What is broiler processing?
Broiler processing is the chain of activities responsible for turning fully grown broilers into chicken meat, ready for sale.
Why is broiler processing important?
There are a variety of routes that your broiler processing could take for chicken meat to reach the table. Each has its own unique cost profile and quality benefits.
Overall, there are 2 ways your farm could approach slaughtering broiler birds:
- In-house
- Outsourced
With the DIY processing method, your poultry farm will require the necessary:
- infrastructure,
- expertise,
- labour resource
- regulatory permissions.
These prerequisites involve a lot of upfront costs. But over the years, the margin charged by processing service providers could outweigh your in-house capital cost.
Do your due diligence.
Hiring a processing company takes the hassle of slaughtering the birds out of your hand, but of course, comes at a premium.
Convenience always costs. A good way to see it is for the provider to survive, they’ve got to cover their costs and make a profit for growth.
They transfer this cost to the client. And the fee is just because they ‘do it all for you’.
You’ve got to plot a cost comparison over many years to really see how each option measures up against the other.
Only then can you make a confident decision.
Best practice
Consider your frequency of production
The frequency of production will affect the cost efficiency of in-house vs. outsourced broiler processing.
Much like a printing business, the cost is incurred upfront and profit returned on every cycle of use is succession.
If you take on the capital expense of installing an in-house broiler processing unit,
Your costs are recouped and returns gained upon the proportional fees paid for every process broiler carcass sold.
There comes a point of break-even after so many broilers at (X) price are sold. Above which if you sell more, your broiler processing unit becomes profitable.
Calculate the cost carefully in advance.
Count the cost of logistics
Don’t forget to include the cost of transporting your live birds to the processing plant if you choose the outsourcing method.
Also, consider the mode and method of transportation.
Certain ways of transporting broilers are more successful than others.
Modules rather than cages, for example, tend to return greater profit yield.
Modules keep the birds securely contained & well ventilated resulting in healthier birds being handed over.
Modules cost more as a specialist product but are worth the investment in the long run.
Think of ROI, and not the expense
Investments and expenses are different.
Investments pay you back and expenses are necessities.
In-house roiler processing is not necessarily mandatory,
But it is an option which could pay you back handsomely if you use it often enough.
Think of the ROI and not the expense.