Ask three people at a feed counter which broiler to buy and you will probably get three answers. One will name the bird a neighbour raised last year. One will say the cheapest chick is the best buy. The third will talk about weight and feed for a while, then stop, because the numbers were never written down anywhere. The breed deserves more care than any of those answers suggest, and it should be settled before the first crate is ordered.
This guide covers the two lines our hatchery supplies, Cobb 500 and Ross 308, and says plainly where the published figures stop. It does not rank one above the other, and it does not quote growth or feed conversion numbers from memory. Those belong in the breeder's own performance tables. Read them there, and be cautious about any figure copied into a blog, this one included.
A breed sets the pace, not the result
A breed sets the ceiling and the pace of a batch. It does not set the outcome. A strong line will still lose money in a damp house with poor litter, late vaccines and feed that sat in the sun. Breed choice matters because it changes what the rest of your management has to deliver, and that is the right way to think about it.
Think of the breed as a commitment. Once you choose it, the house has to be heated, ventilated and fed to suit that bird, and the sale has to be timed around the market it will reach. Switching lines halfway through a plan is expensive, so the choice deserves a careful look at the start.
A common mistake in breed talk is to compare the look of a chick, the weight a seller quotes and the price per bird, and leave out the feed bill, the mortality and the sale week. Those are the parts that decide the margin, so they belong in the comparison from the start.
What we can say about Cobb 500 and Ross 308
Agro Prime's day-old chicks for these two lines start from GH₵20. The hatchery vaccinates at day zero, so that step is the same whichever line you pick. What differs is the bird itself, and the way a particular bird responds to your house, your feed and your weather.
When you compare them, measure what you can see in your own house: the weight at market, the feed you actually used, the mortality you recorded and the price the birds fetched. A line that looks stronger on a sheet has to prove itself in those four columns. Keep a simple record for each batch, so that the next comparison means something. The checks on a crate, the vaccination record and the hatch date apply to either line, so ask for them on every order. If you are still getting the house ready, our guide to starting a 100-broiler farm in Ghana covers the setup side.
Reading a breed sheet line by line
A breed sheet is only useful if you know what each line is measuring. Start with the age basis. A target weight at six weeks is not the same as a target at seven, and a sheet that does not say which one it is measuring is not telling you much. Next, check the weight basis. Live weight on the farm is not the same as dressed weight at the table, and the price you care about is the price for live birds.
Then look at feed conversion, the amount of feed a bird needs to put on a kilo of live weight. It is the figure that links the breed to the cost in your accounts, because a line that eats more to reach the same weight costs more per kilo sold. Ask whether the sheet comes from a controlled test or from working farms, and under what housing and feeding conditions it was measured. A figure from a well-run house is a good target, but it is not the figure you will get in yours until you have proved it.
Read the sheet twice: once for the numbers, and once for what it leaves out. A sheet that is silent on mortality or the feed programme has not answered the questions a buyer needs answered.
Housing a fast-growing line
A line that puts on weight quickly asks more of the house than a slow one. The heaviest birds at market are the ones that show whether your ventilation, litter and stocking were right, so plan the house for the bird at six or seven weeks, not for the chick on the day it arrives. Air moves less freely in the last weeks, and the litter takes on more moisture as the birds grow. A house that was comfortable at placement can be stuffy by the end of the cycle.
The harmattan adds its own problem. Dry air and dust in the early weeks, and cold nights, mean the house must hold heat without going stale. Birds from any line can struggle in a poor house, but the house is the part you control, and it should be ready before the first crate is opened. Check the litter every day, and turn or replace it where it clumps.
The planning figures every breed sheet has to fit
Whichever line you choose, check its sheet against the figures we use for a 1,000-bird batch. The table below sets out each number and what to ask the breeder or hatchery about it.
| Planning figure | Our batch plan | What to ask for |
|---|---|---|
| Market age | 6 to 7 weeks | At what age does the sheet target market weight? |
| Live weight at market | 2.3 to 2.55 kg | Is that weight for males, females or a mixed flock? |
| Feed, day-old to market | About 4.2 kg per bird | Which feed programme sits behind that figure? |
| Mortality | 3% to 5% well managed; 10% to 20% under poor management | What mortality did the sheet record, and under what conditions? |
| Sale price per live bird | GH₵75 to GH₵80 in quiet months; GH₵100 and above at peaks | What are buyers paying this season, and how far ahead do they commit? |
If a sheet cannot answer those questions, it is not finished, however good the headline weight looks.
Arbor Acres and the names you will hear
You will hear other broiler names in the market, and Arbor Acres is one of them. This article does not compare it, because the figures behind the comparison cover Cobb 500 and Ross 308 only, and we would rather leave a line out than guess at its numbers. If a seller offers you a different line, ask the same questions you would ask about any new supplier. Where does the breeder flock come from? What performance records exist for the breed in Ghanaian conditions? Will the seller put the answers in writing before you pay a deposit?
No breed comes with a guaranteed return
Be wary of anyone who sells a breed as a route to a fixed monthly income. Feed prices move, the market follows the festive calendar, and mortality can climb in a bad season whatever the line. A profit share pays out what the batch actually earns after real costs. A fixed promise, at any percentage, is a warning sign, and Ghana's SEC has cautioned the public against schemes of that kind.
Test the breed choice against your own batch
Our partnership page has a calculator that works through a batch in cedis. Enter your own assumptions, then change the mortality figure and the sale price to see how the answer moves. The batch plan on the same page explains how each batch is reported every Thursday, so you can see what the numbers will look like once birds are in the house.
Timing the batch to the market
At six to seven weeks to market, the calendar does most of the planning. Start from the sale you want and count back. If the aim is birds ready in the weeks before Christmas, Easter or Eid, the placement date comes first and everything else follows from it. Our planning figures put quiet-month prices at GH₵75 to GH₵80 per live bird, and peak weeks reach GH₵100 and above. Peaks are not guaranteed. A bird that is late or light will not earn the peak price, however festive the week.
A 1,000-bird batch placed to finish in a festive run-up is a bigger bet on timing than one placed in a quiet month. Work out what the batch earns at both prices, and at both mortality levels, before you commit. Do not build the plan on the top price alone. Our Christmas broiler market guide covers the seasonal side, and it is worth reading before you choose a placement week.
Timing the batch to the feed bill
Market timing also decides how much feed a batch carries. A batch that stays in the house through a slow sales window keeps eating, and the feed bill grows with every extra day. A bird that is ready on schedule is worth more than one that is a little heavier but late, so decide the sale week before you decide the placement, and set the batch up to be ready for it.
Feed, the store and the programme behind the breed
Whatever line you choose, feed is where most of the money goes. A 50 kg bag of broiler starter sits at GH₵400 to GH₵410 at GAPFA member prices, and the De Heus list price runs GH₵451 to GH₵472. Feed is more than half of the batch cost, so that gap is not a detail to leave for later. Compare the prices before you place the order, and ask whether the programme changes during the cycle.
Our store sells feed, equipment and vaccines, so the programme can be sourced alongside the chicks. One counter is convenient, but convenience is not a price. Set the store's price beside the member and list figures before you decide.
What a small change in feed intake costs
Feed intake is where a breed's appetite turns into money. At member prices a bag works out to roughly GH₵8 a kilo, so each extra 0.1 kg that a bird eats across its cycle adds about 80 pesewas to its cost. Across a 1,000-bird batch that is GH₵800 for every 0.1 kg per bird, before a single bird has been sold. A line that reaches its target weight on less feed is worth more to you than the headline weight suggests, and the feed conversion figure on the sheet is where that difference shows up.
The same arithmetic runs the other way. A line that eats less but reaches market lighter may earn less per bird at the scale, so the calculation is never just about feed. Put the weight, the feed and the price together on one line of the batch file, and you will see which breed is working for your house rather than which one sounded better in a conversation.
Writing the decision down
Before you pay a deposit on any breed, write four things on one page. Name the line exactly, record the market age and weight the seller gives you, note the feed programme you will run, and set the mortality you are planning for. Ask the seller to confirm each one in writing.
A breed decision that lives only in a conversation is hard to check in week six, when the birds are on the scale and you need to know whether they are where they should be. A written note gives you something to measure against, and it stops the plan drifting as the weeks go on.
If you can visit the farm before you order, do it. Farm visits run Monday to Saturday, from 7am to 6pm, and a visit lets you see the birds, the house and the store in one trip. Ask to see the feed you will be using, and look at the chicks you are being offered with your own eyes before any money changes hands.
Before you order the first crate
The breed sets the pace of a batch, but the house, the feed and the records decide the result. Keep the comparison honest. Use the planning figures, test the breed sheet against them, and treat any promise of a fixed return as a reason to slow down.
See the batch terms and the partnership calculator
For the chick side of the same decision, read what day-old chicks cost in Ghana in 2026 before you commit.
