Every chick we sell starts its journey at one place: our hatchery at Opeikuma, Kasoa, in the Central Region. From there it reaches you in one of two ways. You come to the farm by appointment and carry your boxes home, or we put the boxes on a bus or cargo vehicle to a station in your city and you collect them there. The boxes travel to a station, not to your farm gate, so the last few kilometres are always in your hands. This page explains how the journey works, how distance changes the plan, and what must be ready at your end before the chicks set off.
Two ways your chicks leave Opeikuma
| Collect at the farm | Sent to a station in your city | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it suits | Farmers in Kasoa, Accra, Winneba, Agona Swedru and the towns close by | Everyone further away, in any of the 16 regions |
| What you arrange | An appointment, a vehicle with moving air, an early start | Someone at the station on time, and transport from the station to your farm |
| What we confirm first | The price and the hatch date | The price, the hatch date, the station and the delivery cost |
Either way, chicks are packed in ventilated boxes of 50 and the smallest order is one box. Because the box is the unit that travels, orders are made up in fifties: 50, 100, 150 and so on. Chicks are vaccinated at the hatchery before they leave. Ask us what your batch has had and write it down, because your vet will need it to plan the rest of the programme.
Why a day-old chick can ride a bus for hours
Just before it hatches, a chick draws the last of the egg yolk into its body. That reserve keeps it going for roughly two to three days, which is why hatcheries can send chicks long distances with no feed or water in the box. It is a reserve, though, and a chick that reaches feed, water and warmth within a day or two of hatch starts better than one that waits to the limit.
Hunger is rarely what harms chicks on the road. Heat and stale air are. Fifty chicks in a box give off a lot of warmth between them, and a box that sits in the sun, is wrapped in polythene, or is buried under luggage with its air holes covered can overheat quickly. That is the reason for ventilated boxes, and for the four rules to give anyone who handles yours: keep the boxes level, keep the air holes clear, keep them out of direct sun, and keep them out of a closed boot. On long routes, travelling through the cool of the night or early morning takes away the worst of the heat. Our article on moving day-old chicks safely across Ghana covers the handling side in full.
What is settled before a box is loaded
Nothing leaves Opeikuma on guesswork. Before you pay, these points are agreed with you:
- The station. Boxes go to a station in your city, agreed with you before dispatch. Tell us which side of town your farm is on, so the collection point is one you can reach quickly.
- The hatch date. This fixes the day your chicks travel, so it is the date to plan your brooder, your feed and your own movements around.
- The delivery cost. It depends on your town, so it is worked out for your order and confirmed before any money moves. We do not publish a flat fee, because a box going to Cape Coast and a box going to Bawku are not the same job.
- Who collects. Give us the name and phone number of the person who will be at the station, and keep that phone on and charged on the day.
The chick price itself is on the price list. As a guide, broiler chicks start from GH₵ 20 and layer chicks from GH₵ 23 each, and prices change, so the figure that counts is the one we confirm for your hatch date. Payment and the other ordering steps are set out on the page about how to order day-old chicks.
How distance changes the plan
Ghana is a long country from south to north, and the same box cannot be treated the same way on a one-hour trip and a fifteen-hour one. The road times below are rough bus times from Kasoa. Traffic, stops, the route and the vehicle all move them, so treat them as planning figures and confirm the timing with us before dispatch.
| Band | Example towns | Rough road time | How to plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near | Kasoa, Accra, Winneba, Agona Swedru | Up to about 2 hours | Collecting at the farm is realistic. Start early to beat the traffic and the sun. |
| Middle | Cape Coast, Takoradi, Koforidua, Ho, Kumasi | About 2 to 7 hours | Boxes go to a station in your city. Chicks can be in your brooder on the day they travel. |
| Far | Sunyani, Techiman, Tamale, Wa, Bolgatanga, Bawku | About 7 to 19 hours | Overnight travel is usually the sensible choice. Be at the station before the bus is due and go straight home. |
Near: the Kasoa and Accra side
If you farm within an hour or two of Kasoa, coming to Opeikuma yourself is often the simplest plan. Nobody else handles the chicks, and they can be under your own heat within a couple of hours of leaving the hatchery. The enemy on this side of the country is traffic. A car crawling through Kasoa or Mallam at midday with boxes on the back seat gets hot fast, so ask for an early appointment and keep the windows open. Buyers in the capital will find the details on the Accra page.
Middle: half a day on the road
Kumasi is a bus trip of five to six hours or more from Kasoa. Cape Coast, Koforidua, Takoradi and Ho are closer than that. On these routes the chicks still have plenty of reserve when they arrive, and the risk sits at the two ends of the journey: a box left standing in the sun before loading, and a box waiting at the station because nobody has come for it. Be there when the vehicle pulls in. The Kumasi page shows what this means on the road into Ashanti.
Far: the northern regions and the far west
Tamale is more than 600 km away, and Bolgatanga and Bawku are further still, well over twelve hours by road. We will be straight with you: that is a long time for a day-old chick, and it uses a good part of the yolk reserve. It can be done, but only if everything at your end is ready. The bus should travel overnight where possible, you or someone you trust must be at the station before it arrives, and the brooder must already be warm, with water in the drinkers, when you leave home to collect. Farmers in the north can read the Tamale page, which also explains what harmattan nights do to a brooder.
Before you leave home for the station
Receiving chicks starts the day before they travel. A cold, empty brooder undoes everything that went right on the road, so tick these off before you set out:
- Litter is down and dry, and the brooder guard is standing.
- The heat source has been lit for a few hours, so the floor itself is warm as well as the air above it.
- Drinkers were filled early enough for the water to lose its chill, and starter feed is on trays or paper.
- Your phone is charged, has credit, and is the number you gave us.
- Transport from the station is arranged: a car with windows that open, a taxi, or a tricycle with shade.
Temperatures, guard sizes and litter depth are in the chick brooding guide, so they are not repeated here.
At the station when the vehicle arrives
- Arrive before the expected time. Buses can run early as well as late, and chick boxes should not stand in a loading bay.
- Check that the boxes are yours and that the number of boxes matches your order.
- Lift each lid briefly, in the shade. You want to hear steady cheeping and see chicks spread across the box. Shrill noise, or chicks panting with open beaks, means they are hot: get them into moving air at once.
- Note any dead chicks you can see, then close the lid. Do the full count at the brooder as you place the chicks, when each one is handled once and then left in peace.
- Go straight home. No market stop and no visits on the way.
Do not send a stranger. The person who collects should know the boxes hold live chicks, should have your order details, and should be able to phone you and us from the station. A driver who throws the boxes in a boot and stops for lunch can cost you the batch.
The last stretch, from station to brooder
This is the one part of the journey that only you control, and in a hot town at midday it can do more damage than the hundreds of kilometres before it. Carry the boxes flat, on a seat or the cabin floor, with a gap between them. If you must stack them, keep the side holes clear and put nothing on top. On a motorbike or tricycle, shade the boxes from the sun but leave the sides open to the wind, and tie them so they cannot tip. On a harmattan dawn in the north the danger turns round: cold wind on an open tricycle chills chicks, so shield the side the wind is coming from.
At home, dip a few beaks in the water as you place the chicks, count them into the brooder, and watch how they spread out over the next hour. What to look for, hour by hour, is set out in our guide to the first 24 hours after chicks arrive.
Seasons and festive rushes that move the timing
The calendar matters as much as the map. In the main rains, roads in the forest belt and the wet south-west slow down and a trip can run hours over, so keep the brooder heat going until the chicks are actually in it. In the harmattan, nights in the northern regions turn cold and dry, and chicks stepping off an overnight bus need warmth immediately. In March and April, before the rains break in the north, daytime heat is at its worst, which is one more reason to travel at night. The brooding side of all this is covered in brooding in the rainy season and the harmattan.
In the weeks before Christmas, Easter and the Eid festivals, stations are crowded and vehicles are loaded with luggage. It is reasonable to expect slower handling then, so order early, confirm the timing with us before dispatch, and give yourself extra time at the station.
If chicks are dead on arrival, and how to get a quote
If any chicks are dead when the boxes reach you, we replace them free in the next hatch. Do your count the same day and phone 024 915 1503 at once. What to say when you call is on the ordering page linked above. Chicks that are alive but tired after a long road usually pick up with warmth and water. If they do not, our article on why chicks die in the first week will help you look for the cause, and a batch that keeps losing birds should be seen by your vet or the district veterinary office.
To get a delivery cost and a hatch date, send the order form on this page with the bird you want, the number of boxes and your town, or call 024 915 1503. We reply with the price, the hatch date, the station and the delivery cost, and you decide after that. No payment is taken on the website. Below this text you will find our pages for 30 towns and cities, each with the road distance from Kasoa and notes on receiving chicks there.
Questions buyers ask
Do you bring the chicks to my farm gate?
No. For customers outside Kasoa, the boxes are put on a bus or cargo vehicle to a station in your city and you collect them there. The trip from the station to your brooder is yours to arrange, so have a ventilated car, taxi or shaded tricycle ready. If you are near Kasoa you can also collect at the farm in Opeikuma by appointment.
How long can day-old chicks stay in the box on the road?
A newly hatched chick carries a yolk reserve that keeps it going for roughly two to three days, which is what makes long routes possible. Chicks still do better when they reach feed, water and warmth within a day or two of hatch. Heat and blocked air holes harm them far sooner than hunger does, so shade and ventilation matter more than speed alone.
Who chooses the station where I collect my boxes?
The station is agreed with you before dispatch, never chosen without you. Tell us your town and which side of it your farm is on, and say if there is a station you can reach easily. The aim is a collection point where you can be waiting when the vehicle arrives and from which the chicks are home quickly.
How much does delivery to my town cost?
There is no flat fee, because the cost depends on the town and it is worked out for each order. We confirm the figure together with the chick price and the hatch date before you pay, so you can see the full cost of the order first. Send the form on this page with your town and number of boxes to get it.
Should I count the chicks at the station or at home?
Count the boxes at the station and lift each lid briefly in the shade to look for dead or panting chicks. Do the full head count the same day as you place the chicks in the brooder, when each one is handled once. If any arrived dead, phone 024 915 1503 straight away so they can be replaced free in the next hatch.
Is it safe to send chicks as far as Tamale, Wa or Bolgatanga?
It can be done, because the yolk reserve covers the journey, but it is a long time for a day-old chick and leaves little margin for mistakes. Night travel helps, someone must be at the station before the bus arrives, and the brooder must be warm with water in place before you leave home. Confirm the timing with us before dispatch.