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Every poultry farmer knows that Buyers want BIG chickens.

If you are rearing chickens , you should be working towards getting them ready by 6 weeks

But then, how big should your chicken be to attract customers?

What size does the Chicken buyer actually want?

Let me attempt answers to these.

The buyer wants big chicken.

But then, the Nigerian poultry market does not have a uniform standard for dividing chicken into big and small sizes. There are customers who consider 3.5kg chicken as big while there are others who consider any chicken less than 5kg as small.

The size of chicken considered as “BIG” therefore depends on your type of customers.

Now, most buyers of live chicken are sensory based buyers. They gauge size by what their eyes see and what their hands feel. They do not usually rely on any weighing scale for measurement.

It is therefore important that your birds are both big to the eyes and heavy to the hands. Big birds that do not have weight will not sell.

From my personal experience, I categorize buyers into regular and premium customers.

The regular customer buys chicken weighing between 3kg to 4.5kg. With the right care, these Broilers should be between 6 weeks to 10 weeks of age.

The premium customer however buys Broilers weighing above 5kg and aged 12 weeks above.

Now, if you have chickens on ground, you should by their age, already know the type of customers you are targeting. Is it regular or premium?

No matter your target customers, it is important your birds add weight quickly so that you can meet up with the deadline .

I will briefly itemize a few things you should do to achieve the desired weight gain quickly.

1. Buy and use only high quality feeds.
   This is not the time to economize on feed cost. We are battling against time and against growth. Low quality feed take a longer time to give result. Since we don’t have all the time, I advice you use the highest quality feed you can find.
2. Feed your birds ad libitum.
   By this I mean you should stop measuring feed for your Broilers. Give them as much as they can eat. The more they eat, the more weight they gain.
3. Don’t waste your nights.
   Give your birds light in the night so that they can eat for a few more hours everyday. At the minimum, your birds should have constant light at night for the first 4 weeks of their life.
4. Give vitamins in their water.
   Vitamins are necessary to complement the feed and increase appetite. Make sure they have it in their water as required.
5. Keep their pen clean.
   Dirty environment reduces appetite and supports the spread of diseases. You do not want your birds falling sick at this critical time.
6. Give all necessary vaccines and medication.
7. As the birds begin to grow, sort them into different groups according to size. The big birds should be separated from the smaller ones so that each has access to food and water without bullying.