A feed label is a written promise with a batch number on it. Here is how to read one before the bag goes near your birds.
Halaal Farms Ghana team4 October 2026 · 11 min read
Most feed in Ghana goes out in 50 kg bags, and most buyers read the front, look at the picture of a healthy bird, and pay. That is fair enough when the feed suits the flock. It becomes an expensive habit when it does not. The label is the only written statement the feed maker makes about what is inside the bag, and it is the first thing to check before the bag goes near your birds.
A label will not tell you whether a feed is good. It tells you what the maker claims, what the feed is made from, and who to call when the bag does not match the claim. Learn to read those three things and you will catch most bad bags before they cost you a week of growth.
A common mistake is to keep the bag in the store for weeks and never look at it again. People often read the label for the first time when the birds go off their feed. By then the batch is half gone and the receipt is in a drawer somewhere. Read it on the day you buy.
Read the bag from top to bottom before you open it. A proper label should carry:
If the bag has none of these, or the batch space is blank, do not buy it because it is cheap. A feed you cannot trace is a feed you cannot blame. If the birds go down, you will need to tell the maker which batch you used, and a blank space leaves you with nothing to say.
Ingredients are listed by weight, heaviest first. That one rule tells you a good deal. In most feeds sold in Ghana, maize sits near the top because it is the main energy grain that mills rely on. Soya, fishmeal, wheat offal, palm kernel cake and minerals come after it. The order matters more than any single percentage, and the label usually does not give percentages for each ingredient anyway.
Look for what is missing as well as what is there. A layer feed that names no calcium source may be short of calcium, and shell quality is usually the first place you will see it. A broiler feed that leans heavily on bran and fibre will give less energy per kilo than its price suggests. Do not guess at this. Ask the seller or the maker what each main ingredient contributes, and write the answer in your feed book next to the batch number.
Be careful with words like "meal", "cake" and "offal". They describe a by-product, and the quality of a by-product can change from one lot to the next. A feed that relies on one by-product for most of its protein is only as steady as the supplier who sells that by-product.
The guaranteed analysis is the part most people skip, and it is the part that matters most for comparing bags. It usually lists crude protein as a minimum, crude fat as a minimum, crude fibre as a maximum, and moisture as a maximum. Some labels add energy, calcium, phosphorus and salt. The word beside each figure is the key. A protein figure marked minimum is a floor the maker promises to reach. A fibre figure marked maximum is a ceiling they promise not to go over.
Two things follow from that. First, a feed can comfortably meet its protein minimum and still be poor value if it costs more per kilo than an alternative that meets your birds' needs. Second, higher fibre usually means less energy per kilo, so a fibrous feed has to be cheaper to be worth buying. Compare labels only when they show the same nutrients on the same basis. Two bags that state their figures differently cannot be lined up side by side with any confidence.
A starter, a grower, a finisher and a layer mash are not interchangeable, even when the brand is the same and the bags look alike. The phase tells you the balance of protein, energy and minerals that birds need at that age or stage. Put a layer mash in front of young broilers and you pay for nutrients they do not need, in the wrong balance for their growth. Put a broiler finisher in front of laying hens and the shells are the first thing to suffer.
Match the bag to the birds you have today, not the chicks you started with. A broiler that is four weeks old is not on starter any more, even if the starter bag is still half full. Moving to the next phase on time, and not a week late because the bag was still there, is one of the simplest ways to keep feed cost honest.
Use this table as a checklist when you stand in the feed store. Tick each row before you pay.
| Label item | What it tells you | What to check before you buy |
|---|---|---|
| Feed type or phase | Which birds and which stage the feed is made for | Does it match the flock in the house this week |
| Ingredient list | What the bag is mostly made of, heaviest first | An energy grain near the top and a clear protein source such as soya or fishmeal |
| Crude protein (minimum) | The least protein the maker promises | Compare only with a feed stated on the same basis |
| Crude fibre (maximum) | The most fibre the maker allows | Higher fibre usually means less energy per kilo |
| Metabolisable energy | The energy the bird can use, usually in kilocalories per kg | Compare only if both labels give energy in the same way |
| Calcium and phosphorus | Mineral levels, important for laying birds | Layer feeds should show calcium clearly, not hide it |
| Batch number and manufacture date | Traceability and freshness | Write both in your feed book before you open the bag |
| Best-before date | The limit of the maker's guarantee | Avoid bags close to the date or past it |
Write the batch number down before you open the bag. If a flock stops growing, or birds turn sick a few days after a new bag goes in, the batch number is what lets you and the maker check whether other farms received the same lot. Without it you have a bad feeling and no evidence to go with it.
The manufacture date and the best-before date are not the same thing. Feed that has sat in a warm, damp store can go off well before its best-before date. Look for mould, a sour or musty smell, clumps that will not break up, and small holes that point to weevils. The harmattan is kind to feed because the air is dry, but the warm and humid spell that follows the rains is when the trouble starts. Keep bags off the floor, away from the wall and out of direct sun. Stand them on pallets or a raised wooden platform, use the oldest bag first, and never tip the end of one batch into a bin that already holds another.
Some warnings are easy to see if you look for them. A torn bag with the label gone is a bag you cannot trace. A label that has been covered by a sticker or stamped over should make you ask why. A price well below what other sellers quote for the same brand and phase is worth a question, not a celebration. Ask where the feed came from and when it arrived. A seller who answers clearly is usually one you can trust with the next order, and one who gets vague is telling you something too.
Check the stack as well. Bags that sit in the sun against a wall, or under a roof that leaks, lose quality even when the label looks fine. Do not just open the bag on top. Open one from the middle of the stack, look at the feed, and smell it. Good feed smells of the grain it is made from. If it smells of damp sacking or sour fat, leave it.
A 50 kg bag is broadly GH₵400 to GH₵470, depending on the brand and the season. Confirm the price on the day, because it moves. Divide the bag price by 50 and you have the cost per kilo.
Now a simple illustration, not a forecast. A broiler that eats about 4.2 kg of feed to reach market weight uses between GH₵33.60 and GH₵39.48 of feed at those prices. Multiply by 50 birds and a box of broilers needs roughly 210 kg of feed, which comes to about GH₵1,680 to GH₵1,974 before medicine, water, labour or the chicks themselves. That is why the label matters. A bag that gives the bird less usable energy and protein can push the feed bill up, even when the price per bag looks lower.
A label is a claim, and the birds are the test. Weigh a sample of birds every week and write the average down. Set that against the feed you have used. A flock that is heavier than expected on a high feed bill may be on a bag that is richer than it needs to be. A flock that is light and slow to gain should make you check the feeders, the water and the house before you blame the bag, because a bag cannot fix a problem with access to feed.
Deaths are the other check. Well-managed flocks lose about 3 to 5 per cent. Poor management can lose 10 to 20 per cent. On a box of 50, that is roughly one and a half to two and a half birds against five to ten. Feed is only one cause among many, so do not pin every loss on the bag. If deaths climb after a change of feed, keep the bag, note the batch, and call your vet the same day.
One habit makes all of this easier. Keep the empty bag, or at least a photo of its label, with the date you opened it. It takes a minute and it is the only evidence you will have if you need to go back to the seller or the maker.
Not always, and a feed does not become bad because maize is not first. What matters is that the main energy source is clearly named and that the protein source is clear too. If the list is vague or hides its main ingredients, ask the maker for a straight answer before you buy.
Keep the bag and the receipt, photograph the label and the batch number, and tell the seller the same day. Then write to or call the maker with the batch details. Ask your vet to look at the flock if birds are sick or dying. Do not mix the suspect bag with a new one, so you can show exactly what was fed.
It is a weak choice. A missing batch number makes it hard to trace a problem, and it can also mean the feed was not packed in a controlled way. If the price is attractive, ask the seller to show you the batch on another bag from the same delivery before you decide.
You need to know which figures to compare and what they mean. The exact target for your birds depends on breed, age and season, so confirm the numbers with the farm, your feed adviser or your district veterinary office. We will not guess a target for your flock from a label.
A good flock starts with good chicks and a feed plan that matches them. If you are working out how many birds to start with, read our guide to broiler feed phases next, then how to store feed so it does not spoil in your store. When you are ready to start, go to how to order day-old chicks and send the form. Prefer to talk it through? Call 024 915 1503, or email support@halaalfarmsghana.com. An order starts with a message, not with money.
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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