And if you want, you can even sell your own point of lay birds later and profit from your skills. I’m not saying you should—but you can.
6. Fun
Lastly, day old chicks are fun.
They’re like babies—many babies.
You get them on day one of life and you raise them to maturity. They don’t get married, but they lay eggs. Hallelujah!
By the way that’s normal😅
The sad part is selling them off as ex-layers.
And Fun is part of our Secret Layers core values.
If you’re not fun, buy point of lay birds.
Those are the six reasons why I chose day old chicks and point of lay birds.
They give me control, the ability to scale, and I enjoy doing it.
Let me know in the comments what you will choose for your farm—DOC or POL—and why. You might have better reasons, and I’d love to know.
If brooding is the main challenge stopping you from choosing day old chicks, get this Free Layer Poultry Farming Guide and I’ll send you a Free Brooding Guide next.
See you next Friday!
carlosdecje4040@gmail.com
secretlayerske@gmail.com