Cape Coast is the capital of the Central Region, the region our hatchery is in: about 115 km west of Opeikuma, Kasoa, on the same coastal highway. That makes it one of the shorter dispatch routes out of Kasoa, and one where you can sensibly choose between collecting at a station in town and driving to the farm yourself.
Below you will find the journey, what the coast does to a brooder, who buys eggs and chicken in the old capital, and how an order is placed.
One road, 115 km: Kasoa to Cape Coast
The route is simple. From Kasoa the highway runs west past the Winneba and Apam junctions, through Mankessim, Saltpond and Anomabo to the Yamoransa junction, and on into Cape Coast. A private car covers it in about two hours when the Kasoa end is moving. A bus or cargo vehicle that stops along the way usually needs two to three hours.
Outside Kasoa, chicks are not carried to the farm gate. The boxes ride on a bus or cargo vehicle to a station in Cape Coast, and that is where you meet them. Which station is settled with you before the chicks leave, and so is the delivery cost, before you pay. Because Opeikuma is only two hours away, you may prefer to come to the farm, which is possible by appointment. Both ways work.
| Collect at a station in Cape Coast | Collect at the farm in Opeikuma | |
|---|---|---|
| Your travel | A trip across town | About 115 km each way |
| Who carries the chicks | The bus or cargo vehicle, then you for the last leg | You, for the whole journey |
| What to arrange | The station, agreed before dispatch, and the expected arrival time | A day and time for your visit |
| Suits | Most orders, from one box upwards | Buyers with a well-aired vehicle who want to see the hatchery |
If you drive, carry the boxes on the seats or in a shaded load area with air moving across them, never in a closed boot, and do not stack them so that the air holes are blocked. Our article on moving day-old chicks safely goes through the details.
A short trip still needs a warm brooder waiting
A chick leaves the shell with enough yolk inside it to live on for two days or more, so a couple of hours on the coast road costs it almost nothing. Hunger is not the danger on this route. Heat is. A box left in a parked vehicle at midday on the coast warms up fast, and chicks that pant in the box start life short of water.
- Ask what time the vehicle leaves Kasoa and when it should arrive, and be at the station before it does.
- Light or switch on the brooder before you leave home, so the litter is warm when the chicks are tipped out.
- Fill the drinkers beforehand so the water is at room temperature, and put the first feed on paper or trays.
- Count the chicks at the station. Any that died on the way are made good, free, from the next hatch, so let us know straight away.
- Go straight home. Shopping at Kotokuraba market can wait until the chicks are drinking.
For what to do once the box is open, see the hour-by-hour plan for the first day.
Less rain than the forest, more damp than you expect
Cape Coast lies in Ghana's dry coastal belt. The metropolitan assembly's own profile puts annual rainfall at only 750 to 1,000 mm, in two seasons that peak around May to June and again in October. Drive 30 km inland towards Kakum and you are in rainforest. So a farmer in Cape Coast has less rain on the roof than a farmer at Twifo Praso, but the air off the sea is damp all year: the same profile gives mean monthly relative humidity of 85 per cent and above.
In practice, litter here does not dry out by itself even in a dry month. Keep drinkers level, lift out wet patches as they form, and store spare wood shavings under cover. July and August are the coolest, cloudiest months on this coast. The weather feels pleasant to you and cold to a week-old chick, so keep the heat on by how the chicks behave, not by the calendar. Our chick brooding guide explains how to read them.
The sea breeze: good for grown birds, a draught for chicks
Most afternoons a steady wind comes in from the sea. In a house of four-week-old broilers that moving air is a gift, and it is one reason heat stress is easier to manage near the shore than further inland. At floor level in a brooder it is a draught. For the first three weeks, curtain the side of the house that faces the sea and let fresh air in from the top of the curtain. If the chicks crowd along the opposite wall, the draught is still reaching them.
Salt air and metal
Within sight of the sea, salt in the air rusts roofing nails, wire mesh, cage wire and metal feeders faster than it would at Abura Dunkwa or Jukwa. Plastic feeders and drinkers last longer on the shore, and wire or cages should be checked for rust before each new batch. If you are fitting out a house and ask us about feeders, drinkers or cages, tell us how close to the sea it stands.
Term time, tourists and the first Saturday of September
Three kinds of buyer shape poultry demand in Cape Coast.
Students. The city has the University of Cape Coast and Cape Coast Technical University, and the assembly counted 15 senior high schools in the metropolis in 2014/15, several of them large boarding schools. Students eat eggs daily: fried with bread in the morning, boiled with pepper in the afternoon, cracked into noodles at night. Food vendors around the campuses buy by the crate. Our reasoning, not a statistic: this demand follows the academic calendar and dips in the long vacation, while a layer flock lays regardless. Line up a second outlet for the vacation weeks before your pullets come into lay.
Hotels and guest houses. Visitors come for Cape Coast Castle, Elmina Castle and Kakum National Park, and the kitchens that feed them want dressed broilers of even size and eggs for breakfast. They also want the same quantity on the same day each time. The article on supplying eggs to shops, schools and hotels covers what such buyers ask for.
Families at festival time. Fetu Afahye brings people home to Cape Coast for the durbar on the first Saturday of September, Elmina celebrates Bakatue in early July, and Christmas and Easter follow the national pattern. These are the weeks for live birds: broilers, cockerels and Sasso.
One more local point. Cape Coast, Elmina and Moree are fishing towns, and fish is the everyday protein on this coast. When the canoes are landing plenty of fish, chop bars lean on it, so the festival and school markets are a surer target for broilers than the general market in a good fishing month. That is general reasoning from how coastal towns eat. Ask your own buyers before you size a batch.
| What you want to sell | Bird | When the chicks should arrive |
|---|---|---|
| Broilers for Fetu Afahye | Ross 308 or Cobb 500 | Around mid-July, six to eight weeks ahead |
| Broilers for Christmas | Ross 308 or Cobb 500 | Late October to early November |
| Eggs for a new school term | Hy-Line, Lohmann or Bovans layers | About five months before, since pullets commonly start to lay at 18 to 20 weeks |
| Live cockerels or Sasso for Christmas | White cockerels, Sasso | By mid-year, because they grow far more slowly than broilers |
What the chicks cost to start with (figures checked on 2 October 2026, and they do change): broiler chicks from GH₵ 20 each, layer chicks from GH₵ 23, Sasso from GH₵ 13 and white cockerels from GH₵ 3. The price list has the rest.
Maize is bought in, and feed must be kept dry
Cape Coast is a city with little farmland of its own. The assembly lists about 9,000 hectares of arable land in the metropolis, of which roughly 2,500 are cultivated, mostly by smallholders growing maize, cassava and plantain for the table. Maize for poultry feed therefore comes from outside the city, and the nearest big trading town on this stretch of coast is Mankessim, about 36 km east on the highway.
We sell poultry feed as well as chicks. There is no fixed price on this page because feed follows the maize and soya market and the cost of moving it, so we quote when you ask. Whoever you buy from, the sea air decides how you store it. At 85 per cent humidity a bag left on a concrete floor draws damp and goes mouldy from the bottom. Stack bags on pallets away from the wall, buy two or three weeks' supply at a time, and reject any feed that smells musty or has clumped. The reasons are in our article on aflatoxin and mouldy feed.
Elmina, Moree, Saltpond, Mankessim and the towns inland
A station in Cape Coast can also serve the towns around it, but the most convenient collection point depends on which side of the city you farm.
- East of the city: Mankessim, Saltpond and Anomabo are on the highway and the vehicle passes them before it reaches Cape Coast. Say so when you order, so that the stop we agree is the one nearest to you.
- Close in: Yamoransa and Moree are about 10 km out, and Elmina is roughly 13 km west of the city.
- Inland: Abura Dunkwa is about 30 km up the Kumasi road. Jukwa lies on the road towards Kakum, and Twifo Praso is deep in the forest beyond it. Add that onward leg to the chicks' day, and remember that rain and wet litter are a bigger issue there than on the shore.
Farmers nearer the Pra river and Shama may find the Sekondi-Takoradi page closer to their situation.
Placing a Cape Coast order
The order form on this page asks for the bird, the number of boxes, your town and the week you would like them. A box holds 50 chicks and one box is the smallest order. If you would rather talk, the number is 024 915 1503. Our reply sets out the price, the hatch date, the delivery cost and the station, and nothing is paid until you have those. You can then pay in cash, by mobile money or by bank transfer; the website itself takes no money.
Before they are boxed, the chicks receive their hatchery vaccinations. Find out from us which ones your batch had, then let your vet or the veterinary office in Cape Coast plan what comes next for your farm. Advice from us before and after the order is free.
Questions from Cape Coast
How long do day-old chicks take to reach Cape Coast from Kasoa?
The road distance is about 115 km on the Accra to Cape Coast highway. A private car does it in roughly two hours, and a bus or cargo vehicle that stops on the way usually takes two to three. Ask us for the departure time and the expected arrival so you can be at the agreed station before the vehicle pulls in.
Can I drive from Cape Coast and collect my chicks at the farm?
Yes, by appointment. Opeikuma, Kasoa is about two hours each way, so it is realistic to come, see the hatchery and carry your own boxes home. Use a vehicle with moving air and shade over the boxes, never a closed boot, and plan to be home before the midday heat.
Does the sea breeze in Cape Coast harm young chicks?
It can chill them. The afternoon wind off the sea is welcome for grown birds, but at floor level it is a draught for chicks in their first three weeks. Curtain the side of the house that faces the sea, open the curtain from the top for fresh air, and watch whether the chicks huddle away from that side.
When should broiler chicks arrive if I want to sell at Fetu Afahye?
The festival durbar falls on the first Saturday of September. Broilers are usually ready six to eight weeks after they arrive as day-olds, so chicks received around mid-July suit that date. Send the order form some weeks earlier, because the hatch date has to be confirmed before anything is paid.
I farm at Elmina, Moree or Mankessim. Where do I collect?
Tell us your town when you order. Mankessim, Saltpond and Anomabo are on the highway before Cape Coast, while Moree and Elmina are a short drive beyond it. The station is agreed with you before dispatch, so we can settle on the stop that gives your chicks the shortest time in the box.