From central Accra to Kasoa is about 28 to 30 km along the Accra to Cape Coast road, and our hatchery is at Opeikuma on the Kasoa side. On an open road that is around 40 minutes. On an ordinary weekday it is one to two hours, nearly all of it spent between Mallam and Kasoa. No other city we supply is this close to the hatchery, and none has traffic like it. Both facts shape how an Accra farmer should buy chicks.
Farm collection and station collection, side by side
You have two ways to receive an order. Neither is right for everybody, so here they are in plain terms.
| You collect at Opeikuma | Boxes sent to a station in Accra | |
|---|---|---|
| Who travels | You drive to the farm at a time agreed with us | The boxes go on a bus or cargo vehicle and you meet them at a station agreed before dispatch |
| Time in the box | Only your drive home | The road time plus waiting at each end |
| Checking the chicks | You see and count them at the hatchery | You count them when you receive them at the station |
| Cost to you | Your own fuel and half a day | A delivery cost, confirmed before you pay |
| Suits | Anyone with a vehicle, above all on the western and north-western side of the city | Buyers without a vehicle, and those for whom a station is easier to reach than Kasoa |
Whichever you choose, the chicks come in ventilated boxes of 50, one box is the smallest order, and they are vaccinated at the hatchery before leaving. Ask what your batch has had. If any chicks are dead when you receive them, count, tell us straight away, and they are replaced free in the next hatch. Collection at the farm works the same way for every buyer, and our page for farmers collecting in Kasoa has a checklist for the day.
The Mallam to Kasoa stretch sets your timetable
Coming from the city, you leave Mallam Junction and head west through Weija, Old Barrier and SCC Junction, pass the former toll booth and Ngleshie Amanfro, cross into the Central Region and reach Kasoa. This is the only part of the trip that regularly goes wrong. After heavy rain, sections around Old Barrier, SCC Junction and the old toll booth have flooded, and commuters have reported journeys of several hours on those evenings.
Many people who live on the Kasoa side work in Accra. As a general pattern, the heavy flow is towards the city in the morning and back out towards Kasoa from late afternoon. A chick collection fits neatly against that pattern: drive out to Kasoa in the morning while most cars are going the other way, collect, and return to Accra before the afternoon flow builds. Ask us for a morning time when you book. If it rained hard in the night, phone before you set off.
In the car, treat the boxes as passengers. Put them flat on a seat or the cabin floor, with the side holes clear and the sun off them. Use the air conditioning or open windows. Never use a closed boot. A chick's yolk reserve covers its food needs for two to three days, so a slow journey will not starve it. Heat and stale air in a queue at Weija are what do the damage, and they do it in under an hour.
Accra's weather in the brooder: dry heat, then June
Accra is one of the drier places on the West African coast. Long-term records put its rainfall at about 800 mm a year, in two seasons. The main rains peak in June, which alone brings close to a quarter of the yearly total. A second, lighter season comes in September and October. January and August are the driest months, and August is also the coolest, with nights around 23°C. The air stays humid all year, with average relative humidity between 77 and 85 percent.
What that means on the farm changes through the year:
- February to April are hot. Day-old chicks still need heat at night, but a closed room at midday can overheat them, so give the brooder an opening above chick height. Broilers past three weeks need shade, air movement and cool water more than anything else.
- May and June are about water. Mend the roof, clear the gutters and drains, and raise the brooder area before the rains, because flooding in low parts of the city is a yearly event. Keep spare dry shavings under cover.
- August is the kindest month for growing broilers: cooler, cloudy and mostly dry.
- December and January bring a short, mild harmattan to the coast, with dry, dusty air and slightly cooler nights. Add a little heat at night and keep dust out of the drinkers.
Temperatures and layouts are in our chick brooding guide, and the seasonal adjustments are covered in the article on brooding in the rains and the harmattan.
Where Accra's poultry is really kept
The centre of Accra has little room for birds. The farms are on the edges: Weija and Gbawe to the west, Amasaman and Pokuase to the north-west, and Adenta, Frafraha, Amrahia, Oyibi and Dodowa to the north-east. A survey of small and medium poultry farmers reported in 2016 drew its respondents from just such places, among them Weija, Kasoa, Dansoman, Adenta, Mallam, Amrahia, Achimota, Pokuase and Afienya.
Which edge you are on decides your route. From Amasaman or Pokuase you can join the N1 highway and come down to Mallam without touching the city centre, then turn west for Kasoa. From Adenta, Oyibi or Dodowa you first have to cross the city on the same highway, 14 km of it between Tetteh Quarshie and Mallam, before the Kasoa road even begins. For those farms a round trip to Opeikuma can take most of a morning, and boxes sent to a station on your side of town may be the easier choice. Tell us where you are and we will say honestly which looks better. Farmers further east have their own page for chicks sent to Tema and Ashaiman.
The edges of Accra are also where houses are spreading fastest. A poultry house that stands alone today may have neighbours on every side in a few years. That is reasoning, not a forecast for your plot, but it is worth a thought before you build in block and concrete.
A flock behind the wall while you keep your job
Many Accra buyers are not full-time farmers. They are workers and traders who want 50 or 100 birds in the compound, or a small farm on family land with a caretaker. Both can work if you are honest about time. The first fortnight needs someone present through the day and checking at night. After that, a routine of morning and evening visits is enough for most small flocks, provided water never runs out in the afternoon heat.
In a walled compound, think about what crosses the wall. Dry litter has little smell and wet litter has a lot. Broilers and laying hens are quiet, while cockerels crow from a few months old. Our article on running a poultry farm while you keep your job deals with caretakers, records and checking from a distance.
Selling in a city that eats more chicken than its farms produce
Accra's buyers are easy to list: homes, chop bars, waakye and fried rice sellers, restaurants, hotels, caterers, schools and the traders in the big markets. The difficulty is not finding people who eat chicken. It is that most of the chicken they eat is imported and frozen. The 2016 report mentioned above put local broiler production at under a tenth of the country's demand for chicken meat. A small farmer cannot beat frozen chicken on price, so the sensible buyers to look for are the ones who want a fresh or live bird and will say so in advance.
The same report described two things Accra farmers still recognise. Demand for broilers runs far ahead of supply at Christmas, and to a lesser degree at Easter and the Muslim festivals, then falls away. And farmers found eggs the steadier business, partly because broiler customers seldom paid cash. Our reading of that:
- If you want regular money, start with layer chicks (from GH₵ 23 each) and build a list of shops and food sellers before the first eggs come. See our notes on supplying eggs to shops, schools and hotels.
- If you want broiler chicks (from GH₵ 20 each), choose the sale date first and count back six to eight weeks, and agree with buyers how and when they pay.
- For how to find those buyers, read finding buyers for broilers and eggs.
The prices above are starting prices checked on 2 October 2026. They change, so confirm on the current price list.
Greater Accra towns that can use either option
Weija, Gbawe and Dansoman are close enough to Kasoa that farm collection is nearly always simpler. Amasaman and Pokuase are a longer but straightforward drive by the highway. Madina, Adenta, Oyibi, Dodowa, Teshie and Nungua sit on the far side of the city, and for them it is a real choice between a long morning's drive and collecting boxes at a station. In every case the station, if you use one, is agreed with you before anything leaves the farm.
Placing an order from Accra
Fill in the order form on this page or call 024 915 1503. Say which chicks you want, how many boxes, which part of Accra you are in and whether you plan to collect at Opeikuma. We reply with the price, the hatch date and, if boxes are to be sent, the delivery cost. The website takes no payment. You pay by cash, mobile money or bank transfer only after those three things are confirmed. If you would like to see the farm first, ask for a visit and we will give you a time.
Questions from Accra
How long does the drive from Accra to the hatchery at Opeikuma take?
Central Accra to Kasoa is about 28 to 30 km. With a clear road that is around 40 minutes, but on a normal working day allow one to two hours each way, because the Mallam to Kasoa section is slow and can flood after heavy rain. Leave early, collect in the morning and aim to be home before the afternoon rush.
Can you send chicks to a station in Accra so I do not have to come to Kasoa?
Yes. Boxes are put on a bus or cargo vehicle to a station in Accra and you collect them there. The station is agreed with you before dispatch, and the delivery cost is confirmed before you pay. Be at the station ahead of the vehicle, count the chicks when you receive them and report any dead on arrival at once.
Is June a bad month to start chicks in Accra?
Not if you prepare. June is the wettest month, bringing close to a quarter of Accra's yearly rain, so the risks are a leaking roof, a flooded compound and damp litter. Mend the roof and clear the drains in May, raise the brooder floor, and store extra dry wood shavings. Chicks brooded on dry litter under steady heat do well in any month.
Which side of Accra is it easier to collect from?
Farmers in Weija, Gbawe, Dansoman, Awoshie and Mallam are closest, and those in Amasaman or Pokuase can reach Mallam by the N1 highway without entering the centre. From Adenta, Oyibi or Dodowa the round trip crosses the whole city, so compare it with having boxes sent to a station nearer your side before you decide.
I work full time in Accra. Is one box of chicks a realistic start?
One box of 50 is the minimum order and a reasonable first flock for someone with a job. The first two weeks are the demanding part, because chicks need heat, water and feed checked several times a day. Arrange leave or a reliable helper for that period, and agree a hatch date that falls when you can be at home.