Rearing broiler chickens.

[Exnavy]

I'm pretty sure that this topic has come up before, but despite using the search facility several times and different descriptions, nothing is found on the subject. So.... my Thai wife tells me that there is always a demand for broilers as opposed to layers and that a batch of chicks can be reared to selling stage within 2/3 months with the correct diet and conditions. I'd like to try this on a moderate scale. Any advice please?

[Canada]

Chicken is pretty easy to find and pretty cheap to buy. How do you think you'll turn a profit competing with large chicken producers? They have it down to a science.

[Exnavy]

This has resulted from repeated visits by small dealers to the area, who want to buy chickens. Not your regular 'farang style' chickens which when cooked in whatever way, are white and tender. They ask for backyard Thai chickens, in my view tough and unpalatable, but which certainly in this area (Buriram), are what the Thais like.

I'm not talking about going up against big producers, I said; "on a moderate scale", turning out around 100 a month. I believe it can be done with a relatively small outlay, but these chickens sell to these buyers currently for 75 baht per kilo and they will grow to 2 kilo in 3 months. I see them plucked and placed in polothene bags at the local market, selling for between 180 and 225 baht dependant on weight.

I'm simply asking for advice from anybody who may be doing this or has done so, such that I can verify or not what I think I know, before jumping in.

[Canada]

This has resulted from repeated visits by small dealers to the area, who want to buy chickens. Not your regular 'farang style' chickens which when cooked in whatever way, are white and tender. They ask for backyard Thai chickens, in my view tough and unpalatable, but which certainly in this area (Buriram), are what the Thais like.

I'm not talking about going up against big producers, I said; "on a moderate scale", turning out around 100 a month. I believe it can be done with a relatively small outlay, but these chickens sell to these buyers currently for 75 baht per kilo and they will grow to 2 kilo in 3 months. I see them plucked and placed in polothene bags at the local market, selling for between 180 and 225 baht dependant on weight.

I'm simply asking for advice from anybody who may be doing this or has done so, such that I can verify or not what I think I know, before jumping in.

Interesting...I did not like the first one I ate. I have since decided that I preferred farmed chicken because that was all I had ever eaten. Years ago I ate my first farmed salmon. Terrible, mushy and soft....much like today's farmed chicken. I like my chicken that way but not my salmon.

Sorry, I know nothing about chickens except that they aren't as dumb as they seem. Killed a few with my bow last year and since then when they see me walk outside with bow in hand, they run away squawking like crazy. No bow.....no running and squawking.

[zeichen]

"currently for 75 baht per kilo and they will grow to 2 kilo in 3 months. I see them plucked and placed in polothene bags at the local market, selling for between 180 and 225 baht dependant on weight."

I don't see how a dressed chicken will weigh 2 kilos unless you mean live weight which in case no way you are getting 75baht a kilo.

[Exnavy]

his has resulted from repeated visits by small dealers to the area, who want to buy chickens. Not your regular 'farang style' chickens which when cooked in whatever way, are white and tender. They ask for backyard Thai chickens, in my view tough and unpalatable, but which certainly in this area (Buriram), are what the Thais like.

I'm not talking about going up against big producers, I said; "on a moderate scale", turning out around 100 a month. I believe it can be done with a relatively small outlay, but these chickens sell to these buyers currently for 75 baht per kilo and they will grow to 2 kilo in 3 months. I see them plucked and placed in polothene bags at the local market, selling for between 180 and 225 baht dependant on weight.

I'm simply asking for advice from anybody who may be doing this or has done so, such that I can verify or not what I think I know, before jumping in.

[Exnavy]

his has resulted from repeated visits by small dealers to the area, who want to buy chickens. Not your regular 'farang style' chickens which when cooked in whatever way, are white and tender. They ask for backyard Thai chickens, in my view tough and unpalatable, but which certainly in this area (Buriram), are what the Thais like.

I'm not talking about going up against big producers, I said; "on a moderate scale", turning out around 100 a month. I believe it can be done with a relatively small outlay, but these chickens sell to these buyers currently for 75 baht per kilo and they will grow to 2 kilo in 3 months. I see them plucked and placed in polothene bags at the local market, selling for between 180 and 225 baht dependant on weight.

I'm simply asking for advice from anybody who may be doing this or has done so, such that I can verify or not what I think I know, before jumping in.

[Exnavy]

Hey! I don't want to get into a slanging match over this. I say what my wife and her family have been offered - regularly!! In fact, the dealer's last offer was 80 baht per kilo live weight, because there were so few chickens available in the area. This price was subsequently reflected at the local weekend market on the dressed chickens. Look around!

[teletiger]

I keep a few meat chickens for personal use. All my neighbours want only "gai baan", the skinny chickens running around the yard, feeding themselves. They also want to pay just 80/90 Baht per bird. They call my RIRs CP chickens.

Regards.

[Canada]

Hey! I don't want to get into a slanging match over this. I say what my wife and her family have been offered - regularly!! In fact, the dealer's last offer was 80 baht per kilo live weight, because there were so few chickens available in the area. This price was subsequently reflected at the local weekend market on the dressed chickens. Look around!

I don't see how this has become a slanging match. Chill out. Why don't you just do it, and tell us how yur making out?

[wolfmanjack]

"currently for 75 baht per kilo and they will grow to 2 kilo in 3 months. I see them plucked and placed in polothene bags at the local market, selling for between 180 and 225 baht dependant on weight."

I don't see how a dressed chicken will weigh 2 kilos unless you mean live weight which in case no way you are getting 75baht a kilo.

They are paying 70 baht live weight for the backyard chickens here. I don't know about 2 kg in 3 months but i would guess it would depend on what breed of chicken.

[Exnavy]

zeichen - This isn't bull. 2 kilos at 3 months is not special when they get the correct feed.

teletiger - Yes, that's about right for skinny b/yard chickens. They'll mostly be around a kilo or a little more.

wolfmanjack - Yes, 70 baht a kilo is probably right in some areas. I'd take that anytime. 75/80 is being offered here because broilers are scarce and in demand.

canada - I asked for advice, assuming that somebody in the forum has experience on this subject. I did not expect to be told 'no way etc.', which in my book says I'm bullsh.....g. From the info already posted, there seems to be enough to verify my thoughts on the subject, so I will most certainly rear a few broilers

[Exnavy]

zeichen - This isn't bull. 2 kilos at 3 months is not special when they get the correct feed.

teletiger - Yes, that's about right for skinny b/yard chickens. They'll mostly be around a kilo or a little more.

wolfmanjack - Yes, 70 baht a kilo is probably right in some areas. I'd take that anytime. 75/80 is being offered here because broilers are scarce and in demand.

canada - I asked for advice, assuming that somebody in the forum has experience on this subject. I did not expect to be told 'no way etc.', which in my book says I'm bullsh.....g. From the info already posted, there seems to be enough to verify my thoughts on the subject, so I will most certainly rear a few broilers

[teletiger]

Keep us posted.

Regards.

[Jotham79]

zeichen - This isn't bull. 2 kilos at 3 months is not special when they get the correct feed.

teletiger - Yes, that's about right for skinny b/yard chickens. They'll mostly be around a kilo or a little more.

wolfmanjack - Yes, 70 baht a kilo is probably right in some areas. I'd take that anytime. 75/80 is being offered here because broilers are scarce and in demand.

canada - I asked for advice, assuming that somebody in the forum has experience on this subject. I did not expect to be told 'no way etc.', which in my book says I'm bullsh.....g. From the info already posted, there seems to be enough to verify my thoughts on the subject, so I will most certainly rear a few broilers

I'm the one you think you want to talk to. I have raised (intensively) Gai Ban (but only have about 80 right now), layers, Gai Ban x layer crossed, quail, ducks and played with bantams, silkies, broilers, pheasants, guineas, and males culled from layer chicks. I kept pretty good records at the time (10 years ago) and you will have several hurdles to overcome. Nothing I am about to say means there is not a way to make money, but it won't be the straight up approach.

First is Gai Ban (house/yard chickens) are not broilers.

Second, prices are seasonal or can be affected by disease outbreaks. There aren't many chooks around right now because the price goes up at Chinese NY and people well. Another reason is that in the next month or 2 there will probably be a large die off taking a large % of the birds (this happened last year) and people may have sold off early. Maybe it was just a combination of things. My point is that while you may be getting 80 baht/kg now, you can not rely on it. My wife is sitting on about 40 sellable birds and is waiting for Songkran I just hope we don't get the Kee Kao coming around and killing 70% of our flock before then. This happened last year. We hope the price here will go up to 60-65 baht a kg.

Third, Feed conversion normally runs close to 7:1. I got as good as 5:1 and I got my feed cost down to about 11 baht per kilo at that time. I will be making my own feed again shortly and it looks like I can get close to that again. You are going to have to do some research and some trial and error to see what will work for you. A lot will depend on what alternative bulk feeds are available to you.

If you do the math on best case you say a 1kg bird sells for 80 baht, and my feed is 55 baht so I can make 25 bath a bird. This works if you don't have any mortality or illness where you need to medicate the birds or give them electrolytes or vitamins. You also haven't factored in the cost of the chicks.

4th. There is no way in hell you will get a 2 kg bird live weight in 90 days. It simply is not in their genes. The best I have seen is males getting a little over a kg(1.2 to 1.4) in 4 months and the females were lucky to hit 1 kg in the same time. This is with feed at a suitable level of protein. I am talking about Gai Ban and not a Gai Ban cross, but even then I don't think you could get 2 kg in less than 6-8 months. Having said all this I kinda hope you will prove me wrong. If you do I will glady bring you a case of Leo if you will share your secret:)

5th You could probably sell 100 birds a month without much, but where will you get the chicks. Gai Ban lay about 1 clutch every 3- 4 months on average and if lucky you will get about 10 chicks per hen. If you remove the chicks she will probably sit again in 2-3 months so one hen could supply you with upwards 40 to 50 chicks per yer.....with no mortality. You got to feed this hen and 1 rooster for about 6 hens all year. The hen will have to have very good feed to keep up the cycle.

6th You could say I will just take all the eggs and use an incubator. It can be done (I did it) but you won't get a huge amount of eggs. I got up to 70% laying rate for almost 2 months (feed, lighting, the works) and it put such a stain on them that I still only got about 130 eggs a year I could only get the high rate in the rainy season. 80 % would be a good hatch rate and there will be some mortality. Incubators do burn some serious power.

7th You need some breeding stock. Not all pullets will make good hens or grow out well. I bought 16 chickens (4 were males) around a year and a half ago and they were all around 4 months old and weighed between .8 and 1.2 kg. I have 2 nice big females and 1 good big male. I have several hens that are good layers and mothers (crucial in free ranging), but not much size to them. Now I will sell everything except eir offspring You can buy good hens with their chicks, but they are rare and pricey.

8th You will need a place for them to live. If you want a certain 100 birds per month to sell you need to hatch 120 (if you are lucky) which means you will need to get about 140 eggs per month or about 1700 eggs per year. It sounds like you will need around 20 hens and about 3-4 roosters. If you don't house them separately the males may fight and your hens may not all be bred well. A barn with 4 rooms would work and you need at least 1 sq meter per bird (assuming you remove the chicks or hatch and raise the chicks yourself so 30 sq meter to be on the safe side. You will still need brooders and a place to raise the chicks. You will need a place to mix and store the feed. Possibly an incubator.

9th You need to know the 101 other little things that you will pick up along the way ( like dealing with parasites or handling a broody hen). On the whole I can recommend the activity as it can be quite enjoyable, but if profit is what you want there are easier ways. I mentioned crosses above and these are a whole different ball game and can be run a couple of different ways.

Good luck and keep updating us on your progress good or bad.

[pigeonjake]

i buy corn for our hens as well as there laying food,

i get corn at 7.5bht kilo but i have to buy a ton,

that i would think would put weight on a chicken,

also in the uk, you can get a broiler to mrkt weight in 6 weeks,

i no this is thailand,

there is the odd member on here doing this, youll just have to look them up in old posts,

jake

[cooked]

The local Chinese poultry rearers recently went around the village selling Gai pan for 10 Baht,300 Gram. They tasted horrible and rubbery. (we didn't buy any). The neighbour bought 17 with his last cash. So I shouldn't worry too much about quality .

Sent from my GT-S7500 using Tapatalk 2

[Canada]

Good info from Jotham, thanks.

[Exnavy]

Thanks Jotham (and all). A lot of useful info to digest and consider. This isn't something I've only recently decided to investigate. It's just that the current prices have 'added fuel to the fire'.

A Thai guy we know went into this 'activity' some months ago and offered help and advice if we fancied trying the same. I've stood back for a while because caution seemed the best policy. I also think it best to get alternative and more in depth advice, which is where we are now. He's doing exactly the same as I now want to do. Small/moderate scale, 300 birds at a time, some (half) sold at 6 weeks old. We saw the remaining 150 birds (which are black but I don't know the breed), and via questions and answers, was told of the 3 month weight expectancy. ie., 2 kilos per bird. He buys the chicks very cheaply (he said), and also buys in the feed. He's offered to get the chicks for me if I want to give it a go.

Obviously, now armed with a lot more info, I'll soon be on my way to visit this guy, when many more questions will be asked. It will also update me on final weight and sale prices of the remaining 150 birds.

Thank's again everybody. I'll keep you posted.

[Jotham79]

Thanks Jotham (and all). A lot of useful info to digest and consider. This isn't something I've only recently decided to investigate. It's just that the current prices have 'added fuel to the fire'.

A Thai guy we know went into this 'activity' some months ago and offered help and advice if we fancied trying the same. I've stood back for a while because caution seemed the best policy. I also think it best to get alternative and more in depth advice, which is where we are now. He's doing exactly the same as I now want to do. Small/moderate scale, 300 birds at a time, some (half) sold at 6 weeks old. We saw the remaining 150 birds (which are black but I don't know the breed), and via questions and answers, was told of the 3 month weight expectancy. ie., 2 kilos per bird. He buys the chicks very cheaply (he said), and also buys in the feed. He's offered to get the chicks for me if I want to give it a go.

Obviously, now armed with a lot more info, I'll soon be on my way to visit this guy, when many more questions will be asked. It will also update me on final weight and sale prices of the remaining 150 birds.

Thank's again everybody. I'll keep you posted.

These sound like the crosses I mentioned as it is the only way you can get the quantity you need (unless they are culled male layers). You make a black sex link cross and get a solid black female chick and a black male chick with a white spot on its head. You cross the female with a dark Gai Ban rooster and you get a 3 blood (sam luat) chicken. It will look pretty close to a Gai ban. When I made them they were difficult to sell alive as people could tell they were not real gai ban. . With really good feed I still doubt you can get to 2 kg in 90 days even with males, but they would be a saleable size. Someone does this on a large scale and the birds are sold as fried chicken (gai ban) from little carts.

I still believe that if you try to feed them like you would a broiler that it will be difficult to make a profit. Layer breeds have a poor feed conversion at around 5-6:1 You might do better with a couple of tricks.

I'm trying to set up my parent stock now to do something similar, but I want to sell the chicks. I will have about 4 or 5 purebred lines and will make crosses to see what works. I've got some ideas I want to try.

Where are you at if you don't mind saying?

[Exnavy]

Hi Jontham, I'm 4km outside Lahansai, Buriram.

Went to see the Thai guy late yesterday with my wife. He'd sold the remaining 150 birds at about 9 weeks and (he said), an average weight of 1.5 kilos. I reminded him of his 3 month 2 kilo weight statement from the last time we met and he was pretty vague about it this time. Said the feed during the first month needed to be adjusted to put the weight on early. In other words, difficult to achieve it seems, so I owe you guys an apology for insisting that it was possible.

Anyway, we covered costs against sale price of all the birds and he made what I consider to be a fair profit. Any profit against light and interesting 'work', is OK by me and if the margin can be improved, I'm in. So.....as we already have a suitable building which just needs a bit more work done to it, I ordered 300 chicks which should be available in about 3 weeks. I'm going to follow his modified feed program etc., and when we're at the sale stage we're also going to use his dealers. He says that there's no problem moving them on and I get the feeling that they go South to Cambodia.!!

My wife and the Thai guy talk in Kymer. My wife passes on her interpretation of what he says voluntarily or in answer to my questions, so there may be one or two misinterpretations for which I once again apologise for. The gist of it though has got me hooked.

[Jotham79]

1.5 kg in 9 weeks for a Gai bahn is fantastic and higher than I would think possible. That would be excellent even for the crosses. Could you describe what they look like? What color are they. I am really surprised you could lay your hands on that many Gai Bahn. I hope you will post some pictures.

[pigeonjake]

you might find that keeping the lights on and giving them daylight all the time could help,

i brought over from england 2 small solor units that run 2x14wt bulbs off a battery works well for me,

just a thought

jake,

ps and corn fed chickens were always the best at christmas, all cockerals

[Exnavy]

He says that they are 4 blood. They are black, no idea what colour they start off with, but when we first saw them just after 6 weeks old, they were totally black. He gets them from what I would assume is a breeding centre of sorts, which is also where he works.

Yes of cause, I'll put some photos up as soon as I get the chicks - on going aswell.

Is keeping the lights on a known benefit to growth Jake? I'd love to get my hands on something solar if it is. Anybody know if they're sold in Thailand?

[pigeonjake]

when keeping broilers you just want them to eat and drink so keeping the lights on would let them do this longer,

but i will say in the uk they dont move about much at all, just eat and drink and there is upto 50,000 birds in there sheds

[Jotham79]

He says that they are 4 blood. They are black, no idea what colour they start off with, but when we first saw them just after 6 weeks old, they were totally black. He gets them from what I would assume is a breeding centre of sorts, which is also where he works.

Yes of cause, I'll put some photos up as soon as I get the chicks - on going aswell.

Is keeping the lights on a known benefit to growth Jake? I'd love to get my hands on something solar if it is. Anybody know if they're sold in Thailand?

4 blood means they are crosses that are probably only 25% Gai Ban. The ones I made were black. When I get my flock up and running I will be making some of these again. Please send more details about the cost of chicks and feed. Also what is the protein content of the feed and brand.

Thanks,

PS, corn will definitely help fatten, but doesn't have enough protein on its own for fast growth.

[Exnavy]

Thanks Jake. They'll have night light one way or the other. Anything to put weight on.

[Exnavy]

I'll be paying 12 baht each for the chicks. (Asked the price of 3 blood chicks from a local feed and farm stock shop - 45 baht each!)

Can't read Thai so don't know brand of feed but price 510 for starter feed and 500 baht from one month onwards (per sack).

He reckons 3 sacks per 100 birds per month. So at around 2 months the cost for 300 is 9090 baht. Add the birds at 3600 baht, basic cost is 12690 baht.

Looking at his last 150 bird sale after approximately 2 months, 'assuming' 1.5 kilos per bird at 70 baht a kilo, he did well.

[Exnavy]

Sorry Jontham, until I buy some feed and have the sack in front of me, can't tell you protein content etc. Will though as soon as I have the info.

[pigeonjake]

can i just give you a warning,

dont spend to much time in your shed with the chickens, the dust i think it will be called the same as pigoen bloom is no good for you, take it from me my friend were a mask,

if possible have very good ventilation

take care and good luck, sound good to me

jake