Short answer: Feed cost per egg is the feed a hen eats in a day, times the price per kilogram, divided by the eggs she lays in a day. A hen eating about 115 grams a day and laying on 85 per cent of days costs roughly GH₵1.03 in feed per egg at GH₵7.60 a kilogram. For broilers, feed cost per kilogram of live weight decides whether the bird pays, so track it batch by batch.
Key takeaways
- Feed cost per egg equals feed per hen per day, times price per kilo, divided by eggs per hen per day.
- A hen eating 115 grams a day and laying 85 per cent of days costs about GH₵1.03 in feed per egg at an illustrative GH₵7.60 a kilo.
- For broilers, the feed bill is spread across the birds you sell, so dead birds raise the cost per bird.
- Measure the feed you use each month, not the feed you bought, and use the price you actually paid.
- A rise in feed price is small per egg but large per broiler. Plan the pass-on before the bag goes up.
The formula, in plain words
Feed cost per egg is what the feed a hen eats costs her to lay one egg. That is the number to start with when you ask whether the egg business can pay. Everything else, the house, the power, the labour and the vaccines, sits on top of it.
Work it out in three steps. First, how many kilograms of feed one hen eats in a day. Second, what that feed costs per kilogram. Third, how many eggs one hen lays in a day, written as a decimal. Multiply the first two numbers, then divide by the third. A hen that lays on four days out of five lays 0.8 eggs a day, so you divide by 0.8, not by one.
This is the figure the price of an egg has to cover. If the feed alone costs more per egg than the buyer pays, nothing else you do will rescue the business.
Worked example: 100 laying hens
Take 100 hens in full lay. Each eats about 115 grams a day, which is 11.5 kilograms for the flock. The flock lays on 85 per cent of days, so you collect about 85 eggs a day from 100 hens. For the price, use the figure your supplier actually charges. Here we use an illustrative GH₵380 per 50-kilogram bag, which is GH₵7.60 a kilogram. Swap in your own number before you trust the answer.
Daily feed cost is 11.5 kilograms multiplied by GH₵7.60, which comes to GH₵87.40. Divide that by 85 eggs and you get about GH₵1.03 of feed per egg. Our list puts a crate of 30 table eggs at GH₵50 from, which works out at about GH₵1.67 an egg. Take off the feed at GH₵1.03 and you have about GH₵0.64 left to pay for the house, the chicks, the vaccines, the power, the labour and the losses. That margin is thin, and every cost you have not yet counted is waiting to take it.
Worked example: one broiler at 2.5 kilograms
For broilers the unit changes. You are paying for kilograms of live weight, not eggs. Say a bird reaches about 2.5 kilograms and the flock turns feed into weight at a feed conversion ratio of 1.8. That means 1.8 kilograms of feed for every kilogram of gain, or 4.5 kilograms per bird from chick to sale. At the same GH₵7.60 a kilogram, the feed comes to GH₵34.20 per bird.
Our current list puts a live broiler of about 2.5 kilograms at GH₵110 from, and a Ross 308 chick at GH₵20 from. Feed is the largest running cost after the chick, and it is the one you can change fastest by tightening the feeders and getting the phases right. For the conversion side of the sum, read our notes on broiler feed conversion explained.
Mortality makes every bird dearer
Dead birds eat feed too. If 5 per cent of the broilers die before sale, the feed they ate is still on your bill, and it has to be shared across fewer birds you can sell. Divide the GH₵34.20 by 0.95 and the feed cost per saleable bird rises to about GH₵36.00. A flock that loses 10 per cent carries a feed cost of about GH₵38.00 per bird, and nothing about the surviving bird has changed.
That is why the mortality count belongs on the same sheet as the feed figure. A cheaper feed that brings in an extra five per cent of deaths can cost you more than the saving. Count the birds at the end of each week, count the bags used, and keep the two numbers side by side.
The two numbers side by side
Here are the layer and broiler sums in one place. The bottom row is the one to watch, because the margin is what is left after feed.
| Line | Laying hens (per egg) | Broilers (per bird sold) |
|---|---|---|
| Feed used per unit | About 0.135 kg (115 g a day, over 0.85 eggs) | 4.5 kg per bird, at a conversion of 1.8 |
| Price per kilogram (illustrative) | GH₵7.60 | GH₵7.60 |
| Feed cost per unit | GH₵1.03 | GH₵34.20 |
| Feed cost adjusted for losses | Not applied to eggs in this example | GH₵36.00 at 5 per cent deaths |
| Sale value per unit (our list, from) | GH₵1.67 (a crate of 30 at GH₵50) | GH₵110 (live, about 2.5 kg) |
| Left after feed | About GH₵0.64 before other costs | About GH₵74 after the loss-adjusted feed, before other costs |
The broiler margin looks generous only because the bird is sold for much more than the feed in it. Subtract the chick, the house, the vaccines, the litter and the labour, and the picture is more like the layer one.
When the feed price moves
Feed prices in Ghana move with the cost of maize, soya and the imported ingredients behind a compound feed. Work out what a rise does before it happens, so you are not surprised. Using the same flock sizes as above, a rise of GH₵0.40 a kilogram adds about 5 pesewas to each egg, since 0.135 kilograms times GH₵0.40 is roughly GH₵0.054. The same rise adds about GH₵1.80 to every broiler, since 4.5 kilograms times GH₵0.40 is GH₵1.80.
You have two responses. Pass the rise on, where the market allows it, and never pass on a rise you have not priced into the margin first. Or tighten the feeding, which means less waste, better timing and fewer birds per feeder than the house can handle. Cheap alternatives are a separate question. Read cheaper poultry feed alternatives in Ghana before you swap ingredients, because a cheap feed that costs you 10 per cent of lay is more expensive than the bag it replaced.
Where the feed actually goes
Ask a farmer how much feed they bought and most can tell you. Ask how much of it reached a bird and very few can. The gap is the leak: spillage from feeders hung too high, feed eaten by rodents and wild birds, wet feed thrown out, and bags left in a damp store until the mould got in.
Measure the leak once. Weigh a full bag, record what goes into the bin, and weigh what is left at the end of the week. The difference is the feed you lost. In a well-run house it is small. In a house with open bins, low feeders and no lids, it can run to a sizeable share of the bill. For the practical fixes, see reducing feed wastage on the farm.
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A monthly feed sheet that takes ten minutes
- Write down the number of birds at the start and at the end of the month.
- Record every bag used, with the date it was opened.
- Weigh a sample of birds at the end of the month and note the average.
- Work out the feed kilograms used per bird per day for the month.
- Multiply by the price you actually paid, not the price on the last receipt you filed.
- Divide by the eggs collected, or by the live kilograms sold, and write the figure on the sheet.
- Compare it with last month, and find the cause of any change before you buy the next batch.
If you do not yet keep records, our guide to poultry record keeping shows simple sheets that fit on one page.
Pricing against the feed number
The feed figure gives you a floor. A price that does not cover feed plus a share of everything else will shrink the flock over time. Add the other costs as a set amount per bird or per egg, and set the selling price so it covers all of it with a margin you can live with. A good test is to ask whether a buyer would still pay the price if feed rose by 10 per cent next month. If the answer is no, the price is too close to the floor.
Keep the feed figure to yourself until the margin is worked out. Buyers will always ask how low you can go, and the feed number is the reason you cannot go lower. For how egg prices are built up from costs, see how to price chicken and eggs in Ghana.
What the number is telling you
A rising feed cost per egg, with no change in the feed price, usually means lay has dropped or feed is leaking. A rising cost per bird with a steady conversion ratio points at mortality. A flat cost with a shrinking margin means your sale price has slipped. Read the number as a symptom, then work out which of the three it is before you change anything.
For the egg side of the sum, our guide to whether egg farming is profitable in Ghana works through the full set of costs. If you are still deciding whether a broiler or a layer flock suits your money, the trade-off is set out in whether poultry farming is profitable in Ghana.
When you are ready to start, our day-old chick prices page lists the current starting figures, and you can place an order through the order form.
Questions farmers ask
How do I calculate feed cost per egg?
Multiply the feed one hen eats per day, in kilograms, by the price per kilogram. Divide that by the number of eggs one hen lays per day, as a decimal. A hen laying on 85 per cent of days gives 0.85 eggs a day. For 115 grams of feed a day at GH₵7.60 a kilogram, the answer is about GH₵1.03 per egg.
What is feed conversion ratio and why does it matter for cost?
Feed conversion ratio is the kilograms of feed a bird eats for each kilogram of weight she gains. A ratio of 1.8 means 1.8 kilograms of feed per kilogram of live weight. Multiply it by the live weight you sell and by your feed price to get the feed cost per bird. A lower ratio means a smaller feed bill for the same bird, which is why waste and timing matter so much.
Should I include dead birds in the feed cost?
Yes. The feed they ate was paid for, and it is shared across the birds you actually sell. Divide the total feed cost by the number sold, not the number you started with. At 5 per cent deaths, the feed cost per saleable broiler rises by about five per cent, and the figure should reflect that on the sheet.
How much does a feed price rise change the cost per egg?
Less than many people fear, but it adds up. At 115 grams a day, a rise of GH₵0.40 per kilogram adds about 5 pesewas to each egg. The same rise adds about GH₵1.80 to a broiler that eats 4.5 kilograms. Pass the rise on where the market allows it, and tighten the feeding where it does not.
What is a good feed cost per egg in Ghana?
There is no single right answer, because feed prices and egg prices move together. A better test is the margin: the sale price minus the feed cost per egg, and then minus everything else. If that margin does not cover the other costs and leave a profit, the business needs a change in cost, in price or in flock performance.
Where should I get the feed price for my sheet?
Use the price on your last paid invoice, not the list price on a bag or a figure from memory. Write the date beside it. If you buy at different prices over the month, use the average of your last three purchases, weighted by the quantity you bought each time.
