Broiler feed costs — the breakdown by feed type and what actually moves the number.
Feed is typically sixty to seventy percent of live broiler production cost, so it is the line where small percentage improvements outweigh almost every other saving on the farm. This guide breaks broiler feed cost down by phase — starter, grower, finisher and withdrawal — sets out the ingredient shares behind the price, quantifies the wastage and feed-conversion levers, and links to the calculators that let you model your own numbers.
Feed purchasing itself sits outside poultry equipment: buyers comparing mills and ingredient suppliers can use our sister platform for commercial animal feed procurement.
Feed is the operating cost; equipment is the capital one — see the itemised poultry farm equipment cost breakdown
Cost breakdown by feed type
Four feed phases across a standard broiler cycle. Note the inversion: the most expensive feed per tonne is the smallest volume, and the cheapest feed per tonne carries most of the spend.
| Feed phase | Share of intake | Typical specification | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter (day 0–10) | ~4–6% of lifetime intake | 22–24% crude protein, high digestibility, crumb form | Highest cost per tonne — typically 15–25% above finisher |
| Grower (day 11–24) | ~30–35% of lifetime intake | 20–22% crude protein, pelleted | Mid-range per tonne |
| Finisher (day 25–slaughter) | ~55–65% of lifetime intake | 18–20% crude protein, higher energy, pelleted | Lowest cost per tonne, largest total spend |
| Withdrawal (final days) | ~5–8% of lifetime intake | No medication or coccidiostat, energy-dense | Similar to finisher |
- Starter (day 0–10): Small volume, large influence. Cutting quality here damages uniformity for the whole cycle.
- Grower (day 11–24): Where frame and breast development is set; FCR drift usually starts in this window.
- Finisher (day 25–slaughter): Because it dominates tonnage, a 1% wastage saving here is worth more than any starter negotiation.
- Withdrawal (final days): Regulatory, not economic — but mis-timing it costs a whole flock's compliance.
Indicative ranges for buyer sanity-checking. Replace with your own nutritionist specification and local mill pricing before budgeting.
Broiler feed cost calculator
Enter your flock parameters and local feed prices per tonne. The model splits total intake across the four feed phases using the indicative shares from the table above, adds mortality-adjusted intake, and prices physical wastage separately.
| Feed phase | Share | Tonnes | Price / t | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 5% | 9.6 | 620 | 5,950 |
| Grower | 32% | 61.4 | 540 | 33,164 |
| Finisher | 57% | 109.4 | 500 | 54,698 |
| Withdrawal | 6% | 11.5 | 495 | 5,700 |
At 2.0% wastage you are buying about 3.8 tonnes of feed the birds never convert — roughly 1,951 per cycle. This is normally the fastest-payback line in the whole feed budget.
Estimates Only: This calculator is provided for general informational purposes only. Results are approximate and may contain errors, omissions, or outdated information. They do not constitute legal, financial, engineering, tax, technical, or professional advice. Users are solely responsible for independently verifying all calculations, specifications, prices, regulations, and requirements with qualified professionals before making any decisions. By using this calculator, you acknowledge that the website owners, operators, and affiliates accept no responsibility or liability for any loss, damage, or decisions resulting from its use.
What you are actually paying for
The composition behind the price per tonne. Two ingredients explain most of the volatility, which is why hedging or contracting those two lines matters more than negotiating the rest of the mix.
| Component | Typical share | Cost implication |
|---|---|---|
| Maize / corn or wheat (energy) | 55–65% of the mix | Single biggest exposure. Commodity price moves here drive almost all feed-cost volatility. |
| Soybean meal (protein) | 20–30% of the mix | Second cost driver; protein price spikes hit starter and grower hardest. |
| Fats and oils | 2–5% of the mix | Energy density lever — cheap on paper, expensive when quality is inconsistent. |
| Minerals, limestone, phosphate | 3–5% of the mix | Low cost, high consequence for leg health and mortality. |
| Amino acids, vitamins, enzymes | 1–3% of the mix | Small share of cost, measurable FCR return when correctly formulated. |
| Milling, pelleting and delivery | 5–12% of delivered cost | The line an on-site feed mill targets; see the feed mill cost guide. |
The levers that move feed cost
- Feed is normally 60–70% of live broiler production cost — every other OPEX line is secondary.
- A 0.05 improvement in FCR changes feed spend by roughly 2–3% across the flock, before any price negotiation.
- Pan-feeder spillage of 2–3% is common on badly levelled or over-filled lines and is pure loss.
- Pellet quality (fines percentage) directly changes intake efficiency — ask for pellet durability index, not just formulation.
- House temperature outside the comfort band raises maintenance energy needs and worsens FCR.
- Silo and line-level weighing turns feed from an estimated cost into a measured one.
- Water quality and nipple management affect intake; feed and water problems are frequently the same problem.
Where feed physically disappears
- Feeder pans set too low or filled too deep — birds bill feed onto the litter.
- Auger and hopper leaks between the silo and the first pan.
- Excess fines from long transport or poor pelleting, refused at the pan.
- Rodent and wild-bird access to silos and spillage points.
- Moisture ingress in silos causing caking and rejected batches.
- Delivery shortfalls that go undetected without load-cell weighing.
Buyer checklist: ingredient traceability and feed-conversion reporting
Use this when you compare feed or ingredient offers for a broiler flock. It lists what to ask each supplier for, not what the numbers should be — targets depend on breed, housing, climate and your nutritionist.
Ingredient traceability
- Origin for every delivery: ingredient, country, plant and lot or batch number on the delivery note.
- A certificate of analysis per lot against the agreed specification (for example moisture, crude protein, fat, fibre and ash), plus any contaminant tests your specification requires.
- Written notice before the supplier substitutes an ingredient or changes the formulation.
- Batch records for additives and any medicated or withdrawal feed, as your veterinarian and local rules require.
- If the formulation includes fishmeal or fish oil: the raw-material origin (whole fish or fish-processing by-product, species and source) and certification status. Check certificates on the certifier's own register, for example MarinTrust's factory standard and chain of custody, rather than accepting a logo.
- A retained sample from each delivery, so a disputed lot can be tested later.
Feed conversion (FCR) reporting
- The basis stated in writing: kg of feed per kg of live weight, and whether feed eaten by birds that died is included.
- One defined period from placement to depletion, with feed left in silos and lines subtracted from feed delivered.
- Feed measured by silo load cells or weighbridge tickets, not only invoiced tonnes.
- Offers compared at the same age and live weight; any adjusted FCR must show the adjustment method.
- For claimed FCR improvements: how many flocks and houses were measured, and against what comparison. No supplier can guarantee an FCR.
Check a reported figure with the FCR calculator, which keeps planning FCR and recorded whole-flock FCR separate.
Marine-ingredient context: IFFO reports that in 2024, 34% of global fishmeal production and 54% of global fish oil production came from fish-processing by-products (provisional figures, IFFO by-product update, March 2026; checked 21 October 2026). These are worldwide production shares across all uses. They are not poultry inclusion rates, and they say nothing about a particular supplier's lot — ask for documented origin each time. Certification scheme: MarinTrust.
Feed and ingredient purchasing runs through our sister platform FeedMatch, free for buyers: feed RFQ checklist, ingredient lot comparison after quality deductions and fish meal specifications. HatchMatch scopes the feeding equipment.
Model it against your own flock
Run your bird count, target weight and feed-conversion assumption through the calculators below to convert these ranges into a tonnage and cost projection for your own cycle, then bring the feeding-system specification to quotation. Buyers pay zero fees, and every quotation comes back itemised on defined Incoterms.
FAQ
Related guides
The CAPEX counterpart: itemised equipment list, budget shares and hidden landed costs.
Where feed cost sits inside a bankable CAPEX, OPEX and ROI structure.
Working-capital sizing for feed purchases and the credit metrics lenders test.