Poultry farmers to ration meals for chickens

Poultry farmers in Nigeria have reportedly concluded plans to ration the meals of chickens and fish as a result of the high cost of living.

In a report by Punch Newspaper, the increase in the cost of poultry feed has been responsible for the measures by the poultry farmers.

Maize, the major ingredient for making the chicken feeds, as well as other ingredients have increased by 100%.

Furthermore, the activities of Boko Haram insurgents in the north, recurring attacks by Fulani herdsmen and flooding, have also affected the cultivation of maize.

Speaking on the current development, the Director-General of the Poultry Association of Nigeria, Onallo Akpa, noted that the poultry industry is in crisis.

“Last year, Nigeria produced over 14 billion table eggs and was recognised as the number one egg producer in Africa. But we have not been able to calculate the production figure in the last one year because of the crisis we are going through. But surely, our egg production figure has dropped. The industry is being threatened now due to high cost of poultry feeds," he said,

Continuing, he said: “Maize was being bought between N4, 500 and N5, 000 per 100kg bag in October/November 2015. But now, it is about N12, 000. Now there is pressure on maize by the poultry industry which consumes over 2.5 million metric tonnes annually. The breweries and other industries also compete with us.”

The high increase in cost of feeding the birds is expected to have an adverse effect on the entire country.