Costing your first flock with your own figures

What costs money in a flock, in order

• Feed: by far the biggest expense. For a white broiler sold at around 6 weeks, count a benchmark of 3 to 3.5 kg of feed per bird for a live weight of about 1.8 to 2.2 kg, in good conditions. For a coloured chicken reared for 3 to 4 months, the total is much higher, because it eats for longer.
• The chicks: the price of the day, multiplied by the number ordered, in boxes of 50.
• Health: vaccines given on the farm according to the protocol of your local veterinarian, vitamins, disinfectants, visits. Set aside a line for it, even if it is small.
• Litter, gas or charcoal, electricity, water: small lines which, together, add up.
• Staff: the wages of the technician or the worker for the length of the flock, even if it is you.
• Transport: of the chicks (paid to the partner carrier, depending on the route) and of the chickens to the buyer.
• Losses: you never sell 100% of the chicks received. A well-managed first flock often loses 3 to 5%; you calculate with this figure, and you strive to do better.

The method in four lines

1. Total cost of the flock = chicks + feed + health + litter/energy/water + staff + transport.

2. Chickens sold = chicks received − estimated losses.

3. Cost per chicken sold = total cost ÷ chickens sold. This is your threshold: below this selling price per chicken, you lose money.

4. Margin = (average selling price × chickens sold) − total cost. If you sell by the kilo, the average selling price per chicken = price per kilo × average live weight.

Do this calculation before ordering, then after the sale with the real figures. The gap between the two is the best lesson you will get.

The calculator

Enter your own figures. Nothing is sent to NEXTEKCI: the calculation is done on your phone. Ask for the price of the day for chicks on +225 07 07 72 78 67 before filling it in.

The default benchmarks suggested (feed per bird, losses, weight) are orders of magnitude for good management in an open-sided house. Replace them with your own results from your second flock onwards.

Reading the result like an entrepreneur

• If the margin is negative with your honest figures, do not order: change something first (buyer, selling price, flock size, type of chick).
• If the margin is positive but thin, ask yourself what could go wrong: a week’s delay in selling white broilers, a rise in the price of a bag of feed, 10% losses instead of 5. Redo the calculation with that scenario.
• Always compare the cost per chicken with the price your buyer really pays, not the one they announce.
• Keep enough cash for all the feed: a flock that runs short of feed along the way loses in a few days what it gained in weeks.