Pick the breed by the buyer you have, not the price alone: eggs, festive cockerels and fast broilers each point to a different line.
Halaal Farms Ghana team2 April 2026 · 11 min read
Imagine three buyers on the same Saturday. The first runs a small kiosk and wants eggs every morning. The second is a family that keeps a few birds and wants a cockerel for the December table. The third buys dressed chicken in quantity and needs birds of the same weight on a set day. Each one is right to want what they want. Breed choice starts with knowing which of them you are selling to, because the three of them need three different birds.
A common order of events is to pick the chick first and go looking for a buyer afterwards. It is the wrong order. Turn it round. Find the buyer, write down what they need, then match the breed. The prices in this guide are the "from" figures on our October 2026 list, and you should confirm each one before you pay.
Write down every buyer you can reach in the next three months. Include the shop, the neighbours who will take eggs, the caterer, the festive buyer and anyone who wants dressed birds. For each one, note what they take, how often, what size or colour they ask for, and the price they will pay. If you cannot fill in a line, that is your first job before you order anything.
Be realistic about who will actually buy. A promise from a friend to "take some eggs" is not a buyer. A shop owner who says Mondays and Fridays, and names a price, is. Plan around the buyers you can count on, and treat the rest as upside.
If your buyers want eggs on a schedule, you are in the layer business, and the layer business rewards consistency above almost everything else. The imported layers on our list are Hy-Line Brown, Hy-Line White and Bovans Brown. Lohmann Brown is also on our list, priced on request. These are commercial birds, built for steady lay from measured feed.
Ask your egg buyers one question about colour. Some want brown eggs, some want white, and some simply want clean eggs of a reasonable size and do not mind the colour at all. Do not assume. A kiosk that sells to office workers may have a very different preference from a caterer who uses eggs in bulk. A shell colour that your buyer does not care about gives you no advantage at all.
Layers also need you to plan the flock in stages. A flock that comes into lay together is easy to sell; a flock that trickles in is harder to count on. Our guides on point of lay and on feeding layers from chick to first egg show how to bring a flock to the start of lay without a gap in supply.
The table below matches the usual buyers for each kind of bird with the lines that fit them. It is a starting point, not a verdict. Your own buyers, your own house and your own feed will tilt the decision one way or the other.
| Buyer you are selling to | Line that fits | Why it fits | From, per box of 50 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households wanting eggs and some meat | Sasso or Noiler | Eggs, forage, cockerels for the home table | GH₵650 (Sasso), GH₵550 (Noiler) |
| Egg kiosks and shops taking a steady weekly supply | Hy-Line Brown or Bovans Brown | Steady commercial lay from measured feed | GH₵1,150 (Hy-Line Brown), GH₵1,275 (Bovans Brown) |
| Festive cockerel buyers | Sasso, Kuroiler or Noiler | Dual-purpose cockerels that reach table size for the peak | GH₵550 to GH₵650 |
| Dressed-chicken and broiler buyers | Ross 308 or Cobb 500 | Fast growth, market-ready in about 6 to 7 weeks | GH₵1,000 |
| Buyers asking for a slower, traditional bird | Plymouth or Barred Rock; Australorp on request | Heritage birds that forage and grow more slowly | GH₵350 (Plymouth, Barred Rock); ask for Australorp |
| Caterers wanting steady eggs in bulk | Hy-Line White or Hy-Line Brown | Consistent output from a commercial line | GH₵1,275 (Hy-Line White), GH₵1,150 (Hy-Line Brown) |
Broilers are the simplest buyer match on paper. A Ross 308 or a Cobb 500 is bred to grow fast and to reach market weight in about 6 to 7 weeks. A bird of that type eats around 4.2 kg of feed to market, and that is why the feed bill, which is more than half of the cost of the batch, decides whether the batch pays.
Fast growth has a price. The bird needs its feed on time, water at all hours and a house that is neither too hot nor too damp. A well-managed batch can lose 3 to 5 per cent of birds. A poorly managed one can lose 10 to 20 per cent, and at that level the cheap chick stops being cheap. Before you choose a broiler for a buyer, be sure you can keep the house and the feed in the state the bird needs.
Broilers suit buyers who want weight on a known day. A caterer or a dressed-chicken seller can plan a delivery around a broiler batch. A household that wants one bird every few weeks usually does better with a smaller number of dual-purpose birds, which can be kept until they are wanted.
Sasso, Kuroiler, Noiler and Plymouth or Barred Rock are the birds that give you two products from one flock. The hens lay, and the cockerels become meat. For a household, a small compound or a farm that sells to a mixed group of buyers, that is a useful spread of risk. If egg sales dip, the cockerels still sell. If the cockerel market is thin, the eggs still feed the home.
The trade-off is time. A dual-purpose bird takes longer to reach a saleable size than a broiler, so your money comes later. That suits buyers who plan ahead, especially for the festive season. It does not suit a buyer who wants a bird next week.
Sasso is best known as a free-range bird with a firmer, more traditional taste. Its price is from GH₵13 a chick or GH₵650 a box. Kuroiler and Noiler are from GH₵11, or GH₵550 a box. Plymouth and Barred Rock are from GH₵7, or GH₵350 a box. Each one has its own character, so read the breed guides before you put a whole box into one plan.
The festive calendar in Ghana is one of the biggest timing points for a small farm. Christmas, Easter and the Eid holidays all bring a rush for chicken, and a cockerel or a dressed bird that is ready in the right week can sell at a better price than the same bird a fortnight earlier or later. Work backwards from the date. A dual-purpose cockerel needs a long lead time, so the hatch date has to be set months before the festive peak, not weeks before it.
The weather matters too. The harmattan brings dry, dusty air, and the house has to keep its air clean and its litter dry without chilling the birds. The rains bring damp, and with it the risk of disease that the wet season often brings. Our guides on fowl pox in the wet season and on planning around the festive calendar cover the detail. Plan the batch so that the most sensitive weeks do not fall right before the sale.
If you miss the peak, do not panic. Sell to households and to the farm gate. Our guide on farm-gate and market selling walks through the options. A slower sale at a steady price is usually better than a forced sale at a bad one.
Once you have your buyers listed, go back to each one with a short set of questions. Keep the questions plain and the answers in writing.
The answers will often make the breed decision for you. A buyer who wants a steady supply of eggs points to a layer. A buyer who wants a fixed bird on a fixed day points to a broiler. A buyer who is happy with a slower, traditional bird points to a dual-purpose or heritage line. Do not fight the answers. Choose the breed that matches them.
Sometimes the buyers you listed do not come through. The egg kiosk orders less than promised, or the caterer goes quiet in the third week. That is one of the usual ways a good breed choice goes wrong. The bird is fine. The plan had no slack in it.
Build some slack into the plan. Keep a smaller number of birds in the first batch while you test the market, or split a box between two plans where the buyers and the timing allow it. Remember that one box is 50 chicks, so the split has to be agreed before the order goes in. Ask us what is possible for your region before you promise the birds to anyone.
Not usually. One breed is simpler to manage, but a mixed plan spreads your risk. A layer flock for eggs and a dual-purpose group for cockerels can work well in the same yard if you keep them apart.
The dual-purpose lines, Sasso, Kuroiler and Noiler, are the ones built for that job. Plan the hatch months ahead, because a dual-purpose bird takes longer than a broiler to reach table size.
Some do and some do not. Ask your own buyers before you choose. A preference you hear from them is worth more than any general rule.
Ask the buyer what they pay now and what they would pay for a steady supply. Compare that with your cost per bird or per egg. If the gap is too small, change the plan before you change the breed.
When you have your buyers and your dates, send the order form on our site or call 024 915 1503. You can also email support@halaalfarmsghana.com. Tell us the line you have in mind, the number of boxes, the region and the hatch date you need. We will confirm the price, the hatch date and the delivery cost before any money changes hands.
For more detail on each line, read our guides to rearing cockerels for the festive market and Sasso for free-range and local taste. Our festive calendar guide shows how to plan the hatch. When you are ready, use the order page.
Written by the Halaal Farms Ghana team. We hatch and import day-old chicks at Opeikuma, Kasoa, and deliver to all 16 regions. This article is general guidance for farmers. For diagnosis and treatment of sick birds, speak to a vet or your district veterinary office.
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