More poultry farmers sell off layers as cost of feeds bite harder

About 35 per cent of poultry farms in Niger State have closed down because of the rising cost of feed. Confirming this to Daily Trust on Sunday, the Secretary Poultry Farmers Association of Niger State, Mohammad Audi Adamu, said more farmers may soon join the 35 per cent that are already out of the business […]

About 35 per cent of poultry farms in Niger State have closed down because of the rising cost of feed.

Confirming this to Daily Trust on Sunday, the Secretary Poultry Farmers Association of Niger State, Mohammad Audi Adamu, said more farmers may soon join the 35 per cent that are already out of the business as farmers are finding it difficult to make profits after injecting high capital in purchasing feeds.

Adamu, who said the price of 25kg of feed has moved from N6,000 to N9,000 in the last three months, pointed out that farmers in the state have resorted to selling their layers because they could no longer continue with the production.

“They have sold their layers so that they don’t lose completely. The buyers of layers come from Kaduna, Kano and Abuja. We also learnt that they take them as far as Niger to sell. Those who have shut down their farms have engaged in broiler production on a small scale since broilers are due for sale between six and seven weeks,” he said.

According to him, “In the whole of Niger State, we have no active commercial poultry mill at the moment. So, we solely rely on the feeds supplied from Kaduna, Oyo, and Kwara states. And with the cost of transport now, the selling price of feed has gone up in Niger State.”

Adamu also revealed that “there is no active hatchery in Niger State. We rely on Olam hatchery in Kaduna, and other hatcheries in Oyo and Kwara states. Those are the places where we get our hatchery from. So, all these things have resulted in increment in cost of production.

Ironically, Niger State is one of the major producers of raw materials for the production of feeds in especially maize and soya-beans.

Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that it only requires little capital to resuscitate the grounded poultry mill in Bosso, Minna, belonging to the Niger State Government and reduce the cost of feeds in Niger State, especially since the state is said to be one of the suppliers of feeds materials to South-west who in turn produce the feeds and take back to them.

One of the farmers, Suleiman Ubandoma, said there was no commiserate increment in selling price of poultry product and price of feeds, noting that while the cost of feeds has gone up, the selling price of poultry products has not to go up.