Chicken prices shoot up

Chicken prices shoot up
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Highlights

Chicken prices are on the rise for the past two months. Price increased as the production of chicks has come down. The retail chicken outlets are getting lesser quantity from the wholesalers and poultry farmers. Now the skinless chicken price reached Rs 240 per kg where as the price was around Rs 180 in March.

Vizianagaram: Chicken prices are on the rise for the past two months. Price increased as the production of chicks has come down. The retail chicken outlets are getting lesser quantity from the wholesalers and poultry farmers. Now the skinless chicken price reached Rs 240 per kg where as the price was around Rs 180 in March.

Raising temperatures have influenced the industry and the farm owners are struggling to save the broiler chicks from the heat wave. They are spending more on precautionary measures like providing coolers, sprinklers, deploying additional workers to safeguard the chicks from heat wave.

Generally, the broiler chicks survive at around 40 degree Celsius temperature, but in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana the average temperature is around 43-45 degrees. And some of the poultry farmers, who are unable to meet the expenditure during summer, intentionally minimise the intake to reduce the loss. Hence, the production will come down and it affects the cost of the chicken too.

Around 20 per cent of the hens would lost their lives due to heat wave during April and May and the farm owners plan to sell the rest of the 80 per cent broilers at high price to recover their loss. Now the dressed chicken price is around Rs 200 and live bird is around Rs 200 per kg and the skinless is increased up to Rs 240-250 per kg.

K Ramesh, a retail chicken vendor, said: “We have been getting less live birds from the farms as they don’t have enough stock at farms. So, the price of the chicken is raised up to 25 to 30 per cent in the past two months. We are reducing the price for bulk buyers by Rs 10 per kg.”

The bulk customers like hoteliers, event managers, and catering operators are forced to spend more on chicken in April and May as it is the peak season for weddings in both the states. K Srinivas, a catering owner, said: “I supplied food for 10 marriages in February and March. But now, I have I have been adding around Rs 20 per each plate to meet the raising expenditure of chicken.”

By koppara gandhi

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