Author: aviarai

Across Africa, poultry farmers are measured against poultry benchmarks and numbers that were never designed for them. Age-specific weight targets, Target feed conversion ratios, Standard mortality thresholds, Expected egg production curves.

Across Africa, poultry farmers are often told the same thing. “Keep better farm records.” “Write everything down.” “Track your numbers more carefully.” And many farmers do exactly that. Feed intake is written down daily. Egg counts are recorded. Mortality is noted. Some farmers use notebooks.

If you ask any poultry farmer where most of their money goes, the answer is immediate. Feed. In most African poultry operations, feed accounts for 70 to 85 percent of total production costs. No other input comes close. Housing, labor, vaccines, electricity, and logistics all matter. But feed largely determines whether a farm survives or struggles. Yet despite this reality,

For decades, African poultry farmers have relied on experience, instinct, and hard-earned intuition to run their farms. And for a long time, that made sense. Feed prices were relatively stable. Input shocks were slower. Competition was more predictable. When conditions changed, farmers adapted using judgment passed down from mentors, veterinarians, and years of trial and error. That approach built today’s