A detailed explanation of chicken farming cost accounting methods, teaching you to calculate your chicken farming accounts clearly

No matter what kind of chickens you raise, there are patterns and formulas to be found. The accounting of chicken farming costs is directly related to whether you can make money raising chickens. For a broiler with a market weight of 1.8 kg, from cleaning and disinfecting the chicken house to the complete sale of the entire batch of chickens, it generally takes 2 months, and all expenses during this period should be included in the cost of this batch of broilers. These expenses include: feed, day-old chicks, drugs and vaccines, labor, water and electricity, depreciation of buildings and rearing equipment, litter, and other miscellaneous expenses.

If the day-old chick loss compensation factor is "1.02", the whole-period survival rate is 95%, and the average market weight of the broilers is 1.8 kg, then the cost per kg of live chicken is: feed-to-weight ratio × average feed price + day-old chick cost (day-old chick price ÷ 1.02 ÷ 0.95 ÷ 1.8) + (drug and vaccine costs + staff wages + water and electricity fees + depreciation costs + other expenses) ÷ number of market-ready birds ÷ 1.8. Most farmers in practice include depreciation and staff wages in profit rather than in cost.

According to surveys, the average drug and vaccine cost for every 1000 chicks placed by farmers is about 300 yuan, that is, the drug and vaccine cost per kg of live chicken is about 0.17 yuan; farmers use coal stoves for heating, and the water and electricity cost is about 0.1 yuan; other expenses such as litter and consumables are offset by income from chicken manure and feed bags. Therefore, when farmers calculate the cost of live chickens, it can be simplified as: feed-to-weight ratio × average feed price + day-old chick price ÷ 1.74 + 0.27. The day-old chick cost per 1 kg of live chicken = day-old chick price / (loss compensation factor) (survival rate × market weight), where 1.74 is the product of the survival rate of 95%, the market weight of 1.8 kg, and the day-old chick loss compensation factor of 1.02.

Therefore, the main indicators affecting the cost of live chickens are: feed-to-weight ratio, average feed price, and day-old chick price.

Feed-to-meat ratio

The feed-to-meat ratio, also called feed conversion rate, refers to the ratio of feed consumed by broilers to their market weight. The feed-to-meat ratio is closely related to feed quality; poor feed has a high feed-to-meat ratio, while good feed has a low feed-to-meat ratio. The feed-to-meat ratio is also affected by season and rearing management conditions.

The feed-to-meat ratio is low in spring and autumn, and high in winter and summer. When rearing management conditions are good, the feed-to-meat ratio is low; when rearing management conditions are poor, the feed-to-meat ratio is high (especially feed waste, broiler disease, and low survival rate, which have a great impact on the feed-to-weight ratio). Broiler breeds also have a great impact on the feed-to-meat ratio. Broilers with fast growth speed and strong disease resistance have a low feed-to-weight ratio; chickens with slow growth speed and weak disease resistance have a high feed-to-meat ratio.

Assuming the average feed price is 1.60 yuan/kg and the day-old chick price is 2.70 yuan/bird, then: live chicken cost price = feed-to-weight ratio × 1.60 + 2.70/1.74 + 0.27 = feed-to-weight ratio × 1.60 + 1.82.

Average feed price

The average feed price refers to the ratio of all feed costs used by broilers to the quantity of feed. Feed price can generally reflect feed quality; poor-quality feed has a low price, and good-quality feed has a high price. In today's market economy, feed of the same quality often undergoes price adjustments due to changes in raw material prices.

If a certain feed has a feed-to-weight ratio of 2.0 under general rearing conditions, and the day-old chick price is 2.70 yuan/bird, then: live chicken cost price = 2.0 × feed price + 1.82. Many farmers use feed from small feed mills or mix their own feed. In this case, it is necessary not only to see whether the feed cost is the lowest (that is, whether the product of the feed price of different feed mills and the feed-to-weight ratio of the broilers raised reaches the lowest point), but also to look at growth speed. If growth speed is slow, other costs will increase relatively.

Therefore, before using a new brand of feed, it is best to understand the feed-to-weight ratio that the feed can achieve, or conduct a feeding trial.

Day-old chick price

If the feed price is 1.60 yuan/kg and the feed-to-weight ratio is 2.0, then: live chicken cost price = day-old chick price/1.74 + 2.0 × 1.60 + 0.27 = day-old chick price/1.74 + 3.47. If the broiler rearing period is extended to increase body weight, costs such as depreciation, wages, drugs and vaccines, and water and electricity will also increase, but the impact per kg of live chicken is not great.

The greatest impact is from feed cost and day-old chick cost. The longer the rearing period, the greater the feed-to-weight ratio, while the day-old chick cost per kg of live chicken decreases as body weight increases. Day-old chick cost = day-old chick price / (1.02 × 0.95 × market weight), where 1.02 is the loss compensation factor and 0.95 is the survival rate.

Summary

1. If the broiler market weight is 1.8 kg, the survival rate is 95%, the feed-to-weight ratio is 2.0, the average feed price is 1.60 yuan/kg, and the day-old chick price is 2.70 yuan/bird, then the break-even price for this batch of chickens should be about 5.02 yuan per kg of live chicken.

2. If other conditions remain unchanged, for every change of 0.05 in the feed-to-weight ratio, the cost will change by 0.08 yuan; for every change of 0.05 yuan/kg in the feed price, the cost price will change by 0.10 yuan; for every change of 0.50 yuan/bird in the day-old chick price, the cost will change by 0.29 yuan.