Feed conversion is the number of kilos of feed behind each kilo of bird, and most small farms never write it down.
Halaal Farms Ghana team28 April 2026 · 10 min read
Most farmers who keep making money on broilers are not the ones who found the cheapest bag. In our experience they are the ones who know how many kilos of feed went into each kilo of bird, and who can tell you that number for last batch and for the one before it. That number is called feed conversion, or feed conversion ratio. It is simple to work out, and very few small farms write it down.
Feed conversion tells you how efficiently the flock turned the feed in the trough into weight on the scale. A lower number is better. A flock that needs less feed to make each kilo of bird costs you less per kilo sold, even if the bag price stays the same. Needing more feed costs you more, and the extra cost is hidden inside the feed bill, where it is easy to miss.
This guide shows how to measure feed conversion on your own broiler batch, using only a scale, a notebook and the discipline to write things down on the day. It also explains how to read the number, what can push it up, and how to compare one batch with the next.
There is a common reference point for Ghana broilers. A broiler reaching market at six or seven weeks typically eats about 4.2 kg of feed on the way. Feed is more than half of the cost of raising the bird, so any change in that 4.2 kg matters a great deal.
Treat the 4.2 kg as a starting line, not a finishing line. It tells you what a typical bird eats to reach market. It does not tell you how your flock compares with it. Your own batch, weighed and recorded, is the only number that answers that question.
The same reference points also give us a rough sense of losses. A well-managed flock usually loses 3 to 5% of its birds before market. Poorly managed flocks can lose 10 to 20%. Those losses matter for feed conversion, because a bird that dies still eats feed on the way, and that feed has to be counted.
Start with the feed. Every time a bag is opened for the house, write down the date, the batch, the brand and the weight. A hanging scale is the simplest tool, and it is cheap enough to keep in the store. If you cannot weigh every bag, count them carefully, and make sure you know what a full bag weighs for the brand you are using.
Weigh what is left as well. At the end of each week, or at the end of each phase, weigh the feed still in the store and note the figure. The feed used is the feed bought, plus or minus any change in the store, minus what you still have. If you bought 20 bags and have one bag left, you used 19 bags, and the weight of that bag is the weight of what went into the birds.
Keep the feed records in one place, and write the batch number on every entry. A notebook that lives in the store, beside the bags, is the easiest habit to keep. A notebook in the house, written up from memory at the end of the week, is not reliable enough for this.
The second half of the sum is the live weight of the birds you sell. The best approach is to weigh a sample of birds at the same point in the day, using the same scale, each time. A sample of 20 birds, picked at random across the house, is enough for a rough figure. If the buyer or the processor weighs the whole batch, ask for the total, and record it against the birds sold.
Weigh the birds quietly. Catching and loading stress can change how the birds carry weight, and a flock that has been chased about the house will not weigh the same as one that has been handled calmly. Our guide on catching and loading broilers without losing weight covers the handling side in detail.
If you do a weigh-in mid-batch, use the same method, and write it in the same notebook. Our piece on the day-7 weight check that predicts your batch shows how an early weigh-in can tell you whether the batch is on track while there is still time to change something.
Every bird that dies in the house is a bird that ate feed and never reached the scale. Leaving the deaths out of the sum makes the feed conversion look better than it is. That is one of the most common mistakes on small farms, and it is easy to make when the dead birds are picked up in a hurry and thrown out without a count.
Count every death, every day, and write it down with the batch number. Record the age of the bird if you can, and note any sign you saw before it died. Our guide on what a mortality record tells you covers the patterns to look for.
The table below shows what the numbers look like for a 100-bird batch, using the 4.2 kg reference and the usual Ghana bag price range. It is worth reading slowly, because the gap between a well-managed batch and a poorly managed one is not small.
| Measure | Figure | How we got it |
|---|---|---|
| Feed to market per bird | About 4.2 kg | Typical reference for a broiler at six to seven weeks |
| Feed for 100 birds, if all reach market | About 420 kg | 100 birds multiplied by 4.2 kg |
| Feed cost for 420 kg at the lower bag price | About GH₵3,360 | 420 kg at GH₵8.00 per kg, from GH₵400 for a 50 kg bag |
| Feed cost for 420 kg at the higher bag price | About GH₵3,948 | 420 kg at GH₵9.40 per kg, from GH₵470 for a 50 kg bag |
| Birds lost at 3 to 5% mortality | 3 to 5 birds | Typical range for a well-managed flock |
| Birds lost at 10 to 20% mortality | 10 to 20 birds | Typical range for a poorly managed flock |
The feed cost figures in that table assume every bird reaches market. Losses raise the feed cost per bird sold, because the feed eaten by the dead birds is spread across the survivors. That is why counting deaths honestly matters so much to the final number.
The sum itself is short. Divide the total feed the house ate, in kilograms, by the total live weight of the birds you sold, in kilograms. That gives you the feed conversion ratio, which is the number of kilos of feed for each kilo of live bird.
Here is an illustration with made-up numbers. The figures are not a target and not a measurement from any farm, and they are there only to show the steps. Suppose you started with 100 chicks. Four died early in the batch. You weighed 420 kg of feed into the house, and you sold 96 birds averaging 2.1 kg each at the scale. The total live weight sold is 96 multiplied by 2.1, which is 201.6 kg. The feed conversion is 420 divided by 201.6, which is about 2.1. In plain words, the batch used about two kilos of feed for each kilo of live bird sold.
Notice what the deaths did. If you had left the four dead birds out of the feed count, you would have had a lower number, and a worse surprise at the end of the batch. Keep the deaths in the sum, and the figure is honest.
Some farmers use a corrected version that also counts the weight of the dead birds, but the simple version above is fine for a notebook. What matters most is that you use the same method each time, so that the batches can be compared against one another.
A feed conversion figure on its own does not tell you what to change. It tells you where to look. When the number comes out higher than you expected, work through the usual causes in order, starting with the ones that cost you the most.
Work through these one at a time, and change only one thing per batch if you can. If you change five things at once, you will not know which one made the difference.
The real value of a feed conversion record is in the comparison. One batch tells you how that batch went. Three batches tell you how your farm runs. Put each batch on the same sheet, with the same columns, so you can read across the rows.
When you change feed brands, compare the new brand's feed conversion with the old one over at least two batches before you decide. A single batch can be pulled off course by weather, a power cut or a bad week of water, and a switch made on that evidence may not hold. Compare the cost per kilo of live bird too. That is the feed cost for the batch divided by the live weight sold, and it is the number that goes straight to your margin.
Keep the sheet simple. A workable batch record needs only a handful of columns, and every one of them should come from something you can measure on the day.
No. Feed conversion is a ratio of kilos of feed to kilos of bird. Feed cost comes from that ratio and the price you paid. You need both to know your margin.
Not by itself. The 4.2 kg figure is a typical reference, and what counts is the weight the feed produced. Compare your own batches against each other and look for changes that are big enough to matter.
No. A hanging scale for the feed and a reliable scale for the birds are enough, plus a notebook kept on the day.
At least once at the end of the batch, and a sample early on to check the flock is on track. The day-7 weigh-in in our guide is a good early check.
A good feed conversion starts with the chicks and the house, not with the scale at the end. Read how much feed 100 broilers eat to market day before you set your first batch, and work out the phases with starter, grower and finisher feeding. For the broiler breeds we supply, see our broiler day-old chicks page.
To order, send the form on our order page or call 024 915 1503. We confirm the price, hatch date and delivery cost before you pay, and you can pay by cash, mobile money or bank transfer. Chicks that arrive dead are replaced free in the next hatch, and the minimum order is one box of 50 chicks.
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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