The tail of the flock

The truck has left full. And yet, part of the lot is still there.

These chickens are called the tail of the flock. They are not sick. They are just late.

With many poultry farmers, four out of five chickens leave at the first sale. The fifth one stays.

The buyer goes through the lot and takes the heaviest ones. The small ones are left for later.

With my clients, this wait generally lasts ten days at most. Ten more days of feeding.

At this age, a chicken eats at least one hundred and sixty grams per day.

Ten more days means at least one kilo six of extra feed for each chicken that waits.

The chicken sold on the thirty-fifth day has eaten about three and a half kilos. The one that leaves ten days later has eaten more than five. For the same selling price.

Take a lot of one thousand chicks. If one chicken out of five waits, that’s nearly two hundred chickens.

Nearly two hundred times one kilo six is about three hundred kilos. Six bags of fifty.

Six bags that do not fatten any sellable chicken. How much does your bag cost? Multiply by six.

So why do these chickens remain small? There are three reasons. And you hold two.

First reason, the lot is not homogeneous. Same age, same feed, but very different weights.

The gap starts from the first days. The one that finds water and the feeder poorly falls behind.

Second reason, males and females are together. Females grow slower, they reach weight later.

At thirty-five days, the breed guide shows nearly three hundred grams of difference between the two.

Third reason, the buyer sorts. He takes the nice ones, and it’s you who feeds the rest.

What you can do. Weigh about thirty randomly selected chickens each week.

Note the lightest and the heaviest. If the gap grows week by week, the tail is preparing.

Give each one its place at the feeder and drinker. Otherwise, it’s always the same small ones that wait.

And prepare the sale before the truck. Notify several buyers. Offer the tail separately, even a little cheaper.

A chicken that waits does not sleep. It eats. And what it eats comes out of your margin.

And at your place, how many days between the first sale and the last chicken?

Write it to us on WhatsApp at 05 44 83 27 79. We will send you our flock record book, free of charge.

To order your chicks, call 07 07 72 78 67. Subscribe. The next lesson talks about selling by the kilo.

Our broiler chicks are born in Agnibilékrou, with us. With Nextekci, every customer is a satisfied poultry farmer.