As the race to raise chicken for Christmas and New Year begins, smallholder poultry farmers are struggling with rising prices due to shortage of day-old chick supply across the country.
From September every year, smallholder poultry farmers raise broilers, targeting the yuletide season (Christmas and New Year), when the demand for chicken meat is high.
However, this year, farmers are concerned that prices are very high compared to last year, raising concern that many families may not afford meat during Christmas and New Year celebrations.
The Delta State chapter of the Poultry Association of Nigeria first raised the alarm in a WhatsApp post, where its leadership expressed concern that the scarcity of day-old pullets was hitting the roof ‘on a daily basis.’
‘Pullets just added money. Somebody will be asking: What’s the sudden scarcity in broilers and pullets? What’s actually the reason behind this despite availability of raw materials and downward review of prices by various feed companies,’ the post asked.
The poultry industry in Nigeria has suffered many setbacks since COVID-19, pushing many small and medium scale farmers out of business.
Sources said about 80 per cent of the total day-old hatched in Nigeria are supplied to other African countries widening demand gap domestically.
Weekend Trust gathered that these African countries pay upfront at a uniform price making them a preferred choice for most Nigerian hatcheries.
‘True, but.
The scarcity of day-old chicks and pullets has been blamed on supply to other African countries like Ghana, Cameroon, among others following the high demand for Nigerian birds in those countries.
A former ECWA Farm Manager in Jos, the Plateau State capital, Yilkes Zumunci Bitrus, who is now the chief executive officer of Holy-Right Agro Veterinary Services in Jos, acknowledged this fact.
He explained that the reason for this is that there is much outbreak of diseases in those countries and the quality of their birds is not as that of Nigeria.
The manager said there was high demand for Nigerian birds in those countries, so farms and hatcheries in those places endeavour to meet their demands and supply them, to the detriment of local farmers.
According to the chief executive officer, the farms sell at a higher price to those who come from the neighbouring countries, but they won’t tell local farmers, who they deny the birds.
‘Again, those neighbouring countries come to Nigeria to get birds because they see the country as their own abroad, just as there is always cravings for goods and services from abroad.
‘I liken this to Nigerians having preferences for goods and services from other countries. For example, we have good locally made shoes and automobiles, but we go to other countries to purchase those products, with the mistaken thought that the products outside are always superior to those locally made at home,’ he said.
Zumunci explained that in addition to the supply of birds to neighbouring countries is also the forthcoming yuletide, which is also another reason there is scarcity of day-old chicks and pullets.
According to him, many farms are now saving and nurturing the birds ahead of yuletide in December (Christmas) to sell at a higher price because as at then, the price will be high and the sellers will make more profit.
Another issue, according him, is that in January and February, prices of birds crashed and farms made losses; so people will make much gain in December so that they can make up for the loss in January and February. He stressed that it is for that reason that they are not selling day-old chicks and pullets now; they are keeping them to mature for sale in December.
He revealed that the crash in prices of birds in January and February was so severe that farms even burned the birds since there was less patronage.
Asked why the farms won’t distribute to farmers who are their customers, he explained that if that was done, the farmers would take advantage of it and make it a habit to lessen their patronage and wait for the period when they would be given free chicks.
The public relations officer of the Plateau State Poultry Association, Solomon John, also agreed with Zumunci on hoarding day-old chicks and pullets ahead of the yuletide, adding that the hatcheries too have issues as some complain about parent stock not laying many eggs.
On her part, Madam Grace, a poultry owner around Yelwa Club junction in Jos South, said she booked for day-old chicks and pullets in a hatchery farm but they told her that she could not get it until next year.
She said she was looking for how to get day-old chicks and pullets from alternative sources.
She said the prices of pullets and day-old chicks were between N1,800 and N1,820, while that of broilers is N1,750.
Farmers speak
In Kano, Hajara Sani, a housewife, was disappointed when, on enquiry about the availability of day-old broilers, she was told that booking was required and it would take two or three months to get supply.
Hajara was told that N1,700 is the price for a day-old broiler, while a day-old layer is N1,300, with a local breed known as merger costing N600.
Women are usually seen in clusters waiting for their turns to take delivery of day- old chicks at different poultry outlets in Kano, suggesting that such chicks, especially broilers, are not readily available for would-be buyers.
The chairman of the Kano State Poultry Farmers Association, Dr Usman Gwarzo, explained that certain factors were responsible for the scarcity, which invariably affects the price.
He said the problem was traceable to production challenges in which the major hatcheries in the country like Olam are struggling with foreign exchange to procure the parent stocks that usually lay the eggs.
‘The parent stock is the one that usually lays the eggs that can be hatched; and you need foreign exchange to buy. And everybody knows the volatility of the forex market.
‘Lack of government support to poultry farmers is another factor for the scarcity. Farmers do not get any kind of support to thrive in this kind of business, unlike other aspects of agriculture.
‘Again, no bank supports poultry farmers with any kind of loan. The profit margin of a poultry farmer is between 19 per cent and 20 per cent, but the least interest bank offers is 30 per cent,’ Dr Gwarzo said.
He said a day-old broiler from the hatchery was N1,700, but it would arrive in Kano at approximately N1,900, noting that a parent stock is N8,500 for a day-old.
According to him, farmers like him wait for three months after placing an order for day-old broilers because the hatching period takes about three weeks with demand from different farmers.
Dr Ismail Abdulsalam, another poultry farmer, corroborated what the chairman said. He, however, added that farmers were struggling to replace the aging birds with limited lifespan, creating increased demand on the hatcheries all over the country.
Abdulsalam said the process of hatching broilers and layers was the same, but the broilers give the hatcheries a bit more profit; and therefore, an incentive to hatch more to meet increasing demands.
He said, ‘The process of hatching broilers and layers is the same. But because broilers are a bit more expensive than layers and the hatcheries profit higher, they tend to hatch more broilers, especially as the festive period of Christmas approaches.
‘In the past, just for Christmas sales alone, a farmer could place an order of 100,000 chicks, but that has dropped to maybe 50,000. From now, until Christmas, the price of broilers will remain high because of the likelihood of increasing demands for chicken during the celebration of the festive season.’
According to Abdulsalam, the price of a day-old broiler is between N1,800 and N2,000, while a day-old layer is about N1,500-600, linking the scarcity to the growing population in the country.
Similarly, Abba Abdu, who sells poultry feeds and live birds at Ahmad Chicks, told Weekend Trust that a day-old chick cost at least N1,700 but after a long wait.
‘I have just sold mine, and it will take another month before I get the next supply. You cannot get a day-old chick without waiting for some time after booking. That is how the market is working,’ he said.
Abdu attributed the scarcity to the activities of some poultry farmers who tend to make huge profits supplying nearby Arab countries.
He gave the name of one Saheed, whom he said was given a contract to supply chicks to Arab countries in Africa. Abdul, however, could provide any detail on how farmers supply foreign markets with live birds, leaving customers at home waiting.
Nigeria had in the past experienced significant scarcity and price hike of day-old broilers driven by a combination of factors like the impact of COVID-19 pandemic forex crisis, which limited importation of fertilised eggs, as well as logical challenges in supplying the hatcheries to the farms.
Other dynamics
Ms Nanji Gambo-Oke, the immediate past public relations officer of the Poultry Farmers Association in Plateau State, said farmers often overlooked the dynamics of demand and supply.
‘When egg demand drops, feed prices remain high. They lament, but now that feed prices have dropped and egg prices are rising, you meet silence. It is clear that demand drives the market. Citizens have more disposable income at the moment due to harvest, so they are prioritising protein in their diet.
‘Some hatcheries have faced challenges like scarcity due to lack of parent stock or disease outbreaks, forcing them to cull parent stock.
‘Setting eggs for pullets is more demanding; and there are periods hatchery owners tend to focus on broilers, which are easier and more profitable for hatcheries. And sometimes when poultry production seems more profitable, others are tempted to join, unaware that this influx can flood the market, leading to surplus supply and crashing prices,’ she said.
She added that many factors were causing the hike in the price of day-old pullets and broilers, noting the high demand to meet up with seasonal demand for end products.
‘For broilers, it is Christmas festivities; and for pullets, it is the fasting of March,’ she added.
Power is also the number one factor affecting the price of chicks, according to Gambo-Oke, who said that many hatcheries were operating on diesel 75 per cent of the time.
‘Many hatcheries have downsized, operating at 25-50 per cent capacity due to poor demand off season, causing huge financial losses. Take for instance, doc broilers are sold at N50 and N100 during off season like December to early January when no one is picking birds.
‘The list goes on. Even if the price of feed is relatively cheaper, there are other intricate inputs and decisions to be made when producing day-old chicks,’ the farmer said.