Every year around week four of their first broiler batch, a new farmer calls us with the same problem. The chicks are healthy, growth is on track, and there is no money left for feed. The farmer budgeted for chicks and a bag or two of starter, and never sat down to see that a 300-bird batch eats close to 1.3 tonnes of feed before it is sold, with most of that bought in weeks four to seven. The business was profitable on paper. It just ran out of cash three weeks before the profit arrived.
Profit and cash are not the same thing, and in poultry the gap between them is what sinks farms. This article shows you, with simple arithmetic and no spreadsheets required, how to work out what a bird costs you, what price you must sell at to break even, how much cash you need on hand before the first cedi comes back, and how layers differ from broilers in all of this.
Profit versus cash: why good farms still go broke
Profit is what remains after all costs when the batch is sold. Cash flow is the timing of money going out and coming in. A broiler batch spends money every week for six or seven weeks and receives money in one lump at the end. A layer flock spends money for around 18–20 weeks before the first egg is sold, and then earns a little every day for over a year. Both can be profitable; both can leave you unable to buy feed on a Tuesday because the money is still in the birds.
The fix is simple: before you buy chicks, write down every cost by week, add up the cash you need before the first sale, and make sure you have it on day one. Our poultry business plan guide covers the full document; here we concentrate on the numbers.
Working out the cost per broiler
Take a 500-bird broiler batch grown to about 2.3 kg live at 6–7 weeks. Below is an orientation build-up using mid-2026 planning figures. Your numbers will differ; the method is what matters.
| Cost item (500 broilers) | Orientation total (GH₵) | Per bird placed (GH₵) | When the cash goes out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day-old chicks, 500 at GH₵10–16 | 5,000 – 8,000 | 10 – 16 | Week 0 |
| Litter, brooding heat, glucose, disinfectant | 1,200 – 2,000 | 2.4 – 4.0 | Weeks 0–2 |
| Feed, about 4.2 kg per bird = ~2.1 t | 21,000 – 30,000 | 42 – 60 | Weeks 1–7, rising |
| Vaccines, vitamins, medication | 800 – 1,500 | 1.6 – 3.0 | Weeks 1–4 |
| Labour (part-time, 7 weeks) | 1,500 – 2,500 | 3.0 – 5.0 | Weekly |
| Water, electricity, transport, misc. | 800 – 1,500 | 1.6 – 3.0 | Weekly |
| Fixed cost share (house, equipment wear) | 1,000 – 2,000 | 2.0 – 4.0 | Already spent |
| Total | 31,300 – 47,500 | 63 – 95 | — |
Orientation figures for planning only. Feed and chick prices move with the cedi and the season; check our feed price guide and confirm live quotes before you budget.
Now adjust for mortality. If you place 500 and lose 4%, you sell 480. Your total cost is spread across 480 birds, not 500, so a mid-range total of GH₵39,000 becomes about GH₵81 per bird sold. That figure, cost per bird sold, is the one that matters.
Break-even price and break-even birds
Break-even price is simply total cost divided by birds sold. In the example above, it is around GH₵81 per bird. Sell at GH₵95 and you make about GH₵14 per bird, roughly GH₵6,700 on the batch. Sell at GH₵80 and you have worked for seven weeks for nothing. This is why knowing your break-even before the aggregator arrives is so important: it tells you the price below which you should refuse and look for another buyer.
A second useful number: with total costs of GH₵39,000 and a selling price of GH₵95, you need about 410 birds sold to cover costs. Every survivor above 410 is profit. A batch that suffers 20% mortality from Gumboro or poor brooding can lose the entire profit of the cycle. That is the real cost of skipping a vaccine.
Feed conversion moves your break-even more than anything else
In the example, feed is well over half of all costs. If your birds convert at 1.7 kg of feed per kg of gain instead of 1.9, your feed bill drops by more than 10%, which on a 500-bird batch is GH₵2,000–3,000 straight into profit. Good chicks, clean water, correct feeder space and no wasted feed on the litter are the levers. Our FCR guide explains how to measure and improve it.
The cash gap: how much you need before the first sale
Look at the last column of the broiler table. Almost every cedi goes out before week seven, and every cedi comes back at week seven or later. A 500-bird batch needs roughly GH₵30,000–45,000 across the cycle, heaviest in weeks five to seven. With GH₵20,000 on day one and no other source, you run dry around week four, exactly when the farmer at the start of this article called us.
Three practical ways to close that gap:
- Size the batch to your cash, not your house. A 250-bird batch you can feed to the end beats a 500-bird batch you have to starve in week five. Grow the next batch with the profit from this one.
- Stagger batches. Once you have two or three batches at different ages, the sale of one funds the feed of the next, and cash flow smooths out. This is how established farms run without borrowing.
- Take deposits. If you have direct customers or an off-take buyer, a deposit on order provides cash in weeks five and six when you need it most.
Layers: a longer gap, then a steadier stream
Layer cash flow looks nothing like broilers. A 500-pullet flock costs roughly GH₵9,000–13,000 in chicks and then eats around 7–8 kg of feed per bird before point of lay at 18–20 weeks, so you spend perhaps GH₵45,000–60,000 in feed, vaccines and labour over four to five months before selling a single crate. That is a long, expensive wait, and it is why many layer farms fail in the rearing phase rather than in production.
Once in lay, the picture changes. At 85–90% production, 480 hens give around 13–14 crates a day. At a farm-gate price of GH₵50–60 a crate, that is GH₵650–800 of income daily, against a feed cost of roughly GH₵400–500 a day at 115–120 g per bird. The daily margin is modest, but it arrives every day for 12–14 months, and by the time the flock is around 35–40 weeks old it has typically repaid the rearing cost. After that point most of the daily margin is profit until production falls and you sell the spent hens. Our layer farming guide goes deeper into the production curve.
Do not raid the layer feed budget in the rearing phase
The temptation, when cash gets tight around week 12–16, is to buy cheaper feed or reduce the ration for pullets that are "not producing anything yet". Underfed pullets reach point of lay late, lay smaller eggs, peak lower and never recover the lost potential. The cash you save in month four costs you many times over across the laying year. If you cannot fund the full rearing period, rear fewer pullets.
A one-page cash plan you can actually keep
You do not need software. Draw a table with one row per week of the batch and four columns: cash in, cash out, net, and running balance. Fill in the expected costs week by week from your own prices, put your expected sales in the weeks you expect them, and calculate the running balance. The lowest point of that balance is the cash you must have before you start. If it is negative, reduce the batch, arrange a deposit or a loan, or delay.
As the batch runs, write the actual figures next to the plan. After three batches you will know your real cost per bird to within a few cedis, and you will price and negotiate from knowledge rather than hope. Keep the sheets; a lender will want them.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to raise one broiler in Ghana?
What is the break-even price for a broiler?
How long before a layer farm makes money?
How much cash do I need to start 500 broilers?
Plan the batch, then order the chicks
Once you know your cash plan and batch size, the next step is chicks that survive and convert well, because mortality and poor growth are what wreck a break-even calculation. Agro Prime in Kasoa hatches vaccinated broilers and layers and will help you size an order to your budget. WhatsApp or call +233 24 915 1503, email support@halaalfarmsghana.com, or book a visit to talk numbers with us.
