Category: Farm Economics & Performance

Most commercial poultry layer farms that are losing money do not do so because of one single catastrophic disaster. Instead, they bleed cash through dozens of tiny, daily inefficiencies that compound over time. A few extra grams of wasted feed. A slight spike in cracked eggs. A few percentage points below realistic production targets. A subtle increase in mortality.

The assumption is simple: “If the birds are at this age, the daily feed should stay the same.” But poultry production does not work that way. Your birds are not identical every day. Your farm conditions are not identical every day. And your profitability definitely does not stay the same every day.

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.

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