The Ultimate Business Guide To Poultry Farming

Go to chapter 19 of this eBook by clicking this link…“Preparing your broilers for processing”. Click here to find the next chapter.

Hello,

Broiler yield is a VERY IMPORTANT value-added topic.

Why?

Hint: value-added. (Yield from geldan (Anglian) “to pay, pay for; reward, render;)

Work is only really work if it pays, otherwise, it’s all a waste.

In the broiler business, the real value is meat.

Whilst the whole carcass is sold,

After all the processing, the product of real value is actually the meat.

In fact, the various cuts of broiler meat each carry their own respective premium.

In other words, the market values each cut differently according to relative consumer demand.

In the UK, for example, the popularity of chicken meat cuts look like this (numbers in tonnes sold per annum – 2017 figures):

Fresh Whole – 226,142 (~40%)

Fresh Breast – 159,381 (~28%)

Fresh Leg – 96,083 (~17%)

Frozen Breast – 42,741 (~8%)

Sliced Cooked – 22,031 (~4%)

TOTAL = 561,714 tonnes sold

Source: Poultry Pocketbook – 2018 AHDB

Looking more closely at the price variety associated with cuts,

…birds with a higher proportion of actual meat (value) vs. bone, fat, cartilage etc. (waste)…

…carry higher demand, higher price and contribute more kg of meat to every sale.

This, of course, equals more profit for every broiler farmer.

All this, simply for making the right decisions in getting the best quality carcass to market.

But as a broiler farmer, how can you improve the yield of your meat delivered to market?

According to this publication by North Central Regional Committee on Poultry Products Technology Research, there are 5 primary contributors to broiler meat yield:

Breed/strain

Over the decades of selective breeding by commercial vendors like Avigen, Cobb etc…

…certain breeds of broiler have been influenced for their optimal meat yield.

Age

Maturity has a direct correlation to meat yield.

Immature birds yield lower meat. Their bodies are yet to reach potential.

However,

…certain strains reach an optimal size and weight sooner than others, which leads to greater turnaround and increased profits.

Shorter rearing cycles = more sales & lower cost of goods sold (feed expenses) = greater profits.

Diet & Management

• What birds eat, and…
• how they are handled…

…directly impact their eventual market weight and muscle (meat) composition.

Getting the right balance and approach in this area can add to your overall broiler farming gains.

Firstly, it has been seen that supplying birds with lower energy feed, can result in lower yields…

(careful though – too many calories in broiler diet can have an adverse effect on their appetite):

As far as pre-processing handling is concerned, for example, every hour of delay in the lead time to slaughter can cause “weight loss…

Chilling and unscrupulous practices

Care should be taken on the processing/evisceration lines, not to saturate meat in water – as this practice significantly increases yield…

…although falsely.

Source: Factors affecting poultry meat yields

The bottom line…

Actual meat increase is where you as a broiler farmer get rewarded for your efforts.

This comes in financial return.

Money per kg or lbs.

You can influence this ratio in your favour significantly by:

• Your choice of strain
• Age of slaughter
• Diet
• Handling
• Processing methods

…amongst other factors, like humidity, floor space etc.

If each factor adds a small percentage of gain toward your target weight.

For everything done effectively, you stay on track for profit.

Yet every point lost is effort without reward.

Having your eyes on yield continually and it’s contributing factors should keep you on track for long term profits.

An now, over to you:

Are you a broiler farmer looking to increase the weight of your birds?

Or, are you still in planning and need tips on hitting optimal output?

Either way, write me back and let me know.

I read every comment.

Speak soon.

Temi

Go to chapter 19 of this eBook by clicking this link…“Preparing your broilers for processing”. Click here to find the next chapter.

Go to chapter 18 of this eBook by clicking this link…“Broiler yield”. Click here to find the next chapter.

Hello,

If you are planning a layer farm,

You might be asking – “how many eggs should I sell to make a profit?”

[Or words along a similar line]

For this purpose, the breakeven analysis is a business planning favourite of mine.

Like everything planning wise,

The figures are never supposed to be binding.

Just a rough – “…back of an envelope” guide.

But what it should tell you is,

Where your direct costs and sales revenue meet in the middle.

Any money received above and beyond this point (called the breakeven point) is gross profit.

Gross profit is not take-home money, but funds available in your business for paying:

• overheads (inc. payroll, utilities, repayments on borrowings etc.)
• interest on loans
• taxes
• depreciation

After the above deductions, you are left with a net earnings figure – or, take-home pay.

As things go, you might find the job of estimating these deductions much easier than first task of predicting profit from egg production.

Why?

Did you think egg production to be simple?

Sure, layer birds typically lay 1 egg per day.

So what could be so difficult about predicting egg production from this base figure of 1?

If you housed 100 layers,

Don’t you just multiply the two numbers and get 100 eggs per day?

It’s actually not so simple.

Take hen-day egg (%) for an example of the complexities involved:

Source: Hen-day vs. Hen housed Egg Production

This accounts for the fact that across a flock of hens, not every hen will lay an egg a day.

Some days, some hens simply will not lay

This occurrence invariability increases with age.

Next, mortality.

A certain proportion of layer birds within your flock are statistically going to die – before becoming ‘spent’.

Now, add the complexity of a variable egg-laying age profile…

Your birds only begin laying at 21 weeks (achieving an initial hen-day egg production of 8%)…

…this production peaks at 29-31 weeks (with 94% hen-day eggs).

Tapering off to 72% at 72 weeks old.

Here is a table (from Good practices in planning and management of integrated commercial poultry production in South Asia) with the estimated hen-day egg production as a percentage – in line with age.

The ages range from when layers begin laying to the end of their usual commercial life (i.e. 72 weeks).

But,

What if you want to engineer your layer farm to consistently produce eggs EVERY day – consistently, week in and week out?

You’ll either need to:

a) adopt a multi-flock model,

Or

b) buy point of lay hens.

Point of lay hens are a disadvantage for a keen layer farmer:

Source: Buying Day-Old Chicks vs. Buying Older Chickens

Essentially,

…buying DoCs (day old chicks) is more cost-effective in the long run and offers more control.

For the experienced (or at least, confident) layer farmer.

Saving cost and increasing control should = greater profit (ROI, or return on investment).

However,

Layer hens typically don’t begin to lay until about 21 weeks of age.

And then, as seen in the hen-day egg table above, their first phase of laying is about 1/10 of peak production.

What about in between batches?

When releasing a spent batch,

…which by definition is a batch that begins to cost you [rather than pay you] to keep them because of age…

How do you avoid losing 21 weeks of layer farm income (…whilst you wait for your young chicks to mature…)?

The answer?

Buy and rear simultaneous flocks.

Regardless of batch size,

These common layer farm production models will smooth out the transition between flocks with continuous income.

Let’s look at some layer farm models (recommended by the FAO) & their gross profit profiles:

[Note: X-axis along the bottom on these graphs indicate rearing week e.g. 1 – 301, over a 6 year period]

1+2 layer farming: This model runs on 2 simultaneous laying flocks, plus 1 brooder house.

At about the 23-week mark,

…there is a little preliminary gross profit experienced –

Which doesn’t break through into regular cyclical profit until 49 weeks of age.

As for a breakeven,

…it’s difficult to say,

Your overheads and other deductions need to be estimated and subtracted.

You’d probably delay ROI until 2nd phase of profit i.e. 81+ weeks.

But then again,

If you have incurred capital start-up costs for land and buildings too,

Then you’d need to also account for gathering back these costs.

This further delays your ROI.

What about more intensive models?

Try…

1+3 layer farm modelling: This model runs on 2-3 simultaneous laying flocks, plus brooder spare house.

Here, we can see a preliminary pocket of gross profit experienced between 41 – 61 weeks of age.

Following that, we see regular steep peaks of gross profit which run in relay.

Each peak of production taking your business into more and more cumulative profitability.

1+1+5 layer farming: This model runs on 4-5 simultaneous laying flocks, 1 brooder house & 1 grower house.

Now, we see a clear gross profit emerging at about 40 weeks.

Then by steps of incremental productivity, we reach peak production at about 60+ weeks.

This peak production sales revenue runs at a clear margin of gross profit above cost.

This is by far the most profitable production model of the three,

Yet it is not without its complexities and additional cost inc.

• multiple layer houses
• grower house
• 5-simultaneously reared flocks

But the rewards are very obvious – if you can reach for such a model.

A highly profitable approach.

The bottom-line…

Layer farming production model is a significant influence on gross profit.

Breakeven is a little more involved taking into account indirect running costs.

Also, ROI would further need to take into account initial capital costs, like real estate etc.

This type of modelling helps you better visualise or illustrate the performance of your farm.

A useful snapshot to keep your motivation on track.

But for now, I’d like to hear from you:

Are you already in production and need a good illustration for your own profits?

Or maybe you are new to building business models and need help grasping the patterns in this mail?

Either way, write me back and let me know.

I read every comment.

Speak soon.

Temi

Go to chapter 18 of this eBook by clicking this link…“Broiler yield”. Click here to find the next chapter.

Go to chapter 17 of this eBook by clicking this link…“Layer production profit”. Click here to find the next chapter.

Hello,

Broiler feed contributes to as much as 70% of operational costs, according to farmers worldwide.

In other words,

For every 1KG of broiler meat sold at market, 700g of the proceeds goes to your suppliers for feeding your flock.

Significant…

…but necessary and unavoidable.

Whilst it can’t be side-stepped,

Can it be shaved down? [WITHOUT compromise]

The answer is yes.

Broiler feed cost is equivalent to a carpenter taking a rough piece of wood stock…

And applying his ability to shape and mould it – he turns it into something useful and even profitable.

Approach handling broiler feed cost in this way and it will LITERALLY pay you back.

Breed & FCR

Each breed or strain has its natural ability for being able to convert nutritional intake into muscle (meat).

Strains are even selectively bred for their predictable meat output.

The typical ratio of feed (weight) to meat (weight) is known as the feed conversion ratio, or FCR.

The greater the FCR the less efficient the breed/strain is in turning feed into meat.

Selecting a breed which has a highly profitable FCR profile, as well as other favourable features…

…is one simple way of reducing the cost of feed per bird / batch.

Energy content

Broilers have been known to adjust their feed intake by as much as 10% to accommodate varying energy content.

In other words,

If broilers are fed exceptionally high energy content in their feed…

…they are able to naturally regulate their food intake to compensate, either way.

Getting the right balance achieves an optimal profitability.

Optimise all non-feed related husbandry practices

Feed is the principal contributor to broiler yield.

However,

Other handling factors influence this conversion, positively or negatively.

To ensure you experience the most favourable results, just like a chemistry experiment…

…keep all other variables constant.

Solid animal husbandry practices when handling and conditioning your birds will get them eating and accumulating weight.

Feed form

Getting feed into the bird and not wasted is critical to feed efficiency.

It’s one thing to load it with nutritional value,

And make it available to your flock in the right amounts – at the right time, but…

To have the feed wasted because the birds scratched at it, but didn’t actually eat it is a disappointment.

Preparing its form is one of the ways in which you encourage your birds at the various milestones of growth to actually take on feed.

Make your feed too fine and much will be lost that doesn’t get picked up.

Plus, generally, your older flock will not find fine feed as palatable as pellets. However, chicks and mash are just the right combination.

Serve your flock with the most convenient form and they will reward you with yield.

Whole Grain Feeding

Combining the provision of manufactured bag feed and whole grain smooths out the commercial feed cost.

You can significantly temper down the hit you take on feed cost, by varying your menu.

Also, other benefits are:

• better littler quality
• Improved gut flora

Ensuring grain quality is high and free of toxins are important factors to consider.

But if you are diligent to observe good standards, you could substitute as much as 15% of grower feed and 20% of finisher feed with wheat, barley or oat (ideally, no husk)

Alternative supplements

Supplementing feed with amino acids, in particular, equips your broiler birds for optimal growth.

Amino acids…

…the building blocks of protein, the substance of muscle (meat) are critical to get right.

Whilst complex protein content in broiler diet is one way to get them in (being broken down into the constituent amino acids)…

…having AA in their readily digestible format, primes your birds for growth.

There are medicinal/synthetic AAs that can be added to feed (fortifying the mix).

Reportedly substituting as much as 2-3% of dietary protein:

Source: Specialized protein products in broiler chicken nutrition: A review

But similarly, there are alternative additions of plant-based protein sources (like Soy Bean Meal or SBM) which can have good yield effects

Source: Specialized protein products in broiler chicken nutrition: A review

…but there are drawbacks which take away from the potential benefit of the high crude protein content of soy bean meal (SBM…

Source: Specialized protein products in broiler chicken nutrition: A review

Most of all – ANFs or anti-nutritional factors. These are nutritional inhibitors which occur naturally in plant-based protein like SBM.

ANFs dampen the positive effect of high protein plant sources, but there are ways to ‘knock-out’ their effects.

Like this…

Source: Specialized protein products in broiler chicken nutrition: A review

Feed ingredients

But the question with the selection of broiler diet could still be…

…”what ingredients or diet plan should I use for where my farm is based?”

Farmers have got to be resourceful to survive.

Having knowledge of:

• what ingredients are available locally and
• what their benefits might be to your bottom line

…will grant you an advantage.

You have to be willing to try things out a little, performing feed trials with certain batches, or cohorts within a batch.

Source: Poultry Feed Trials 2017

However, be warned. There is a temptation to get carried away with trials and in the hunt for more gain, lose the purpose.

Don’t get obsessed with weight gain – the broiler business has so many other areas of potential increase.

Beak trimming

This is commonly practiced early on in the developmental growth phases of a broiler.

The purpose?

To prevent injury and the lasting effects of aggression between birds.

But does it affect their intake of food?

In short, it seems marginally for 3 days post trimming, but thereafter no effects…

Although, damage from in-fighting is avoided – meat quality is maintained.

Source: The influence of beak trimming on feeding activity

Adjusting feed level in the feeders

Convenient access to feeders is critical to intake.

Broilers grow rapidly.

The equipment they use, complementing their size to move in-line with their growth.

Daily adjustments to feeders and waterers should occur to make the process of intake as easy as possible.

This way you ensure your flock are not resisted in their ambition for growth.

Spoilage

More of a problem with natural ingredients than manufactured pellets is spoilage.

If left out and uneaten, feed can deteriorate and quickly lose its nutritional benefit.

Worse still, anti-nutritional effects from toxins etc .can occur within a broiler’s body if consumed.

This can give rise to a pattern of reduction in the conversion of feed into muscle.

A real sinker for profit.

Lighting programs

The delivery of adequate levels of lighting to your flock will influence their eating and drinking behaviours.

Source: AA Broiler Handbook 2018

According to age, your flock will require a particular amount of light and dark for adequate levels of feed and rest.

Ensure you deliver the required amounts and are aware of necessary amounts at each growth phase.

Get this wrong and your FCR will be interrupted.

Local authority regulations on lighting will also need to be considered.

The bottom line…

The cost of feed is unavoidable.

Birds need to eat and more so, they need the right quality of feed.

This is your input to the investment of running a broiler farm.

Your output of profit (reward) can also be affected by complementary factors…

…not just feed.

Keeping on top of these associated helpers (hinderers) of FCR – feed conversion – will give you optimal results.

And now, over to you:

Are you a broiler farmer with looking earnestly to cut your feed cost?

Or, are you still planning it all out and need a few more pointers to keep you on track?

[Agreed, it’s a tough topic.]

Either way, write me back and let me know.

I read every comment.

Speak soon,

Temi

Go to chapter 17 of this eBook by clicking this link…“Layer production profit”. Click here to find the next chapter.

Go to chapter 16 of this eBook by clicking this link…“The real cost of broiler feed”. Click here to find the next chapter.

Hello,

Running a business is a journey.

You set-off from A and plan to arrive at your destination, B…

…safely, on-time and on-budget.

What’s your roadmap to success?

Progress metrics (measurements).

These key performance indicators tell you if you are on track for making it according to plan.

Quantifying and qualifying the progress of any investment is your only way of setting realistic expectations.

How else can you trust that your endeavour is on track for bringing in projected returns?

1. You need to measure and,
2. You need to keep consistent records.

METRICS PER BATCH

Average weight: uniformity is a key indicator of broiler farming success. Every bird counts. The average weight of bird gives you a mid-point for how well your flock has done.

Breed: Keeping track of which breed you used per batch gives a reference point when looking back. This way you are able to link every batch performance to a particular breed.

Dates started: Time-sensitive factors, like seasonality – leading to humidity etc., will be acknowledged by recording the dates started.

From whom bought: Auditing suppliers can inform better (more profitable) buying decisions for the future.

Daily Mortality Record: everyday recording any bird deaths gives you a daily count of operational loss.

Daily Feed Record: broiler growth and weight are directly correlated to feed consumption. Recording the daily amount of feed eaten by birds gives you the reassurance that you have administered the necessary input.

No. chicks started: absolute numbers are required for the more revealing comparative measures like percentage etc.

No. birds sold: revenue per bird is a principal metric for a broiler farm. It helps you say, “…for every bird sold, we have made [so much] income or profit.”

Per cent livability: percentage of total original flock alive at processing is a fair measure of your handling success.

Date sold: you may in one way or another want to tie down the sale of a batch to a particular date, perhaps for buyer or market analysis, for example. Recording the date a batch of broilers was sold helps you pinpoint a trade to a given day.

Age when birds sold: linking age to outcomes like weight helps estimate profit more accurately through costs incurred every day.

Bags of feed used: feed is often bought per bag (25kg, for example). Rounding up feed consumption per bag gives you a simple round number to correlate pricing and use.

Kg meat per bag: To know how much meat produced per bag of feed consumed, keeps you well informed when negotiating feed purchases.

Kg feed per kg meat: otherwise known as feed conversion ratio or FCR – this is perhaps, the single most important and revealing business metric for the broiler farmer. Feed cost amounts to as much as 70% of operational cost. Knowing exactly how much input is converted to output gives an accurate measure for your future yield and profits.

Amount feed per bird: how much feed each bird consumed allows you to break down and build up an approximate cost model for growth. Such numbers off the top of the head help you to construct future plans more readily.

Total weight sold: broilers are bought and sold in batches. Effectively you are selling a combined weight of meat at the end of the cycle. Keeping track on total weight sold helps remain sensitive to changes in the economic environment.

Price per kg: how much do I get paid for every kg of meat sold? A key question to answer. A healthy view to have of your broiler farm business. Prices continually fluctuate and being able to track price to events in time help provide foresight ongoing.

Total sales: money received for all meat traded within that batch.

Total expenses: profit isn’t all about incoming monies from sales. To keep tight tabs on all outgoings incurred helps you make better margins on future rounds.

Total profit: the rewards of your labour. This is what you actually have left in your hand on every batch reared. A critical take-home point on every cycle of investment. By recording this you get to see the bottom-line impact on the contributing factors above. A good point of reflection for acknowledging important lessons learned.

The bottom-line…

Collecting raw data on the operational progress of your broiler farm takes an investment of time.

But the investment pays off in maintaining your milestones.

This is how you stay on track for reaching your long term destination of agribusiness success.

And now, over to you:

Are you an experienced broiler farmer looking to tighten up your performance analysis?

Or, are you just starting out and need help getting a better grasp on the finer detail?

Either way, write me back and let me know.

I read every comment.

Speak soon,

Temi

Go to chapter 16 of this eBook by clicking this link…“The real cost of broiler feed”. Click here to find the next chapter.

Go to chapter 15 of this eBook by clicking this link…“Broiler farm record-keeping”. Click here to find the next chapter.

Broiler farming like any business survives by margin.

The success of the business depends on you covering all costs and thereafter…

…earning a profit.

This is your reward.

Your return on investment or (ROI).

Let’s be clear,

…this is NOT payback for your time.

But rather repayment for your efforts in investing in the venture.

Your time is a business expense and therefore is (should be) accounted for – before profitable earnings (EBITDA).

That reminds me,

If you haven’t come across EBITDA before, you’ll want to read this post.

It shows you why your EBITDA is one of your most important business metrics.

From this you can accurately measure:

• True ROI (having the business work to pay you)
• Exit valuation (getting a cash lump sum if you decide to sell the business)
• Real earnings (a salary or wage for your time spent running it)

…all of the reasons why you decided to start a broiler farming business.

Enough about EBITDA, and back to profit.

Your first real indicator of financial performance in your broiler business is gross profit:

Sales revenue – the cost of goods sold.

In other words,

What you have leftover when you subtract feed and chick cost from what you made at market.

As an indicator, this is the most important to keep an eye on.

It reads as both an absolute number and a percentage of overall sales revenue.

E.g. Rs.958,572.94 (30%)

What does this tell you?

In a word, efficiency.

It tells you how well your business is doing…

…by turning primary inputs of:

• chicks and;
• feed

…into meat and money.

Outside of this are your operational overheads or indirect costs.

In a nutshell, these are bills that you incur in running the farm, but indirectly related to your bird’s growth.

Much like payroll, electricity costs, transport etc.

Once these are taken away, you’ve got EBITDA.

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA).

• Have interest on loans to re-pay?
• How about income taxes?
• Replacement charges against equipment in your farm?

These all happen after EBITDA and are treated as unique to the individual circumstance of the owner.

But EBITDA is what you’d be left with – no matter who owned the farm.

For this reason,

EBITDA is often used as a measure of valuation for pricing the business transfer of poultry farms.

It’s universal.

Want an overview of factors influencing your broiler farm profit?

4 stages of influencing broiler farm profit.

#1 – Funding: taking on debt brings on interest costs. This eats into profit.

#2 – Ownership: contract farming involves prescribed profit splits, which by nature divide the spoil. [There are other benefits, however. So it’s worth calculating the trade-off.]

#3 – FCR: this is the engine behind your broiler gross profits. The better you are at converting feed into meat, the wider your gross profits. Remember, there are always limits here. There simply comes an end to this pursuit, you have to know where to stop.

#4 – Operationally lean management: the fewer inputs you need to keep the business ticking over, the more left in the pot before your final deductions

At these four critical stages, you can widen your margin of broiler profits.

The thing to avoid, however, is compromise. Cutting back can hinder going forward.

You need to know when enough is enough. Moderation.

The bottom line…

The four steps outlined above are your critical pathway to broiler profit.

In other words,

If you want to improve your take-home money from the broiler business, then your focus in these areas will put you in good stead.

All the control you need for sustainable business profits.

And now, over to you:

Have you made mistakes before on miscalculating broiler profit?

It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve all made these mistakes before.

Or perhaps you are new to this and you’re surprised by some of these points.

Either way, write me back and let me know.

I read every email.

Speak soon.

Temi

Go to chapter 15 of this eBook by clicking this link…“Broiler farm record-keeping”. Click here to find the next chapter.

Go to chapter 14 of this eBook by clicking this link…“Calculating broiler profits”. Click here to find the next chapter.

Hello again,

Getting a continuous run of eggs delivered to market, takes some engineering.

Whilst layers typically lay on egg per day,

Their commercial profitability tends to taper off at about 72 weeks (by most markets).

Which means unless you have another batch simultaneously reared,

…you’ll have a 20-week delay waiting for another batch of day-old chicks (DoCs) to mature before returning to market.

So,

You need to engineer a model.

A pattern of production.

Take this example….

Here, the FAO advise the following as best practice for layer farm production modelling:

Source: Good practices in planning and management of integrated commercial poultry production in South Asia

By adopting one of the models in the box above,

Your layer farm should never be without product on any given week of production.

In other words,

…your customers should consistently receive deliveries – without break.

The difference between models can be seen in:

• the frequency of stock replenishment,
• & scale of production

But,

Where should we begin in translating the figure above into real production estimates?

The fine detail can be seen below:

This table gives you the means to begin calculating your own projections based on the (1+2 / 1+3 / 1+1+5) models.

In working things out for yourself from the figures above,

A few words of warning:

• age in column one starts from 21weeks
• hen-day egg production is %, or per 100 hens i.e. wk 21 = 8 eggs per 100 hens per day
• feed is measured as kg per 1000 birds i.e. wk 21 = 75kg per 1000 birds per day

This all seems pretty straight forward enough,

But when you sit down to build the model on paper, all it takes is one slip up to take your numbers completely off track.

Easily done…I’ve tripped up on this myself until now.

So,

Let’s compare production profiles between models:

All-In-All-Out layer model (100 layer batch size)

Features:

• Initial 21 wk delay to maturity before 1st egg
• Rapid/vertical climb of production between 21 – 27 weeks
• Gradual 5-part stepdown of production until week 72
• Peak production 658 eggs per week
• 500 eggs per week = the point of replenishment (divestment)

This model means you only manage one flock at a time. This will have its benefits inc:

• Better biosecurity
• Simplicity of operations

But there will be a 21- week gap in production between batches. No intermediate sales, or cash flow.

1+2 layer model (100 layer batch size)

Features:

• Initial 21 wk delay to maturity before 21st egg
• Rapid/vertical climb of production between 21 – 27 weeks to baseline (~600 eggs per week)
• Second rapid climb to full production (ceiling) between 49 weeks – 57 weeks
• Gradual 5-part stepdown of production until week 72, when production almost halves immediately
• Peak production 1,246 eggs per week
• 588 eggs per week = the point of replenishment (divestment)

This model means you manage two flocks at a time. This will have its benefits inc:

• Never completely running to zero on production
• Lower biosecurity risks, than managing more flocks

1+1+5 layer model (100 layer batch size)

Features:

• Initial 21 wk delay to maturity before 1st egg
• 4-step rapid/vertical climb of production between 21 – 68 weeks to baseline (~2,387 eggs per week)
• A sharp peak to full production (ceiling) between 69 weeks – 72 weeks
• A steep drop off of production from week 72 – 73, as one laying batch makes way for a new batch of chicks
• Peak production 2,772 eggs per week
• 2,387 eggs per week = the point of replenishment (divestment)

This model means that once you reach full production levels, you mostly manage four flocks at a time.

5 flocks at most.

This will have its benefits inc:

• Never completely running to zero on production
• Lower biosecurity risks, than managing more flocks
• Producing over 2,000 eggs per week at full production, consistently
• A much narrower band of production variance: 2,387 eggs (minimum) to 2,772 eggs (max.)

The bottom line…

There are various approaches to layer farm egg production.

Each model has its own risk vs. benefit profile.

You’ll need to weigh both up considerably before making a sure decision.

The 72-week divestment window isn’t mandatory.

It just works out for most commercial models, that to keep a layer flock beyond this isn’t profitable.

But for your farm, this might not be the case.

You’ve got to make the judgment.

The hope is, with a little support along the way with making things clear – you’ll make the right decision.

Remember,

…production is one thing, but profitability is another.

This is where the call you make will really count.

However, building blocks of detail like this email should help you design a solid big picture.

But for now, I’d like to hear from you:

Are you an experienced layer farmer looking to build in more productivity?

Or, still in the planning phase wanting to have confidence with your figures?

Either way, write me back and let me know.

I read every comment.

Speak soon.

Temi

Go to chapter 14 of this eBook by clicking this link…“Calculating broiler profits”. Click here to find the next chapter.