Costs increase, selling prices decrease, Nghe An chicken farms suffer heavy losses

Hot weather increases the cost of operating air conditioners, fans and supplementary feed for chickens. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mrs. Pham Thi An's family (Dien Trung commune, Dien Chau) raises 3,000 laying hens. To maintain the flock during hot days, she has to install a misting system, continuously water the barn, install high-capacity electric fans, and supplement vitamins and mineral-rich foods for the chickens. Therefore, the costs increase a lot.

“The same number of chickens, producing the same number of eggs, but the cost is twice as much as before. Meanwhile, the price of eggs sold on the market has dropped sharply, so we have to accept the loss,” said Ms. An.

Raising laying hens in large numbers with stable output, but at this time, Mr. Tran Van Son's family (Nghia Hung, Nghia Dan) is still facing losses when egg prices drop.

The price of feed and vitamin supplements for chickens during hot weather also increases sharply, causing input costs for chickens to increase as well. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“Currently, egg prices range from 1,800 - 1,900 VND/egg, while taking care of laying hens in the hot season is much more expensive. The electricity cost alone to operate the cooling system for the coop of 15,000 laying hens has doubled compared to before, up to 1 - 1.2 million VND/day. Not to mention the time of power outage, the cost of gasoline and oil to operate the industrial generator also “eats up” a lot. With the current egg price, our farm loses millions/day.”

Or like Thang Linh black chicken farm (Nghi Van commune, Nghi Loc), although the amount of eggs consumed is high, there is no backlog and the price of eggs is high (4,000 VND/egg), according to Mr. Nguyen Huu Thang, "it is lucky not to lose money, let alone make a profit", because according to his calculations, the cost of raising chickens during the peak of the hot season has increased by 200% compared to before.

Broiler and egg-laying chicken farms are all facing losses. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“Electricity, oil, feed, mineral and vitamin supplements… all double compared to normal weather conditions, while egg production has decreased due to harsh weather and poorer egg laying. Therefore, it is very difficult to make a profit at this time,” Mr. Thang shared.

Not only laying hen farms but also broiler farms are in the same situation: input costs increase, chicken prices drop sharply, resulting in heavy losses. Mrs. Pham Thi Hanh's family (Dien Trung) has 2 chicken farms with a total flock of 6,000 chickens. Mrs. Hanh has just sold all the broiler chickens in the coop and accepted a loss of nearly 100 million VND for this batch of chickens, not including daily care costs.

Many chicken farms leave their coops empty after selling them. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Ms. Hanh shared: "During the peak heat, electricity bills, food bills, and engine oil bills to cool down the chickens all increased sharply, while the price of broiler chickens "hit rock bottom", compared to last year, each kilogram of broiler chickens decreased by nearly 20,000 VND, so the more we raise them, the more we lose. To "cut losses", my family sold all the chickens in the farm, accepting to leave the coop empty for a while before considering re-herding."

According to a survey, currently, the price of chicken meat in Nghe An is fluctuating at 42,000 - 45,000 VND/kg (down nearly 20,000 VND/kg compared to the same period), the price of chicken eggs is at 1,800 - 2,000 VND/egg (down 1,000 VND/egg compared to the same period).

Chicken egg prices are currently "rock bottom", down 1,000 VND/egg compared to the same period last year. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Meanwhile, input costs have increased due to the prolonged heat wave, and the price of chicken feed has also increased continuously, causing many chicken farms to suffer losses. To “cut losses”, many farms have plans to reduce their flocks, sell them off, and leave their coops empty until the market warms up before restocking.