Ross 308 is an imported broiler strain. Here is what it asks of your feed, your house and your records, with the figures we can stand behind.
Halaal Farms Ghana team5 August 2026 · 10 min read
The name Ross 308 gets used loosely. Some people say it for any fast-growing broiler. Others use it for a chick they bought from a neighbour, which may or may not be the same thing. The strain has a specific meaning, a specific set of targets from the breeder, and a specific list of things it asks of the farm that raises it.
This article is about what Ross 308 asks of a farmer in Ghana. It does not promise a weight or a feed figure the breeder has not given us, and where we use numbers, we tell you where they come from. If you are deciding between broiler strains, read this alongside the piece on Cobb 500 and its trade-offs, because the choice is easier to make when both are on the table.
Ross 308 is an imported broiler strain. Broilers are the birds raised for meat, sold live or dressed, usually over a period of about six to seven weeks in a well-run house. We import and supply Ross 308 chicks from our Kasoa farm.
Our price for Ross 308 starts from GH₵20 per chick, or from GH₵1,000 for a box of 50. The price is a from-price, which means it can move with the season and the supply. Confirm today's price before you order. The minimum order is one box of 50 chicks.
Ross 308 and Cobb 500 sit on the same price line in our list. That means price should not be what decides between them. The things that decide it are your house, your feed programme, your buyer and your records.
Feed is more than half of the cost of a broiler crop, and that is the first number to understand. The chick is a small part of the spend. The feed bag, season after season, is the bigger one.
A broiler reaches market at around 4.2 kg of feed, over six to seven weeks in a well-run house. That is a general planning figure for broilers, not a breeder promise for Ross 308 alone. The breeder's own guide gives the feed conversion and the target weight at each age, and those are the numbers to plan against.
Here is the arithmetic for one box, as an illustration and not a quote. Take 50 birds at 4.2 kg each. That is 210 kg of feed. A 50 kg bag in Ghana typically sells between GH₵400 and GH₵470, depending on brand and season, so 210 kg comes to about 4.2 bags, roughly GH₵1,680 to GH₵1,975. Divided across the 50 birds, that is about GH₵34 to GH₵39 of feed for each bird, against about GH₵20 for the chick.
The bag price is the one to watch. Maize and soya prices move, and the price on your feed merchant's list this month is the one that counts. Our article on maize price swings and your margin shows how to work the feed bill into your plan.
Our fact pack does not carry Ross 308's target weights for each day. We would rather not guess them, and a guess dressed up as a number would do you no good in the house. Get the current guide from the breeder or from your supplier, and keep it on the farm where you can see it.
Once you have the guide, weigh a sample of birds each week and compare it with the table. A flock that is behind in the second week is easier to fix than one that is behind in the sixth. Our guide to the day seven weight check explains the habit, and why the early weeks decide more than most people expect.
Weighing a sample is not the same as weighing the whole house. Pick birds from different parts of the pen, weigh them on the same scale, and write the figure down. Averages hide problems. Uniformity, meaning how close the birds are in size, tells you whether the feed and water are reaching all of them.
Ross 308 is a fast-growing broiler, and fast growth asks more of the house than a slow-growing bird does. The house has to deliver air, water and feed in the right amounts, every day, without relying on luck.
The dry season brings heat and dust, and the harmattan, which usually runs from about December to February, brings dry air, dust and cold nights. Each one changes how the house is managed. In heat, the birds drink more and need more airflow. In harmattan, the dust gets into the lungs and the litter dries, and the house needs ventilation that does not chill the birds at night.
Power is the third problem. A house that depends on fans and pumps is in trouble in a long cut. Our guide to brooding chicks through power cuts in Ghana covers what to do when the lights go out, and the same thinking applies to the grow-out house. Water is the first thing to check, because a broiler that cannot drink in heat loses weight fast.
For water and intake, see our guide to broiler water intake by age. For the litter underfoot, which affects both footpad health and how the flock stands, see broiler litter and footpad health.
Well-managed broiler flocks commonly lose around 3 to 5 per cent of birds. Poorly managed flocks can lose 10 to 20 per cent. Those are the ranges to hold yourself against, and they are not a target to aim for.
Here is what they mean for one box of 50, as an illustration. At 3 to 5 per cent, you would expect to lose about 1.5 to 2.5 birds. At 10 to 20 per cent, the loss is about 5 to 10 birds. The gap between those two outcomes is mostly management, which is why the house matters as much as the strain. Two of the same chicks, in a good house and a poor one, can finish in very different places.
Dead-on-arrival chicks are a separate matter from losses during grow-out. Chicks dead on arrival are replaced free in the next hatch, so report them early. Losses after the first days are yours to manage, and your own records are the only figure that tells you how the flock is doing.
A broiler is sold live or dressed, and the buyer you have decides which. A live-weight sale pays for what the bird weighs when it leaves the house. A dressed sale pays for the carcass, and the weight of feathers and offal does not count. Ask your buyer before the crop starts, not on the morning they arrive with a van.
Withdrawal periods matter if the bird has been treated. Our guide to the withdrawal period before slaughter explains why the bird should not go to market until the period has passed, and why the record of treatments belongs on the farm.
Festive seasons push demand up. Christmas and other holiday periods bring buyers who want birds on a fixed date. Plan the hatch and the grow-out backwards from the date the buyer needs the birds, not from the date that is convenient for the house.
| Planning item | What our fact pack gives | Where to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Strain | Imported broiler, Ross 308 | The breeder's current guide |
| Price | From GH₵20 per chick, from GH₵1,000 per box of 50 | Today's price on the price page, or with the farm |
| Minimum order | One box of 50 chicks | The order form or a call |
| Feed to market | About 4.2 kg per bird over 6 to 7 weeks in a well-run house | The breeder's feed programme and target weights |
| Feed bag | GH₵400 to GH₵470 for 50 kg, varying by brand and season | Your feed merchant, this month |
| Mortality | 3 to 5 per cent well managed, 10 to 20 per cent poorly managed | Your own weekly records |
| Dead on arrival | Replaced free in the next hatch | Tell us as soon as the box is opened |
The first week decides more about a broiler crop than most growers expect. The birds that settle quickly, eat early and drink from the start tend to keep that pattern. Birds that struggle in the first days often carry the effect into the sale weight, even when the house looks fine later on.
Keep the house warm and dry, with the heat set for the age of the birds and not for your own comfort. Put water and feed where every chick can reach them within the first hours. Check the chicks at dawn and at dusk, and look at how they are spread across the floor. A crowd in one corner is a warning, and it is much easier to fix in week one than in week five.
Record the first week in detail. Note the temperature, the water consumption you can judge, the feed that was eaten and any birds that were lost. Those records are the baseline the breeder's guide will be compared against, and they are the first thing to look at if the sale weights disappoint. A crop without a first-week record is hard to diagnose later, because the cause and the effect are separated by weeks.
Power and water deserve a separate check in week one. A drinker that is dry for an afternoon in a warm house is a setback that can show up as weight loss days later. If you use a generator or a backup tank, test it before the chicks arrive, not during the first cut.
No. They are two different broiler strains with their own breeder guides. We list both at the same from-price, so compare the two guides at the age and feed programme you plan to use.
As a planning figure, about 4.2 kg per bird to market, so roughly 210 kg in total. That is about 4.2 bags of a 50 kg feed. Check the breeder's figures and your feed merchant's price before you buy.
Our fact pack does not carry a weight table for Ross 308. Use the breeder's current guide for the weight at each age, and check a sample of birds every week against it.
Yes. One box of 50 is the minimum order. It is enough to learn your house and your records before you commit to a larger crop.
To order Ross 308 chicks, send the order form on the site or call 024 915 1503. An order starts with a message, not with money. We confirm the price, the hatch date and the delivery cost before you pay, and you can pay by cash, mobile money or bank transfer. For the current price, see the day-old chicks price list, and for the breed page, see broiler day-old chicks. Once the chicks are home, the guide to thinning a broiler flock helps with the decisions that come mid-batch. You can also write to support@halaalfarmsghana.com.
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.
A weekly weighing routine for broiler farmers: how to pick an honest sample, the weights to compare against from day 7 to day 42, the average and uniformity sums, and what to do when the flock is behind.
Feed cost per kilo of broiler depends on how much feed each kilo takes and what you pay for it. These ten habits lower both without starving the birds or buying additives.
Heat kills the heaviest broilers in the last days before sale. This guide explains why, shows the signs in order, and sets out the house, stocking, water and feeding changes that prevent it, plus an afternoon emergency plan.
