Increasing demand for baby chickens since pandemic

There has been a strong demand for baby chicks since the pandemic started, triggered by more people going into chicken farming as a source of income.

Hi-Pro Business Development Manager Dayne Patterson said the present demand is five to 10 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels, and he expects it to get even higher as the pandemic persists and more people have to resort to small-scale poultry farming as a means of survival.

“We are able to meet the demand. There was a gap in supply at the early stages of the pandemic, because we had to shut down to see how things were looking at the beginning. However, the demand that came after was unexpected, so the temporary shortage that was experienced was due to the fact that the company had to adjust its supply because of the pandemic,” Patterson acknowledged.

“We have now ramped up supply and will be able to meet the increasing demand,” he added.

Patterson said that while there has been an increase in the price of the baby chickens in the last six months, the company has been able to find ways to cushion its effects on the farmers.

According to him, the increase was largely due to the price of raw materials internationally, such as the price of the fertile eggs that continues to increase, the cost of shipping that went up 100 per cent or more, and the fuel price in the last six to 12 months, up by 60 per cent.

“These are impacting logistics, as well as the price of corn and soy used in the feed for the breeder stock, and the other trace elements, vitamins, minerals that have all gone up 60 to 100 per cent. And for us here in Jamaica, the constant devaluation of the dollar has translated to a 10 per cent increase to the farmers,” Patterson told The Gleaner.

The Hi-Pro business development manager said farmers can anticipate future increases in the price of baby chicks as companies in the US that produce the fertile eggs increase their costs, due to the worsening pandemic.

“It is tough, but farmers have to adjust their selling price to offset the increase,” he advised.

He assured that farmers can expect the best quality, as Hi-Pro chicks are hatched at their state-of-the-art Best Dress hatchery in St Catherine, where each day-old, A-grade chick is fully vaccinated before delivery in special temperature-controlled trucks to farmers and farm stores islandwide.